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kells80aus
16-02-2014, 09:24 PM
Putting the failure of the last ST1-A project behind. thanks to the guys at Pit Bull for the great customer service. They replaced the faulty kit.

This is a full reset. The first kit was to be a Cherry Burst, this time I am cutting my losses and am doing it in Butterscotch with a Cinamon pick guard and all the silver hardware. in my minds eye it looks good. hope it turns out that way in reality.

Brendan
17-02-2014, 12:33 AM
Kells - hope #2 goes well. All the best with it and will be watching with interest.

stan
17-02-2014, 08:10 AM
all the best - colours sound nice and classic and edible...

kells80aus
18-02-2014, 02:52 AM
Reset kit has arrived, No return mailing slip for old mate Fauwlty Strat, sort that out later.
Kit unpacked. Neck started first up. Oiled the fret board, and marked out the headstock.
Standard Strat shape. not sure what Vintage it is. I have a PDF with about 7 headstocks. I just picked one I like, it's out of a piece of mdf offcut, for routing after Jigging.
Yeah Yeah I know I need to tidy up my work bench. LOL

Off to Newport next to see if my Son's kit has been left on his door step


http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/2b36q-20140217_143846.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/nz74v-20140217_143831.jpg

wokkaboy
18-02-2014, 04:15 AM
your plans sound good Kells, can we please see a picture of the ash body ? always good to see the grain on these

kells80aus
18-02-2014, 05:29 AM
Hi Wokka, No worries. I haven't looked at it yet my self. I opened the box counted the bits and took off to the shed with the neck in hand.

kells80aus
18-02-2014, 05:37 AM
Now this is interesting the grain pattern has a herringbone look to it. this might call for a reassesment of the colour choice for this body and maybe some Black inking. Any suggestions welcome
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/q58u9-20140217_173431.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/u5sx9-20140217_173126.jpg

wokkaboy
18-02-2014, 06:52 AM
wow nice grain Paul, has the back of the body been stained ? its got a hint of red in the colour

kells80aus
18-02-2014, 06:57 AM
Hi Wokka,
No this is how it came out of the box, it's pure nude timber. There is no differnece in the front to back. so that red colour may have been caused by the red eye setting on my phone. :) Oh I know what it was, one pic was taken outside the other was inside.

Cheers PK

wokkaboy
18-02-2014, 07:18 AM
Hi Paul, maybe the back photo was taken late in the afternoon sometimes gives objects a redish tint.
Anyway you must be happy with the replacement kit, should come up a treat with butterscotch

kells80aus
18-02-2014, 07:26 AM
Hi Wokka,
I hope so I posted a message to DB about puting a Black or Brown ink under the Butterscotch to bring up the grain a bit more, but I'm still waiitng on a response. I don't want to spoil the butterscotch if the Inking doesn't work on the Ash.

Cheers PK

wokkaboy
18-02-2014, 07:45 AM
no worries Paul, you could always try and small portion of inking on the ash and put butterscotch ontop to see how it works, and if it doesn't sand it back. I'm not sure if the ink will work, probably less chance of working the darker the inks

adam
18-02-2014, 07:52 AM
Paul, DB is away this week, so he may not see your post. You might have more luck emailing dingobass@pitbullguitars.com or maybe someone else here can advise. I'm sorry I'm no help.

kells80aus
18-02-2014, 08:09 AM
Hi Adam,
I threw it open on the forum in this trail as well the Hints and Tips on Buterscotch trail as well. I have been thinking about maybe the Ash won't take an inking too well. I've got about week till the Wudtone arrives

kells80aus
19-02-2014, 05:31 AM
a bit bored waiting for Wudtone to arrive, so sanded and sealed two strat necks as well as the two Long necks(no they aren't beer, settle boys). One of the strat necks is waiting on it's shipping ticket, but thought I may as well have a tinker with it. I've shellacked the two long scales. and sanding sealed the two strat necks, well they are all strat necks really. just can't fit the long scales to a pre pocketed strat body. but as far as pocket size and shape thy are all identical
I cut the head shape of the new strat neck and it has come out pretty damn close to the first one I cut.
I like that shape it is not a common Strat shape that I have seen around. it has a bit of a reverse curve on the cut up into the bottom side. I like it .

Also got the Cinamon scratch plate. the lines across it are the protective plastic sheet

Cheers PK

kells80aus
19-02-2014, 05:33 AM
Pics here

The story behind the two long necks(they are 24 fret, or dubble octave) is that; I bought one off ebay, and they neglected to wrap the ends properly and the end of the fret board got shattered. So I bitvhed and for $10 they sent me a new one. But ever resourceful me I fixed the dammaged one. Jimmy Oastler at Underground Music ffound it hard to pick the damage, I fixed it that well. :) But hey that's me Jack of most trades, master of none but the open bottle of beer. :D

http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/8m7b1-20140218_171721.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/h1acm-20140218_171819.jpg

kells80aus
19-02-2014, 05:51 AM
Just reailsed I am going to have to get a new stand when I finish this strat. All the girls lined up below. the 335 still the bain of my life but comming a long slowly. I am working on an idea for a binding scrapper based on an idea from AJ. I have a ton of binding in the shed, so I an going to glue together a guide that will only allow the blade to scrape the binding, made out of .....binding....
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/8rb11-20140218_174620.jpg

wokkaboy
19-02-2014, 05:56 AM
looking good Paul plenty of necks there !
thought for a minute the pickguard had flames !
With regards to the inking as I suggested before you should try a small sample on the ash body then sand it back and wet tag it to see if it has made the grain more pronounced. If you don't want to test it on the body you could try it in the neck pocket or trem pocket so it would be hidden and save sanding it back to bare ash

kells80aus
19-02-2014, 06:18 AM
Under the pickguard is the place to play with the inking.

Cheers PK

wokkaboy
19-02-2014, 06:32 AM
good thinking PK, are you going to try that out ? make sure the ash is sanded to at least 240 grit paper

kells80aus
19-02-2014, 06:41 AM
I have a roll of 240 grit and some W&D 360 grit I usually finish with 1200 grit followed by 0000 steel wool. so we'll see what happens. a patch or two. prob with butterscotch is it's a multi layer application. DB has to make it up special. He's back next week. so lots of discussion will be had before anything goes down.

