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  • Partscaster / learning project (doesn't need to be strat)

That looks awesome... nice looking chunk of wood with clean routes. Just beware if you intend refinishing.. that top layer is a veneer that is quite thin. So sanding will take you through to wood underneath. I helped an old forumite with his hamer slammer once where we discovered the veneer.

Edit... mind you.. looking at it again.. it might not be a veneer... you should be able to tell by looking at the edges. Nice looking lumber either way

Otherwise that looks cool... the jack should be an easy enough fix. Enjoy

Also.. if you smooth out the edge of the trem for the top post.. it should help with tuning stability. Not sure how whammy inclined you are.

If it were mine... i would see if i could find a big old brass block for that trem.. it would do wonders for the tone... that block is on the skinny side. A really easy fix would be blocking the trem with a chunk of wood.

Not sure how many machinists you know but i would take that block to them and get them to mill one for you

  • V8 likes this.
  • V8 replied to this.

    bluefinllama I just couldn't help myself, she felt good when I picked her up ?

    That's the way! ?

    Pups look like ceramic magnet'ed Cort ones - I've had hit n miss with them. Some sound good, some don't. If they do sound good, don't rush to Alinco magnet'ed ones - I've got a set of Ceramic's in my MIJ Strat - while not a classic strat tone, they sound okay and take drives fairly well (for a single coil).

    guidothepimmp Edit... mind you.. looking at it again.. it might not be a veneer... you should be able to tell by looking at the edges. Nice looking lumber either way

    Thought it looked like a refinish? If so, if there was a veneer (possibly, if it was originally a sunburst, which I doubt) - it might have already been removed (Usually them slammers are a thickish poly coat - at least the handful I've seen.)

    guidothepimmp A really easy fix would be blocking the trem with a chunk of wood.

    At the least, I set all strats with the trem sitting on the body - it really does fill out the tone somewhat, blocking the trem is also a grand option. Though you lose the option to to pitch up using the trem.

            So I wasn't able to pick up a jack today, will do so during the week, the weird thing I saw though is there seems to be a cap on the volume pot as well as one of the tones, this isn't normal is it?

            Also, it doesn't seem like a veneer, unless it's very well done, but I can't see it.

            I'm actually not going to touch the finish at this stage, I think she looks good as is - might revisit this in the future, at the moment the goal is to get her playing again.

            Ya, been looking at getting the bourns 500k pots and jacks from RS, the 5 way switch seems to be quite expensive all around South Africa - can pick a Fender one up from Amazon for $16. Regarding the tremelo block, a nice brass one would be amazing, but she needs to play first - would also set it up against the body instead of blocking it completely.

            So excited though, now if only I can inherit that money from my late deceased Nigerian cousin I never heard of (got an email the other day).

              bluefinllama there seems to be a cap on the volume pot

              Could be a treble bleed mod (though that usually uses a resistor and not a capacitor) - it's one of my must have mods for a strat.

              Check Raru, they've got a half decent sale on, and stock guitar parts - the CTS pots I saw on sale were 500k's.

              bluefinllama I think she looks good as is - might revisit this in the future, at the moment the goal is to get her playing again.

              Relic it... ? It's my goto option whenever I see a refinished guitar

                  I'll check out a few wiring diagrams and see if I can figure out what it is, wrt the pots, RS is R50 each for the Bourns and actually have stock, not dispatched in 15-20 days, Bourns pots are on par with CTS, aren't they?

                  The relic-ing is going to happen - over time though ?

                  bluefinllama RS is R50 each for the Bourns and actually have stock, not dispatched in 15-20 days, Bourns pots are on par with CTS, aren't they?

                  That's a great price for the bourns ones! I've read that some peeps prefer the bourns ones - I'd say between the two they're on par quality wise.

