Refinishing / Modding my Strat

wern101 · 2018-09-11T07:11:44+00:00

Morning guitar people! So as the title suggests, this is my first mod. I am scared to death. I realize all the more what a noob I am. I’ve been contemplatin...

Refinishing / Modding my Strat

wern101

Ok update time. In two parts...

Part one:
I took a bit of time to 'relic' the hardware on the guitar. Just a bit of sanding through the chrome plating and a lovely coppery color came out. I decided to go with it, sand marks and all. Some photos below, although the pics don't do em justice:

Currently busy with a copper 'wire mesh' back cover - work in progress... all will be revealed later ?

I also took the old control knobs and made em fit inside copper fittings. These will be the volume and tone knobs once done ?

End of part one.

wern101

Part two - Neewb alert!
I want to start with the wiring while I wait on the pick-guard to arrive. I am completely confused.
The idea is two humbuckers with 1 master volume and 1 master tone controls and a three way switch (LP Style). Simple. Right?
Found this diagram which I think is pretty clear:

HOWEVER - when looking at the Humbuckers I received, I see a problem:
Bridge pickup:

Neck and bridge pickups:

The wiring on the pickups is not the same as on the diagram! Am I being stupid? The 'neck' pickup has only two wires. White and Bare. The Bridge Pickup has, what appears to be, five wires - Black, green, bare, red and white. The green and bare are already soldered together and the white and red as well. Is this normal?

I can't seem to figure out how I am to do the wiring. Below are the contacts on the pots and switch:

Help?!

wern101

wern101 Am I being stupid?

Apparently I am. I just found this comment on Youtube that states:
"The "Hot" wire is the wire inside of the braided shield. If there are more than one wire, then that means the pickup has separate coils"

So in other words - the Neck pickup does not have separate coils but I can split the coils on the bridge pickup if I wanted to?

Am I still being an idiot? (Can you tell I have never done this before?)

guidothepimmp

So per the whatsapp chat.

Black is hot on the bridge pup. Tape the red and white together. White is hot on the neck pup. Then just follow the diagram substituting their hot and ground colours with yours.. and Robert is your fathers brother!

For the grounds.. just solder the ground onto the back of a pot. Anyone should be fine. That is, the ground from the pups (which could also go onto the case of the pup switch)... the ground from the spring claw or bridge.. and the ground from the input jack.

Be sure to install them in the right direction. Ie.. with the wires underneath closest to the control cavity. With covered pickups you cannot see which is a slug or screw coil.. so the wires are the only indicator. Lest you mess the polarity of your pups and your fiddle sounds more quacky.. and less rock

wern101

Still haven't got around to the wiring. Waiting for the pickguard to arrive....

Meanwhile I added a 'mesh' cover to the back.

What do you think? Some feedback on the Whatsapp group suggests that it might hook on clothing when playing and there is an offer to have it 3D printed. Decisions decisions...

V8

wern101 What do you think?

I like! Like @Tuckstir said, you can fettle the edges a tad if there's any snagging.

Though...a 3D print/laser cut (I prefer the idea of laser cutting) personalized one would be cool too!

Or just leave it off like 98% of the rest of us too lazy to put the screws back in ?

Tuckstir

I personally do like the look, I would just hem bend some copper or alu around the edge just to prevent any snagging,

as to the 3-d printing, I really do think that could work too. maybe a grid with a your initials, or symbol, something personal, I had so Many Ideas last night, Even A laser cut design could work..

wern101

Update time!! Yeah, finally!

So first and foremost a HUGE shoutout to @Tuckstir for hooking me up with the scratchplate. This was a headache of note that he simply sorted out without any fuss. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I received the scratchplate via postnet and immediately set out to finally get the guitar wired and playable. I went with the same ‘weathered’ theme of the hardware and, after doing some testing, came up with this idea:

Next up was the wiring. I called in the help of my eldest to assist with the soldering – he loves tinkering with circuit boards and builds little radios etc, so he has WAY more experience in soldering than I do. He simply took it in his stride soldering all the bits of pieces while I tried to figure out the wiring diagram.

Everything works!! Tested the pickups on the amp (with a screwdriver) and they both emit sound and the 3 way switch works just fine. I will only get strings today or tomorrow, so that will be the REAL test.

SO......without further delay, here then is the completed guitar!

I shall from now on refer to it as the copperstrat…. Or coppercaster….. or Stratocopper…..or……

I am very satisfied with the end product. ? Opinons? Like? Dislike?

Thanks to everyone's advise, comments, ideas and opinions. This Forum Rocks!

Tuckstir

wern101 well done bud. Im impressed with the end result, few niggles already discussed here..
I would still finish of the rear cover, the edges to me are snag points, and maybe something that bigger and less square would work to offset the squewness of the lines..
as to the Pups.. this talk got me thinking of my scratchplate I did with Imbali metal powders.. I really think it will work

V8

Was tapping out a reply yesterday...then boom. Loadshedding ?

Loving that pickguard, especially the cutout of the logo showing the finish underneath, superbly pimp...I approve! ?

Dig how you highlighted the edges and (I'm guessing) where the body joins are. One distracting thing is that the rear cavity looks offcenter with those lines - but that's minor. The other is that you've not gone the full pimp to match pup covers with the rest...but that's W.I.P I'm sure ?

But impressively...you've finished! ?

wern101

Been holding my breath for a reply...phew... ?

V8 you've finished

Yes...this took way to long. But in reflection, this was due to blindly walking into the whole thing. Lessons learnt.

V8 One distracting thing is that the rear cavity looks offcenter with those lines - but that's minor. The other is that you've not gone the full pimp to match pup covers with the rest...but that's W.I.P I'm sure ?

The lines were actually done on purpose. The joins are not straight and where the two colours meet is actually right on the joins. So the whole off-centre things is, I suppose, a little Picasso? Who wants straight lines anyway. ? The pup covers most certainly is work in progress - just need to find the right colour.

V8 superbly pimp...I approve!

Thanks man. I guess it's not everyone's taste and, compared to the bling out there, it probably won't get a second look, but it reflects a lot of my own taste and I really am happy with it. Was looking at the before photo last night - that black and white was soo dull.

Putting strings on tonight! Sound clips to follow.

V8

wern101 The pup covers most certainly is work in progress - just need to find the right colour.

I was thinking and thinking - It would a PITA to work with,. but modelling paint? Or Hammerrite? Gold pups maybe, but they'd need to be aged, shiny n bright gold would be a tad too pimp maybe?

wern101

V8 shiny n bright gold would be a tad too pimp maybe?

Yes agreed. I was even thinking a rusty bronze would do nicely, nothing too bright, just a little bit of shiny here and there.

wern101

Tuckstir Thanks Man. Its actually not at all how I pictured it. I kinda went with the direction I felt most comfortable with.

Tuckstir squewness of the lines

Y'all have OCD! ? Yes yes. I know.... lines have to be straight and all that... It actually looks way worse on the photo then it does in real life.

The cover will get a border, to prevent snags, in time. But I don't really want to make it bigger, maybe a different shape though.... interesting idea.

Tuckstir Imbali metal powders..

Ooooh. That does look interesting! Thanks for the link.

guidothepimmp

Dude.. that looks excellent! Well done bud.. nice work indeed

wern101

guidothepimmp Thanks so much man! ? I am so happy its finally done. Phew. Plugged it in last night - love dem 'buckers!