Gavin1393
19-02-2014, 08:08 AM
kells80aus, not sure you should be going up to 1200 grit when using Wudtone. 1200 grit tends to polish the guitar and that will prevent the Wudtone from penetrating the wood properly. You may well end up with a 'patchy' guitar as a result of over sanding / polishing.

kells80aus
19-02-2014, 08:35 AM
Hi Gav, Nah the 1200 hundred is for finishig.

kells80aus
23-02-2014, 05:08 AM
OK, Something, bad or something really Bad. Whoever has set up the CNC to drill the neck holes in the body needs to move them south a few mm. The neck hole centres are set at 6 mm from the edge. the screws are 4 mm dia, this leaves only 4 mm to the side of the neck from the edge of the holes. I checked it against the kit in the grarage that's waiting for it's shipping docket. The holes are teh same on both kits. they need to be moved south a couple of mm so the holes set up equi distant from the side of the neck. This needs to Be QC'd. :D
Any how, What the 'Nitro'(swear Word) I've pushed on regardless.

kells80aus
23-02-2014, 05:16 AM
Neck holes
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/jcs4n-Strat-Restart-005.JPG

kells80aus
23-02-2014, 05:18 AM
8O more neck holes one set is closer to the edge thant the other side... they should both be the same distance from the edge. It's a future point of failure. :D

http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/5d858-Strat-Restart-004.JPG

kells80aus
23-02-2014, 05:26 AM
Next. Mock set up then hole drilling. I got a bit carried a away and drilled the holes for the tremlo. never done a strat before. Ok drilled em about 5 mm too far back. but. Plugged the holes with timbermate and redrilled em further forward. ...... mmmm 'NITRO' drilled em about half a mm too far forward. means I have to trim a bit off the scratch plate. I went through all the thoughts of filling and redrilling, but though no real point. U can see a 1/2 mm of the tremlo route
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/2u8zo-Strat-Restart-006.JPG

kells80aus
23-02-2014, 05:28 AM
The next four hours I spent applying and sanding a slurry of timbermate as a grain filler. BEER O'CLOCK, well it was two hours and three beers ago.... 80

kells80aus
23-02-2014, 05:31 AM
Cinamon scratch plate, if I can get the holes to line up.You to try and imagine the Butterscotch colour on the body.
8-)
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/e09wi-Strat-Restart-007.JPG

Brendan
23-02-2014, 07:17 AM
That's going to look sweet Paul. Bugger about the holes and drilling, etc. How's the scale length going with all these moves?

kells80aus
23-02-2014, 07:37 AM
Hi Brendan,
How I managed to mount the tremlo in the wrong spot? I forgot to measure first. When I re-measured and re-drilled I reckon I went about half to 1 mm too far forward, but as I'd wound the bridge pieces forward I have plenty of adjustment. I am used to setting up Gibson styled guitars with their offset bridge. I guess I was so focused on the tremlo that I completely forgot the scale length.

Adam, If you read this I still have the other strat to send Back, Bones didn't put a mailing slip in the box. Oh and it's now Cherry Red(Shellaced). :D actually looks nice. But has no holes drilled. Never quite got to that.
part.

Cheers PK

kells80aus
23-02-2014, 07:52 AM
This is the original Strat with three seam cracks. I was bored so I shellaced it with Stew Mac Cherry Red. Actually think it looks pretty cool
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/j90ie-originaL-STRAT-003.JPG

Brendan
23-02-2014, 11:14 AM
Pitty Paul - the first one was looking hot!

adam
23-02-2014, 01:08 PM
Hey Paul, please see my email response. Cheers

kells80aus
23-02-2014, 09:22 PM
For those interested in the Finish on the Red Strat above, this was achieved by applying Stew Mac Cherry Red Coloured Shellac directly to the bare body of the Strat. The result is that you retain that wooded texture as the pores of the wood are not filled with Filler. This is a process I have used before but with Tung oil over a brown water wash. In that instance the Water wash raised the fibres of the timber and each wash the surface was sanded down. I did this process about 5 or 6 times, before applying tung oil. The tung oil was applied with a rag the same way as you apply Wudtone. This aplication is totally different to how you apply Shellac. To apply Shellac you need to make up a rubbing pad. You use two 170-180 mm square squabs of 100% pure cotton. you fold up one of the sections of cotton into a flat squareish pad. you then place this at the centre of the other piece of cotton and fold up the sides. I use a piece of copper wire to bind around the squab to hold it to gether, or you could use a plastic tie. When applying the Shellac you apply it with the grain in a sort of swooping motion, just caressing the work with each pass. If the work gets to sticky you will need to squirt some metho on the squab.
It is important to note that the use of cotton is to stop threads pulling out of the squab. I've used a host of different types of material and they pretty much have all ended up blowing a hole in the squab and getting fibres all over the work. If this happenes with Shellac all is not lost as you can wipe all teh shellac off with metho and a clean rag. As to what type of shellac to use. I found White Shellac produces a harder and glossier surface, but if you want that aged yellow look then standard shellac is the go. you can buy Shellac flakes or premixed shellac from Bunnings or any big hardware store.
The application of the shellac should be three coats about half an hour appart, then leave for 24 hours then repeats coating step. When you are happy with the amount of coats you should leave the work for about a week before finishing off.
When finishing off the Shellac I use 0000 steel wool as it gives a nice smoothe surface. AJ recommends MacGuires polish to bring up the shine. I am yet to give this a try.

