G'Day from WA

[Kostalotamoney]

Hey
I am just a simple teen wanting to build a guitar with absolutely no idea what he's doing
All I want is a decent sounding 5 string Explorer bass for a metal band but I don't know anything about pickups and all that jazz

[Dedman]

Well, quite a few of us here are pretty simple.

take a browse through the forum sub section "My Build Diary" and have a look at what other people have done with their kits. Pretty sure Wazkelly did a 5 string explorer bass.

[wazkelly]

G'day Kosta. Welcome to the forum.

Dedman is correct in that I am one of a few who have built the EX-5, in fact it was my first build and you can follow the link in my signature that takes you to the build thread.

The stock Pickups are OK and if on a budget they might be good enough. I found the output levels a bit lower than my other Basses and went on a quest to find reasonably priced replacements. Must say the Custom Bensons sound nice but you would have to weigh up whether you want to spend about AUD $250. An alternative would be to buy a pre amp and battery box for less than AUD $25 and turn it into an active setup as this is what I have planned for my MMB build and just waiting on a few more bits to arrive.

Let me know if you want or need any more info.

Cheers, Waz

[Kostalotamoney]

Hey Waz. Thanks for the warm welcome.
What pre amp and battery box did you find for $25?
Anyway thank you for your help, my budget shouldn't be an issue as this is an ongoing thing for me. I was wondering though do you have to get the chrome parts for the EX-5 or can you get a different colour like the gold parts? (I'd like to put pizazz in my bass.) And will Gibson pickguards work with the EX-5?
Thanks, Kosta

[wazkelly]

Hey Waz. Thanks for the warm welcome.
What pre amp and battery box did you find for $25?
Anyway thank you for your help, my budget shouldn't be an issue as this is an ongoing thing for me. I was wondering though do you have to get the chrome parts for the EX-5 or can you get a different colour like the gold parts? (I'd like to put pizazz in my bass.) And will Gibson pickguards work with the EX-5?
Thanks, Kosta

Belcat pre-amp $19.89 http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/400368322...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Battery Box $1.24 http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/121830595...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

For different coloured tuners, chrome or gold, suggest having a look at Real Parts website where it looks like you can get chrome for $16 each or gold for $20 each http://www.realparts.com.au/tuning-m...bass-keys.html
Plenty of bridges available on their site and eBay too but need to be careful with some of the Chinese cheapies with junk metal as they will probably be crap and if gold I reckon that will lift or tarnish in no time at all.

Finally, the traditional Gibson Explorer pick guard will not fit as it is designed for the 6 string guitar. Why won't it fit? The PUP's are narrower than traditional guitar 6 stringers at around 40mm from memory plus they are about 104mm long compared to around 80mm for guitar. Positioning of the pickups is in different places too plus the original is designed to take the 3 way pickup selector switch too. These shots might give you a better idea...



Orange one is the EX-5 whilst Gold is EX-1

Cheers, Waz

[dave.king1]

Explorer bass for a metal band but I don't know anything about pickups and all that jazz

Metal / Jazz is that a new sub genre

Welcome to the forum, you will get all of the advice and help you need from the friendly folk on here.

[Kostalotamoney]

It's pronounced Jazzcore and it's going places

[dave.king1]

It's pronounced Jazzcore and it's going places

I won't ask where

[Gorath]

G'day Kosta!

[Hobastard]

I wish it would hurry up and go there....