The Salt Mine is back!

Back in the saddle again! The Salt Mine is now operating independently in Darlinghurst, Sydney. Full website and trading details to follow. For now, here's a peek at the new setup.

Fender Jaguar Modification Part Two

Time to finish off the Jaguar!

The shoulder control recess and preamp rout were enlarged to fit the OBP-3.

Wiring the treble, bass, and preamp bypass switch.

Wiring the push/pull midrange, master volume and stereo input.

Everything fits!

Hipshot bridge fitted. Everything's good to go.

Finished!

This bass modification came together really well, and the pickup/preamp combination provides a wide range of tones.

Fender Jaguar Modification

A regular customer had a Fender Jaguar bass coming to him that he had purchased from overseas, and wanted to have some major modifications performed the minute it arrived.

Here's what was requested:

• New tortoise pickguard
• Install Nordstrand NP4 and NJ4SE pickups, neck and bridge
• Re-wire switching plate for on/off control of each pickup and series/parallel control of NP4
• Install Aguilar OBP-3 using existing control layout
• Install Hipshot A-type bridge
• Shielding, in particular to avoid pickguard static build-up
• Full set up with DR Marcus Miller signature strings.

The most time consuming part of this modification is the pickguard. Although there are great aftermarket sellers of Jaguar pickguards out there, I had to make one from scratch due to the routing required for the NP4.

On the slab.

Stock pickguard and thin MDF.

Traced and ready for rough cutting.

Filed and test-fitted.

Stock pickguard, thin MDF template, master template.

Rough cut and ready for trimming.

Bevelled and countersunk for mounting screws.

Bam! Perfect fit.

Routed for the NP4. The P-shape recess had to be finished off by hand due to the tight corners.

Prepping the NP4 for four-conductor wiring conversion.

Done! Couldn't do the series/parallel switching otherwise.

Wired up to the switch plate for a quick passive test. All working!

That's all for this time. Next time, the Aguilar goes in, the bridge gets installed, and the whole bass is set up and ready to go.

Business as Usual

You may or may not have read this announcement regarding the closure of Bass People.

No need to worry! The Salt Mine is still running, and repairs and modification services are continuing for the foreseeable future.

It's been a great a great five years working at Bass People, and a big thank you to David, Joel, Adrian, Evan, Pete, Glen and all the casual staff and customers over the years.

Still here for now!

Series/Parallel Modification

Having a series/parallel switch is a great way to get extra tones from any passive humbucking pickup configuration. Fender American Standard Precision and Jazz basses came with the infamous S1 switch for a time, allowing players to access these tones, and guitar players like Jimmy Page were early adopters of the parallel/series sound, modifying their stock instruments with push/pull pots and mini switches.

Here's the axe getting the mod, a nice Nash jazz-style bass.

Standard volume/volume/tone controls, for now.

Here's the standard layout. Neat!

Out with the old, in with the push/pull switch.

Re-wired and installed.

Done!

This bass can now produce a hotter, deeper tone with a mellow top end, perfect for old school Motown/Stax-style music. When this modification is performed on a precision-style bass, the tone becomes more defined and Stingray-like, with a snappier response.

Carl Thompson Restoration

Now and then, I get the chance to work on a unique instrument from a well respected luthier. Carl Thompson's bass designs always interested me, and this year I had an opportunity to restore a 4-string made in 2004.

The bass had spent years in humid Queensland, resulting in shrinking and slippage of the glue seams and joints. The customer also suspected truss rod issues, as they were having trouble with relief stability (thankfully, this wasn't the case!).

This bass required a re-fret (as the original frets had been removed and replaced with hardwood veneer), restoration of shifting glue seams and laminates, and a full setup, including nut filing.

First, all hardware was removed and bagged. You can see Carl's signature on the control cavity.

The walnut laminate here was separating from the mahogany centre block.

The tapered headstock laminate glue seam was shifting where it joined the neck, and formed a gap.

It's tricky to see, but the walnut laminate stripe also shifted due to glue slippage.

The accent timber (cat's eyes) on the wings had suffered the worst from the climate.

Some copper shielding had to be replaced due to deterioration.

The original oil finish definitely needed restoration to get back to a low-gloss "glow"

Before beginning the re-fretting, several layers of strong tape were used to protect the top and horns.

A fret-slot depth gauge is critical for making sure the new frets have enough depth for the tang. Also, re-sawing these slots was one of the toughest jobs my fret saws ever tackled. It was blister city!

Once the board was re-slotted, fretting began.

All frets installed.

Bevelling the fret ends, and cleaning up the tangs.

Taped off and ready for levelling.

Rough crowning.

Fretwork is complete. Now on to repairing the finish.

Here's the result of a lot of sanding, hand rubbed oil and wax.

Here's the repaired and re-finished cat's eye.

The top finished beautifully, bringing out the detail in the grain.

Shiny new frets, shiny new finish.

The headstock, restored and re-badged.

Re-strung, set-up and good to go.

Finished!

This was a very satisfying repair, and it was a privilege to restore. This bass is light, fast and very responsive to attack. The truss rod behaved perfectly, and the relief was very controllable (even with the extra long 36" scale).

Quackers

Custom Pickguard

From time to time I get a request to make a custom pickguard. Sometimes these are a different shape from the original, but usually the customer wants a different look or pickup layout.

This pickguard was made for a customer with an Ibanez ATK. The original pickguard was 3-ply black, and the custom pickguard would be white pearloid.

The first step is to trace the original pickguard on thin MDF and cut it out on the scroll saw.

More cutting, almost there.

Done!

The next step is hand shaping. You can test-fit the template to the bass this way.

Done. The edge is soaked in superglue to allow a defined surface for the router.

Next, I trace and cut the pickguard again, but on thick MDF.

Main template, rough cut. I'll use the thin template to rout the thick template to size.

The first template is attached to the main template with strong double-sided tape and routed.

Finally, the pickguard blank is attached to the main template and rough-cut to shape.

It's then trimmed flush and bevelled with a 45-degree bit.

Countersinking the screw holes.

Test-fitting the screws.

Done! The pickguard fits perfectly.

Making a pickguard without large guitar production equipment is a slow process, but can yield professional results. It's dusty work, and one screw-up means you have to start all over again, but once you have that template made it's useable for half a dozen or so more pickguards. For the more common pickguard shapes I make the template in perspex for long-term use.