Custom Neck-Through Tele Rehab: Part Two

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Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

To date, I've completed the Tru-Oil refinish, fabrication of a control cavity cover, and slight neck pickup cavity enlargement to fit the new humbucker-sized P90 clone. Conductive shielding paint, copper foil and grounding tabs have also been utilized to reduce rogue interference as far as possible. 

I've also adjusted the neck pickup in its cavity for optimal string/polepiece alignment with the help of "dummy" low and high E strings. Electronics-wise, the guitar has been rewired with a new 3-way switch, Alpha A500K pots, poly film 0.022uF cap; and Neutrik/Rean NYS229 output jack. 

Everything works as it should, thankfully. All that's left now is to string this guitar up with a set of Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys (10-46) and do a full setup. I think I'll take care of that tomorrow; now it's time to take a break and listen to some Nat King Cole. Thanks for reading this, and I'll see you soon :)

Ashton CG-44CEQAM Acoustic-Electric Classical Guitar

Nice classical guitar, this. I really love the deep amber hue, an indication that this instrument has seen its fair share of smoky gigs. It came in for cleanup and polish; plus restringing with a set of Ernie Ball Ernesto Palla Clear and Silver Nylon Strings. Looking around the web, MusicWorks has proven to be a reliable source of information; some of which is reproduced in the next paragraph.

Top: Spruce

Back and Sides: Catalpa

Neck: Maple

Tuners: Gold "butterfly"

Pickup: Under saddle

Preamp: Prener SPII (4-band EQ with sweepable mids), built-in tuner

Outputs: XLR and ¼” jack

Custom Bass Upgrade and Mods

I'll consider this to be a "custom" four-string electric bass, 'nuff said. It features a solid wood body, natural satin finish, tilt-back 2+2 headstock, rosewood fretboard, jumbo frets, maple bolt-on neck, twin humbuckers, monorail-style bridge, passive electronics; and zero shielding. The control configuration is two volumes and two tones, and the output jack is of the barrel variety; buried in an angled recess on the front of the body.

So, what's not to love about this bass? Lots, according to the owner. The "electronics suck," said he. There was no master volume to turn down during breaks -- he'd have to turn both volumes down, and in the process; lose pickup balance when he came onstage again. He was also apprehensive about using it live because of inconsistent signal strength and various annoyingly-audible snaps, crackles and pops. That, plus a setup that wasn't comfortable for slapping and popping (his favored style). I told him I'd have a look and get back to him ASAP.

What I discovered made me a very unhappy man. The routing and woodwork was generally slipshod and rough, pots were of the 3-bucks-apiece variety; and the wiring iffy. Next, I tried to remove the barrel jack in order to check it; but there was no way to do so. There was no access route, no nut; no nothing. I had to dig a hole through the control cavity wall to get to it and push it out from the inside. When it finally came out, totally mangled and unusable; I had a Eureka moment. The builder had simply drilled a hole from the front of the body and shoved the jack in, with just a piece of strategically-wrapped paper to keep it in place! 

With this new-found knowledge, we had a no-holds-barred discussion and decided to retain the pickups, upgrade the electronics, shield the cavities and back plate; and change the control configuration to pickup blend, master volume, and master tone. I'd also be plugging the existing output jack recess and one pot hole, and drilling a new hole in the side for a new barrel jack; amongst other woodwork-related tasks. 

That being taken care of, it was time to address the setup issue. Thank goodness the truss rod was working as it should, and tightening it up little by little over the course of a few days allowed for less relief and lower action. I strung her up with Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys (50-105), set up the monorail-style bridge (a real PITA) and called the owner to take her for a spin. He was happy about the positive changes in his best girl, slapping and popping to his heart's delight; but nowhere as happy or relieved as I was :)

OLP MM3 Five-String Bass | Part One

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Part Two | Part Three

Awie's MM3 - Electronics and Shielding Upgrade

Quite frankly, there wasn't anything seriously wrong with this OLP MM3 five-string bass when I received it. However, Awie, the owner had some cash to spare and decided that he wanted an electronics and shielding upgrade. Now, who was I to refuse him?

The electronics, as received, were not stock; as the second volume pot had obviously been replaced. One interesting aspect of this MM3's wiring scheme was that the neck and bridge-side coils of the single humbucker had separate leads, and each was wired to its own volume pot. This scheme, coupled with a single master tone pot, was basically similar to that of a typical Jazz Bass.

Shielding consisted of aluminium foil that was badly crumpled and torn in several places. After the foil and glue had been scraped off, I noticed an ultra-thin layer of carbon paint coating the control cavity walls.

Upon removing the humbucker, I noticed that the high-density foam glued to its bottom had lost its springiness and was totally useless for height adjustment. I gently pried it loose, cleaned up the residue, and replaced it with three generic pickup springs. I believe that in the long run, these will hold up better than foam.

Electronics-wise, everything was trashed except for the humbucker and its leads. In went three new Alpha A500K pots, a poly cap, and Neutrik/Rean NYS229 jack. Awie had also heard about the "vintage tone" of Gavitt wire, so that was used for rewiring.

The underside of the pickguard was re-shielded with aluminium foil, while three layers of carbon paint took care of the control cavity. Copper foil grounding tabs were added to ensure good contact between the pickguard and control cavity. An additional ground wire/lug was also run from the second volume pot to the control cavity shielding.