DrNomis_44's Gold Standard STA-1M Build.

[DrNomis_44]

Bummer.

With the bone nuts you have used did you file the slots or were they buzzing from how they arrived? Sounds like nut string slots may have been made too wide & a touch low perhaps?

Yep, I filed the nut slots on the Bone nut, using my set of 42-09 gauge nut slot files, I took a lot of care to make sure I didn't file them too low using a .020 inch feeler gauge to check my 1St fret action, I even made sure I angled the slot back towards the headstock to ensure a good string break-angle on the fretboard edge of the nut, I still got Sitar-Buzzing issues that I couldn't fix, I tried replacing the nut twice with a Tusq nut, didn't fix it, been having a real rough time lately, what I might do is leave it for now and concentrate on other projects, like the Hackintosh PC.

I guess half my problem is that I get frustrated easily, or I have a low frustration threshold.

[FrankenWashie]

Bummer dude, thats got to be a pain in the a*** after all that work.

[dingobass]

It does take some practice to get nuts right... any sideways movement when filing slots will result in the dreaded sitar buzz.

[FrankenWashie]

It does take some practice to get nuts right... any sideways movement when filing slots will result in the dreaded sitar buzz.

So by that you mean even slightly off the line of the groove, like if you are at a wee angle one way or the other? Or an angle on the vertical line of the groove?

[DrNomis_44]

It does take some practice to get nuts right... any sideways movement when filing slots will result in the dreaded sitar buzz.

Yep, it doesn't take much sideways movement at all and the fact that there was a slight mis-alignment of the tuners didn't help things much, that exasperated things.


I even tried sanding just the bottom of the nut down and still got the sitar-buzzing issues, so I reckon that the root-cause was due to the less-than-straight string-path towards the tuners because of the slight tuner mis-alignment.

[DrNomis_44]

Update:


After trying to install a Schaller Lockmeister Floyd Rose Trem on my Gold Standard Strat, and deciding that I wanted to restore it back to a traditional Strat-style Trem System, I was left with two 10mm holes in the body of the Strat which I needed to fill-in, so I went to my local big-green-shed and bought a 1m length of 9.3mm Oak Doweling (they didn't have any 10mm Oak Doweling in stock so I bought some 9.3mm instead), the 9.3mm Oak Doweling proved to be a slightly lose fit in the 10mm holes so I was happy with it, next after inserting the 9.3mm Oak Doweling in one of the holes, I held the tip of a pencil against the Doweling while I turned the Doweling, this gave me a line that marked where I needed to cut the Doweling to size, I cut two pieces of the 9.3mm Oak Doweling to fill both of the 10mm holes in the Strat body, and used some PVA Wood Glue to glue them in place, the bonus is that the PVA Glue made up for the size difference between the 9.3mm Oak Doweling and the 10mm holes, I'm not too worried about the aesthetics of the repair because it'll be hardly noticeable once the new White Pearloid Scratchplate I've ordered is in place together with the new Supervee Bladerunner Bridge which I will be ordering in a couple of fortnight's time.

I'm also going to be ordering a set of Gold Sperzel Locking Tuners from Realtone Music soon too.


I'm also going to be fixing an issue with the spring claw-screws located in the Trem Spring cavity in the back of the Strat Body, one of the two screws is a bit misaligned which makes it hard to get the cover to sit flush with the body, I have a 1m length of 6mm Oak Doweling which I also bought from the big green shed, which should be more than enough to plug the existing spring-claw screw holes as well as the six bridge screw holes on the front of the body.


Here's a pic of the two 10mm holes I filled with some 9.3mm Oak Doweling:

[wazkelly]

Hey Doc, good to see this one back up and running.

Page 96.....won't take long to reach your century now.

[Andy40]

I was wondering what happened to this build.

Doc can you tell me is the body done with ebony timbermate and coolangatta gold? and whats the finish?

[DrNomis_44]

I was wondering what happened to this build.

Doc can you tell me is the body done with ebony timbermate and coolangatta gold? and whats the finish?

Yep, I gave the body a good sanding all over and then I applied a good coating of Ebony Timbermate as per Wokka's advice, after the Timbermate had dried I sanded it all off and then started applying some Dingotone Coollangatta Gold, this was where the Ebony Timbermate really made the grain pattern stand-out, after I had applied what I thought was enough coats of Coollangatta Gold, I moved onto applying the Dingotone finishing coats, and the result I got is what you see in the pics, I don't know about you guys but I found it a lot of fun to do all that.

How are your guitar builds going mate?

[DrNomis_44]

Hey Doc, good to see this one back up and running.

Page 96.....won't take long to reach your century now.

Hahahaha...., then you guys will have to call me the Don Bradman of the forum....lol.


In a couple of fortnight's time I'm going to order a new Gold Bladerunner bridge from the SuperVee.com website, to go on the Strat, I'm also seriously thinking of getting a set of Gold Sperzel Locking Tuners too, they are a bit pricey but I've read that the Sperzel Tuners are the best Lockers you can buy.

In some ways the SuperVee Bladerunner bridge is a lot like a conventional Strat bridge, but, instead of using six wood-screws as the pivot-point, it uses a thin piece of spring-steel as the pivot-point, the mounting screws simply hold the bridge in place, hard against the body of the guitar, I can see at least a couple of benefits in this system, firstly the vibrations of the strings are more efficiently transferred to the body, resulting in a better overall sustain and tone, secondly, the spring-steel pivot-point eliminates one point where friction can occur, this enables the trem system to return to it's neutral-point better.


Here's a pic of the new Gold SuperVee Bladerunner bridge I'll be ordering soon for my Strat: