DrNomis_44's Gold Standard STA-1M Build.

[tonyw]

Wok are these from Andy or ones you do yourself?

[wokkaboy]

Tony these are from Andy. Takes alot of work to cut these from vinyl being so delicate.
I started using waterslide decal logos and got sick of the clear plastic being visible at certain angles

[tonyw]

Might see what the go is with waterslides and do me own, i have my logo, just time i havent got, even going to have to source out pickguards and nuts soon, one man cant do it all himself no matter how hard he tries.

[DrNomis_44]

Doc/Tony here is a pic of my latest batch of vinyl logos, you peel off the backing paper and push onto the headstock, rub a rag over then the application tape comes off.

Those decals look great, there's an Officeworks shop in Darwin so I'll go see if they have any of that water slide decal stuff you mentioned on Tuesday, I'll need to buy some new ink cartridges for my printer/scanner/copier too.


I might see if I can design a decal using OpenOffice.org, it's some free software I've used before.

[DrNomis_44]

Okay, so once my STA-1M kit arrives in the post I'm assuming that I'll need to do alot of sanding as part of the prep-work prior to spray-painting the body, once all the sanding has been done I'm probably going to have to apply either some sanding-sealer or a primer of some kind, then do some more sanding till I get a nice even and smooth surface all over the body that's ready for the Gold spray paint, my question is, what would be the best product to use to prep the body for Spray-painting, assuming that Bunnigs has it in stock?, some Maple Timbermate?, Feast Watson Sealer?, Wood Primer?, since I'm probably going with an opaque solid-colour Acrylic paint, it won't really matter if Maple Timbermate colours the wood a bit, this is so that I'll be able to get my shopping list all sorted out for when it comes to applying the finish to the body.


I'm also assuming that I'll need to buy some polishing products too so I can polish the body to a good shine, I'm going to do the polishing by hand.


Prior to doing the sanding I'll do my test-fitting of all the parts, making adjustments where necessary.

[DrNomis_44]

Update:


I'm just in the process of getting my STA-1M kit ordered and there's a bit of a complication, it turns out that the Entwistle XS62N pickups I wanted to order with the kit are "out of stock", I could substitute a set of toneriders but that would blow my budget, so I'm going to order a different set of Entwistle pickups.

I ended up ordering a set of 3 Entwistle AS57 pickups instead, that's okay since I can always order the XS62Ns at a later date when they become available again.

Update:


So, after something like 12 months my STA-1M kit is officially ordered!!!

Now it's just a case of wait for it to arrive in the post.

[Tweaky]

Just out of interest, how do you intend to set up your tremolo bridge?
Floating, so you can pull up and go down, Down only, or having it sit flush with the top of the guitar and not use the tremolo ?

I gave a lot of thought about that before my last Strat build, and it made a difference on which tremolo bridge I ended up buying.

[DrNomis_44]

Just out of interest, how do you intend to set up your tremolo bridge?
Floating, so you can pull up and go down, Down only, or having it sit flush with the top of the guitar and not use the tremolo ?

I gave a lot of thought about that before my last Strat build, and it made a difference on which tremolo bridge I ended up buying.

Hi Tweaky,seeing as I'm going with the Gold bridge hardware upgrade, I'm going to set the bridge up so that it floats so that I can pull up and go down, it's how Leo Fender originally intended the trem to operate, as it just so happens, I know a few tricks that help in setting the trem up that way, I'll be including a tutorial on how to set up the trem so it floats in my build diary for those who have difficulty in setting it up, hopefully it'll be of some help to other members.

[Tweaky]

I'm waiting a reply from post #75 i made here [link below] on a particular Tech question regarding the Babicz trem bridge.
http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...?t=4482&page=8

Like you, I know how to set up a Strat for a floating bridge.

Until I get a answer to my question, I'll reserve judgement on that Trem bridge design.....But IMHO, after going to every available site that shows the design.... it's premise is based more on mass than lessening the string break angle at every possible point, which is the WANT when using a tremolo.

[dingobass]

Why not flick Babicz an email if it is such an issue.