DrNomis_44's Gold Standard STA-1M Build.

If I do end up receiving all the bits I ordered from Realtone Music tomorrow, I might see if I can do a mock-up of the Strat body, with the Gold Knobs and Selector-Switch Tip in place on the White Pearloid Scratchplate, with the neck in it's place, and do some pics so we can all see what the finished build is going to look like, if it's anything like how I'm picturing in my mind, it should look really snazzy.


And then I might start wiring up the scratchplate, oh, and do the soldering mini-tutorial too.

Hi Doc, do you have a Phd in marketing as you never fail to fully name drop suppliers/manufacturers/products all over the place haha.

All good and makes the thread interesting to read plus help eat up many more lines in the quest for reaching the 100 page milestone.

Cheers, Waz.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wazkelly

Hi Doc, do you have a Phd in marketing as you never fail to fully name drop suppliers/manufacturers/products all over the place haha.

All good and makes the thread interesting to read plus help eat up many more lines in the quest for reaching the 100 page milestone.

Cheers, Waz.

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Lol....nah, I just rely on what I remember, sometimes I have my moments.


I try to keep my posts interesting, informative, and hopefully useful to those who read them.

Update:


Just checked the Postal Tracking on the bits I ordered from Realtone music and this is what the latest update says:


In transit With Australia Post for delivery today 4:53am Thu 31 Mar Winnellie, NT



Turns out I was absolutely right when I predicted that I would be receiving the bits today.

When are mine getting here Doc? ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tonyw

When are mine getting here Doc? ;)

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I have no idea, when did you order your stuff?, if you ordered some stuff from Pitbull Guitars you should have gotten an email or two from Adam with your order details and Australia Post tracking info.

If you did, try checking the postal tracking.


Incidentally, I just went down to my mailbox to check if I had any mail in it and there was a parcel card in it, obviously for the stuff I ordered from Realtone Music, so that means waiting till 5:00pm this afternoon to go pick it up.

I know where all my orders are Doc, was just having a lend.

Just dropped a new spool of pickup wire and smashed the plastic ends and stuffed the wire, my last one i have of poly, looks like i have to use Realtone, who i have used before, but it costs me x2 as much as i pay normally, but you have to pay if you want it now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tonyw

I know where all my orders are Doc, was just having a lend.

Just dropped a new spool of pickup wire and smashed the plastic ends and stuffed the wire, my last one i have of poly, looks like i have to use Realtone, who i have used before, but it costs me x2 as much as i pay normally, but you have to pay if you want it now.

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You could try registering with them as a business and you might be eligible for some discounts, might do that myself seeing as I have ordered quite a few bits of stuff from them so far.

One of my wholesalers in the U.S.A is their supplier Doc, like robbing Peter to pay Paul. After i get back from holidays after Anzac day i will be implementing quite a few things on the spare parts front.

Update:


Just got back from picking up my parcel from the Post Office, and have opened it up, sure enough all the bits I ordered from Realtone Music were in it, I have just taken a couple of pics of the bits so you can see what I got:



Attachment 10019



Attachment 10020



The top pic shows all the bits I ordered, the bottom pic is a close-up of the new Gold Strat Knobs, Tritan 5-Way Pickup Switch, and (on the right) the Vitamin Q .1uf/630 V DC Paper In Oil Cap I'm going to use as the Tone Cap, just look at the size of it, has some serious mojo going on.


I'm going to do another quick mock-build so I can take another pic of my Strat so you can get a bit of an idea what the guitar is going to look like when the build-process is finally finished, so stay tuned.

I have a new .1 Vit Q in my parts bin that i probably will never use, they are VitQ 0.22 i have going into the 12 string, they cost me pennies, at the end of the day a cap really is a cap Doc. I prefer to use Orange drops, they are a good cap and not expensive, the only thing i wont use is ceramic, unless its in a treble bleed.

nice stash of parts Doc and love the gold knobs, should look speccy the mock build.
Page 58 Doc, remember earlier in the week I predicted you would reachpage 60 by the weekend !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tonyw

I have a new .1 Vit Q in my parts bin that i probably will never use, they are VitQ 0.22 i have going into the 12 string, they cost me pennies, at the end of the day a cap really is a cap Doc. I prefer to use Orange drops, they are a good cap and not expensive, the only thing i wont use is ceramic, unless its in a treble bleed.