Cheers PK

lawry
23-02-2014, 09:47 PM
That's a cool guide to using shellac, Paul. Detailed enough that I reckon I could even do it.
It's a pity the Strat's going back because it looks great.

kells80aus
23-02-2014, 10:07 PM
Hi Lawry thanks for that. Yeah that Strat does look good. But that's the way things go sometimes.

kells80aus
23-02-2014, 10:22 PM
Tung oiled Guitar. It looks and feels a bit like leather.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/42su6-Eagle-11-003.JPG

kells80aus
23-02-2014, 10:25 PM
The front of Tung Oiled guitar is clean oil, no colour added.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/7ht43-Eagle-11-002.JPG

kells80aus
23-02-2014, 10:31 PM
This one is made from African Mahogany(as best as I could figure) it has of course the Bigsby, two Kent Armstrong Vintage P90's, the scale is standard Gibson 24.75. Tuners are Kluson deluxe, the Bridge Gotoh(I think). strings are Ultra Light D'Adario. Wiring is standard Gibson. Set up and fret leveling done by Jimmy Oastler at Underground Music in Weribee.

Cheers PK

stan
23-02-2014, 11:59 PM
wow, very nice result!
Sounds like you, AJ and I dont live that far from each other, I am thinking a Pitbull get together might be the go...

kells80aus
24-02-2014, 12:13 AM
Hi Stan, yeah AJ lives a few km away. You'll have to give me some time to get a PBG finshed though. lol Although I have my Wedgtail, Eagle 11, and Epi. Down side at my place is my amp is a Behringer Vampire 1200. It only has one input jack. so you would have to listen to each others inabilities.... lol

stan
24-02-2014, 08:44 AM
lol... I have 2 PBG kits and havent started either... Also have a Fender Tele, Squire Strat and a archtop Harmony acoustic that is going to get a Kent Armstrong Jazz pup.... I am lucky enough to have a Fender twin reverb - it has 3 inputs, so we could all rock the house, even if not that well!

kells80aus
25-02-2014, 06:02 AM
1st attempt at setting the intonation, which was really point less as I have to take it all apart to put colour on the body. But I thought I might express my thoughts about this task on a Fender style guitar..... It would be easier to strap two sticks of dynamite to the thing and push the plunger. It has to be at the right intonation for at least 1 millisecond at some stage......LOL It seemed like there were twenty thousand little allen key worm screws to adjust up down and all around. Do not despair I got there in the end. Well close enough. Still not happy with the tremlo. Someone can help with this. How much tension should be on the tremlo springs. This tremlo block is sitting up about 3 mm from the body at the rear of the tremlo block, should this be sitting a little lower, and what is the best way to adjust this. more sping tension or tighten the tremlo body screw a little more.

Cheers PK

wokkaboy
25-02-2014, 06:13 AM
wow what model axe is that Paul ? Is it the Eagle 11 in your project list ?
the red strat you are returning looks amazing, might have to try this red shellac

kells80aus
25-02-2014, 07:00 AM
Hi Wokka,

I should have said it was my first attempt at intonating a FENDAR... lol also got to deal with setting neck relief and maybe a couple of frets need leveling.

It's not the Eagle 11, that's a Gibbo set up, piece of pissa to intonate them. ROFL. this is the Future Butterscotch strat with all the beutiful grain. BTW I won't be inking it. I've grain filled it with Pine colour Timbermate slurry. so that has enhanced the grain by itself. I guess that when I put the base coat on that it the filler will soak up the colour leaving the brown grain to stand out.

The Eagle 11 is up and running. I actually have teo Eagle 11's here. I put the Kent Armstrong P90 pickups on son Chris' and the P-rail plus Kent Armstron P90 on mine. I need to do a bit more work on mine as I think the three way is dodgy. either that or I wired the pick ups out of phase. seems to loose volume in the centre position.



.... Oh Hang on, are you refering to the pics on the previous page. Yep the Red strat looks damn nice. I'll have to cut a deal over that I think. :)

The guitar in the case is son Chris' Eagle 11. I call it Eagle 11 as a reference to it's origins which was the Maton Wedgtail. I took the Wedgtail shape, enlarged it a little and put a taper on teh bottom edge of it. :)

Cheers PK

Gavin1393
25-02-2014, 07:38 AM
/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from kells80aus on February 24, 2014, 15:02
1st attempt at setting the intonation, which was really point less as I have to take it all apart to put colour on the body. But I thought I might express my thoughts about this task on a Fender style guitar..... It would be easier to strap two sticks of dynamite to the thing and push the plunger. It has to be at the right intonation for at least 1 millisecond at some stage......LOL It seemed like there were twenty thousand little allen key worm screws to adjust up down and all around. Do not despair I got there in the end. Well close enough. Still not happy with the tremlo. Someone can help with this. How much tension should be on the tremlo springs. This tremlo block is sitting up about 3 mm from the body at the rear of the tremlo block, should this be sitting a little lower, and what is the best way to adjust this. more sping tension or tighten the tremlo body screw a little more.

Cheers PK

Yep, tighten those body screws a bit and all should be well.

kells80aus
25-02-2014, 07:43 AM
Thanks Gav. :)

I was going by a Vid I found on YouTube of some English guy building a Fender with a Warmouth body and Fendre Parts neck. his set up was screw it down and then back a quater. so I guess In my case they aren't down hard enough. :)

Cheers PK

kells80aus
26-02-2014, 03:17 AM
Got some Belcat BHS-94 Black Guitar Alnico V Pickup Hot Rail Blade Strat Pickup comming for this little baby. Ebay, (soorry Adam ya get what ya can when ya can). :D

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/321046238817?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Also got a Belcat plaain black Hummbucker for the Bridge. :)

kells80aus
04-03-2014, 03:05 AM
1st coat of Butterscotch(over timbermate) looks OK to me.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/z7x8f-Buterscotch-1st-coat-014.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/ocd97-Buterscotch-1st-coat-015.jpg

kells80aus
04-03-2014, 03:10 AM
resent pics, C & P into prev message. :P

kells80aus
04-03-2014, 03:18 AM
Oh Yeah meant to mention once I got what I thought was a nice even coat, I went over teh whole body with a clean swabb of cotton just to make sure there were noa areas of runs bubbles or dobbs..

