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INTRODUCTION

Congratulations on your purchase of your RAS Kit. While it can be a great
challenge for an inexperienced builder, with care and attention to details, it can
produce an excellent instrument that can last a lifetime.

TOOLS

You will need some tools. Mostly, they're tools you probably have around the
house,
anyway.
Very good straightedge.
most home repair stores
An electric
drill. A 3/8 standard drill works just fine. However, I use a
drill/screwdriver with torque control, which will keep you from stripping
most screws.
Screwdrivers.
Finishing
supplies. That includes sealers, stains, polyurethane or
lacquer, sandpaper, brushes, etc. Complete instruction on finishing is beyond the scope of
these instructions but there are tons of great resources at:
-
Stew Mac
http://www.stewmac.com/How-To/Online_Resources/Finishing/
-
Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+finish+a+guitar+body
Masking
tape. Get the good stuff. At a minimum, use the blue tape that is
good for 7 days. Anything less than that will bleed through, leave residue,
and otherwise disappoint you. Get a wide roll and a narrow roll.
TEST FITTING & ASSEMBLY
Before you are ready to put a final finish on the guitar, you need to be sure
everything is going to fit properly. Take each piece and check it's fit on the body
and neck. Once you have found everything to fit properly, apply your finish to the
wood. For these instructions, we used an unfinished kit to demonstrate assembly.
However, you will not complete your final assembly until after your finish work is
complete.

ATTACHING THE NECK

This is a bolt-on neck kit which simply means that the necks is joined to the body
with the 4 screws provided. Be sure the neck is snug to the body and secure it to
the body form the back with the 4 screws.
I use a long aluminum yardstick, available at
Get good quality; it will save you a lot of grief.

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Summary of Contents for RAS 57403

  • Page 1 INTRODUCTION Congratulations on your purchase of your RAS Kit. While it can be a great challenge for an inexperienced builder, with care and attention to details, it can produce an excellent instrument that can last a lifetime. TOOLS You will need some tools. Mostly, they’re tools you probably have around the house, anyway.
  • Page 2 TUNING MACHINES The 4 tuning machines are secured to the neck from the back with 4 screws. First press the ferrules into each of the tuning machine holes from the top of the headstock. Next slide the tuning machine into the hole from the back of the headstock.
  • Page 3 BRIDGE The bridge sits on the top lower portion of the body below the pickups. Align the bridge above the pre-drilled holes. Be sure to secure the black ground wire beneath the bridge with good contact between the bare ground wire and the bottom of the bridge. You may need to strip some of the insulation off the wire.
  • Page 4 STRAP BUTTONS Connect the 2 strap buttons to the body with the screws provided. One goes on the bottom center of the body (as shown in pic). The second goes on the upper horn at the top of the body. If you are having trouble locating this, just look for the small hole drilled into the width of the body on the horn above the neck when holding in a playing position.
  • Page 5  Wire cutters  Peg winder  Polish and cloth STRINGS New strings can breathe new life into your bass. Much of the thump and pop you expect from your bass starts right there. For strings to stay in tune, they should be changed regularly.
  • Page 6 INTONATION (ROUGHING IT OUT) You can preset the basic intonation of your bass by taking a tape measure and measuring from the inside of the nut to the center of the 12th fret (the fret wire itself; not the fingerboard). Double that measurement to find the scale length of your bass. Adjust the first-string bridge saddle to this scale length, measuring from the inside of the nut to the center of the bridge saddle.
  • Page 7 Bass Side Treble Side Vintage style 8/64" (3.6 mm) 6/64" (2.4 mm) Noiseless™ Series 8/64" (3.6 mm) 6/64" (2.4 mm) Standard "J" or "P" 7/64" (2.8 mm) 5/64" (2 mm) Special Design Humbuckers 7/64" (2.8 mm) 5/64" (2 mm) INTONATION (FINE TUNING) Adjustments should be made after all of the above have been accomplished.

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