Spear Bass Gets a Little Love

I've got to admit that until the day it came into the shop, I'd never seen nor heard of a "Spear" bass. But here it was, all rusty and grimy; and begging for some TLC. A little research on the web revealed that "Spear" refers to "SPEAR Gitarren Händler Deutschland." Yes, that means it's a German company. This bass was not manufactured in Germany, though; as it says "Made in Indonesia" on the back of the headstock. 

Let's take a quick look at this four-string bass' features, then. The body seems to be solid wood, and sports a Fender-style bridge and P/J pickup configuration. Electronics are pretty straightforward, two volumes and a master tone; and a barrel output jack. All three pots are full-sized (24mm), kudos to Spear. There appears to conductive shielding paint in the pickup and control cavities. 

The maple neck is bolted to the body via four recessed screws, so there's no need for a neck plate. Truss rod access is at the headstock end. The fretboard is rosewood with a 34" scale, 14" radius, 24 frets; and whitish dot markers. Meanwhile, the headstock is angled and fitted with four proprietary "Spear" sealed tuners in a 2+2 configuration.

As received, the bass was dusty, grimy, and totally unplayable (corroded strings being the main culprit). The electronics didn't work either, and the cause was traced to shorted wiring. The fretboard and frets? Well, let's just say that not wiping down your strings and fretboard after playing has its disadvantages.

Everything was taken apart and serviced. The electronics worked fine after lots of contact cleaner and a full rewire. The fretboard was scrubbed clean and conditioned with lemon oil, and the dull frets introduced to good old Autosol. After reassembling the bass and setting it up with Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys, I put it through its paces using my little Joyo MA-10B practice amp. The fonky tones that emanated from the Joyo's 5" speaker had me grinning from ear to ear. Don't believe me? Well, do hop over to SoundCloud and judge for yourself.

Chord Solidbody Bass Upgrade and Makeover

Happy New Year folks :) This is my first post for 2021, and it features a "Chord" solidbody bass that looks a lot like a typical Jazz Bass. Construction-wise, this bass sports a plywood body, three-ply white/black/white pickguard, bolt-on maple neck; and 12" radius rosewood fretboard with 21 frets. The electronics consist of two single-coil pickups wired to two volumes and a master tone.

As the owner didn't quite like the stock red finish, he requested that the bass be refinished in flat black. He also wanted the "Chord" headstock label removed, for obvious reasons. And so, the headstock face was sanded down to bare wood; and refinished in Tru-Oil. Meanwhile, any visible dings and gouges in the body were filled with Elmer's Wood Filler and sanded flat. Then, after scuff-sanding the whole body, it was refinished in flat black; with a top coat of flat clear for added protection.

Although the stock electronics were working fine, I was instructed to upgrade them, and while I was at it; shield the body cavities with conductive shielding paint. New components added included Alpha 250K pots, a Russian K40Y-9 0.033uF tone cap; and Neutrik/Rean NYS229 output jack.

Hardware-wise, all rusty components were replaced. Luckily, the bridge, as well as control and neck plates; were still in useable condition. They were given a good de-gunking, lube and polish; and reused. The open-gear "elephant ear" tuners, however, just had to go. The gears were worn and would not turn smoothly even after servicing. One of them even had a loose ear which would not stay in place. As such, they were honorably discharged; and a new set installed. And, as expected; it was not a simple drop-in job. The old tuner mounting screw holes had to be plugged and trimmed flush, new holes drilled; and the tuner holes reamed a bit to accommodate the slightly-larger tuner posts.

Well, folks, that's it for this post. Thanks for visiting, and do drop by again soon. Meanwhile, stay home, stay safe; and God bless :)

Ibanez SR605 Five-String Bass

Among the outstanding features of this ash-bodied Indonesian Ibanez SR605 include a 24-fret rosewood fretboard with genuine abalone oval inlays, a sturdy five-piece jotoba/bubinga neck; and bolt-on extended neck joint with a "tongue." This "tongue" not only looks cool but enhances upper fret access. And let's not forget the beautifully-carved headstock volute. You can read more about volutes at Haze Guitars, Sweetwater and Guitar Skills Planet.    

As the story goes, the three-band active electronics on this bass gave up the ghost several years ago. Yours truly was called upon to turn it into a passive instrument. And so the EQ module was removed and the holes plugged. Following this, the Bartolini MK1 humbuckers were each assigned a volume control; both tied in to a master tone pot. Sound familiar?

Well, it came back recently for some TLC. The A-string tuner post had somehow broken off and all the tuners were missing their nylon washers. The whole bass was also cruddy; and the passive electronics barely functioning.

I somehow managed to find four compatible tuners and cannibalized them for their nylon washers. The A-string tuner had to be totally replaced, of course. That left one tuner without a washer. A makeshift washer was fashioned out of a thin slice of pickup tubing; and seemed to do its job adequately. You can see it if you look closely at the pictures below.

The whole bass was given a good clean and polish, and the hardware taken apart for servicing. I really like the Accu-Cast B25 bridge a lot. It's solid, and the single saddle height adjustment screw makes setup so much easier. Speaking of setup, I was expecting the fretboard radius to be at least 14 inches. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was just 12!

Electronics-wise, the MK1-5F (neck) and MK1-5R (bridge) humbuckers were still going strong. It was just the pots that needed to be replaced. Once rewiring and circuit testing had been taken care of; the SR605 was strung with Ernie Balls, set up; and plugged into my Laney RB2 for a final sound check. What did it sound like? Ahem, do pop over to SoundCloud for a listen.

Well, guess that's it for this post. For more information on the SR605, do check out Reverb, Music Bliss and Andertons. Thanks for dropping by. Till we meet again, stay home, stay safe; and God bless :)

 

Custom Explorer Bass Makeover | Part Five

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five

Welcome to the fifth and final post on a custom Explorer-style five-string bass makeover. The refinish is finally complete and shielding has been taken care of. It's now time to install the electronics and hardware, reassemble the beast, string her up; and see what she sounds like.

DCR readings for the seemingly-identical humbuckers are 16.21K and 17.94K. I've put the one with the higher DCR in the bridge position. The electronics comprise three Alpha A500K pots (Volume/Volume/Tone), a 0.033uF tone cap; and Neutrik/Rean NYS229 output jack. This custom bass is tuned A E A D F# (low to high).

To listen to what this Explorer-style bass sounds like straight into a Laney RB2 with the EQ flat, check out this SoundCloud audio file. I'm only playing on the E, A and D strings as I'm all at sea where the low A and high F# are concerned ;)

Although it has taken me nearly eight months to complete this makeover; it's been time well spent and a valuable learning experience. Thank you for supporting me thus far, and I hope you'll visit from time to time to check on what I've been up to. As always, stay home, stay safe; and God bless.