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Normally I would have used a bog-standard, garden-variety, .1uF/100V Greencap as the Tonecap in my Strat build, but I thought I would do something different this time, just for fun, and try one of these Vitamin Q caps, you're quite correct in saying that a cap is just a cap, providing that it is in good condition and functions properly with no leakage, it is not going to do anything detrimental or otherwise to your tone, I've heard lots of great things about Orange Drop caps, they are often used as replacement caps in vintage Fender amps, I like the look of them and my Squier P-Bass uses one for a Tone cap, also heard great things about the so-caled Sozo Caps which are sometimes used as replacement caps in Marshall amps.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

nice stash of parts Doc and love the gold knobs, should look speccy the mock build.
Page 58 Doc, remember earlier in the week I predicted you would reachpage 60 by the weekend !

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Yep, it looks like you're going to be proved absolutely correct mate, and it's only Thursday, I'm really liking the Gold Knobs too.

For your next build when you order i will send you some orange drops to try for free, i have 100's of them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tonyw

For your next build when you order i will send you some orange drops to try for free, i have 100's of them.

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Cheers for that mate, my next kit build is going to be the TL-51 Telecaster kit, would love to try an Orange Drop in it, do you have an online website, if so, I'm interested in checking it out.

Only the facebook one at the moment, but i am going to fire up my domain names and servers again soon, new financial year. I will be concentrating on quality guitar parts, but not everything, my pickup winds, and my wiring looms mainly, things on the electronics side of guitars have always been my interest, but you never know what will arrive in the brown truck next.


My motto is "Leave The Bull At The Gate" :rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tonyw

Only the facebook one at the moment, but i am going to fire up my domain names and servers again soon, new financial year. I will be concentrating on quality guitar parts, but not everything, my pickup winds, and my wiring looms mainly, things on the electronics side of guitars have always been my interest, but you never know what will arrive in the brown truck next.


My motto is "Leave The Bull At The Gate" :rolleyes:

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Sounds cool, if you could pm me to let me know when you've got your domain name and servers up and running again that would be much appreciated, thanks in advance.

I'm just in the process of getting things prepared so I can get a pic of the mock-build sorted so I can upload a pic of what the Strat is going to look like once it's finished, so stay tuned.


Okay here are some more pics of the guitar, hopefully these will give you a good idea what it is going to look like once the build process has finished:


Attachment 10022


Attachment 10023


Attachment 10024


Attachment 10025



The 5-way Tritan Pickup Switch I ordered turned out to be a drop-in fit for the mounting holes in the Scratch Plate, so I'm feeling very relieved about that since I was a bit worried that it wouldn't fit, I have found that some switches from different manufacturers tend to be a bit variable with regards to the spacing of the mounting screw holes, I guess I was pretty lucky this time.


And, as you can see in the close-up pic of the scratchplate, the Gold Knobs and Selector Switch Tip really work well with the White Pearloid Scratchplate, and the Dingotone Coolangatta Gold, it looks pretty classy in my humble opinion.


Next fortnight, I'll see if I can get the Gold Super Vee Bladerunner Strat Bridge ordered.


Attachment 10035

That is looking very classy. I wouldnt have thought that the gold and the Coolangatta body colour pickguard would match that well, but looks a great combo. if it sounds as good as it looks youre on a winner.

Very nice Doc

Lovin it Doc, coming up wonderfully

Quote:

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Originally Posted by vh2580

That is looking very classy. I wouldnt have thought that the gold and the Coolangatta body colour pickguard would match that well, but looks a great combo. if it sounds as good as it looks youre on a winner.

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Cheers, I reckon it's a great combo too, I think the white pearloid scratch plate really works with the Gold hardware and knobs and the Coolangatta Gold finish, the popped grain adds a bit of character to it too.


What's really interesting is that even though the grain-pattern isn't that spectacular, it actually adds to the overall look of the guitar.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dedman

Lovin it Doc, coming up wonderfully

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Cheers, I'm really liking it too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tonyw

Very nice Doc

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Cheers, I think going with Coolangatta Gold was definitely well worth it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DrNomis_44

I'm just in the process of getting things prepared so I can get a pic of the mock-build sorted so I can upload a pic of what the Strat is going to look like once it's finished, so stay tuned.


