EX-5 Build Diary - My First Build Bridge Pilot Hole Question

[Sonic Mountain]

Yep, super handy, even a cheap one is a huge labour saving device. Looks great.

[MusicStudent1]

Greetings my Australian brothers (and everybody else)!

It is amazing what a guy can do with a little time off. My EX-5 Bass sat unbuilt for over a year, and I think I can finish it right at the one year mark in couple of weeks. I did everything right paint-wise, except I used old low quality Krylon spray paint. No matter how long I let that paint cure, the 2nd or 3rd coats would wrinkle causing me to sand, spray, repeat....it was an incredible waste of time and effort. The finish still isn’t what it should be, but this instrument will be a player /practice instrument so I’m not going to obsess over it.

. DISASTER!

. Flat paint on neck back. I am satisfied with how this came out.

. Headstock has nice gloss, but it’s imperfect from that wrinkling.

. The neck fits into the pocket even with a few coats of paint on each. I never did the “test fit” from the install guide. I also haven’t drilled the holes for the bridge yet.

Stand by, Gents!

- MusicStudent1 from Houston, TX

PS - The New Zealand film, “Deathgasm” was pretty funny...it kinda motivated me to finish this axe!

[MusicStudent1]

Finally! The bass is 90% assembled. I just need to wire it up, install the strap pins, install my string retainer, put on the decal, set the action, intonation, and pickup height and it’s ready!

I am learned a lot so far. Not only did I not need a drill press, I didn’t even need a drill. I used that pin vice thing from my earlier post to hand drill all pilot holes. Even the neck pilot holes were done by hand.



The paint I used wasn’t the best but it is thin which is what I wanted. More to come.

[MusicStudent1]

I finally completed my EX-5 Bass this afternoon. I had a tough time with the pickup springs not compressing enough and finally ditched them and used foam rubber under the pickups instead.

It took a long time to wire the thing up but it was a success. I played it for the first time through my amp today.

I guess I’ll post some photos next. I still have to adjust action and intonation. The neck doesn’t seem to need anything. It’s got a slight bow as it should. Action is nice and low, no buzzing.

It’s been over a year...I was beginning to think I couldn’t do it....or wouldn’t do it. I’m very pleased with the finished product.

Now to play the heck out of it. Thanks for all the help, everybody. -MusicStudent1

[Fretworn]

Nice job. I’m wondering if that string tree will cause tuning issues on the high two strings though.

[MusicStudent1]

Thanks!

The string tree doesn’t look as neat as I’d like but it’s necessary due to a design flaw with the headstock. There’s no excessive binding, it just looks a little odd. Without it, the G string (and maybe even the D string) would be in danger of popping out of the nut.

I use graphite powder to lube points of friction and have had no problems even without it.

[MusicStudent1]

https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...ead.php?t=9654

Wow! I was just reading some posts and stumbled onto this! The tension from this guy’s EX-5’s D and G strings pulled the nut out of the slot!



The string retainer is a necessity, but it would look better if the strings bent around a roller. Guitars and Basses with the hockey stick headstock sometimes have this issue. I’ve used a black zip tie behind the nut to lock the strings into their slots. I had a bass with the E string pulled to the side. It popped out of the slot one too many times.

A bass locking nut would also be a solution.

They really should design a headstock that pulls the strings straight, not at an angle like that.