Oh Yeah, I now have a Yellow thumb. blew a hole in a glove. BWAHHHHH

Cheers pk

gavinturner
04-03-2014, 08:01 PM
Buttserscotch is looking nice. This is a great Wudtone colour and the colour depth will increase substantially with subsequent coats. Coming along nicely!

cheers,
Gav.

kells80aus
04-03-2014, 08:20 PM
Hi Gav,

how many coats did you apply. this ash body has soaked up a lot of base coat. the bottle is now half full, I expect I will only get 2 maybe 3 more coats out of it. I alaso found that it is wise not to use fine cotton, a heavier grade might have used less base coat, as I used a few swabbs to do the whole body.

DB/Adam might need to mention what to soak the swabbs in when cleaning up. I tried water,,,, nothing, tried metho, nyada, tried turps, woot. Cleaned up the swabbs nicely.

Cheers PK

Cheers PK

gavinturner
04-03-2014, 08:38 PM
Hey Paul,

I reckon i got about 5-6 coats on, but the Jnr is a much smaller body than your strat. On the positive side, you will find that the first coat soaks up the most Wudtone and that subsequent coats will be much thinner. You should get a few more quite easily. Going well!

cheers,
Gav.

kells80aus
05-03-2014, 05:24 AM
Ok, just made a decision. I have all the gold hardware bits, less the bridge, SO got on ebay and ordered a gold bridge $18, this baby will sport gold tuners, even if the do have an ibanez stamp on the back. Gold jackplate and jack, gold neck plate, gold pickguard screws. But it will have black pickups. I have 2 belcat dual rails for neck and mid pickup and a belcat black sealed humbucker for the bridge. The rails are four wire, and I don't really see much point in splitting them as they are only 12K with both coils in series. the humbucker is only two wire, although I could take the gold cover off another one and shove a black cover on it, it is four wire and is 15.4K.
This would give me the effect of a true single coil neck. however given the dual rails are so hot it would just become a mediocre pickup in single coil mode.
I am still in two minds about the pickguard itself. I have teh cinamon, which looks nice and the black pearloid, both are SSh pickguards. I'll wait until I get teh finish coat on before I decide on which one to use. either would be stunning.with the gold embelishments. I think the gold will set off the Butterscotch body perfectly... :)

I'll also have to decide on teh nob colours. I have a choice of Black, white, gold top hats or Clear... the clears may get the nod here... but we'll see


Cheers PK

kells80aus
05-03-2014, 10:05 PM
applied the second coat this morning after a gap of 30 hours. only used a quarter of the amount of Wudtone that I used on the primary coat. I was even scrapping drops of wudtone out of the lid and putting it back in the bottle.
I should easily get 6,7 or more coats.

Cheers PK

gavinturner
05-03-2014, 11:09 PM
Good work! I know that feeling - conserving every drop of Wudtone! If you like more of a solid colour it is always a good idea. I've had to do it on both my Wudtone builds, but it was worth it.

cheers,
Gav.

kells80aus
06-03-2014, 08:35 PM
Day 3, Coat 3 of Butterscotch. Gave the body a light rub over with 000 Fine Steel wool, then applied the third coat of base coat. Each coat has seen a little more butterscotch colour come into the wood.
This time I drizzled about a 20 cent piece diameter spot onto the Jam Jar lid. Yesterday it was an area about the size of a 50c piece. Today there was no waste of WT. I have been marking the bottle with a felt pen each time I use it. first coat was about 5 mm, this coat was about 2.. of WT used.

Cheers PK

kells80aus
07-03-2014, 03:42 AM
Looking at the pickguard choices and knob choices...
Four colours of pickguard to choose from White of course, Red Pearl(HSH) Black Pearl(SSH) or Cinamon(SSH)
Knob choices are white, black, clear, Gold or Gibbo Golds.
Pick ups are two sets rails, and a Black Humbucker.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/hdo5w-pickguards-001.jpg

kells80aus
07-03-2014, 04:39 AM
weirdest thing. the clear knobs are damn near invisible in that pic....

DanMade
07-03-2014, 05:11 AM
That cinnamon set looks pretty special. Though it might be a bit much with all the gold hardware.

All looks good man.

kells80aus
07-03-2014, 05:30 AM
Hi Dan, that's why I have that Black Pearl set as a reserve if the Cinamon doesn't gell well I can swap them.
As for the pick ups they can all be swapped around.
Once the body is done I'll do a mock up again. and see how it looks.

Don't forget it is Butterscotch So I am expecting the gold to just about turn invisable.
The real truth will be if the Cinamon makes it look to pale altogether.

Cheers PK

kells80aus
07-03-2014, 11:19 PM
Fourth coat went on this mornig. Looking good.
I think I'll put the gold highlights on tomorrow.
then maybe a few coats over top of that. then Aged Gloss.

Cheers PK
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/x91lc-DSCN0033.jpg

Bass Guy
07-03-2014, 11:52 PM
Looks beautiful PK- I reckon the cinnamon guard will work wonders!

gavinturner
07-03-2014, 11:55 PM
The ash grain looks awesome throught the butterscotch. I reckon you've got the balance just right.

cheers,
Gav.

wokkaboy
08-03-2014, 02:34 AM
yes looking a nice colour PK, maybe if you can please post some photos of the pickguards on the body with the neck in place would be better to make a decision which looks best

kells80aus
08-03-2014, 05:55 AM
Thanks Guys, Yep I'll do a mock up before I screw it all to gether.

Cheers PK

stan
08-03-2014, 09:55 AM
love the look of this - cinnamon for me too

kells80aus
08-03-2014, 11:47 PM
Gold Highlights applied. I can't see anything signifcant. maybe it needs multiple coats.

Bass Guy
09-03-2014, 12:09 AM
I would counsel not going too crazy with the highlights. They show up at different angles in various lights. I went whack-job crazy with my first build (silver highlights in Surf Green) and found that a second coat was overkill. They also don't disperse as well as the colours, so you can end up with globs where you don't want globs.

But then again I haven't seen your finish yet, so use your best judgement.

kells80aus
09-03-2014, 01:21 AM
hi BG.

