Jimmy "Flim" Johnson

[rustyg61]

Thanks Jimmy! Once again you have enlightened me & pointed out something I hadn't thought about which is the mirror image on the male & female connectors. I knew I was going to have to ohm the wires out & make sure I have the same blue & white going to the same pin on both ends, & will do as you suggested & mark one blue & one white on each end so I don't get them mixed up. I will also draw me a diagram of which wire goes to which pin on both ends so I have a point of reference to go by. I always ohm out the cables I build even with just 2 conductor guitar cables to make sure there aren't any shorts & there is continuity from one end to the other. There have been times when a single strand frayed off the wire & shorted out on ground that I didn't see when I built the cable, but the ohm meter doesn't lie.  
 
The magnifying lamp is a great idea, I wish I had one! I have a neon lamp with a flexible gooseneck that I use to polish my bass & adjust the action. It shows all the smudges & makes it easy to read the Stew Mac gage.  
 
Thanks for the assembly link. I downloaded it yesterday after I snapped the pin insert into the right angle housing & couldn't figure out how to get it back out! Yeah, I was one of those kids who never read the directions when I built models, I just looked at the pictures & glued it together only to find out that I should have glued another piece on first!
 
As always Jimmy, you are a gentleman & a scholar & I appreciate all your help!
 
Rusty

[rustyg61]

Well Jimmy, thanks to yours & Keith's advice, I was able to build my first 5 pin cable! It took me 3 hours, but the operation was a success! I can see now why these cables are so expensive! This is tedious work indeed! Thanks again to you & Keith for your instruction & vendors. Now if I just had a Series bass to plug this into!!

[JimmyJ]

Way to go Rusty!  Wait, you did this without having a series instrument?  But you have one under construction, right?  
 
I like your approach - start with a cable.  By the time you take delivery you'll know the instrument from the inside out!  Excellent.
 
Jimmy J

[rustyg61]

Thanks Jimmy! You & Keith were a great help! Yes, I do have a Series II Europa under construction right now, it is going into finish this week, so I still have a long ways to go on it. I'm passing the time while I wait for it by getting everything I will need to cross over into the Series world. Of course I will get the 20' Alembic cable with the bass, but I wanted a a shorter spare for small stages & in case my 20' goes out, so I built this one. I have also bought a 4 wide Levy strap to help with the extra weight of the bass. I'm sure it will be much heavier than my SCSD shortie! I also bought a 4 space rack to replace my 3 space to have room for the DS5R. So I have all my ducks in a row for the blessed event when my Europa arrives in Texas!

[ulli]

Hello all, this is my 1st post as I only enjoyed just the reading here sofar. I wanted to ask Jimmy Johnson (who I adore since hearing him play on Wayne Johnson's album Arrowhead back in the late '70s or early '80s): Jimmy, can you give me info if your modified tailpieces are available or are they custom made? I am also interested in the hexagon tail screws as they are less prone to damage then the philips style ones.
Gr. Ulli

[JimmyJ]

Hi Ulli,  
 
Welcome to the Alembic forum and thanks for the comments.  
 
I'm glad you enjoyed the Wayne Johnson Trio stuff, that was a fun band.  We had played together in Minneapolis and then all ended up in LA a couple years later and were able to continue making music...  Bill and Wayne are great cats and no, we're not related.  Ha!
 
Regarding my tailpieces; these were special order items on these basses and I don't know if anybody else has ever requested them on their instruments.  The reason they wouldn't be a normal option is because they are specific to the ball-end portion of the strings which are likely to vary between manufacturers or even string types from the same manufacturer.  In other words, we designed these tailpieces specifically to work with ghs Boomers - which limits my ability to even try other strings. I like to change strings often so the idea was for these tailpieces to make the operation quick and easy.
 
The very first of these tailpieces (on the bass I lost many years ago) was simply a brass plate with pins sticking up at differing intervals.  Crude looking but functional.  The second version (seen on the far left bass in the pic of 3 above) is a straight brass piece with angled pins.  This works OK but the tension does try to pull it out of it's mounting bolts.  The latest version is the curved style which seems to be a more solid anchor.
 
Do you currently play an Alembic?  One of the joys of working with this company is that they can literally make whatever you can dream up.  They've built some amazing instruments over the years, great examples of combining form and function.
 
I could go on...  Ha!
 
Not sure what you mean by hexagon tail screws.  If you mean the screws securing the bridge and tailpiece to the bass, these are actually bolts which screw into threaded inserts in the wood so that (in the case of the bridge) you can continue to adjust them without ruining the wood.  These bolts could have any type of head on them but those currently supplied seem like a logical choice.  If you are talking about a different part let me know.
 
