OLP MM3 Five-String Bass | Part Three

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Part One | Part Two

Repairing the Damage

In Part Two, we looked at the problems plaguing this heavily modified OLP MM3 Five-String Bass. Now, in this post, I'll outline the steps taken to get it back into playing condition.

The first thing I did was remove the unnecessary nut shim and reseat the nut. I then gave the whole body, fretboard, frets and hardware a good clean and polish. Following this, both pickups were reinstalled with fresh high density foam spacers and mounting screws.

I was now able to upgrade the electronics to Alpha A500K pots and a Switchcraft output jack and revert to the stock configuration of Volume/Volume/Tone. With all components wired in, I conducted a test and discovered to my relief that everything was now working as it should.

Now it was time to fix the pickguard. As can be seen in the pictures below, there were three holes that needed to be filled. As luck would have it, the previous owner had left a piece of the pickguard in the neck pickup cavity. He'd cut this piece out to make room for the ESP neck pickup.

Armed with this piece of pickguard, lots of elbow grease, UHU All Plastics glue, super glue, fret nippers and files; I was eventually able to plug these holes. Granted, the repair isn't invisible. However, it's way cheaper than sourcing a replacement pickguard. 

One more issue to be dealt with concerned the pickguard screw nearest to the neck pickup volume pot. The previous hack job had left hardly any wood for the screw to bite into. The solution was to cut a vertical channel into the side wall and glue in a wooden dowel. A new screw hole could now be drilled into the dowel.

With that taken care of, the pickguard was reinstalled, and the bass restrung with a fresh set of Rotosound RB45-5 strings. A full setup followed, and this OLP MM3 Five-String Bass Guitar was ready for a final soundcheck. 

The results of the soundcheck may be heard on SoundCloud. What you hear is this OLP MM3 plugged into a Laney RB2. Audio from the amp's headphones output was then recorded into Audacity 3.1.3. on my workhorse Asus X453M laptop.

Shim Removed and Nut Reseated

After Cleaning and Polishing

Discarded Electronics

Pickups Reinstalled

Upgraded Components Wired In

Switchcraft Output Jack

Holes in the Pickguard

Leftover Piece of Pickguard

Plugging the Holes [Top View]

Plugging the Holes [Bottom View]

Copper Foil Shielding

Wooden Dowel Fix

Pots Reinstalled

Pickguard Reinstalled

Rotosound RB45-5 Strings

Good to Go

OLP MM3 Five-String Bass | Part Two

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Part One | Part Three

Another MM3 Needs Help

What we have here is an OLP MM3 Five-String Bass Guitar. This is my second encounter with an MM3. The first was way back in 2018, when old pal Awie sent in his for an electronics and shielding upgrade. Back to this MM3, then. Unlike Awie's MM3, this particular instrument has been modified extensively. The body has been hacked to accommodate an ESP neck pickup and modified electronics. These electronics include a three-way toggle switch, two push/pull pots and two tone pots.

Unfortunately for the current owner, the bass does not seem to be working save for an occasional weak signal from the stock Music Man-style humbucker. Heck, the ESP pickup isn't even wired to the circuitry!  After disconnecting the pickups and testing them individually; I was glad to find that both were functioning normally.

Besides these issues, the nut has been shimmed, resulting in extremely high nut action. Fretting a low C or F is extremely uncomfortable. I've taken the MM3 apart and will be addressing each of the identified problems in turn. Meanwhile, for your reference, I've listed the stock specifications of an OLP MM3 below. This should enhance your understanding of just how much this poor bass has been modified. 