I really don't want it globbing. maybe I'll just do another coat or two of Butterscotch. then re-look at the highlights. probably go straight to the finish after another coat or two of Butterscotch. I think Gav said he did about 6-7 coats of BS on his Junior.

Cheers PK

kells80aus
09-03-2014, 10:06 PM
fifth coat of Butterscotch. looking better all the time.

PK

kells80aus
10-03-2014, 06:20 AM
Having looked at the strat this arvo, once the butterscotch has had a good chance to cure. I think that I'll go straight to the clear coat. The darker grain is starting to cloud under teh Butterscotch, so I think I have reached saturation with the colour..

Cheers PK

kells80aus
10-03-2014, 11:28 PM
1st coat of Age Tinted gloss applied. Not sure how meny is needed. I figure go to three and see. then go to four if it need more. maybe five if it comes alive.......

:D PK

gavinturner
11-03-2014, 03:03 AM
Pictures please!! :)

cheers,
Gav

kells80aus
11-03-2014, 04:14 AM
1st layer of clear coat. on top of 5 layers of Butterscotch and 1 layer of gold highlights
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/9bxj8-Clear-coat-002.JPG

kells80aus
11-03-2014, 04:16 AM
The other side
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/7me01-Clear-coat-001.JPG

kells80aus
11-03-2014, 04:20 AM
that strange little block of wood in the pickup cavity.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/0i4c2-mockup-007.JPG

gavinturner
11-03-2014, 04:52 AM
Wow Paul,

that butterscotch on the ash body looks superb. Such a beautiful creamy shade! Nice work.

cheers,
Gav.

lawry
11-03-2014, 07:01 AM
Sure does look butterscotchy, Paul. Very classy looking with the grain showing through like that.

Brendan
11-03-2014, 11:04 AM
Careful with the highlights - had a nice black guitar that I thought would look neat with some silver highlights. As soon as they went on I wanted to take them off again.... Couple of hours of careful sanding and you can't really notice them...

kells80aus
11-03-2014, 09:57 PM
Hi Brendan
I don't really think the highlights had any affect at all there was very few areas where they could properly take as I had given the body a rub over with a slurry of timbermate and then sanded it back.
If it has had any effect it has been to make the body look a bit more golden.
But then I am getting much the same impression from the Clear coat which is more the colour of treacle.

Cheers PK

kells80aus
12-03-2014, 04:55 AM
I've started setting up the wiring loom for this little Honey. I am toying with the idea of setting up the Neck and Mid pick ups on push pulls so they can be run as series or parallel. Has any one done this... or has any one even done strat/tele rails.. these things look awesome. just hope they sound as good as they look.
So far I have set the bottom tone control to only run the big Humbucker. I've soldered in the cap as a .023uf. It's a pitty I don't hace a Black four wire Bucker otherwise I'd do a split on it as well as the tiny rails. I've used a full sized CTS B500 pot for the humbucker tone, but picked one that was actually only 424K Ohm. I've got about 150 Full Sized CTS B500K pots but they are only 30%. I've graduated them into sets of four. When I bought them I was only supposed to get 20 pots all up. So if any one wants some drop me a line and we can work something our. Beers are my favourite form of Currency, but if your not in Melb money will do. LOL

Cheers PK

WeirdBits
12-03-2014, 09:13 AM
I've dabbled a bit with running rail coils in series/parallel, as well as in series/parallel pickup combos and out of phase. I like the sound of the GFS Lil' Puncher rails out of phase in my TL-1A (coils in series, pickups in parallel out of phase), it's a bit like position 2 on a Strat. I usually run the pickups with their coils in series, but I'm still experimenting with all the sounds and tweaking the pickup heights etc. So far, they sound pretty good to me.

If you are interested, here are some of my wiring diagrams: TL-1A with GFS rails (http://www.pitbullguitars.com/?page_id=42&mingleforumaction=viewtopic&t=152.15#postid-16057), ST-1 with GFS rails (http://www.pitbullguitars.com/?page_id=42&mingleforumaction=viewtopic&t=883.1#postid-16532), ST-1 with Toneriders (http://www.pitbullguitars.com/?page_id=42&mingleforumaction=viewtopic&t=883.1#postid-16533).

Is there a particular style of sounds you want or just general versatiliy? Rail coils in parallel can be too thin, scooped and nasally for some tastes so splitting them may a better option if you want something more like single coil tones. But, I guess it depends on the pickup, the guitar and most importantly, your ear. And, if you are game, you could always try some surgery on your humbucker to give it a coil split option.

150 CTS pots! wow, are they all 'B' linear's?

kells80aus
12-03-2014, 09:52 AM
Hi WB.

My prefered music flavour is Blues.
I like to try and build a guitar that is versatile. so maybe go the series/sngle split coil option. I know the P-Rail on my Eagle 11 doesn't gain much in parallel, It has SD switched pickup rings.
As you can guess I like to fiddle with the wiring. and see what I can get out of it apart from burnt fingers. 8)

of the CTS pots, the whole 150 pots are B500K. Some get as high as 530K and as low as 424K. I have graded them in to groups of four. each group is within a K or two of each other. I have something like 30 packs of four. and one pack with about ten pots that just could not be grouped. they have 9mm of thread and standard sized splines.

Cheers PK

lawry
12-03-2014, 11:23 AM
If you want wiring 'options' then Scott is definitely your man. Watch out though, some of his combos require a degree in dimensional sanity. ;-)
Seriously though, check Scott's diagrams. He's put together some very cool combinations.

WeirdBits
13-03-2014, 02:51 AM
Paul, if you're going to go with the split rail option remember to split the 'north' rail on one pup and the 'south' rail on the other, so you still get the RWRP hum cancelling when both the split neck and middle are on together. And, depending on the rail pups and how you decide to wire them you may need to swap the series link on one of the pups to make the split easier. It may also pay to check the phase of your humbucker in relation to the rails before you start soldering so you don't have to flip wires later.

@Lawry, hehe I've been working on an 'unusual' bass wiring diagram that I may need you to peruse at some point...

lawry
13-03-2014, 07:06 AM
"@Lawry, hehe I've been working on an 'unusual' bass wiring diagram that I may need you to peruse at some point..."