Okay here are some more pics of the guitar, hopefully these will give you a good idea what it is going to look like once the build process has finished:


Attachment 10022


Attachment 10023


Attachment 10024


Attachment 10025



The 5-way Tritan Pickup Switch I ordered turned out to be a drop-in fit for the mounting holes in the Scratch Plate, so I'm feeling very relieved about that since I was a bit worried that it wouldn't fit, I have found that some switches from different manufacturers tend to be a bit variable with regards to the spacing of the mounting screw holes, I guess I was pretty lucky this time.


And, as you can see in the close-up pic of the scratchplate, the Gold Knobs and Selector Switch Tip really work well with the White Pearloid Scratchplate, and the Dingotone Coolangatta Gold, it looks pretty classy in my humble opinion.


Next fortnight, I'll see if I can get the Gold Super Vee Bladerunner Strat Bridge ordered.


Attachment 10035

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Doc that is looking schmick! love your work!

Looking good Doc.

I am with Tony re vit q caps.. Well, generally speaking I am not a fan of OIP caps.
Only time I use them is in restorations of Vintage Guitars...

But worth giving it a try Doc. You might really like the sound :)
Dont do what I did once and forget to put a heat sink clamp on the leg before soldering....

Looking awesome Doc!

Sent from my GT-I9506 using Tapatalk

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dingobass

Looking good Doc.

I am with Tony re vit q caps.. Well, generally speaking I am not a fan of OIP caps.
Only time I use them is in restorations of Vintage Guitars...

But worth giving it a try Doc. You might really like the sound :)
Dont do what I did once and forget to put a heat sink clamp on the leg before soldering....

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Cheers DB, normally I would have just opted to use a generic, garden-variety .1uF/100V Greencap for the tone cap, but thought I'd try something new just for fun, I'm actually a bit curious to find out what the guitar will sound like with the Vitamin Q cap, I have done a bit of reading of some articles I found online about the "Sound" of Capacitors, as I said at the start of my build diary I'm going to wire up the scratch plate the way Fender wire up their Eric Johnson Signature Strat model, since it makes the most sense to me, and I reckon the Vitamin Q Cap may give it a vintage high-endy kind of tone.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by andrewdosborne

Looking awesome Doc!

Sent from my GT-I9506 using Tapatalk

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Cheers mate.

looking unreal the mock build Doc and you will be hitting page 60 very soon with your single replies to everyone haha

EDIT PAGE 60 DOC !!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

looking unreal the mock build Doc and you will be hitting page 60 very soon with your single replies to everyone haha

EDIT PAGE 60 DOC !!!!

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Woohoo!!!!


Now, I only need another 40 pages to get to 100....lol.

don't laugh Doc I think this thread has legs to reach 100 pages

Agree. We still have electronics, fret job, set up and sound demo to go!

Sent from my GT-I9506 using Tapatalk

Ah, and cats. I'm sure I've seen them somewhere else in the forum!

Sent from my GT-I9506 using Tapatalk

On page 60... go Doc!

So at this point here's what I'm going to do, I'm going to wait till this coming Sunday then I'll dismantle the Strat so I can apply the last coat of DT CG Final Coat to the body after giving it a very light sand with some 400 Grit Sandpaper, while the body is drying I'm going to then start work on doing the final wiring-up of the Scratch Plate, and while I'm doing that I'll get some pics done so that I can do the write-up for the Soldering mini-tutorial, so stay tuned.

400 grit??? Sounds a little extreme for a final sanding Doc...

Did you end up buying the copper snail tape?

go 800 or even 1000 grit Doc

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Muzza

400 grit??? Sounds a little extreme for a final sanding Doc...

Did you end up buying the copper snail tape?

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Nah, I didn't end up buying any snail copper tape the last time I was at Bunnings, but I might see if I can get some tomorrow, I think I had some 1200 grit sandpaper floating around, but I might see if I can buy a couple of sheets tomorrow, or maybe a couple of sheets of 1800 grit.