First Build - EX4

[Marty]

Well, its all together. Pickups are wired up and it makes a noise when its plugged in. I ended up doing a light spray of black over the white to cover some of the marks, it looks ok but its certainly not going to win any guitar of the month award.

Its still needs a good setup, i'll have to wait until the little one is back in nursery school before I can spend anymore time on it.

Couple of things which have annoyed me

I could park a double decker bus between the strings and the fretboard. That is despite the bridge being as low as it goes and a shim in the neck joint. That will need looking at.

The screws for the pickups are way too short. With the springs compressed there was nothing left the bite into the body when screwing them in. I ended up ditching the springs and using some foam instead. I also had to channel out some of the pickup cavity to run the wires. That was before finding out the screws were too short. At some point i'll get some longer screws and change them so the pickups are at the right height, because they are way too low at the moment.

Its got the classic explorer neck dive. May have to experiment with a different position for the strap buttons.

I'm generally happy with it. First time building a guitar and its been fun doing all the work. l'll get a picture up shortly.

[Rabbit]

You arn't likely to get a fantastic finish with spray paint as your top coat. "behind every show room finish is a good buffer " What might have worked for you if you are going the spray can route is automotive acrylic. Once you have primed you can sand the primer smooth to provide a nice smooth flat surface for base coat. Then you can spray several coats of acrylic clear. With enough coats of clear you can sand that perfectly smooth and then buff and polish to a flat, smooth gloss.

Funny you should mention the screws being too short, I could swear I have read another post here somewhere with a similar complaint. I havn't checked mine to see, as I am awaiting (if they ever manage to make it onto a plane) better pickups that are according to specs, thinner. I'll be bedding them with high density foam rather than bothering with the springs.

[Marty]

You arn't likely to get a fantastic finish with spray paint as your top coat. "behind every show room finish is a good buffer " What might have worked for you if you are going the spray can route is automotive acrylic. Once you have primed you can sand the primer smooth to provide a nice smooth flat surface for base coat. Then you can spray several coats of acrylic clear. With enough coats of clear you can sand that perfectly smooth and then buff and polish to a flat, smooth gloss.

Yeah it hasn't been buffed at all. It was primed, 4 or 5 coats of each gloss spray then a clear gloss over the top.

It doesn't look too bad. More annoyed about the imperfections due to having to sand back a couple of spots where the paint ran before.

[Marty]

Here it is.

Need to restring it so its B, E, A, D. That will require some filing of the nut and then a decent setup.

Wish i'd got the black hardware.

[wazkelly]

Hi Guys, the kit supplied screws should be long enough if not have a look around at an auto parts store as they quite often have long thin screws for fitting stereo gear in tight places.

The springs are next to useless and if you use really solid high density foam that will compress and provide a better natural 'spring' where pickups will sit flat and not lopsided. Pickups will need to sit a lot higher up than what you might initially think otherwise you will think they are under powered.

Hmmmm, double decker bus under between strings and fretboard......I had this problem too and with plenty of tweaking the truss rod took away most of it but unfortunately not all. A lot of Basses tend to have high actions from 12th fret upwards and all you can do is get is low as possible and then learn to live with it. Part of the problem is the fat barrell type saddles on the bridge that comes with the kit. I ended up finding a lower sitting bridge with lower saddles that probably gave me an extra 2mm - 3mm drop in action adjustment which improved things dramatically. Still not as low as I like but there is so much string tension happening on a fiver and not game to twist the truss rod any further in case I risk the big twang and snap something off.

Cheers, Waz

Neck dive can be solved by repositioning strap button to the bolt on neck plate, similar to where it might be on a SG or ES.

[wazkelly]

Here it is.

Need to restring it so its B, E, A, D. That will require some filing of the nut and then a decent setup.

Wish i'd got the black hardware.

That does look nice.

On further inspection I reckon it is that chunky bridge causing most of the action height problems.

You could either look at counter sinking it if you want to keep that style or look for an alternative, and a black one which wouldn't look out of place with chrome knobs & tuners.

[Marty]

That does look nice.

On further inspection I reckon it is that chunky bridge causing most of the action height problems.

You could either look at counter sinking it if you want to keep that style or look for an alternative, and a black one which wouldn't look out of place with chrome knobs & tuners.

Thanks man! I'm quite happy with how its turned out.

Its definitely the bridge causing the problems with the action. Thats why I stuck a shim in the neck pocket try and offset it a bit.

I'll probably replace the bridge at some point, the knobs and the tuners. Go all black and do away with the chrome entirely.

[Lappa]

The black bevel on the body really works well with the shape of the inlays on the fretboard! It turned out awesome, congrats!

[wazkelly]

Check these out....

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-Hips...QAAOSwExtcn7oI

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4-String...wAAOSwgSpbuiQ3

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4-String...EAAMXQgb1RQoVD

I used the last one, not bad, just not brilliant but did improve lowering the action.

[Rabbit]

I'll probably replace the bridge at some point, the knobs and the tuners. Go all black and do away with the chrome entirely.

I went with a black Babicz. Expensive, but a very nice piece of kit. I have a Badass bridge for the next project, but it's nowhere near as nice as the Babicz.