Scott's GED-enBacker RC-4 Build

[geddyfan]

Okay...so this project started about a year and a half ago. It started out pretty quick out of the gate, and then slowed a bit as I tripped over my own feet and child-like enthusiasm here and there, but overall I was pleased and excited. All the mods, the maple cap, the finishing, etc. But then...



But then I had to figure out (1) the wiring, and (2) all the fine-detail stuff like the setup so it didn't play like a chunk of butcher block (which it did when I first tried to play it).

I honestly took a year to just ponder just the wiring. Hell, I've never wired a bass. I know how to solder, but come up with a wiring design? ...whatever. The bass just sat in it's case while I dealt with my feelings of intimidation and inadequacy. Every once in a while I would look at it...and look at it some more. Eventually people stopped asking about "the bass project" and my wife even stopped throwing me dirty looks every time she walked by the unfinished project in my office.

Finally, I decided to just go for it, and this past week I finished the beast.



Wiring-wise, I combed a wiring diagram from a jazz bass (it was simple enough that even I could figure out how to add the third pickup) with some info I found on using a on-off-on SPDT switch for coil tapping. The goal was to get 3 volumes (one for each pickup) going to a single tone, with a switch for each to make it possible coil-tap each GFS MM-style bass pickup. Of course, I had to deal with some issues I'd made for myself.

First, the cap I'd put on the guitar was about 1/4 inch thick. Way too thick for the cts pots and switches I bought from StewMac. Buy new pots and switches, or make the wood thinner? I decided to make the wood thinner. I was using a little Bosch Colt router, and given the size of the cavity, this meant a lot of that routing was more "free hand" than I would have liked. I was shooting for 1/8", but I ended up with 1/16". Yikes. I could have probably broken it with a finger if I really tried. So, I spent about a month trying to figure out what I should do to make the wood over the cavity stronger. Solution: Bondo fiberglassing kit. I ended up doing about three layers of fiberglass and resin in the compartment, which worked great. Super strong now. Re-drilled the holes and everything looked great...except now one of the pots and one switch no longer fit because it changed the clearances a bit. Bust out the Dremel, start grinding. Eventually everything fit as planned. Painted the inside with conductive shielding paint, installed the pots and switches, and wired it all together.

Next, I had been putting off dealing with a problem with the bridge that I knew I had. When this all started, I really thought hard about getting one of those black Hipshot Rickenbacker bridges, but I just couldn't swallow the price tag. In the meantime, I found a bridge that I liked pretty well on the All Parts site for $35.00. Solid...modern-ish...nice-looking...but one problem. Mounted, it was about 1/8" too...short. As solid as it is, the profile is just a lot lower and it couldn't be adjusted high enough to provide the correct clearance over the fret board without things getting really wonky. Solution: I had a piece of the maple cap I'd planed down to 1/8" for the control cavity cover and truss rod covers I made left over, so I made a spacer that I cut to size, sanded, and finished with the same black finish I used for the guitar. Slipped it under there, screwed everything down, and honestly, it looks like it's part of the bridge...and the height is perfect now...



So then...the moment of truth before moving on to the final setup...I plugged it in (with my wife cowering on the other side of the room, convinced I was about to electrocute myself)...and believe it or not, it worked ON THE FIRST TRY.

Unbelievable.

Then I moved on to the setup. I found a really easy to follow 4-part series by Elixir strings on Youtube. It turned out that straightening the neck, making all the string height adjustments, etc. was pretty darned easy (it helped that the neck was pretty good to start with). I've been playing bass for 38 years, but never bothered to learn how to do a proper setup (just paid for someone else to do it). Looking back, I've thrown away a ton of money just being lazy all these years. The only real issue I had was the nut. The nut height was off by a mile and it took me a long time to get the slots filed down to the proper height with the files I had (next time, I'll order some proper nut files). Overall, It was an interesting process in that you can actually feel how each adjustment makes the neck easier to play on. Wish I'd learned all this when I started.

So, once I got the neck in shape, I started really playing around with it. It's fun to play. I like the neck, fret board, and the action, though I think I can tweak it a little more and make it a little better (and I didn't level the frets, which I need to do just for the experience, so that might squeeze a little more playability out of it, tho honestly, they're not bad the way it came out of the box).

I love the way it looks. The pictures don't really do the maple justice.

Sound/wiring-wise...I got about 90% out of what I wanted from the wiring in the sense that it works, and it mostly does what I wanted it to do. Lots of tonal difference between the three pickups in humbucking mode. I need the adjust the height of the pickups, but as far as getting three different "sounds" it certainly does. The coil-tap feature...meh...underwhelmed, and I doubt I'll really use it, but switches are cool Actually, this feature isn't working right on the middle pickup. It's either a bad switch, or I'm wondering if it's how everything is wired. The middle switch doesn't seem to tap the coils and in the "down position" it kills the pickup. This will require pondering...I'm also considering taking the switches out and installing red LEDs Or maybe 3-band equalization? the E-string really booms on this sucker.

When I started this, some folks questioned the wisdom of putting 3 MM-style humbuckers in it. I wanted something aggressive to the point of obnoxious...and that's what I got. THIS SUCKER IS LOUD. I like the sound of these GFS pickups, and they do make a glorious noise. When I first turned it on, all three pickups were turned all the way up and I thought I was going to blow the speaker in my GK combo amp. It's way louder than my active Ibanez five-string I usually play.

Take-aways on the project...many. This was fun and a great learning experience. I can't wait to do another one. First off, plan more. I had an idea when I started this, but I didn't really plan, and "winged" a lot of it. Have the right tools, too...I improvised way too much and would have avoided some pain otherwise. I almost ruined the whole thing at the start by trying to get around buying a router template for the pickups and making my own (notice that they'ere not perfectly aligned as it is) If I had it to do over, I would have approached the maple cap differently and gotten a better result. LEARN TO LOVE YOUR ROUTER. I was afraid of the router, but now I realize what an awesome tool it is for this kind of work. And do things in the right order. I just HAD to see the finish right way, and now, since this has taken so long, there are small imperfections that I either have to live with or I will have to repair. If I hadn't skipped around, I would have ended up with a near-perfect result...and I also wouldn't have spent as much as I did (I have all the receipts in a box, and am afraid to total it all up).

I'll post a video some time soon so people can hear it.