New Tricks For An Old Dog

[r_a_smith3530]

Well, it's been a crazy week guys. I've been going through interviews, then the hiring process, all while juggling my present job, where I intend to stay on in a part-time capacity.

The good part is that I will now be back in my chosen field, IT support. The downside is the time factor. That is what leads up to my subject.

Last week I purchased a new black pearl (it looks kinda charcoal) pickguard for Sir Fender Frankenbass. I ran into a problem when I went to install it. I was able to loosen the pinch screws on the control knobs, but the knobs were still snug. I tried to pull one of the tone knobs and it ended up lifting, shaft and all, right out of the pot. The others were also tight, so I decided not to screw it up any more than I had already.

Today, I dropped Frankenbass, along with the new pickguard, off by my friend Steve who runs a pro setup and repair business. He's going to install the new pickguard, fully copper shielding it like I had done to the old one. He's also going to replace out all the old pots with new impedance matched CTS components (I had installed Mouser's), and install new control knobs. As long as he has it apart, the frets will be leveled and recrowned (he does this in an Erlewine neck jig, so it's done right!), and a new polished bone nut will be installed. Rotosound RS77LD Jazz Bass flats will round out the work.

This old dog should be barking some new sweet tunes when I get it back.

As a cool aside, while I was there dropping off my bass, another guy was dropping off a Fender Precision Bass that he'd owned for over twenty-five years. You could see that it had been played, but it was still in decent shape, with good original frets. The first thing that caught my eye about this bass was the Rosewood fretboard. It was the radiused version seen after 1962, and the case had an emblem of the typre seen about 1966-1967. It has to be one of the lightest P Basses that I've ever held, a real beauty.

Steve Bonfiglio's Guitar Pro Shop

[duhvoodooman***]

Hey, congrats on the new job, Rob! Hope it works out well for you.

Your posting reminds me that I really need to take my Strat and get it properly set up. I've had it for 8 years and have never done a thing with it. The intonation is off on a couple of strings, and the string heights are quite uneven. I suppose I could try doing it myself, but not sure I want to try learning the techniques on my own. My son's new Tele also needs to be properly set up, because the intonation is quite a ways off and the low E and A strings both buzz a bit. Think I'll call the shop where I had the new pups installed in my LP and make an appointment to drop them off. Thanks for the inspiration, Rob....

[ZoSo65]

That Erlewine neck jig is the way to go without a doubt!
I thought about getting one when I was building my guitar, but the neck I had bought was new and pretty much dead on the money, just had to do a little truss rod adjustment and replace the nut with a graphtech nut.
I still might get the jig though, I'm thinking of building a couple more, including building the neck this time around. I'll probably do a neck through body first, I love them, very clean lines

[r_a_smith3530]

I'll probably do a neck through body first, I love them, very clean lines

You just reminded me of a bass that I saw a month or so back sitting in a local guitar shop. I can't think of the name, but they had some popularity back in the 1970's. They weren't actually a neck through design, rather, the neck came about half to three quarters of the way through the body, and the three P Bass pickups were mounted to it. The neck was made up of several different woods, and there was a huge brass plate on the back like a monster neck plate.

The thing kind of reminded me of an old Alembic, but then again it didn't, if that makes any sense at all.

[r_a_smith3530]

Well, after three long weeks Sir Fender Frankenbass has returned home, a changed bass. As in the Grateful Dead title, what a long, strange trip it's been.

This began as a simple enough task; replace the pickguard from a bland, single-ply black one, to another that was like a pearl charcoal multi-ply. As mentioned, when I tried to get the first knob off, the pot shaft came with it, even though the set screws were completely removed. Due to time constraints related to changing jobs, I decided to let my friend, a pro guitar tech, have at it.

Originally, he was just going to swap in new pots, install everything onto the new pickguard, shield it, and then perform a master setup. Unfortunately, I had done too good a job the first time around. Not wanting to have any extraneous wire laying around, I'd clipped all the leads from the control box as short as I could, with the pots pre-installed in the pickguard. This was fine, as long as the thing never had to be disassembled. Unfortunately, now it had to be disassembled, but, as they say, every cloud has a silver lining, and so did this one.

Bartolini has made improvements from the circuitry that I had installed the first time out. To begin with, I'm not quite sure how they effected it, but my tone is much more clear (the old pots were CTS, the new Alpha's). The best part though, is that the volume pot is now a push-pull affair that shuts down the active, allowing the pickups to perform as passives. Like they say, it's all about choices, and now I've been given one more!

Anyway, with the new circuit all set, Steve went to work, taping up the new pickguard with copper tape. He then went to assemble it, and that's when he noticed the next problem. My aftermarket pickguard was actually slightly smaller than the original, and in a few important places, like covering a part of the control cavity. Well, an exhausted search turned up nothing, so I had Steve make a tracing of the original pickguard and reinstall it. I'm going to have one made by Chandler. They did a great job on the one for my Peavey.

So now, everything went back together and the setup was completed. At present, the bass sits, sans knobs awaiting the new guard. I can play it though, and the difference between the new circuitry (v. 4.5) versus the old (v. 4.3) is definitely worth the hassle and expense. The downside is that I could have almost bought a MiM P Bass for what I've spent.

Oh, I forgot to mention. I now also have a shiny new polished bone nut. Yeah, it was costly, but it sure is sweet, and will be even nicer once I get the new guard!

[Spudman***]

RA
Does the tone circuit still work when in passive mode? I have 2 basses that disengage the tone circuitry when I pull the knob to switch from active to passive. I'm just wondering if there might be a way to keep the tone circuit in line when I'm not in the active mode? Or does yours do the same as mine?

[r_a_smith3530]

RA
Does the tone circuit still work when in passive mode? I have 2 basses that disengage the tone circuitry when I pull the knob to switch from active to passive. I'm just wondering if there might be a way to keep the tone circuit in line when I'm not in the active mode? Or does yours do the same as mine?

Alas Spud, no cigar. My Bartolini active tone circuit, like yours, drops out when I kick off the boost. Just so you know, the G&L's tone circuit works in passive mode. I guess that was just one more of Leo's way cool innovations.