Cort T35 Five-String Bass

Here's a brand-new Indonesian-made Cort T35 in gloss black. It belongs to an ex-student of mine, who's been active on the local indie circuit for a few years now. The bass was unplayable and buzzing badly in the lower frets. Seriously, the strings were virtually laying flat on the fretboard. He'd just changed strings, and they were of a much lighter gauge than the ones that the bass was originally set up with. I reckon the B string was a flimsy 125. 

So now, the tension of these strings wasn't enough to counteract the tension of the truss rod, and the neck was back-bowed. The solution then, was to loosen the truss rod gradually until the fretboard had enough relief; and then only proceed with string height and intonation adjustments. 

One very interesting feature about the T35 is that it sports a 35" scale. Yes, I measured and it's exactly that. In effect, using the same tuning and same gauge of strings, you'd be able to set string action lower sans buzzing on a 35-inch scale as opposed to the standard 34 inches. 

Now, as the bass was already in the shop, I couldn't resist taking a peek at the innards. I also did some research on the web, and coupled with my own observations; have been able to come up with the following specs:

Body: Agathis

Neck: Bolt-on, Canadian Hard Maple, heel-end truss rod access

Fretboard: Rosewood, 16" radius, 35" scale, 24 jumbo frets, White dot inlays

Bridge: EB7(5)

Pickups: PDX-5/F and PDX-5/R passive humbuckers

Electronics: 2-band active EQ

Power Source: 9V Battery

Controls: Master Volume, Pickup Pan Pot, Bass Boost/Cut, Treble Boost/Cut

2005 Ibanez SRX505 Bass

This gorgeous made-in-Korea bass came in for a clean and polish, hardware and electronics servicing, string change; and setup. According to Guitar Insite, it was manufactured in 2005. Not bad for a 16-year-old, I should say. Based on various online resources and personal observation, I've managed to determine a couple specs; as detailed in the next paragraph.

Model Name: SRX505-TK

Finish: TK (Transparent Black)

Neck: Bolt-on, three-piece maple

Body: Basswood, flamed maple top

Fretboard: Rosewood, 34" scale, 14" radius, 24 medium frets, pearl dot inlays

Bridge: Accu-Cast B205

Pickups: Passive Full Range (PFR). PFR-N5 (neck), PFR-B5 (bridge)

Preamp: EQB-IIDX two-band EQ

Controls: Master Volume, Pickup Blend, Bass Cut/Boost, Treble Cut/Boost

Shielding: Conductive shielding paint (pickup and control cavities)

2000 American Deluxe Jazz Bass V

Based on the serial number, GuitarDater Project affirms that this instrument "is from the American Deluxe Series made at the Corona Plant (Fender) in 2000." Amongst its most prominent features are an alder body finished in "Crimson Transparent," five-in-line tuners, a bone nut, straplock-ready strap buttons, active electronics, "Noiseless" pickups, through-body stringing; and a maple fretboard with genuine abalone dot inlays. Controls for the active electronics comprise a Master Volume, Pan Pot for pickup blending, concentric boost/cut controls for Bass [lower] and Treble [upper]; and a Mid control. 

The bass was sent in because the Mid control was really noisy and scratchy; even after being sprayed with contact cleaner. Popping the control plate revealed some rather gnarly wiring and soldering, indicating that someone had been messing around beforehand. Long story short, the troublesome Mid control pot was replaced; and the taped-up wire splices cut, stripped, resoldered, and insulated with black heat-shrink tubing. Yes, that's about it for this 2000 American Deluxe Jazz Bass V. Thanks for dropping by, and God bless :)

Washburn XB-500 Bantam Bass Scarf Joint and Fretboard Repair

Though looking its age, the active electronics on this Washburn XB-500 Bantam Bass were still functioning as they should. Granted, there was some crackling when you turned the pots; but this was fixed with a squirt or two of contact cleaner in the right places.

The real problem with this bass was that the rosewood fretboard had somehow become separated from the maple neck; from the nut right up to the third fret. Meanwhile, at the back of the neck, the scarf joint had opened up quite a bit. I should also mention that someone had fashioned a crude ill-fitting nut out of black plastic. And yes, I forgot to snap a pic or two of these abnormalities.

The game plan was to reglue the fretboard and scarf joint with Titebond III and clamp everything nice and tight until the glue dried. Then there would be lots of sanding, followed by a Tru-Oil refinish on the back of the neck. A new custom nut would also be installed. And guess what? It turned out okay, thank goodness :)

LTD B-155DX Electric Bass Gets Deactivated

Before I talk about work done on this stunning 5-string bass, let's take a look at some stock specs, courtesy of Guitar Center.

Construction: Bolt-on
Body: Basswood/flamed maple top
Neck: Maple/'thin U' profile
Fretboard: Rosewood/34" scale/dot inlays/24 extra-jumbo frets
Hardware: Black Nickel/ESP tuners/ESP DB-5 Bridge (string-thru-body)
Pickups: ESP SB-4 (Neck/Bridge)
Preamp: ESP ABQ-3 3-Band Active EQ
Shielding: Conductive paint/Aluminium foil

I was quite impressed with the looks and sturdiness of this bass when I first laid eyes upon it, I must say. However, the electronics were another story. The owner, a soft-spoken Kemaman chap, was totally frustrated because his pride and joy was emitting all kinds of weird noises whenever he tried to play it. This had happened onstage many a time, much to his embarrassment.

After a thorough checkup, I realized that the preamp was toast and had to be replaced. But as that would cost a bomb, we decided to go with a cheaper alternative: dump the active electronics and rewire the bass as a passive instrument.

And so the bass was rewired with a 3-way toggle switch, master volume; and master tone. I was able to reuse the stock master volume pot, but needed to add an Alpha 500K pot; and replace the flimsy stock plastic-bodied stereo jack with a Neutrik/Rean NYS229.

All well and good, except that we now had two unsightly holes where the mid and bass EQ pots used to be. I offered to plug the holes with wooden dowels and stain them to match the finish as best I could, but the owner did not go for it. Instead, he suggested a 'dummy' pot/control knob setup matching the stock control configuration.Fair enough, I thought; and so two of the stock EQ pots were wired in with all six tabs wired to ground (ie shorted out).

It was a rainy evening when I tested this 'deactivated' bass and called it good. And guess what? Out of the blue, I got a call from the owner asking me if his pride and joy was ready; as he had a gig at 8pm. It was still drizzling when he came to pick up his bass, grinning from ear to ear. Somehow, I knew he'd be having a real hot gig that night.