Build numero three!

[McCreed]

As for radiusing the dots - I did the best I could with grades of sandpaper up to 800.

The lower dot on the 12th fret looks to be sitting a bit proud. May be just the lighting or angle of photo.

I've done a similar scraping method to RnR, then a light touch up with fine grit paper. (in the direction of the grain only)

[Groovyman32]

Thanks for the tips guys.

The lower dot on the 12th fret looks to be sitting a bit proud. May be just the lighting or angle of photo.

Yeah i can see how it looks proud but I think that is the light. The edges of the dots are flush but have a hump to them so you can feel them. I’ll try the razor blade approach to finesse them some more


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[McCreed]

Rather than type a million character post, here's a link to a Dan Erlewine (from Stew-Mac) video with some great tips on using a single-edge razor as a scraper.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTVScFJoe24

Dan is illustrating how to do a "drop-fill" repair in a finish, but his points about the blade and cello tape* are applicable to any job that requires scraping something level. Simply adjust your scraping area width and depth with the placement and thickness of the tape.

I'm currently doing a drop-fill myself, so coincidental timing. This technique is also my go-to for fixing runs in paint or clear coat!

Also, in case you were wondering, Dan is the man!


Edit: *cello tape = cellophane tape, not tape made to stick on the four-stringed instrument, cello (CHEL-oh).

[Simon Barden]

I've read in several places (but no guarantee that it's true) that abalone and MOP dust sands off at about twice the grit size, so if you wanted an 800 grit finish on it, then you'd probably need to use 1500. I like to get it as shiny as possible, so I use micromesh on inlays and go all the way up to 12000 grit on that.

And +1 on the scraper. I use them a lot.

[Groovyman32]

It's been a good while since my last update on this. Progress has been slow but this week I finally got it all together. The weather isn't great for glamour shots so this will have to do for the time being:



Of course, the finish is far from perfect. Applying the RPC with a brush leaves an uneven surface which is then prone to sanding through. And the nature RPC means that it's not easy to fix and any repair is quite obvious. But the biggest limitation is my skill level so it's just a matter of practice.

Assembly went okay. Although I narrowly avoided disaster when one of the bridge screws sheered off just below the surface. The bridge is a Gotoh so I thought I'd be safe. But it was my own fault; in an effort to avoid oversizing the pilot holes, I undersized it enough to make it too tight. I rescued it my drilling into the broken screw with the smallest drill bit I had. I managed to get right down the middle so I was then able to open the hole out the correct size, removing the debris as I went. Fortunately replacement screws were easy to source - so major lessons learnt without any major damage - I got lucky.

I enjoyed the wiring up process. I made a mess of applying the shielding to the back of the scratch plate despite trying to be really careful to avoid bubbles and wrinkles. But it's nice to have the majority of the soldering completely away from the guitar.



I used an oil and paper cap which quite frankly, was shockingly expensive. But I wanted to see if it's worth the money and whilst £20 is a lot for something that should cost a few pence - it's not prohibitive. At some point I might change it for cheap orange drop to see if I can tell the difference.

I wired the second tone so that is affects both middle and bridge pickups. The only other point of note is that the second tone control is a push/pull which allows me to add the bridge pickup to any other pickup combination.

Over all I'm really happy with how it plays and sounds. The Monty's pickups (with the £££ cap??) are beautiful - not quite as hot as the Texas Specials I once had but they have loads more clarity and charm then the Fender Noiseless 4s I have in my Elite Strat. With a BE100 Helix model with a Klon in front you can a sweet sounding SRV type tone. Not that I can play like SRV.

I had to fiddle with the setup quite a bit but I think it's just about right now. It's my first time setting up a Strat from scratch so I spent a long time juggling with the relief and saddle height whilst keeping the float on the trem where I wanted it.

The only thing that's a bit odd is when playing with gain the open G string seems to have an odd harmonic if my hand happens to touch it about 2cm away from the bridge. I can make it stop if damp the strings behind the nut so I'm planning to add some string trees. The nut is a preslotted Graphtec - I tried filing the G slot a little deeper (there was a little room for this) but that didn't seem to help. Does any one have any thoughts on this? I'd rather avoid the string trees if I can.

The only other addition is a spring to go in the trem arm hole. It's either too tight or there's way too much play and slop.

But overall I can't put it down and I'm super chuffed!

Next I need to revisit my telecaster build as I have the new neck for it. Then after that it's time to start on build #4 - A Floyd Rose based super strat!

[McCreed]

Very nice g-man! I'm sure you can see all the imperfections in the finish, but it looks great in the photos.
Even after over 12 years of doing this, I have yet to get a finish that's flawless!

