Jimmy "Flim" Johnson

[JimmyJ]

Hey Moose,

Thanks for the note and kind words.  JT's recording engineer Dave O'Donnell makes us all sound good.

I'm sure I mentioned somewhere in this thread that I think my first 5-string was actually built on a 4-string neck which would explain the tight spacing.  My graphite fretless is for sure.  It's what I'm used to and still prefer. 

My basses vary a bit, and they do taper, but here's what I see for center of the B to center of the G:

recording bass -  bridge: 2-1/16"  nut: 1-1/2"(minus a hair)
live bass -  bridge:2-1/8"   nut: 1-1/2"(minus a 32nd)
fretless -  bridge: 2-1/4"(minus a 32nd)  nut: 1-5/8"

And my feeling about this is ... you can adjust to any spacing in literally seconds.  I played on a couple sessions where people provided basses for me to play.  I'm generally game to try.  One guy rented a Fender-P and another asked me to play his Hofner Beatle bass.  The funny thing is, it still kinda sounded like me even though it wasn't anywhere near my normal tone.  The music wasn't difficult so the physical oddness of playing it on a weird 4-string axe wasn't a problem.  But the point is, I was able to adjust to it quickly enough to get the tracks recorded.

Cheers all,
Jimmy J

[StephenR]

I have always felt that my 1978 Series five-string was built on a four-string neck. There is hardly any taper at all. I am getting a measurement of 1 9/16" at the nut (center of G to center of B) and 2" at the bridge. When I got it used in 1984 it was the first five-string I had ever tried playing so I had no idea if the neck width was odd. There were few five-strings on the market at the time, I don't remember ever seeing one at the local Sam Ash or other music stores. Since I play primarily with a pick the string spacing was less of an issue but it is definitely a difficult bass to play finger style, which is something I also enjoy doing.

Watching the evolution of the five-string bass over the years it seemed like a lot of manufacturers early five-string basses were made on four-string necks but over time neck width has increased, as have spacing options at the bridge. Lots of options available now.

Jimmy... do you still have your first Alembic five-string, apologies if this has already been answered?  I also missed your birthday so a belated Happy Birthday with wishes for many more to follow!

[Moose]

Hey Jimmy, thanks so much for the measurements, you're right, those do look like 4 string measurements. In fact, your "live bass" seems to line right up with my rickenbacker 4003. Very neat! I definitely agree that string spacing can easily be adjusted to, but seeing as this new group seems to be my main outfit for the time being, why not try something fun and interesting? I think that will be very comfortable. Thanks again and good luck on the road once it's open. If you ever make your way up to the Great White North with JT and the gang, I'll be sure to check out the show. Taylor's a great songwriter, too. Very clever stuff.  And Stephen, very neat that your bass has similar spacing, perhaps such an idea isn't as radical as i first thought!

[JimmyJ]

Stephen,

My original 1976 Series-I 5-string was stolen out of a Ryder truck while I was on the road in 1987.  It had some odd and easily identifiable things about it, but amazingly it has never resurfaced.  The basses (yes, two) Alembic built to replace it were made with the same materials and approximate dimensions and are really great instruments.  They may in fact be better than that first one but I couldn't ever A/B them.

Moose, you aren't thinking of converting the Ric to a 5 are you?  Don't those pickups have 4 pole pieces?  We were supposed to play our way across Canada this fall but it may be pushed into 2022...

Jimmy J

[Moose]

Haha, no not the ric, that thing's my baby! Quite a sentimental piece that thing is. I was thinking of picking up something "cheap-enough-to-fiddle-with-but-good-enough-to-gig" and doing it to that. Now i know to look for something with roughly ric-sized dimensions to try it on. I just found out about a guy by the name of Jeff Rath in Colorado who does convert the real things and in the process will swap out (or modify the original) pickups for 6 (or 7 [edit: or 5, too, apparently!]) poles, which i imagine would act as though they had bar magnets [edit: perhaps not for the 5 pole versions]. Interesting...

Also, good to hear you guys are coming up to Canada, i'll keep my eye out for the show announcements!

Thanks again for taking the time

[StephenR]

Hi Jimmy,

Such a shame to hear what happened with your 76 Series I five-string. Sorry to bring up what must still be a painful memory. IMO that bass is historically important, a five-string bass with a B string made so much sense once I tried playing one, for me it was truly a game changer. I have always felt a debt of gratitude to you and the folks at Alembic for bringing the concept to fruition.
cheers,
SR

[JimmyJ]

Moose,

That's a trip about Jeff Rath doing those conversions.  Gotta wonder how the truss rod, neck joint, tailpiece, etc. are all able to deal with the 20% increase in pull.  Ha!

Stephen,

Yes, I miss that old bass and wish it would reappear.  In this age of everything finding its way back to eBay, one would think...  But the Alembic family are still watching out for it so who knows.  I don't claim to be the first with the low-B idea, I defer to Anthony Jackson and his "contrabass guitar" concept which seems to have happened a year or two earlier.  Though he went both low and high with his 6-string monster.  But yes, that '76 was a great bass and obviously got me hooked on everything Alembic.  THAT was the sound I was going for in my head!

Jimmy J

[gearhed289]

Jeff has been doing those conversions for probably 15 years or more. I'm personally allergic to that tight string spacing (LOL!), but he seems to get nice results, especially on 4004 models.

[mario_farufyno]

Thrilled to see this today:) Sounds great!

https://youtu.be/esMP9MKHTiI

Man, that Solo is beautifull!

[JimmyJ]

Thanks Mario. 

That was a clever way to make all our individually submitted home-made videos look like they had something in common.   

Jimmy J

[hankster]

Just saw the new JT tour dates - already have my tickets for the Victoria BC Canada show!

[dadabass2001]

Jimmy, I'm really looking forward to seeing you with JT in Chicago on Thursday.
Thursday should be a break from the heat here, according to the latest weather reports. Hoping for a "cool" evening.

I've been listening to James Taylor and Jackson Browne since the 60s (high school daze)!

Totally psyched for the music.

[JimmyJ]

Hey Mike,

That will be the first gig of this somewhat tentative tour.  It's sure going to be be great to play for people again.  And Jackson has a great band so we're looking forward to hearing them too.  I'm sorry but we're under heavy covid-related restrictions on this tour, meaning I can't come out and say hello.  But please enjoy the show and let me know how it sounds out front.  I'm a fan of all this music too!

Richard, all I can say is be patient.  We're gonna get up there ... eventually.

Jimmy J

[jacko]

Hey Jimmy.
Will James have any special guests when he comes to Glasgow in January?

Graeme

[JimmyJ]

Graeme,

Not that I know of.  These gigs over here are double-bills like the show you saw with Bonnie Raitt a few years back in DC.  Jackson and his band will play an hour or so and then JT will do 75+ minutes.  I'd love it if they tried this package over there - with Bonnie or Jackson - but so far it hasn't happened.

JT's largest audience is still here in the US with the UK probably 2nd.  English language being the key I suppose.  But unlike Sting, Elton John and others, James says he didn't do much overseas touring in his early days as it was just too easy to keep playing the US circuit every year.  So he feels like he didn't build an International audience.  He does well in Australia (language again) and pretty well in France and Italy.  But the further we get from home the smaller the band gets so that's an indicator of the "market". 

The proposed January (winter...?) EU tour is supposed to start with a small band but it may expand when we get to the UK.  I don't know the details yet but so far they want bass notes on all of it so that works for me.    

Jimmy J