Filing

[Danzilla]

No, I don't mean your taxes (though it's time to get on that, too).

Now that I'm gainfully employed again, with a much longer commute and less time on my hands, I am getting ready to dive into the world of project basses & guitars. Prepare for lots of questions on how to best heal myself after bad soldering attempts; how to cover up badly drilled holes, etc. I'll post some before, after, and progress pictures when I get down to it (probably over the weekend).

 

I just purchased two instruments off of Craigslist for cheap; a g**tar and a bass, both by Fernandes. Aside from needing new tuners, some of the frets are a bit ragged on the edges. What grade file do you recommend to soften the edges?

 

And how do I cover up the notches that I make in the neck when I screw up?

 

(The other project is an old closet classic bass we found in my grandparent's house; formerly my uncle's instrument. Short scale POS! But my parents want me to fix it up for my niece. I doubt she'll prefer it to my Specter, but I can still hope! That's the other reason for me getting this Fernandes- hopefully for her; or a replacement for the Specter for me!)

[WCriley]

A small triangle file (about 4 inches long) works well. Should only cost a few dollars at a hardware store.

 

If you go slow and easy, you won't scratch the neck or fretboard.

[Big Red 67]

As fine as you can get too.

[Rocky McDougall]

I like the specialty tools you can get from Stewart McDonald. You can do it with small fine files from the hardware store but these are much easier to use. Take a look at the site below.

Rocky

 

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_supplies/Shaping_and_crowning.html

[Brocko777]

Put some tape onto the edge of the fretboard around the fret area to help protect it.

 

 

Stew Mac is like the CRAFTSMAN of the instrument world!!

[The Geoff]

Stewmac stuff is great - if you can afford them!!!

 

I mean, some of them must be cast in gold & diamond-encrusted to be the price that's being charged!!!

 

G.

[Danzilla]

The StewMac stuff looks nice, but since I've already got a bunch of tools, I don't want to buy anything extra if I don't have to. And I'll tape up the edge of the neck.fingerboard, too, to prevent gouges. Now to find the time between my daughter's basketball tournament games to get it done!

 

Thanks for the help!

 

I'm torn between getting tuners from Carvin or from Guitar Fetish. Most of the GF ones say "Grover style" of "Kluson Style" which makes me wonder if they are just cheap knock-offs, OEM, or the real deal without the label. I've seen GeoffB recommend some GFS pickups; their MM replacement might be nice for this bass, too. I'd kind of prefer to order everything at once, if possible, to save on shipping charges; but if the GF tuners aren't that great, I'll stick with Carvin.

[Brocko777]

I like my tuners on my Carvin...smooth and they do what they are supposed to. (IMO)

 

 

Brocko

[Rocky McDougall]

I have used a lot of the Fender factory Mexican tuners and I cannot find any fault with them. They work smooth and hold the tuning for days and they are cheap.

Rocky

[Danzilla]

Ok, so I finally got to do some work on this project bass by Fernandes.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n2/Awestruckdan/projects/2008_0309Image0017.jpg

 

It took me quite a while to find tuners for it. Guitar Fetish was backordered on left-side tuners. Carvin is now only selling 2+2 sets. I ended up getting some Gotoh's and a pair of paua-topped chrome knobs from Stew-Mac. They came last week, and I got to put them on last night. Tapped down some fret ends, and filesd them (after taping the wood around them)- not as good as I'd like, but no longer in danger of slicing my hand. Knobs- no problem; they look nice against the dark blue body (which will probably get re-painted down the line). Tuners- easy installation. Started stringit it up with some old Peavey Cirrus roundwounds I had laying around, which had previously been on the the Les Paul. Problem!

 

This thing has the lowest possible action- it was tight against all frets. I lowered the pickup, as there was definite magnetic pull; but the strings were still tight and rattling. Neck was super straight, no backbow in it. I raised the saddles (they wre pretty high to begin with); that gave me the upper 5 frets that were playable; but everything else was just ratling on the frets. I then loosened the truss rod a quarter turn. It was pretty tight. After an hour, I raised the saddles to their highest possible point. After some overnight settling, I checked it and can play kind of the 4th fret and up; still incredibly low action, and the intonation is way out.