                  Happy modding!

                    bluefinllama
                    No Idea..I got mine online, and waited months for it,
                    Cant even recall seeing one locally online.
                    Cheapest and easiest and Quickest is to get a steel straight edge ruler, mark out where the frets are and grind/file/cut out that area. alternatively you can have one laser-cut

                    this Is one I made to check my bass necks,

                      Yup.. agree with Tedi. If you absokutely postively need an etched one, as above. I dont bother with the etches.. i either eyeball it or measure using the string.

                      Or even just use a straight edge laid over the frets

                      Edit. Where in PTA are you? I have a jack input if you want

                      7 days later

                      Thanks for the help guys, decided to go with the un-notched straight edge. I also got the input jack thanks, Thursday was driving all over Gauteng day, got the jack, pots, Dimarzio 5 way switch, caps, resistors and conductive spray paint.

                      The new pots seem scratchy when being turned though, do you guys have a cheap fix for improving it, read about deoxit, but seems expensive and would have to be imported.

                      The frets on the guitar is tiny, struggling to re-crown them, also unsure if there's enough left after leveling (there were some harsh divots so had to take off a bit).

                      • V8 likes this.
                      • V8 replied to this.

                        bluefinllama The new pots seem scratchy when being turned though, do you guys have a cheap fix for improving it, read about deoxit, but seems expensive and would have to be imported

                        Yes! If there's a builder's warehouse near ya, they stock this. You'll find electrical contact cleaner at a range of places, sure RS have a brand of it too.

                        There's a tiny trick to cleaning pots, find the 'maintenance' hole, be liberal with your usage and turn the shaft while doing it - I think of it as: washing the pot out using the spray to dislodge any gunk in there., It can be iterative, so a couple goes might be need - not all pots can be saved (80-90% of the time it works for me) and occasionally you'll find the pot's shaft might loosen up a bit.

                        bluefinllama The frets on the guitar is tiny, struggling to re-crown them

                        I hate re-crowning. Even with appropriate tools I suck at it. Though I do like low frets, medium to small fretwire, but I'm weird like that. Never did get the jumbo fret thing, even though I'm told it's easier to play.

                        As long as you don't get much fret buzz you're okay for now. Were it a guido shreddy special, you might struggle to get a super low action though.

                            Ah, thanks a lot! Since the pots are new I'm hoping it should work - all 3 brand new bourns pots being scratchy is a tad strange, so hopefully just needs a cleaning.

                            And regarding the crowning of the frets, I seem to also be terrible at it, but with low I mean lower than 1/2mm low if my measuring is correct.

                            • V8 replied to this.

                              bluefinllama all 3 brand new bourns pots being scratchy is a tad strange

                              Very weird - I'd get them to replace...But a can o contact cleaner is useful to have - I've used it on more than guitars!

                              bluefinllama lower than 1/2mm low if my measuring is correct

                              under a half a millimeter? That's lowww (I think - I'm not really well versed on fret's) I don't have accurate gauge at home (a digital caliper with a depth thingy would be perfect) - so I can't say what mine are.

                              I do have stewmac medium/medium frets on my strat which -new- started out at around 0.99mm crown height (Stewmac have metric and imperial measurements - bless them!). They're still good for a few fret level's.

                              My bass is a touch lower than that - don't think I've much lfie left in those frets.

                                    Okay, got the contact cleaner thanks, also picked up a bigger triangular file, think the little needle files I was using might have been a bit small to do the job properly, hopefully this will work better.

                                    Yes, the frets are tiny, but apparently there was a fender which came out of the factory with 0.33mm frets, which is insane.

                                    Did you replace your frets yourself? Dit seems a bit stupid to pay more than what I paid for the guitar to have it done, but would probably go with stainless steel frets either way as I would prefer never doing it again - even though it will probably be worse doing it the first time if going stainless.

                                    bluefinllama

                                    I'm About to replace my frets, I have 3 guitars that need fret replacing and at the pricing I've seen it pays to get my own tooling, I'm Just still deciding on which fret size I'm going for, I've also asked for some adult supervision when I do as It'll be my first time.

                                    as to the Needles, I'm looking for a finer diamond file set, as I think mine are a little on the rough and cheap side