Here comes Guitar 9
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Category: Other music related lounges
Forum Name: Music and Musicians Exchange
Forum Description: Talk with and get feedback from other musicians on the site
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=128571
Printed Date: November 21 2024 at 20:31
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Topic: Here comes Guitar 9
Posted By: Davesax1965
Subject: Here comes Guitar 9
Date Posted: March 04 2022 at 09:04
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Thought you might like to see my latest guitar project. This is a Partscaster - there's a genuine Fender roasted maple neck on the way. The body was supposed to be Sonic Blue - ha, not really. It's a hardtail, I've got a 1988 tremolo Partscaster as well, shown in the photo. Time for something different. Anodised gold scratchplate, probably Creamery 1969 pickups as opposed to the Custom Shop Fat 50's on the other Strat. Scary drilling bit when the neck comes. Gulp.  ------------- |
Replies:
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: March 04 2022 at 09:07
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So that's Guitar 9, to be followed by a Jazz and a Tele. Just in case I break a string or something. ------------- |
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: March 04 2022 at 09:11
| Looking good. I'm tempted to make a bass like this but with my DIY skills it would probably be un-playable. |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: March 04 2022 at 09:16
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Hi Chopper, it's quite easy. ;-) Pop over to North West Guitars - there's your body. Jazz or Precision. (I wouldn't even think of trying a set neck, bolt on only. Get a proper Fender, or licenced neck. The rest is quite easy, the scary bits are installing bridges to the correct scale length, but it's all do-able. One problem with Partscasters though is that the parts can need some jiggling to fit, but it's really all just minor sanding. You won't save much over the cost of a comparable instrument, but the pleasure is to build something for yourself and get exactly what you want. ------------- |
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: March 04 2022 at 11:33
I might give it a go one day but it would have to be something that's not a Jazz or Precision body - I already have a Jazz.
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Davesax1965 wrote:Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: March 04 2022 at 17:36
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I don't see the whammy hole. Is this guitar gonna be a hardtail? ------------- On the day of my creation, I fell in love with education. And overcoming all frustration, a teacher I became. Ernest Vong |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: March 06 2022 at 02:13
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Hi Hrychu, yes, it's a hardtail. I'm just going to fit the ferrules now. With a soldering iron. ;-) I wanted something a bit different - hardtail Strats are difficult to find, even factory ones. It actually weighs considerably more than a standard body, so you get more sustain but the tone tends to be a bit biting. Which, of course, you can adjust with pickup choice or on the amp. Still a long way to go but the wiring got done yesterday and there's two test pickups in there as well. ------------- |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: March 08 2022 at 09:29
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Neck went on perfectly. ;-) Tuners, pickups and a set up next. ------------- |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: March 08 2022 at 09:34
Story so far.... ------------- |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: March 08 2022 at 09:35
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Those are just test pickups, by the way. It's going to wear a set of snazzy custom pickups made in Manchester - Creamery 1969's. I want something vintage but a bit hotter than the Fender Fat 50's in the current Strat. This is just to see if I get some output when it's wired up. ------------- |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: March 09 2022 at 07:14
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Irritatingly, the neck is slightly off. This happens a lot with Partscasters, as the tolerances are very tight and parts vary by manufacturer. I've got to clean the neck pocket properly, but the neck is about .5mm out at the 22nd fret. It doesn't sound a lot, but it's enough to throw the string alignment out. What I have to do is tidy the pocket and see if I can free the neck up to rotate a fraction of a degree clockwise. It's basically a little out and a little too tight. I'm actually probably going to build the rest of the guitar and leave the adjustment to a trained luthier - which I am not. You have to expect these "minor challenges" when building a guitar from parts. I'm also aware that the neck isn't set up, it's not under string tension, the nut isn't cut (more of which below) and I'm replacing the existing saddles with solid brass ones, so it might all change. String tension is higher on the thinner string side of the neck, so that might bring things around as well. It's literally a fraction of a degree. Infuriating. And, alas, no, I can't slacken the neck bolts, adjust the neck and re-tighten them as there is quite literally no play in the socket. A slightly larger challenge was that the nut wasn't cut for the strings. A set of nut files is $100, and you tend to use them once. There are some cheap alternatives, which I'll look into later. ------------- |
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: March 09 2022 at 07:26
Well that's all enough to put me off building one! Good luck with the rest of it.