 

Any suggestions on how to get the action reset-higher? I know you can shim the neck to lower action; can I shim the bridge to raise it? What would that do the sustain, and to the grounding wire? Do I dare try to shave the neck pocket or the neck itself at the tenon? Install a higher nut?

 

Once I get the action and intonation finished, I think I'll have an interesting bass for cheap money (about $95 including gig bag into it so far). I did run it through the Briefcase to see how the pickup sounds: full, fat, not too trebley, not too boomy. The tone pot isn't doing anything drastic; but on "10" there is some slight hum, which goes away when rolled down to 4 or less. I have shielding foil on the way, which might make a difference.

 

Any suggestions to my problems are greatly appreciated.

[Danzilla]

PS: One more small issue: You can see on the picture, on the end of the fretboard on the treble side, the rosewood chipped a way just below the last fret. Would wood putty build up well enough to hold and fill out that area? Any other ideas?

[The Geoff]

I'd tend to round off the ends of the fretboard rather than build it up.

 

My experience with MM pickups is similar to yours - they can exert a strong pull on the strings - I actually experienced Stratitis on a cheapo bass with a big MM on it - had to screw the pup right down.

 

The neck. Mmmm.

 

Have you had the neck off to see if there's any shimming already under there?

 

Rather than shim under the bridge, personally, I'd be inclined to take the electric planer across the bottom of the heel a couple of times.

 

How's the nut? Could you cut the grooves down, or is it right?

 

If you can play from the 4th fret up, that suggests that there is a back-bow from the 4th back to the nut. This would need released.

 

Basically you've done everything I would do.

 

Can I suggest you continue tweaking until you have a level action under tension all along the neck, *no matter how low*.

 

At that point, if it were me, I'd consider either: shaving the base of the heel by about 1mm (electric planer) or slightly deepening the heel socket (router).

 

This is puzzling, unless the neck and the body are not actually a pair. If they were, it should be easy to set them up as they used to be.

 

Good luck.

 

Geoff

[Rocky McDougall]

I like to be able to see a slight bow when sighting down the side of the neck. I set the saddles at about midway in their height travel. From that point, I will add or remove shims from the neck to give it string to fret clearence. If the bow is correct and the neck shim is correct, and you still have too little clearace on the first 3-5 frets, your nut may be cut too low.

Rocky

[Danzilla]

Thanks, guys. The nut is low, but no lower than the brass nut on my Jazz. Not much room to fool around with it, which is why I wondered if I should get a new higher one. I'd rather not but...

I haven't taken the neck off to see if there are any shims, but looking at the heel it's pretty tight in there so I doubt if there are any. I wasn't sure if removing the neck would effect the truss adjustment I've done. I don't see any backbow at all; this puppy was very straight, part of why I went through with the transaction. I do question whether or not it was the original neck, due to the shape of the heel; but I've seen others that don't quite match up perfectly in stores. If I get a chance, I might de-string it and take the neck off tonight just to investigate.

[WCriley]

Try shimming the nut higher before you replace it.

 

If the nut seems high enough without shimming, then shim the neck. Place the shim near where the neck and body meet. This will tilt the neck "up" at the head. I'd start with something thin like a small strip of sandpaper and use the "trial and error" method until I found the proper thickness and position for the shim.

 

I wouldn't remove any wood from the neck or pocket...it's not reversible.

 

Removing the neck shouldn't change your truss rod adjustment.

[Rocky McDougall]

I have never seen a neck that had a shim at the front edge, they are always back at the rear in the pocket. Shims at the back are only used when the string/fret clearance is too great. Shimming at the front (at the head side) would increase clearance if it is too low, but the gap caused by a shim in this position would be unattractive.

Rocky