Keith's ST1-L

[Keith Walters]

I've actually got more photos to post, but I ran out of time today. I've done the fret leveling; and it's VASTLY easier to do with the neck mounted on the pine board. The frets are now absolutely dead level and the neck is as straight as a laser beam.
When I ran the radius-ed sanding block down the frets, the texta pen came off almost completely even first go.
However I'm worried that things might go out of whack when I put the strings on, as it just seemed too easy. (Time consuming, but not particularly difficult). Anyway you'll see what I did when I put more photos up.
I've actually got as far as fitting the bridge, but not the spring assembly that goes underneath.
Can someone tell me what the procedure is for that, as in, where does the spring hook thingie actually mount. Is it with as much tension as possible, or is there some special procedure to follow?

[Simon Barden]

The trem claw is screwed in to the other end of the trem cavity (the end nearest the headstock). With the guitar body lying face down and looking into the cavity, the trem claws should be facing you, so you can put the springs on and hook them into the holes in the trem block. The claw should end up about halfway between the floor of the cavity and the top of the cavity, so that it doesn't scrape on the trem cover. Also, it should be centred, so that any springs on the end claws don't vibrate against the sides. Remember to drill pilot holes first, and waxing the screw threads helps them turn easily. Don't forget to fit the grounding wire to the spring claw.



I suggest starting off with three springs and see how you go. Screw the two trem adjustment screws in so the springs are under some tension. It's easiest to start with the trem 'blocked off', with a block of wood in between the rear of the trem block and the back of the trem slot. The six screws at the front of the trem need to be adjusted to suit your trem requirements. Only the two outer screws (under the top and bottom E strings) should be used for trem height adjustment. the other 4 should he kept high at the moment. If you only want a forward trem operation (pitch dropping), then adjust the two outer screws so that the trem plate is just touching the body. If you want a floating trem so you can do some mild upbend, then the two screw should only be screwed in enough to allow for 1-2mm gap (with the plate parallel to the body) between the trem plate and the body. The other four screws can then be tightened so they are very slightly higher than the two outer screws.

You can then fit the strings and set up the saddle heights without any interaction with the springs. Get the strings up to pitch.

You can now remove the block and the trem plate will pitch forwards. Now screw the two screws in until the trem plate gets back to a flat condition and the strings are basically back in tune. The trem spring tension and the string tension are now in balance.

You may want to then adjust the trem plate height again until you get the right amount of upbend (remember that it's never going to be a Floyd Rose). If you find the trem arm action too stiff, then block off the trem, remove a spring and then tighten the spring claw until everything is balanced again. Too floppy, then add another spring and you'll need to loosen the claw a bit to get back in balance. Small tension adjustments can be made by changing the angle of the springs. Springs running straight across (as in the above picture) require less force to move for a given amount of trem plate movement than if some or all of the springs were angled (as below).

[Keith Walters]

Oh good; that all makes sense now!

I've actually been boning up on the mysteries of the Strat whammy bar, and it seems a lot of people simply have no idea how to set it up; some committing the ultimate sin of permanently "blocking" the bridge in frustration.
It needs to be re-set if you change your string gauge and, (as most people don't seem to be aware) even if you change the tuning (eg to open E or even to match the tuning of a backing track!) If you don't do that, the guitar will never stay in tune.

One good suggestion was to make yourself a custom wood block that you insert prior to tuning a new set of strings. You slacken off the spring screws, insert the block, get the strings in tune, then alternately re-tighten the spring screws until the block falls out. Apparently if you do that, it will always stay in tune.

[Keith Walters]

I wonder if anyone ever said that to Eric Clapton.

Jeff Beck maybe :-)
Anyway, I've already got one of those; it's called a Telecaster....

[FrankenWashie]

Jeff Beck maybe :-)
Anyway, I've already got one of those; it's called a Telecaster....

If it was said back in the day, would either of them now recall?

[Simon Barden]

Even with a blocked trem, the springs still add to the sound. I'm sure Eric must have tried a hardtail Strat but never took to the type.

[Keith Walters]

This is how I did the assembly. Opinions may vary, but this seems to work well enough and is pretty easy

Before you do anything to the frets I strongly recommend that you mask up the fretboard with masking tape to avoid scratches. I used the green “low tack” tape shown here simply because Bunnings had it on special! Any sort of masking tape can be used. (Incidentally if you have an old roll of masking tape that’s become dried out and can’t easily be unrolled, try microwaving it for 30 seconds or so!)



So here are the basic tools you need; none of which were particularly expensive. I bought a pack of two steel rulers from bunnings for about $5. Can’t remember what the fret rocker cost exactly but it was under $10 including postage from China! Same with the special fret crowning file (the thing with the orange handle).



First thing is to get the neck as straight as you can, by adjusting the truss rod with the supplied Allen key. Except, the one Pitbull supplied won’t reach the screw if you use the short end, and it’s too hard to move if you put the long end in and try to turn it with the short end. So I made myself a handle by squeezing a piece of copper pipe in the vice!



You will normally find that you have to turn the screw anticlockwise (looking down the neck from the headstock end). You simply make small incremental adjustments, checking each time with the steel ruler. I just used a piece of thin but stiff plastic to “feel” between the frets and the ruler. Don't worry; you’re never going to get it exactly right; that’s what all the fret filing is for.

[Keith Walters]

The next step is to use the fret rocker to determine which frets are poking up higher than others and where. You straddle three frets at a time using the appropriately-sized side of the fret rocker, and if the middle one is higher than the other two you will be able to rock it back and forth with a distinct clack-clack sound.



Rather than measuring and filing the frets one at a time, it’s more efficient to find and mark all the offending frets in one go with a texta pen, and then come back and do all the filing, again in a single operation.



Now note well that while some frets will be too high all the way across, some will only protrude part of the way across their width. So you need to use the fret rocker right across the entire width of each fret and individually mark any offending spots. The next step is to get the special fret crowning file and carefully and SLOWLY file down the marked bits. When all the texta ink has disappeared from the fret, re-check it with the fret rocker, and mark and re-file as necessary until the clacking stops.



Once you’ve done all the marked frets, carefully re-check (and if necessary readjust) the neck straightness. Then repeat the entire rocker/texta/filing process. Inevitably, you’ll find that as some protruding frets are filed down, others will tend to take their place, but the “clack-clack” sound won’t be as loud. You can spend as long as like on this, and the texta-ed bits will get smaller and smaller, but I doubt much is achieved by more than 3 passes, and 2 will normally be enough.

[Keith Walters]

The next step is to smooth out any remaining irregularities using fine sandpaper and a “radius-ed” wooden sanding block. Once again these are readily available online for not a lot of money, A radiused block is milled out to match the “12 inch” radius which is used by virtually all electric guitars. That just means it matches the curve of a circle with a radius of 12 inches (30mm), or 2 feet in diameter.



You can get special luthier’s sandpaper, but the 800 grit stuff they sell in Bunnings is more than good enough (although inevitably some will argue otherwise). You first mark all the frets with the texta pen....




...and then check the progress as you carefully sand them down using the radiused block.



On the one shown here, you can see how the ink is taken off over the entire width of the frets almost immediately, which means the initial filing-down went extremely well. Don’t take off any more than is needed to get the frets evened up!



Finally, clean and polish the frets with some of the 0000 grade steel wool, and then remove the masking tape.

[Sonic Mountain]

Interesting, I normally level with the radius block, then crown them so the tops of the frets aren't flat, then finish with steel wool. Wouldn't doing the level after filing leave the frets flat on top creating buzz?