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Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: March 09 2022 at 09:26
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Ha ! Don't worry, it's all solveable, Chopper. ;-) You take it to a luthier. ;-) ------------- |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: March 09 2022 at 14:45
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Wonderful, nice to see an appreciation for real guitar tech & design. It reminds me of the electric-blue Charvelles out of California that EVH was fond of for awhile -- https://www.charvel.com/gear/shape/so-cal/style-1/pro-mod-so-cal-style-1-hsh-fr-e/2966834527" rel="nofollow -
 Later I became a a Paul Reed Smith fan -- https://media.sweetwater.com/api/i/f-webp__q-82__ha-ca69d50596d87166__hmac-afaa2b9da5f2abe7873fbf502ee2db2862c541df/images/guitars/SECU24QBGS/CTID32963/CTID32963-body-large.jpg.auto.webp" rel="nofollow - https://media.sweetwater.com/api/i/f-webp__q-82__ha-ca69d50596d87166__hmac-afaa2b9da5f2abe7873fbf502ee2db2862c541df/images/guitars/SECU24QBGS/CTID32963/CTID32963-body-large.jpg.auto.webp" rel="nofollow - https://www.guitarcenter.com/PRS/SE-Custom-22-Semi-Hollow-Quilt-Top-Limited-Run-Electric-Guitar-Black-Gold-Sunburst-1500000343675.gc" rel="nofollow - https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fzicplace.com%2Fen%2Fproducts%2Fprs-custom-24-black-gold-burst&psig=AOvVaw2OgZrxMG4D_LGVm91vrgFg&ust=1646948609997000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCMDJ_ej_ufYCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAQ" rel="nofollow">  800 Χ 800  ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: March 10 2022 at 07:44
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PRS's - "Guitars for dentists" ;-)
No, I like them, but at those prices, not a chance. ;-) ------------- |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: March 10 2022 at 08:02
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Just dug out an old 90's Tele copy I have somewhere. It's completely shot, but I've got some bits lying around and it may be a fixer upper. We shall see. Strat to do first. ------------- |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: March 10 2022 at 08:06
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Also going to add brass saddles to the bridge. Here's how guitar building gets you. Standard spacing on the bridge I have is 11.2mm. There are a few different standard sizes of Fender saddles, so I find some which are.... 11.3mm. "Will they fit ? " - hopefully it's just a rounding error. On this one, I got the standard 6.5mm ferrules and then discovered I needed 8.25mm. New set of ferrules. I've got a system where I heat ferrules with a soldering iron (which I of course have) to 360 degrees for 15-20 seconds, place them in the (tight) holes with pliers, put a centre punch in the ferrule and then gently tap it home. When they're all in, heat again and level using a hammer and a spare block of wood to level them all out. All the time, you're waiting to hear a crack !!! noise. I was rather glad to get that over and done with. ;-) ------------- |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: March 13 2022 at 15:44
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^ We could've used you when I was roadcrewing for the Bay Area metal scene in the '80s. A good guitar-man was hard to find. ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: March 18 2022 at 05:52
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I'm still looking for one myself ! ;-) ------------- |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: April 01 2022 at 03:04
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Work so far ! Fender American Standard tuners. Twin string trees added. I know most modern Strats only have one, I went for two to improve tuning stability. The neck is perfectly aligned after some twiddling, I'm going to have to be ultra careful cutting the nut, though. Yes, Fender necks (this being a roasted maple with jumbo frets) come without the nut being cut, you just get guide markers. Nut files are incredibly expensive and not something you use every day, so I'm going to borrow a set from my brother. Next time I see him. 11.2mm brass saddles to replace the vintage style ones. The neck relief isn't set up yet, I thought it'd have a 1/8" truss rod, but, Made in Mexico necks need a 3/16" Allen key. The longest one in the world arrived yesterday, it's about a foot long. However, even with the neck relief not done, the bridge not set up, the nut not cut and the intonation not set, it plays wonderfully. Really impressed with it so far. All that's left to do is choose some pickups. They'll probably come next month, and then it's a case of wiring it up internally, connecting the bridge earth wire and output jack and setting the pickup height. I'm going for expensive pickups, 60's style to contrast with the 50's ones in my other Partscaster. No point putting cheap pickups in an expensive custom guitar. ;-) Hopefully a sound demo to follow. And a Telecaster build next year, if my wife doesn't kill me first. ;-) The next album is going to be more guitar based, by the way.  ------------- |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: April 01 2022 at 08:50
