Ibanez GIO Bass Needs a Setup

January 5, 2025. CA Guitar Repair. Taman Impian Ku, 25200 Kuantan.

Evaluating a RC Stromm P-Style Bass

Here's a sunburst RC Stromm P-Style four-string bass that's been sent in for an evaluation and repair estimate minus a gig bag. Although I've immediately noticed quite a few issues that need to be addressed, the owner is only worried about the high action and general unplayability. Well, brother, there's a whole lot more to be worried about. 

As the bass still has strings on, I've plugged it into an amp just to see if it works. The good news is that it does make a sound. The bad news is that the output stays the same with the volume control dimed, fully off, or anywhere in between. There's definitely something wrong with the wiring, the volume pot itself; or both. Watch the short video below, and you'll see what I mean.

Now that introductions are over and done with, let's take a closer look at the hardware. Starting at the headstock end, you'll notice that the tuners and lone string retainer are cruddy and in dire need of servicing. To make matters worse, all sixteen mounting screws are terribly corroded.

Tuners and String Retainer

Rusty Tuner Mounting Screws

Moving on to the strap buttons, there's a remarkable similarity in condition when compared to the tuners and string retainer. All that corrosion and crud suggests that this bass has been sitting on a stand or hanging on a wall collecting dust. Which makes a lot of sense since it doesn't even have a gig bag.

Upper Horn Strap Button

Rear End Strap Button

Think I'll take the three-ply pickguard off now and see if there are any surprises lurking underneath. But wait, I can't even unfasten the screws. Guess why? Yes, sir, it's because the slots on all eleven are too corroded for a screwdriver to get a firm grip on. Half-an-hour later, and I've managed to unscrew the lot. There's rust spots and loads of grime on the underside of the pickguard, but nothing a good scrub with soap and water can't take care of.

Eleven Rusty Pickguard Screws

Underside of Pickguard - Image 1

Underside of Pickguard - Image 2

Underside of Pickguard - Image 3

The bridge on this bass is a typical vintage-style with four barrel saddles. There's a nice blanket of cobwebs and dust coating every square inch, so thick that it looks like fur. Let's unscrew the saddles and see if anything needs to be serviced or replaced. Well, I can't say I'm surprised. The intonation screws, springs and height adjustment hex screws are cruddy, discolored, and corroded. It's a wonder I managed to get them off at all.

E and A Saddles

A, D and G Saddles

Saddles, Screws and Springs

Cobwebbed Bridge Plate

Close-Up of Bridge Plate

Rear End of Bridge Plate

Back to the pickguard, then. As expected, electronics comprise nondescript volume and tone mini pots, as well as a generic open frame output jack. The wiring has been duly checked, and found to be sound. This being the case, the root cause of aforementioned output anomaly is definitely the volume pot itself.

Mini Pots and Output Jack

Close-Up of Volume and Tone Pots

Close-Up of Output Jack

The split P-style pickup is most certainly in working order, as can be heard in the video at the beginning of this post. Are there any issues of concern, then? Oh yes, there are. For one, there's the sheer amount of dust and grime coating the covers. Then again, those rusty height adjustment screws and pole pieces cannot be ignored.

Grimy Pickup Cover and Rusty Screw

Rusty Pole Pieces - Upper Pickup

Rusty Pole Pieces - Lower Pickup

Last but not least, something needs to be said about the fretboard and frets. Yes, that's a pretty cruddy slab of wood we're looking at. The tarnished frets, meanwhile, display the typical discoloration brought about by oxidation. If you guessed that whoever used to play this bass never bothered to wipe down the strings and fretboard after use, you're spot on! 

Cruddy Fretboard

Close-Up of Tarnished Frets

        

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 Three

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

This is the third instalment of an ongoing series concerning a makeover on a custom Explorer-style five-string bass. I'd finally determined what I thought was the correct bridge location in terms of scale length/intonation and side-to-side string alignment. However, I was wrong. The correct location was still at the same distance from the nut, but slightly to the right of the body's center line.

After six new holes had been drilled for the bridge mounting screws, the bridge was successfully installed. The neck was then reattached, and the bass strung with "dummy" G and B strings. I'm glad to report that side-to-side string alignment was where I wanted it to be. That being taken care of, it was time to remove the masking tape, clean off any tape glue residue; and plug redundant screw holes. These holes were plugged with wood glue-laced wooden dowels, which, once the glue had cured; were trimmed and sanded flush with the surrounding wood.

While all this was going on, I suddenly realized that neck mounting screws were quite loose; even when fully tightened. Further investigation revealed that one of these screws was slightly shorter and smaller in diameter than the others, the screw heads were chewed up and rusty; plus the existing holes in the neck heel were worn out. The obvious solution was to: (i) plug the screw holes and redrill, and (ii) replace the neck mounting screws with a matching set.

The neck heel hole-plugging process was similar to that employed for the redundant screw holes in the body; except that larger wood dowels were used. Once this was done, the neck was reattached; and everything now fit "as snug as a bug in a rug" (as my late Dad would say).

That's all I have to share for this post. The next stage of this makeover should be grain-filling, staining; and refinishing the body. Thanks for dropping by. Stay safe, wear a mask when outdoors; and I'll see you all real soon :)

Epiphone Accu Bass Jr Overhaul

There was lots to repair on this Precision-style bass. For starters, the grimy fretboard had separated from the neck; and the nut was broken. The bridge was so cruddy that the saddle height hex screws were frozen in place. As if that weren't enough, someone had decided to "rewire" the electronics sans solder -- a couple connections were just twisted together! In any case, as I'd have to replace the pots and output jack and rewire the innards; that issue would be taken care of.

The fretboard was reglued to the neck with Titebond III and clamped, and all was well after four days. Following this, the fretboard was subjected to a thorough reconditioning; which included a healthy dose of lemon oil right at the end. I eventually managed to remove the frozen saddle height hex screws with the help of heat/cold treatment, and a sturdy pair of pliers. After derusting, servicing and a lube job, eight new hex screws were fitted to the saddles; and the bridge reinstalled.

The high density foam pieces that sat underneath the pickup halves had lost their springiness and were virtually unusable, these were replaced with four springs. All the electronics were removed; Alpha 500K pots,0.047uF cap, and Neutrik/Rean NYS229 output jack wired in.

After installing a new nut, the neck was reattached to the body. The Epiphone Accu Bass Jr was fitted with a new set of strings, and set up to normal specs. I'm thankful I was able to help give this bass a new lease of life.