My minds already doing contortions just trying to imagine what you have in your head.
But... I'd love to see it! :D

kells80aus
13-03-2014, 07:24 AM
@Weirdbits. Um so how do you work out which is the north and which is the south coil? is it that you have two choices the right way and the wrong way. If you get it wrong unsolder one of teh pickups and reverse the setup? :D
I can almost guarantee I'll wire it wrong first up.
The rail Pups I have a are Belcats. I probably should put the meter on em and see what the resistance is. In my mind if they are around 6K then it is really pointless plitting the coils as they will be too weak, in wich case the idea of series/parallel would be a better option. even though two 6K coils would result in aweek 3K coil. :D
Yeah I know too much too... lol

Cheers PK

kells80aus
13-03-2014, 07:28 AM
@Weirdbits. Um so how do you work out which is the north and which is the south coil? is it that you have two choices the right way and the wrong way. If you get it wrong unsolder one of teh pickups and reverse the setup? :D
I can almost guarantee I'll wire it wrong first up.
The rail Pups I have a are Belcats. I probably should put the meter on em and see what the resistance is. In my mind if they are around 6K then it is really pointless plitting the coils as they will be too weak, in wich case the idea of series/parallel would be a better option. even though two 6K coils would result in aweek 3K coil. :D
Yeah I know too much too... lol


OK just measured these pups, each coil is around 5.5-5.6 KOhm. so I think they will be too weak to split.

might go with push pulls to apply different caps. :S or maybe not.


Cheers PK

WeirdBits
13-03-2014, 08:06 AM
How hot is your humbucker? I think 5-6K per coil for the rails would be fine split, that's about what my vintage wound strat Toneriders are. But, it depends on what your Belcats sound like split rather than just going by reaistance.

To check the pole direction and polarity etc. you need a magnetic compass, a multimeter and a ferrous mass like a screwdriver/pliers/spanner. This video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UfxQBhqen8) does a pretty good job of guiding you through the process.

Ideally, your Belcat pickups should have a wiring sheet included that lists the wiring colur-coding and north/south pairs. But, if worst comes to worst, as long as you can work out which pairs of wires connect to each coil (and assuming they're consistent) all you have to do use one colour pair on one pickup and the other colour pair on the other pickup and you'll have a hum cancelling pair of split coils.

kells80aus
13-03-2014, 08:37 AM
the sealed one is 8.74K, the other Black Poled one is 7.88K. I've got a white one that comes in at 15.34K the white one is the only one with 'Pre' split coils. Obviously I can't split the sealed pickup.

In terms of Balance I think either of the Black ones will have around the same output levels as the rails. and hopefully a similar tone range. :D

PK

quiet1_au
13-03-2014, 10:54 AM
Great shellac tips and some lovely guitars you've made there too! :-)

kells80aus
14-03-2014, 02:44 AM
Thanks Quiety.

I've done the loom and pickguard. I rehashed the loom off the Black perloid gurd. and rearranged teh set up. ATM I have a push pull on the Humbucker with two caps. .023 and .047 Did that just for fun. The 24mm CTS was too big to easily fit into the body with out taking a risk of scratching something.
I anticipate haveing to re-solder a few wires, as is always the case with re-using looms, the wires tend to break due to the handling.
I've orderd some gold pickup screws and a black metal Humbucker cover so I can fit a four wire pickup where the 8.74 Hummy is right now. Then I can play re-arrange the push pull switch. I may even add two more for the rails, but thats for a bit later.
This weekend could see another coat of clear finish go on. I am up two at the momnet. I can see couple more coats easily.

There will be a few periods over the weekend where no work is allowed as it is a sort of religious weekend..... F1 :D

Cheers PK

kells80aus
15-03-2014, 05:25 AM
OK, another coat of Clear Gloss on this morning, lookin Purdy.
PK

kells80aus
15-03-2014, 05:44 AM
third or fourth clear. lost track

kells80aus
15-03-2014, 05:50 AM
Pic try again
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/46i48-20140314_172935.jpg

kells80aus
15-03-2014, 06:38 AM
Mobile Phone pics are not as good as a real camera.....

gavinturner
15-03-2014, 09:56 AM
Looking sweet Paul!

kells80aus
17-03-2014, 11:00 PM
Another coat of Gloss goes on. Pretty sure this was number four..

Cheers PK
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/bno6a-foutrth-gloss-004.JPG

stan
18-03-2014, 02:39 AM
looking pretty nice Paul

kells80aus
18-03-2014, 04:12 AM
Hi Stan,
Tks M8.
My gold bridge turned up today as well as the gold pickup screws. Just need to find someone with a pair of gold 5pos switch screws.

PK

kells80aus
18-03-2014, 06:32 AM
Well ebay as a source of gold strat switch screws Sucks. can get a pair from US for nearly $20.... BWAHHHH might just buy a can og gold modeling paint.

PK

stan
18-03-2014, 09:54 AM
there is a great nut and bolt shop near me, i can have a look, alternatively the big green hardware may have some that might work

maxaxe
18-03-2014, 10:30 AM
This would have to be one of the warmest (aesthetically) guitars on the forum.
I reckon gold pickups are the right choice to enhance that body. I'd imagine the rest of the hardware is gold too?

kells80aus
18-03-2014, 10:59 PM
Hi Maxaxe

At this point I am looking to put on a black sealed humbucker to go along side the two black rails.
I do have a stack of old gold pickups I could put on her.
I've also wired the bottom tone pot exclusively to the humbucker with a push/pull to select between a .023uf cap and a .047uf cap. The pick up is only around 8k and is only a 2wire job.

Cheers PK

kells80aus
18-03-2014, 11:00 PM
pickguard front
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/7484t-picguard-001.JPG

kells80aus
18-03-2014, 11:02 PM
Pickguard wiring
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/orh97-picguard-003.JPG

kells80aus
18-03-2014, 11:09 PM
Ok Just noticed a new feature on that humbucker pickup , basically it's scratched so it's out of there.

kells80aus
18-03-2014, 11:37 PM
Ok Another take on the pickups. this is one of my very precious Toaster four wire pickups.

