Installing chrome bridge and pickups on a p bass

[Evil Undead]

Ok - I've decided that I'm gonna have a pop at doing this myself. How hard can it be, right?

But being a girl with very little previous use of a drill, I thought I'd better ask for some advice from the experts.

I've got a few concerns.

Firstly - I'm worried about chipping the paint when I drill. If I put some masking tape on the body and drill through that, would that make it not chip? I know the covers will be over the top, but if I want to take them off at any point, I want it to be tidy holes.

Secondly - Would it be a good idea to remove the bridge, pickups and wires etc before I start drilling? I don't wanna be drilling through the ground wire or anything dumb like that.

There may be some people who don't think it's a good idea for me to attempt this myself (my other half included) but I know that I will take every care and not rush it etc - I've heard some horror stories about techs who pass instruments on to the Saturday kid to deal with, or are busy so rush through stuff and make horrible mistakes.

If, however, anyone really does think I shouldn't risk doing it and should take it to a tech, please say so and I'll reconsider

[packhowitzer]

I suggest practicing with the drill on some scrap wood for as long as it takes until you get a feel for the torque (twisting force) and weight of the drill. Drilling a hole isn't necessarily a daunting task in itself, but if you aren't used to the tool you'll be using, you can really make a mess. Better to make some mistakes on some old hunk of 2 X 4 before you start on your prized instrument. When you can drill holes in scrap EXACTLY like you plan them in your head, then consider moving to your bass. Good Luck!

[SurferJoe46]

The masking tape trick is OK if you haven't put some minor cracks in the paint by drilling it and then the tape rips chunks of paint out.

Better to not use the tape.

But the bigger consideration is to use new or as-good-as-new drill bits for this work and a fast enough speed.

If you have a dull bit, then it can dance or chatter or just burn it's way through the paint and wood and that's not a good thing.

I like to use my Dremel to make holes, as the speed is pretty high and the chance of it chattering are pretty close to nil. Still gotta be careful though.

Here's my Dremel and me holding it to drill out for a custom pickguard on a VM-Jazz:::



The blue tape's there to limit the depth of the bit so I don't go through the whole body. It can happen.

Be very sure that the cover(s) you have, have NOT BEEN PARTIALLY CRUSHED in shipping!

They may be too flat or spread out and then you won't have adequate string clearance.

[C.Linton]

The best way to avoid chipping is to use a variable speed drill, and start your drilling SLOWLY. I've never had a problem yet with tape pulling out chunks of paint for that reason.