Aaaaaaaaaand this is the plan for the possibly forthcoming Telecaster.  ------------- |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: April 01 2022 at 08:52
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On the blue Strat - Neck relief done String height set Intonation done. Oh, the joys of working from home. ;-) ------------- |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: April 01 2022 at 08:54
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It's that or a Jazzmaster. Whilst I love Jazzmasters, one major problem is getting parts to fit on them. Minor things like scratchplates become a pain to fit when you're buying parts from different manufacturers. I shall cogitate. ;-) ------------- |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: April 03 2022 at 04:34
Hardtail vs tremolo: tremolos are just there to detune your guitar, anyway. The first thing you should do with a tremolo Strat is lock the trem block down.  ------------- |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: April 10 2022 at 04:43
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Nut cut, well, replaced with a Tusq. I was around at my brothers yesterday, playing about six Strats from his collection. His 1988 Strat - a legendary instrument - has Seymour Duncan SSL-5's in it. I'm going for a bridge SSL-5 and SSL-1's for middle and neck. Dave Gilmour time. I think you can see why from the video below. ------------- |
Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: April 10 2022 at 08:41
I'm not alone! ------------- On the day of my creation, I fell in love with education. And overcoming all frustration, a teacher I became. Ernest Vong |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: April 11 2022 at 09:29
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Definitely not. ;-) I only know a few whammy bar enthusiasts. It's even worse on Gibson clones, add a Bigsby and it all goes pear shaped. I've tried everything, roller bridges, going up a gauge of string, wound thirds, you name it, absolutely no effect. Breathe on the Bigsby handle and then start retuning. Right, nut cut, action set, bridge set up for a 12 inch radius, intonation to fine tune but it plays really, really well. Just the pickups to add and a bit of internal wiring and it's done ! ;-) ------------- |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: April 13 2022 at 09:09
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HOW MUCH for a RW/RP middle pickup ? Robbery. ------------- |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: May 02 2022 at 01:39
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Finished ! Went for Seymour Duncan SSL-1's for neck and middle (RW/RP) and a hotter SSL-5 for the bridge. Dave Gilmour time. I'll wire up the Gilmour switch mod when I next change strings - it's an additional switch which switches the neck pickup on or off in positions 1 and 2. Probably going to do a Telecaster next year when the Wife Guitar Tolerance level increases. In the interim, really pleased with this. Have a dodgy sound demo, the neck wasn't set up at the time. ;-) ------------- |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: May 08 2022 at 09:23
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Finished ! ;-) After Considerable Cursing and Sailor Language, I installed a "Dave Gilmour switch mod". It's an extra on / off switch which works on the neck pickup. Selector switch in position one, normally just bridge selected : switch on, bridge and neck selected, like a Telecaster. Selector switch in position two, normally bridge and middle pickup selected : switch on, all pickups selected.  ------------- |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: May 08 2022 at 09:25
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"But what does it sound like ? " Like this. And I'm very pleased with it indeed. https://soundcloud.com/brotherhoodofthemachine/gilmouresqueish" rel="nofollow - https://soundcloud.com/brotherhoodofthemachine/gilmouresqueish ------------- |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: May 08 2022 at 09:28
There we go -  ------------- |
Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: May 08 2022 at 09:28
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Done. Telecaster to build later in the year. ;-) Wife permitting. ;-)  ------------- |
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: May 08 2022 at 10:54
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Very nice, love the blue colour and it goes well with the scratchplate. "Wife Guitar Tolerance level" - love it.
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Posted By: Davesax1965
Date Posted: May 09 2022 at 02:01
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Cheers, Chopper ! Sadly true, women, eh ? ;-) ------------- |