Cheers PK
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/zkg45-picguard-004.JPG

stan
19-03-2014, 01:43 AM
nice!

kells80aus
19-03-2014, 02:17 AM
I think I'll go with this set upas teh Black pickups give it a contrast to the buterscotch and gold.

PK
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/y410y-picguard-005.JPG

kells80aus
19-03-2014, 11:32 PM
It's gunna be alright :D
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/36gd9-20140319_105155.jpg

Fretworn
20-03-2014, 12:38 AM
Quote from kells80aus on March 19, 2014, 08:32
It's gunna be alright :D
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/36gd9-20140319_105155.jpg

Not putting it together like that, it ain't. ;)

kells80aus
20-03-2014, 12:48 AM
rofl WHAT, I screwd it to gether like that, You mean that's not how it's supposed to be...... I thought it looked real good that way...ha ha ha


PK

gavinturner
20-03-2014, 10:02 AM
love the decal Paul - she's really turning into a killer build!

cheers,
Gav.

Gavin1393
20-03-2014, 10:07 AM
If you are able to sort out your dilemma, maybe you can help out this crowd....
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/hhm1n-image.jpg

kells80aus
20-03-2014, 06:45 PM
Hi Gav,

looks like a nice 5 string Bass. Two piece body. I always like as few pieces in the body as possible. and it's nothing to do with strat cracks. I think that it is a matter of symetry. That Bass would look nice in Cherry Red base coat with a clear coat on the neck. I think that often when you colour the neck the same colour as the body it often takes away from drama of the instrument.

Cheers PK

kells80aus
20-03-2014, 07:03 PM
Synopsis of this build;

I think I have reached the sit and wait a week point in this build I've got 5 coats of clear Wudtone Gloss with Age tint, and I don't think it is going to gain anything from adding more coats. The Wudtone Butterscotch base is five coats with a Wudtone Gold highlight on top of a very thin rubbing of Pine Timbermate. After the Timbermate the body was rubbed back with 240 grit.
Additional light rub backs were with fine and superfine steelwool.
The neck has been coated with white shellac in order to mainatain the asthetics of the clean white maple.
The fingerboard is coated with several layers of Brehlen Fingerboard oil. It's basically Lemon oil
The decal is a Laser printed on a slde on water transfer base.
The fittings will be gold bridge, tuners and scratch plate screws. Pickups are two Black Rails, and one open stud Black humbucker sitting on a Cinamon Pearloid scratch plate. Tone and Volume knobs are Golden Amber Gibson style. I still need to source a suitable rear scratch plate. black or Golden Mirror seems to be the only things avaiable. But as I am out of work and out of money, plain black could be the way it has to go, as they are cheap as.

Cheers PK

Gavin1393
20-03-2014, 11:30 PM
PK, did you notice the bridge was positioned back to front on the 5 string bass? ;)

http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/hhm1n-image.jpg

kells80aus
21-03-2014, 02:12 AM
ha ha, Thought as it was a mock together, and it wouldn't be screwed up. but if it is screwed then it's screwed rofl.

mind I can't see any screws with Zoomfox. :D


PK

kells80aus
23-03-2014, 12:06 AM
Hi All.

I was looking for a way to keep the wiring neat so it will sit nicely in the chanel, So I put on My PC techy hat and went off to the Big Green Shed and bought some clips. I bought two types 1 that the wires clip into and the other you use a plastic tie to hold them in place.

Given the wiring chanel is about 23-24 mm wide between pick ups it was going to be too tight to use the tie down styles, so I used the clips which are about 15mm wide by about 25-30mm long. I measured the centre of the pup[s so I should get these babies somewhere close to centre leaving me a few mm each side.

See Pic. Looks neat. :D

Cheers PK
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/74dqa-Strat-Loom-002.JPG

stan
23-03-2014, 01:53 AM
nice attention to detail Paul

Brendan
23-03-2014, 11:45 AM
Nicely done. Great idea!

gavinturner
23-03-2014, 07:46 PM
Nice! Will remember to do this myself next time. Really is a pain keeping those wires in the channel - great solution!

cheers,
Gav.

kells80aus
27-03-2014, 03:53 AM
Warning warning...... I used suposedly low tack green masking tape on the headstock of this build and the crap has ripper off the corner of the decal, and left residue all over the face of the headstock.... I am really annoyed, as I was only a few days from assembly. Now I'll have to strip back the face of the headstock and do it all over again.


PK
I Think I'll stick to 3M blue tape

wokkaboy
27-03-2014, 04:10 AM
bummer Paul, definitely avoid any masking tape on any part of the build, should only use proper painters tape. So that means probably no April GOTM entry this late in the month, that must be heart breaking. Hopefully you will sand it back and do a better job of the headstock

kells80aus
27-03-2014, 05:15 AM
Hi Wokka,

This is supposed to be low tack painters tape. It's Shuretape Painters tape Made in Canada. Must have a useby date.

Cheers PK

wokkaboy
27-03-2014, 05:33 AM
well that really sucks Paul, bugger, oh well you certainly won't use that tape again, stick to 3M !

gavinturner
27-03-2014, 07:29 AM
Bummer. I've had issues with the blue tape too, especially ripping out grain on bare wood. I use the green low tack stuff from the same company that makes the blue (3M?). It certainly is low tack - most of the time it doesn't stick hard enough or for long enough. For edges I always use the 3M 471 pin striping tape and then attach the green stuff off of that...

cheers,
Gav.

kells80aus
27-03-2014, 09:00 AM
Hi Gav,
I am thinking that there is some kind of chemical reaction between the gum on the tape and the Shellac I am using. The same thing happened on the 335 with the 3M blue tape, but not to this extent. With the Blue 3M there were patches around the edge only. The Green tape gum litteraly covers the whole face of the headstock. so I'll have to strip it back and redo that facet. I may be the shellac was too 'green' as in not properly cured, ie less than 24 hours old. I had blue 3M on the back of the neck while I was working on the front of the headstock and it's fine.