Your wiring looks nice and tidy, and your shielding too. I've seen some real dog's breakfasts, and yours ain't that.

The only thing that's a bit odd is when playing with gain the open G string seems to have an odd harmonic if my hand happens to touch it about 2cm away from the bridge. I can make it stop if damp the strings behind the nut so I'm planning to add some string trees. The nut is a preslotted Graphtec - I tried filing the G slot a little deeper (there was a little room for this) but that didn't seem to help. Does any one have any thoughts on this? I'd rather avoid the string trees if I can.

I'd check the angle of the slot, as well as the width and shape. It may not have needed to go deeper (since you said there was little room to move) but may have just needed a better break angle, make sure the width is not too narrow so the string is not getting "pinched" on the sides, and bottom is a nice uniform "U" shape allowing the string to make full contact with it.

It wouldn't hurt to check the G saddle slot and break angle as well. Your description sounds like it nut related, but sometimes it's deceiving. Unwound G strings can do weird stuff.

The only other addition is a spring to go in the trem arm hole. It's either too tight or there's way too much play and slop.

A little trick with those springs, is to put a small ball of Blu Tak at the bottom of the hole. It will hold the spring in there when the arm is removed so you don't have to leave the arm in. This will reduce the risk of loosing the spring when you do remove it.
A lot of cases won't properly fit a guitar with the arm fitted (and that's a pet peeve of mine, seeing a vibrato arm on a guitar and then the lid jammed down to close).

Oh, and when do we get a demo? (I liked your first one)

[Trevor Davies]

Looks great Groovyman.

+1 for string trees.

[Groovyman32]

Thanks both!

Very nice g-man! I'm sure you can see all the imperfections in the finish, but it looks great in the photos.
Even after over 12 years of doing this, I have yet to get a finish that's flawless!

Your wiring looks nice and tidy, and your shielding too. I've seen some real dog's breakfasts, and yours ain't that.

I've added it to the list of guitars to refinish when I "get good". So far, of the three bodies I've done, the Tele has best results. This also suffered from the unevenly applied RPC but it has the advantage of fewer curves.

I'd check the angle of the slot, as well as the width and shape. It may not have needed to go deeper (since you said there was little room to move) but may have just needed a better break angle, make sure the width is not too narrow so the string is not getting "pinched" on the sides, and bottom is a nice uniform "U" shape allowing the string to make full contact with it.

It wouldn't hurt to check the G saddle slot and break angle as well. Your description sounds like it nut related, but sometimes it's deceiving. Unwound G strings can do weird stuff.

The Gotoh saddles don't have a slot - is this something I'm supposed to cut? I didn't think so as I thought that's what the bent vintage style saddles are supposed to be like... I will double check the nut slot though.

A little trick with those springs, is to put a small ball of Blu Tak at the bottom of the hole. It will hold the spring in there when the arm is removed so you don't have to leave the arm in. This will reduce the risk of loosing the spring when you do remove it.
A lot of cases won't properly fit a guitar with the arm fitted (and that's a pet peeve of mine, seeing a vibrato arm on a guitar and then the lid jammed down to close).

Yeah, I know what you mean - I hate seeing trem arms rammed into cases. I always take mine out. In any vintage style trem system I've had before I tend not put the bar in as it's a pain in the arse. I find the modern push in style less fuss so when I play the Elite I generally put it in and then rediscover how fun tremolos can be. It's only recently that I discovered that you can put a spring in to tension the vintage style arms and the Blu Tak idea is genius!

Oh, and when do we get a demo? (I liked your first one)

Thank you! I have a little something that I'm working on as an improv' exercise that might suit to show it off - If my playing is up to it I'll post it when I'm done

[McCreed]

The Gotoh saddles don't have a slot - is this something I'm supposed to cut? I didn't think so as I thought that's what the bent vintage style saddles are supposed to be like... I will double check the nut slot though.

Oops! My bad! For some reason I thought they were block saddles, which can have sort of a V shape groove coming out of the through hole. However it is still worth checking how the string comes over the bent saddle and making sure there's nothing wonky with the break angle or any rough spots on the plating (I have seen that once).

In this case, it is more likely the nut, but just trying to cover all the bases.

[Simon Barden]

I’ve just been reading bits of a book on the mechanics of acoustic guitars. It says that wound strings can become slightly unwound, and that if you loosen one off and give the windings at the ball end a couple of turns in the direction of the windings (normally anti-clockwise) then this can close up the windings, make them more regular and remove some unwanted resonances. Worth a try, though it’s a bit harder an a trem bridge than on an acoustic bridge!

Alternatively you can try replacing the string, as you do occasionally get a duff string that doesn’t play the same way all along its length.