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Day three: finishing the woodwork.
Day three: finishing the woodwork.
On the task list today is:
• Routing the hole for the battery compartment
• Drilling the hole for the output jack
• Modifying the PUP compartment so the PUP can be mounted in the optimum position for the MM tone. (And match the position dictated by the replacement Stingray 5 scratch plate)
As the battery compartment was a deep rout (over 25mm) and needed to be tackled in 5mm increments so not to overload the battery router, I made a little jig that was clamped to the body.
Next was drilling the hole for the output jack; this was being moved to the edge of the body as the position on the control plate where it would normally be will be occupied by the treble control of the two band EQ.
I bored a shallow 22mm diam hole (spade bit) first to allow for the convex shape of the mounting plate. Next was the 14mm hole for the body of the switched socket.
Existing PUP cavity was way too large for what was required from the factory, but still needed to be moved 12 mm toward the bridge to position so the pole pieces of the PUP are the correct distance from the saddles.(MM spec)
The combination of the pickup location shift and the routing of the battery compartment necessitated the re-routing of the PUP wire toward the location of the volume pots.
With all the woodwork complete, it’s now on to the control plate and electronics. It's starting to look like an SR5 replica now...
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Day four: electronics, final pre-finishing fit.
Fitting the preamp in to the control cavity was always going to be tricky, so I decided to take the MM approach and mount everything on the back of the control plate and use high grade connectors to plug everything together. This necessitated a little notching of the original control cavity to fit the preamp block, and cable holes opened up to suit the connector sizes.
Photo of the control plate shows wiring configuration for individual volume controls for each PUP coil in parallel, however I intend to experiment with a push/pull parallel series switched pot later.
This is another benefit of the removable “plug n play” control plate; modifications are really easy.
With all this working, it was time to finish the last of the installation of parts, assemble everything for the final fit and test before commencing the sanding and finishing process.
First was the drilling of the bridge plate to accommodate the thru body stringing. The 4.5mm holes were transferred through the body on the drill press and then the 9.5mm holes for the ferrules were drilled in from the back. I will use a press to push these in after the painting is complete.
As previously discovered, never assume parts (In this case the heel of the neck) are machined correctly from the factory- the image below shows the convex surface that had to be straightened to obtain a good fit. This remedial work now has the neck sitting almost 2mm lower in the neck pocket than I wanted; meaning the bridge saddles are almost all the way to the bottom of their adjustment on the B and G strings.
When I re-assemble the bass after painting, I’ll correct this with a full pocket shim.
And so here it is, fully assembled and functional- minus paint, full set-up and intonation. I have a set of Schaller BM 4L +1R machine heads on the way, and thankfully the mounting holes are the same as the ones that came with the kit. Unfortunately, I had to spend my upgrade money in Germany- the Australian/New Zealand guitar parts suppliers don’t appear to serve the 5 string market as well as they could.
Next up: body prep and paint.
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Days five & six: Sanding, sealing and undercoat
I was quite fortunate with the body as there were very few dings and machine marks to deal with. All that was required was a quick whip around with a 6mm half round router to even out the edges to give the vintage “slab” look I was after. Next was the detail sander on the flat surfaces with 180 grit pads.
Edges were all done by hand, (also@180G) as was the final finishing. I spent about 2-1/2 hours on the sanding and decided there was not going to be much improvement to be gained by going over again with anything finer.
Minor dent filling and end grain sealing was done with good o’l TimberMate, followed by another session with the abrasive paper and a dust off.
I decided to use my airless Wagner to apply the undercoat; in this case I used British Paints 4-in-one sealer/undercoat/primer. I had used this product throughout a kitchen renovation previously, (under white lacquer) and was impressed with its coverage, adhesion, and filling abilities when laid on in a few thick coats (with a 4 hour forced dry between). Using the airless to pump the undercoat on is like the equivalent of 6+ coats with an aerosol product.
