New 80's Superstrat build project (Non-PBG Kit).

[DrNomis_44]

Hey Everyone,

After a suggestion from Wokkaboy, I have decided to start a proper build diary of another 80's Superstrat which I'm building from a spare Eston guitar neck, and a body that a good friend of mine gave me, these two parts form the platform for this new build and here's a pic to show what it looks like:




Hope Adam doesn't mind me adding another non-PBG kit build diary to this forum section.


Okay, here's the plan for this build, I am going to build this guitar so that it looks a bit like an 80's Metallic Blue Charvel Model 2 Guitar, here's a pic to show what they look like:






So, here's what I've worked out for the Super Strat build:

* Make it look like an 80's Charvel Model 2 Superstrat, finished in Metallic Blue.

* Keep it simple and go for a single Bridge-Humbucker Pickup Configuration with a 500k Log Volume Pot.

* Go with a Tonerider Octane Humbucking Pickup (The original Charvel Model 2 used a very high-output Humbucker that measures something like 15k Ohms), I could quite easily use a 500k Push-Pull Pot to implement the coil tapping.

* Use either a Chrome Schaller Lockmeister Floyd Bridge, or a Chrome Kahler Bridge.

* Use a set of 6 In Line Chrome Gotoh Tuners same like the ones used on the HotRod Strat.

* Of course, I'll also add a set of Chrome Ernie Ball Strap-Locks too.


I have a Chrome Kahler String Lock mounted on the Headstock of the Eston Neck, so I'm going with all Chrome hardware, the body is solid wood, so it'll be interesting to hear what it sounds like tonewize.


Note: All comments are most certainly welcome.

[Andy40]

Good plans doc. love that blue. you will have to do a sound demo of this once its finished

[wokkaboy]

yeah Doc should be a cool build plans sound good. Hopefully with the painting experience you have gained you can get a better finish. Take your time and sure you can. Lots of wet sanding between coats !

[DrNomis_44]

Cheers guys, this time around I will not let impatience get the better of me, and yes, I will do a demo once the guitar has been finished, that's for sure.

[DrNomis_44]

Hey Wokka, I'm planning on using some paint-stripper to remove all the black paint off the body and strip it all back to bare wood prior to re-finishing it, that's not going to cause any issues is it?, I will be doing the paint-stripping out on my balcony so there should be heaps of ventilation, I have used paint stripper before to strip the paint off the frame of a Mountain Bike, it did the job pretty well.

[wokkaboy]

Hey Doc. That's what I would do strip as much paint as you can and sand back to bare wood. Post some close up pics of the grain to see if it's needs a grain fill

[DrNomis_44]

Hey Doc. That's what I would do strip as much paint as you can and sand back to bare wood. Post some close up pics of the grain to see if it's needs a grain fill

Will do mate, I have a feeling that the grain isn't going to be anything special, so it'll probably won't warrant doing something other than going with a solid colour, but, we shall see.

I might see if I can pay a visit to the big green shed and see if they have any paint stripper in stock on Tuesday next week.

[Simon Barden]

You might not get any results with paint stripper if it's a polyester finish. It wouldn't touch the finish on my late '70s Ibanez ST55 (with about 2mm of black polyester finish on it). Even polyurethane might be quite resistant as the paint's polymer chains are very long so don't let much through. In that case it's sanding all the way. A belt sander will help strip it relatively quickly on the flat surfaces and I'd use a detail sander on the curves and edges.

[DrNomis_44]

You might not get any results with paint stripper if it's a polyester finish. It wouldn't touch the finish on my late '70s Ibanez ST55 (with about 2mm of black polyester finish on it). Even polyurethane might be quite resistant as the paint's polymer chains are very long so don't let much through. In that case it's sanding all the way. A belt sander will help strip it relatively quickly on the flat surfaces and I'd use a detail sander on the curves and edges.

Good point, from the looks of it, it looks like Black paint which has been sprayed onto an undercoat of some sort, there's a section where the finish has been worn away a bit from the back of the body, I'll post a pic of it tomorrow so you can see what it looks like, a part of it has worn down to bare wood.

[DrNomis_44]

I guess you guys are wondering why I have this fascination for the colour Blue?....hahaha.....as it turns out, I suffer from Colour-Blindness, more specifically, I suffer from what's called Red-Green Deficiency Colour-Blindness, here's an explanation, in a normal human eye, there's an area at the back of it called the Retina, the Retina is made up of millions and millions of light-sensitive cells, there are four types of light-sensitive cells, one type is sensitive to the overall brightness, and the other three are sensitive to Red, Green, and Blue light respectively, now normally each of the cells when they are all working correctly exhibit the same amount of sensitivity to their respective colour and they are able to correctly distinguish between different colour hues, but, in my case, the cells which are sensitive to Red and Green light aren't working like they are supposed to, the end result is that it makes it hard for me to distinguish between different shades of Reds and Browns, and Greens and Oranges, but I can distinguish between different shades of Blue with no problems, it's not like I'm totally blind though, I can see Colours but not like how most other people would see them, I also happen to suffer from Short-Sightedness, technically I should be wearing my glasses, but I can see relatively well enough without them to be able to cross a road safely enough, I was also born cross-eyed too, basically my eyes were mis-aligned from birth, but an operation on my eye muscles when I was 6 years old fixed that, there is still a slight mis-alignment but it is nothing to worry about cause it doesn't really have much of a negative impact on my quality of life, hence the reason I tend to gravitate to the colour Blue.