Cheers PK

kells80aus
27-03-2014, 11:57 PM
Ok Stripped back(Shellac wiped off with Metho), Wet and dried with 1200 grit, and new decal applied

Cheers PK
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/8g03f-Re-done-Headstock.jpg

wokkaboy
28-03-2014, 12:42 AM
looks good PK, whats the plan shellac over the headstock now ?

kells80aus
28-03-2014, 01:15 AM
Hi Wokka,
Yep shellac over the top, try and get enough depth to shine like the sun you crazy diamond you.

PK

wokkaboy
28-03-2014, 01:59 AM
yer ok cool, I've never used shellac, what brand do you use and do you rag or brush it on ?
just keep the painters tape off it if you can. I'd say the tape stuck because the shellac had cured for under 24 hours maybe

kells80aus
28-03-2014, 04:36 AM
Hi Wok

I am using U-Beaut Poishes from Geelong's White Shellac. I apply with a home made pad. 180mm square of 100% White cotton Drill. with a squab rolled up inside it. swoop the polish on swoop the polish off..


http://www.ubeaut.com.au/hardshell.htm

Cheers PK

kells80aus
29-03-2014, 08:18 PM
Hi All,

The End is Nigh,

Assembly begins,

Some time later today this baby will have reached her conclusion with a the production of some noise from my Amp, well if all goes well it will

This has actually been some what of a marathon, with about 15 coats of wudtone on the body all up, and as menay coats of Shellac on teh neck. While I could take the necka little further I am just to anxious to hear this little Buttercup sing.

Cheers PK
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/c4t86-Headstock-002.JPG

kells80aus
29-03-2014, 08:27 PM
:D

kells80aus
29-03-2014, 10:44 PM
Buttercup Complete No strings atached
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/6xmav-Buttercup-Finished-001.JPG

kells80aus
29-03-2014, 10:46 PM
More of Buttercup
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/40ai1-Buttercup-Finished-004.JPG

lawry
29-03-2014, 11:37 PM
Wow. Gold hardware, black hardware and that scratchplate against the colour of the wood have made this look stunning. I love it!

kells80aus
30-03-2014, 12:38 AM
Thanks Lawry.

I am pretty happy with the way 'Buttercup' looks. (They all have to have names)

Still got a ways to go with set up, neck relief atc, and a dodgy frickin 5 pos.

Getting sustain in the order of 10 seconds on the 'D' string on the 12th fret via the Humbucker.

Can't wait till it's really finished

Cheers PK

kells80aus
30-03-2014, 01:49 AM
A Closer look at Buttercup georgeous colours

PK
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/879y9-Buttercup-Finished-009.JPG

pablopepper
31-03-2014, 09:43 PM
A very unique looking strat. The triple humbucker setup is a great idea in my opinion.

kells80aus
31-03-2014, 11:40 PM
Thanks Pablo.

I am always trying to come up with a guitar that is good looking, as well as dynamic in it's ability to produce a nice tone.

Cheers PK

kells80aus
01-04-2014, 02:54 AM
5pos replaced. Must have missed an earth as I now have a power load of Power hum, except in the middle pos..... huummm.

PK

quiet1_au
01-04-2014, 09:16 AM
Nice! I've been tempted to experiment with ditching the stock white 3-ply pickguard for a a tortoiseshell, "lava" or similar - and your Buttercup only encourages me to investigate further!... But I have other build ideas to investigate (this hobby is proving rather addictive - and probably expensive... ;-) )

dingobass
01-04-2014, 09:29 AM
Stunned silence from me :P

kells80aus
01-04-2014, 07:23 PM
Hi Quiety,

have a look on ebay and you can find tons of preloaded scratch plates for Fenders and a few others. for Gibson's there is only looms. Or you can buy all the bits and roll your own. the difficulty is that you usually have to fault find your hand built looms. Mine seems to have a loose wire if I turn it up one way it goes off turn it the right way up and it works. so now I have to pull it appart and see if it's the pickup or a stressed wire somewhere.

Is Stunned Silence good or bad DB?

The loom inside this is not from the kit. :D
This was off the Black pearloid guard

Cheers PK

kells80aus
01-04-2014, 10:57 PM
Found my broken wire. the Jack Hot out wire was snapped inside teh shrink wrap. one tug and she unplugged.
Now it's in bits I am going tom play with soem push pulls for the baby humbuckers

kells80aus
02-04-2014, 04:00 AM
Damit....had this thing appart quite a few times today. found it was a dodgy pickup. It's bin bound. Altogether again. had to use the sealed pickup. Still looks good sounds great plenty of sustain.
Buttercup is officially finished but for setting the string height and intonation...

Thank you ball boys thank you linesman.

PK

kells80aus
02-04-2014, 07:32 AM
Intonation done, but need to go back and recheck the neck relief as 'g' string flatlines on the 9th and 10th frets(no note difference). As this strings action is pretty high I need to recheck it. I don't have the tools to do a fret level job on it.
The Red Lady plays a whole lot better than Buttercup at this stage, but Butters has work to be done.

PK

Bring on the Junior. :D

kells80aus
15-05-2014, 02:35 AM
Had a problem with this Strat's neck. It was grounding out on the 11th fret on the 'B' string,for those that don't understnd what I mean the notes on the 10th fret and 11th fret are the same. no buzz...
so I got the Capo on the first fret and wound the truss rod up a bit. I fixed the 'B' String. put it all back together nicely. plugged her back in tuned her up. DOH. the grounding has moved to the 'G' string 12th fret. I just can't pick a winner with htis thing. I am thinking it needs a bit of skilled neck work, something that requiers some specialist fretting gear. all I have is a deadblow hammer, no slotted straight edge, no sanding block. So. if anyone on the west side of melb near Werribee has the right gear, I'd apprieciate a little help. :)

kells80aus
20-06-2014, 09:07 AM
Buttercup just got fostered out for a little money, less than it cost me to build.

She's gone to Bacchus Marsh with Marc to become a plaything for his 17yo grandson

Farewell sweet strat.

Cheers PK