 

OLP MM3 Stock Specifications

Country of Origin: China

Finish: Natural

Body: Basswood/Flame Maple Top

Neck: Maple

Neck Shape: C

Scale Length: 34"

Fretboard: Maple

Fretboard Radius: 14"

Frets: 22 Jumbo

Truss Rod: Spoke Wheel

Pickup: Music Man-Style Humbucker

Controls: Inner Coil Volume/Outer Coil Volume/Tone

Hardware: Chrome

Bridge: Top Load/Individual Barrel Saddles

Tuners: 4+1 Open Gear

4+1 Open Gear Tuners

Shimmed Nut

Maple Neck and Fretboard

Basswood Body | Flame Maple Top

Spoke Wheel Truss Rod

Top Load Bridge

OLP Neck Plate

Hacked Body

Pickguard

Stock Music Man-Style Humbucker

ESP Neck Pickup

Modified Electronics

Mentreel MD-160CN Acoustic | Part One

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Part Two | Part Three

Specifications

Based on information sourced from the web, this is a PRC-made full-sized cutaway dreadnought acoustic guitar. Besides being really grimy, the guitar suffers from badly worn frets and a worn-out saddle. In Part Two, I'll be carrying out a partial refret on this guitar.

Top/Back/Sides: Sapele

Neck: Okume

Fretboard/Bridge: Rosewood

Nut/Saddle/Binding: ABS Plastic

Rosette: Laser-carved decorative pattern

Electronics: Takavood T-13D Preamp

Soundhole Label

Three Non-Stock Tuners

Rosewood Fretboard | Okume Neck

Sapele Top and Back

Neck Heel | Cutaway

Takavood T-13D Preamp

Truss Rod Adjustment Nut

Rosewood Bridge | Worn-Out Saddle

Grimy Fretboard | Badly Worn Frets

Norman Encore B20 4T Refret | Part Two

◀ Part One

Servicing and Refret

The previous post featured an overview of this Norman Encore B20 4T Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar, which was in dire need of a refret and servicing.

After the existing frets were pulled, the entire fretboard needed to be prepped. Radius-wise, the fretboard was supposed to be at 16 inches. However, due to excessive wear, especially along the edges, what I measured was inconsistent, ranging from 12 to 16 inches.

With the truss rod fully relaxed, I needed to sand the fretboard flat. I also needed to achieve a consistent radius without removing too much wood. The most practical solution, then; would be to aim for a radius of 12 inches.

Once the target had been achieved, I proceeded to deepen the fret slots with an LMI Fret Saw, gauging my progress with a StewMac Fret Slot Depth Gauge. The fret slots were then cleaned out with a modified wood carving tool.

Next came fret installation. After the 21 frets were installed, the ends were trimmed and ground flush; and subsequently beveled. We were now ready for fret leveling, but before doing that; I needed to make sure that the fretboard was level. Sure enough, the fretboard was slightly up-bowed. A little tweaking of the two-way truss rod; and the fretboard was dead flat once again.

Fret leveling was then carried out, and I made sure to check the frets' levelness periodically with a Fret Rocker. Meanwhile, the grimy, worn and uneven spots all along the back of the neck were also sanded down.

It was now time for the fret tops to be recrowned with a StewMac Centered Z-File, and then abraded and polished. For this last stage, the fretboard was taped off. Once fretwork had been taken care of, the back of the neck was sealed with a couple coats of Tru-Oil.

What was now left was to reinstall the tuners, condition the fretboard with lemon oil, put on some strings; and do a final setup. Now, with everything taken care of, I found the time to record a short audio clip of this B20; which you may listen to on SoundCloud.

Frets Pulled

Sanding the Fretboard

Checking Fretboard Flatness and Radius

Deepening the Fret Slots

New Frets Installed

Fret Ends Trimmed and Beveled

Checking Fretboard Flatness

Worn Areas Sanded Down

Fret Leveling in Progress

Checking the Frets with a Fret Rocker

Recrowning the Frets

Fretboard Taped Off

Abrading and Polishing the Frets

Sealing the Neck with Tru-Oil

Tuners Reinstalled after Servicing

Much More Comfortable Now

Fretboard Conditioned with Lemon Oil

After Restringing and Final Setup