DrNomis_44's Gold Standard STA-1M Build.

[DrNomis_44]

I forgot just how massive those Q's are!
Nice job on the wireing Doc, if I may throw my 1.25cents worth in, it isnt necessary to earth pot to pot when you have done such a beautiful job with the shielding as it acts as an earth for you. But it cant hurt..

Now, with the amount of time taken on builds..
Sanding... Sanding sanding sanding..... Thats where the money shot lays... I am soooooo pedantic about sanding it can take a few full days just to get a body right.
1: I never use Roy Orbison sanders, they always leave tiny swirl scratches that can be a bugger to remove. The paper you get for most of the brand name orbos with velcro fasteners is to say the least, crap.
2: Never use paper brought from any of the BSFOS or the $2 shop. It will be crap, even the Norton papers I have brought from the shed was not as good as what I get from a specialist paper supplier.
Maybe it is just my pure hatred for the BGSFOS projecting onto the papers or, as I suspect, they buy the stuff that would normally get binned for not passing QC or stuff that is made just for them. IE: cheap crap because thats all the BSFOS want to sell, cheap crap.
3: The sanding process... I will start with either 180 or if things are really ropey, 120 grit.
Then up through the grits to a minimum of 400.
I hold the body up to the light and stare at it from every angle known, plus I invent a few new angles as well
If I can see so much as one tiny line that shouldnt be there it gets sanded again.
Once I am happy with it, I will then go down a few grades of grit depending on the finish I am using.
For DT 400 grit is fine but for Nitro I will go back over it with either 340 or 220 grit. This depends on the timber. Open grained timbers I will go 340, tight or closed grain 220.
I know it sounds counter productive to sand to a high grit then go back over with a coarser one but it eliminates all deep scratches and gives a really nice surface for the finish.

Yes, I am anally retentive. But when someone is paying me 3-6k for a custom Guitar, they deserve nothing less.
Sanding rant over. I need more coffee.

That's alright mate, you're right, I probably didn't need to earth the pots, my philosophy is that it's better to have something and not need it than to not have it and need it a lot, I have had guitars in the past where the earthing foil had worn through where the pot mounts through the scratchplate, and caused a bad hum problem, so if you earth the pots together like I've done, the foil can still wear through but there'll still be a good earth connection, of course not everyone will wire-up a guitar the same way, most people will have their preferred method, and there's nothing wrong with that.



I just read your reply to my pm, when the Strat body has dried I might consider giving it a good sand and apply a couple of coats of the neck finish I talked about in my pm.


I still have a couple of sheets of 400 grit sandpaper, and maybe some 320 grit, I might try doing as per your post.