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Winter Build Off 2026 - 5 String Fenderbacker
- Thread starter mapleglo
- Start date
Wonderful. It sounds like the problem areas are taken care of?
Scratches, what scratches? That drop-top is wild! The Watco really popped it.
For the most part, the sander took care of it. I'll take a closer look at it once the Danish Oil cured, but it looks pretty good to me now.
The top and bottom are actually figured maple, the sandwich is walnut, and the center beam is poplar with a couple of walnut strips.
I guess it was the contrast between the poplar and figured maple that caught my eye, and I overlooked the walnut center. Very nice materials, and very nice work!
Started on "pre-assembly" this morning. First, I shielded the control cavity.
Then I shielded the back of the control panel, mounted the controls, and mounted the control panel. I'm not sure if I'll add additional screws. I also mounted the bridge. I'll have to add a small spacer to raise it ever so slightly to make it flush with the body. Maybe 4 washers. The pickups are just sitting in there for now. Nothing is wired yet.
And just to see how it looks, I screwed on the neck.
So far, I'm pleased with this build. I've got some Howard's Feed-N-Wax Wood Polish & Conditioner coming today which I will wait until tomorrow to apply. I think the Danish Oil should be fully cured by then. Then I can wire it up and see if this build works. I was really hoping it would be lighter, but right now, it weighs in at 9 pounds on the nose.
Then I shielded the back of the control panel, mounted the controls, and mounted the control panel. I'm not sure if I'll add additional screws. I also mounted the bridge. I'll have to add a small spacer to raise it ever so slightly to make it flush with the body. Maybe 4 washers. The pickups are just sitting in there for now. Nothing is wired yet.
And just to see how it looks, I screwed on the neck.
So far, I'm pleased with this build. I've got some Howard's Feed-N-Wax Wood Polish & Conditioner coming today which I will wait until tomorrow to apply. I think the Danish Oil should be fully cured by then. Then I can wire it up and see if this build works. I was really hoping it would be lighter, but right now, it weighs in at 9 pounds on the nose.
So a few updates. First, the Howard's Feed-N-Wax was supposed to get here yesterday, but I got a message from Amazon that it was running late and it wouldn't get here until today. Turns out they delivered it last night. I found out this morning. So I dis-assembled everything and applied a coat of the polish to the body. It seemed to polish it up pretty nice. I installed the strap buttons while I thought of it as well. I also realized that the bridge mounting situation needed some additional attention so I cut some small blocks of wood and epoxied them in.
I'll let that cure over night and then drill mounting holes. Then I can space up the bridge so it's level with the body with washers, or maybe a flat sheet of aluminum I seem to remember having laying around here somewhere.
Spacer plate made from 1/8" aluminum plate. I think I'll sandwich the ground wire between the spacer plate and the bridge plate. That's a whole lot of plates.
Started working on the wiring this morning.
It's odd because it changes randomly. I measure 4.6k ohms, but the two coils in series, measure like 9K ohms, set everything aside, and then it's measuring something completely different. Maybe my battery in the meter is low. I'll go and change it before I go insane, if I haven't already...
It's odd because it changes randomly. I measure 4.6k ohms, but the two coils in series, measure like 9K ohms, set everything aside, and then it's measuring something completely different. Maybe my battery in the meter is low. I'll go and change it before I go insane, if I haven't already...
Well the wiring is done but I can't find my heat gun. I haven't used since we moved, so I don't know if we brought it with us or it got lost or what, but we did a pretty thorough search. So I can't yet test it out.
Well, maybe I can - perhaps I can figure something. In any event, I have to get a new heat gun. Here's hoping I figured out the EMG HZ wiring correctly.
Well, maybe I can - perhaps I can figure something. In any event, I have to get a new heat gun. Here's hoping I figured out the EMG HZ wiring correctly.
There's a Harbor Freight right down the street from me, and they are having a sale on heat guns. $10.00 during their sidewalk sale, which, oddly enough, is not on a sidewalk. So we drove over there, picked one up, and finished up the wiring.
Now I have to finish putting everything together and see if this thing actually works.
Now I have to finish putting everything together and see if this thing actually works.
Well, incredibly, it lives.
I may have some phase issue because with both pickups right in the middle, output is way down, but each pickup sounds pretty good by itself. I may go back in there and see what's what.
I may have some phase issue because with both pickups right in the middle, output is way down, but each pickup sounds pretty good by itself. I may go back in there and see what's what.
As it turned out, the nicer set turned out on the back. The best laid plans of mice and men...
There's a few things I would have done differently knowing what I know now including switching the back with the front pieces. I would have used only one pickup and no controls as well. Live and learn.
If you have a good ol’ fashioned analog multimeter you can always set it to ohms, select a range where the needle sits somewhere in the middle and then tap the pickups lightly with something steel (I often use a cutoff from an E string). The needle will deflect momentarily, just a little bit. If it deflects in opposite directions when you switch pickups, they’re out of phase. If it deflects in the same direction, your problem lies somewhere else; odds are your bass is haunted.
Of course, if you don’t have an analog meter you can always just swap the wires on one pickup and see if it fixes it!