When fully cured, I will wet sand with 800G in preparation for the colour coats.
The body colour will be a chilli red, so the final undercoat will be tinted red to aid coverage.
Neck was prepared with 180G, 240G and finally with 400G in preparation for the Rust-oleum satin polyurethane, and fretboard masked. As with the body, the plan is to use multiple coats with a 1200G rubdown between coats.
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Day Seven: More sanding and body prep
During the wet rub (800g) of the 4-in-1 undercoat, I discovered that because of the thickness of the two coats; the through body string ferules did not fit in to their shoulder rebates any longer. The undercoat had added a good 0.7-1mm of material to the holes. Darn!
The only way to solve the problem was to re-machine them out again.
After considering all options, I decided to do this with a Dremel square cutter mounted in the drill press. This time I compensated for the paint thickness.. Duh! (See pic) Thankfully, it worked a treat.
Next was the transitional coat to the acrylic lacquer colour coats. Septone Primer Filler is perfect for this, as it is a high build primer that allows the hiding of any residual imperfections easily. As its colour is beige, it was really easy to see any areas where I had sanded through (with 1500G wet paper) to the previous coat which was white.
This was particularly important on the edges, as I could see easily where the thin spots were, and re-coat/sand accordingly.
While the touch-up coats dried, I test fitted the new machine heads that had arrived the previous day. These Schaller BM’s are a world of difference to the clunky cheapies in the kit.
As this bass is going to be a workhorse, it was a worthwhile investment of $130. Even with this (most costly) upgrade, the bass will still be within budget.
Although not really obvious, the plugged hole from the original incorrectly positioned (compared to a real MM) G tuner is annoying me, so I may just cover it with a decal of some sort... perhaps even a PitBull one. ;)
Final rubdown was a wet 1500G. The body now has a shine and is a smooth as glass.
Next: Colour/clear coats and headstock face.
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Day 8: Colour/clear coats and headstock face
During the initial phases of construction, I was still undecided about the colour scheme; my wife favouring an antique cream with tortoise shell scratch plate, but I gravitated to the Chilli red with white perloid scratch pate and black headstock of the 2004 limited edition Stingray 4. There was no 5 string version of this, so even as a replica, this MMB 5 is not going to get mistaken for the real thing.
One thing I decided right from the beginning was that I was not going to hang the guitar up to paint as many people do. This is inefficient and in my experience makes it hard to get an even coverage easily as it is in a fixed position.
My solution was to use a 360 degree rotisserie type system similar to that used by engine builders.
It was really easy to make, and holds the guitar rock solid in any position you want. This is particularly good for angling the instrument in to the light so you can see how much you are overlapping each coat etc.
I created a mini spray booth with a curtain of clear plastic sheeting on 3 sides of the spray zone. Plenty of light was coming in from all sides and the top.
After standard prep, I sprayed 5 coats beginning with all the edges first and allowing it to tack off before building up each subsequent light, full body coat about 15 minutes apart. The edges were sprayed with the body in the horizontal position, and the front and back in the vertical position. The beauty of this is that the aerosol can of paint is always in the upright position and delivering an even pressure pattern. Each coat was applied at 90 degrees to the previous, (vertical/horizontal using the adjustable nozzle arrangement) ensuring even coverage.
Headstock was prepared the same way as the body. After the satin polyurathane on the back/sides of the headstock and neck were fully cured and masked, two coats of British paints 4-in-1 were applied to the face, hand sanded with 800G followed by 2 more coats of Septone Primer Filler. Final coat was wet sanded with 1500G before the black lacquer was applied.
The same spraying procedure was used with the clear coats, with 4 coats being applied. For the final clear coat the body was in the horizontal position, allowing slightly thicker coats without the fear of runs and drips. The technique still has you constantly moving the spray head, but just a little slower.
I’m going to leave the body to fully dry until next weekend before I start the polishing process.
Starting to look good.
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