Thanks for visiting!
Jimmy J

[ulli]

Thank you so much Jimmy for the info, I was already fearing it would be a custom solution. I can't afford an Alembic but i always enjoy the reading here. I do have the copy version made by Fernandes looong ago. I am busy right now to exchange some parts of the bridge. I ordered at Alembic the Bridge Rehab Kit since the original screwheads were all worn out. It was sent very quickly. I was just thinking if I could order such tailpiece too as I found it a very nice solution. I meant the screws for mounting the tailpice to the body. these are inside threaded inserts too? hexagon type i meant the screws which use the allen key type ones. I saw your tailpiece uses such screws. Many thanks again, I will never forget when i saw you in Lee Ritenours backup on North Sea Jazz Festival 1985 in The Hague. at first standing in the shadows, not regognizing you but during 2 solos you came out of the dark, and my brother yelled at me thats the bassplayer from Wayne Johnson's album!. was a very special experience for me back then..:-)

[JimmyJ]

Ulli,
 
Alright, good luck getting that Fernandes back in shape.  I see the rehab kit comes with those allen-key mounting screws for the bridge so I hope all the parts included are compatible with your bass.
 
I'm glad you like my odd tailpiece design but fitting one to your bass could be a challenge as the mounting bolts are not in the standard locations.  And I'm pretty sure these tailpieces are also bolts into inserts though I don't think I've ever removed one to look.  That seems like a good system - like a large wood screw with a removable core...  Very clever!
 
Wow, you guys were at that North Sea gig in '85 and that was your brother yelling out there?  (Ha!  Just teasing!)  Cool that you recognized me from the WJ3.  I am always awed by how music can reach listeners all over the planet.  That Rit tour was a long time ago but brings back fond memories of playing with Carlos Vega - such a groove...  Thanks for the story.
 
Good luck with your bass rehab!
Jimmy J

[ulli]

thank you Jimmy, yes we (me and my 2 brothers)were in complete shock at that time. Yes Carlos made an impact on us too. I was sad when i heard about him. A few months before we went to this concert or sister passed away because of cancer at age 32. We thought the Festival could move our attention away from our loss for a while, and we were so happy it did seeing you and the others, music can have a healing effect and i never had such a great time again with my brothers, I think we slept in the car along the highway after we found out that the trip home was still a long one.
 
I included a closeup of my Fernandes FAB-180,it has the rehab parts already on the bridge, it all fitted, only did Alembic provided the wrong size allen keys, but could use my own ones. And to show that mine has no bolt inserts for the tailpiece. I will just use the original tail again, its okay.
Thanks Jimmy :-)

[JimmyJ]

Yes, music is great for getting us through life's twists and turns.
 
I've never seen a Fernandes up close, that's interesting.  The small hardware details are definitely different - pickup mounting style, pickup selector switch (maybe that's not original), even the truss rod cover might use wood screws.  But it's a nice looking bass and now you've upgraded the bridge.  Enjoy playing it!
 
Cheers,
Jimmy J

[ulli]

Jimmy, I got this bass from Dino Walcott who was the regular bass player with the dutch guitarist Jsn Akkerman in the early 80's. I recognised him from the videos i recorded from german tv channel back then. He wanted to give this bass to his son, who preferred to spent his time with other passions instead. Yes you right about the PU selector. originally it should have had the rotating switch too. And I noticed in the old videos that Dino removed it and did put a closed metal pate on that spot. Afterwards he came with this one. I msg'd him if he still has the otiginal switch but got no reply yet.Btw, somehow I was in the mood again to listen to one of my old cd's with you; Alan Holdsworth's Atavachtron, a nice album. Sometimes I just bought albums because you are on it (Like Sadao Watanabe's Maisha or Sergio Mendes's Oceano) You and Anthony Jackson  are both my preferred bassplayers for listening :-) Thanx for the kind words about my bass, I hope to play it soon. Gr. Ulli

[ulli]

double post sorry
 
(Message edited by Ulli on April 02, 2014)

[JimmyJ]

Thanks Ulli,
 
I don't know Dino's playing but some folks find the location of the p/u selector to be inconvenient and they cap it off as you've described.  Usually they relocate it closer to the bridge but I guess not in this case.  I don't know how your toggle switch is wired, maybe simply mute and on?  Because if it's: neck pickup / both / bridge pickup, then with no master volume control it will be a little inconvenient to shut the bass off...  I guess switch to neck pickup and turn that knob down - which you would get used to doing in a second...
 
I'm proud to have been a part of those Holdsworth albums.  That music is not for everybody but I still love it!
 
best,
Jimmy J

[ulli]

yes its regular neck/both/bridge selection wired. Indeed your suggestion for muting is the best with this. My first impression of AH was that i needed to get used to his music, But I always prefer to need time to get into the music while listening it a few more times before getting it.My brothers prefer music which is more accesable. Btw I love your work with Lee Ritenour alot. After seeing you with him I bought his Harlequin album. Love all the tracks but esp Early A.M. Attitude, San Ysidro & Grid Lock those are burned in my mind and fingers! Gr. Ulli

[rapsak_v]

Hi Jimmy.  
I'm Kaspar from Denmark. I wouldn't expect you to remember me, but we had a brief email exchange some 10 years ago. I sent you my transcription of your Pud Wud solo, as well as a little intro I did on a record. The last nine years I have had the gig in the Danish Radio Bigband.
Anyway, your persisting influence finally caused my to get an Alembic, a beautiful custom Essence with Europa electronics. It's really heavy, though! I'm a bit worried, my back will give me trouble over this. I can imagine your series basses have some heft to them too. Have you ever had any problems with your back in this regard?
 
Thanks
 
Kaspar