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 :)

Custom Explorer Bass Makeover | Part Two

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

In Part 1 of this series, it was detailed how successive layers of gold flake, black paint, wood etchings, filler and goo were painstakingly scraped and sanded off until bare wood was finally revealed. In this episode, we pick up where we left off.

To begin with, grain filling was done on the back of the neck and headstock, as well as the headstock face; with  Elmer's Carpenter's Natural Wood Filler. Once excess filler had been sanded off, staining was effected using StewMac ColorTone Liquid Stains thinned with alcohol. Vintage Amber (#5030) was used for the back of the neck and headstock; and Cherry Red (#5038) for the headstock face.

Following this, these surfaces were refinished in Tru-Oil. Kindly note that I'll not be doing any refinishing work on the body until I've sealed existing screw holes and drilled new ones for the replacement bridge. Believe me, it's way safer to do any drilling before refinishing -- don't ask me how I know.

Next came taking accurate measurements before marking the all-important center and 34" lines prior to the installation of the new bridge. Once this was taken care of, the neck was reattached to the body; and the new bridge temporarily secured in the correct location. Then, two strings were utilized to check for proper side-to-side alignment. Guess what? The G and B strings were falling right off the edges of the fretboard! This meant that the new bridge could not be used as the G-B string spread was just too wide for the neck.

After some more measuring, it was determined that the G-B string spread of the original bridge was 6.8 cm; while that of the new bridge was a whopping 7.5 cm. Bottom line: the new bridge had to be put aside and the original reinstalled; no questions asked. I also suspect that the original bridge itself had not been installed correctly right from the start. The first issue was that it was not centered correctly. The second was that when aligned with the 34" mark, the G-string saddle was only about halfway forward.

When determining proper bass bridge location, I first make sure the bridge is "centered." Then, I adjust the G-string saddle to its forward-most position; and pull back about 1/16" to allow for some leeway. Next, I position the bridge so that the "break point" (the point where the string passes over the saddle) of the G-string saddle is aligned with the 34" mark. If this all sounds a little complicated, do check out these two excellent online resources:

Bridge Placement (scroll down to the post by "Rodent")

Electric Guitar and Bass Assembly Guide (scroll down to "Locating the bridge")

Going back to the drawing board, I've centered the original bridge, pulled it back so that the break point of the G-string saddle aligns with the 34" mark; and marked the new positions for the bridge mounting screws. The next step will be actually drilling these new holes, reinstalling the bridge; and checking once again if the strings are aligned correctly. Do check for further updates on this Custom Explorer Bass Makeover; and thanks for dropping by :)