Noice82- IB 5 build.

[Noice82]

Hi guys never attempted a build or played around with a bass before, first question I have, the adjustable pickups (the standard humbuger that came with kit) so I'm presuming the springs go on the screw under neith the pick up? So the pickup doesn't sit hard against the body in cavity? Allowing a bit of space for the wiring to pass under aswell?

[dingobass]

Sure do. The springs also allow for pickup height adjustment.

[Noice82]

thanks for clarifying that. Just wasn't 100% sure on it. Thanks

[wazkelly]

Sometimes you may need to dig a bit of meat out underneath where the pickups will sit as the wire is about 2.5mm thick and could cause one part to sit higher than what you want.

[DrNomis_44]

Sometimes you may need to dig a bit of meat out underneath where the pickups will sit as the wire is about 2.5mm thick and could cause one part to sit higher than what you want.

That's something I might have to do with the pickup routes on the Gold Strat body, I've got all three pickups lowered as far as they can go, but they end up bottoming-out , the pickups are three Entwistle ASN57 Noiseless Single-Coil pickups, these are a bit bigger than standard Single-Coils because of the extra hum-cancelling Coil which is positioned right underneath the main coil where the magnet normally is, the result is that the body route needs to be a bit deeper to accommodate the pickup with it's extra hum-cancelling coil, I am sorely tempted to deepen the body routes a bit with a hammer and wood-chisel.

[wazkelly]

I hear your pain Doc as the Entwistle J Bass upgrades I installed were also taller than most and required the use of a chisel to help sort things out.

[Noice82]

ok its been a week or so since my last post. i have since completed my mock build, which thankfully i did as i found a few issues and changes i wanted to make.

-1) the input jack, i just couldn't get it to sit nicely so i decided to drill it out and sink it into the body so that it now sits flush within the body.

-2) the tone/volume things when i put them it appeared they had pre drilled them slightly to deep, when putting the knobs on the front there was about 5mm gap between knobs and body, i have packed them out with washers from behind so now i have them sitting just off the body..

-3) I've had a few issues with one particular neck bolt (now snapped twice), all the other screws have been pre drilled and gone in fine, however this one particular screw also pre drilled just kept snapping, re drilled it a few times also but again it snapped, still have no idea what caused this but its fixed now with all 4 screws in. luckily i have a music shop within 10min of my home that has a range of supplies and was able to (twice) go and pick up some new screws etc.

-4) as for the humbugger pick ups i took the advice from above and done away with the springs replacing them with some compressed foam.. turns out a 6metre roll of expansion joint from your local bunnings for $6 is the perfect thickness and just the right amount of spongy spring to it in order to do the job well.

-5) the back cover plate sent with my kit unfortunately was a slight bit off shape and my OCD issues couldn't cope with it so plus i wanted to cut it in so like the input jack the plate sits flush with the body also, i sourced some materials and cut a new cover plate myself.

I'm now ready to pull the mock build apart and start sanding sanding and sanding. my parcel from pit bull is due to arrive monday-tuesday, this contains my sand paper kit, my dingo tone kit, steel wool etc etc.
I've had a vision of how i want the finished product to look.. Im going a black grain filler, then the uluru red dingo tone over the top, so i finish with a vibrant red bass with black grain behind it. left all my hardware black and to finish it off i have ordered some DR strings from the USA, my low B and E string will be neon red, and the remaining A, D and G strings will be black.. I've done a coloured sketch of this and looks awesome so I'm really keen to see this vision come to life. I've added some fotos of what I've the changes I've made along the way. didn't put all of them though.

[Noice82]

[Noice82]

this may be a stupid rookie question but do I need to stain the fretboard or is that good to go as is ?

[Dedman]

No staining required, some sort of oil/wax is best, Pitbull sell it in the store Dingo Wax and there are a multitude of other ones available in stores.