Firstly, sorry folks, this is not so much a Build Diary (actually it's not a diary at all ) but actually a Build Post-Mortem ... its done and dusted and all I can do is share is the end result.
The Concept - we all know the heartbreak of putting the first ding or scratch in that pristine guitar ... well the idea behind the "Scrapper" was to avoid that.
From the start, his was meant to be a gigging players guitar ... a "bar guitar" ... a guitar built to survive (almost) any scrap it might get in ... one that doesn't just laugh off the inevitable damage of gigging, but welcomes it! ... dings, scratches, buckle-abrasion, cigarette burns (even cracking a skull or two if necessary!)... this baby was built for them all to be just "water of a ducks back"
... and it also includes a "secret weapon"!
Starting with an Ash-bodied ST-1A the body was given the usual initial treatment (sand, sand, sand and then sand some more!).
It was then lightly stained in a reduced Japan Black, sanded back and then over-stained in Japan Brown and finished in Linseed Oil (no fancy paints or lacquers for this brute!) and left unpolished with the natural satin finish of the oil ... and all cavities were slug-taped (copper tape shielded)
Headstock was given the traditional pre-CBS shape (circa 1960), new bone nut fitted, frets shaved/dressed and the whole neck/head finished in an antiqued Wudtone clear (3 coats - decals applied between coats 1 & 2) and brought up to a brilliant shine using 2000-grit wet&dry and Windex (yes, that's right Windex - trigged onto this tip from Anthony at Sydney Guitar Setups and it really works a treat)
With finishing out of the way, assembly began with a good portion of the stock parts and some good quality replacements ... the replacement parts used were ...
- Entwistle XS62N pickups (matched set of 3)
- CTS Tone pots (2 of) ... I use these on all my builds
- Genuine Fender S1 switch/Volume pot and necessary S1 knob assembly ... (part of the secret weapon)
- Genuine Fender Tone knobs (necessary with the CTS pots)
- Orange Drop capacitor .047uf (1 of)
- Bone Nut
- 3-ply (Blk/Wht/Blk) scratch plate
- Switchcraft 5-position switch
- Switchcraft output jack
- Traditional cloth-covered wiring (just for the hell of it!) ... I generally use this on all my builds as well
- 1N34A cats-whisker diodes (2 of)
- Elixir Nano-web strings .. the real slippery little suckers! (great strings)
- OH&S-approved "warning" tape (black & yellow)
Of course you're now probably wondering "an S1 switch, two tone pots and only one capacitor? ... what's he done here?" ... well, I'm glad you asked!
In keeping with the theme of this build being a gritty, gigger's guitar and one that could reasonably "cover as much ground" as possible (I hate having to lug around heaps of equipment!) I decided to give it a little "something extra". Some of you might be aware of a little device called "Back Ice" that replaces the capacitor and provides a passive, on-board distortion (in a mild sort of way). I had the opportunity to play around with an axe that had one fitted and was reasonably impressed but not enough to fork out the $35+ to get one (I'm such a cheapskate!) ... well, a little bit of research showed that it was just two diodes wired parallel and in opposite polarity and which replaced (or added to) the capacitor ... Hah! 80 cents at Jaycar and a minutes soldering later and I had my own home-built Black Ice unit (but without the tiny little black box that the retail unit comes sealed in).
Wiring it in is the where the S1 switch was utilised. Not using the standard wiring scheme for the S1 switch (which is a madhouse to wire and, in my opinion, not worth the effort for what you get from it) ... I set up one tone pot with a normal capacitor and the other tone pot with the diodes and used the S1 to provide the switching between the two.
End result is that you get the same pick-up selection options as per a normal 5-position switch and (with the press of the S1 button) you have the option of using either that regular "clean" (capacitor) tone or the "grit-ified" diode tone (upper tone pot for cap, lower tone pot for the diodes).
How does it sound? ... well its no replacement for full-on distortion pedal BUT it does give a very nice gritty, "just on the verge of breaking up" sound like an overdriven tube amp ... of course you'd get far more out of an overdrive/didstortion pedal (after all, pedals are "active" and this is a "passive" device) but this diode set-up makes for quite nice "ace up your sleeve".
(check out the wiring diagram for details)
It is experimental and, to be honest, I haven't had the chance to put it through its full paces yet but I do like its performance and its probably something I'll continue to play around with on future builds (maybe even a 4-diode, "full wave rectifier" next time ... for even grittier sounds!). A couple of things to note about this set-up are:
- it operates opposite to what you expect ... you get more "grit" the more you roll OFF the tone pot (not ON as you'd expect)
- it does work well with a solid-state (transistor) amp ... but doesn't seem to with tube amps ... with my little solid-state Roland Mini-Cube it really changes the sound, but with my tubed Fender Blues Junior it makes almost no difference ... though I really need to see what it does with other, different, tube amps ... but that'll come later.
... and the flak that the Fender S1 switch often cops about being fiddly and unreliable ... can't say I agree - so far it's worked like a treat with no problems what so ever (maybe the problems were just with the first-gen versions) ... just a little fiddly to wire in.
The last step was trip down to my friend Clyde Watkins (ex-guitar tech for INXS and many others) for a the last little tweaks and set-up (that he does soooo much better than I do!)
How does she play? ... ooooh! VERY nicely ... sings like an angel on the "clean cap" and growls like a demon on the "dirty diodes"
Anyway, I hope you all like the terribly amateurish pics (as usual) and I'll hopefully get around soon to putting up some sound bites so you can hear the "Black Ice" distortion in operation.
BTW - I just couldn't help myself with the vibrato cavity and (not liking the cover plate which is a real pain for re-stringing) left if ot and added some the "danger" tape for a bit of industrial "bling" .... do NOT go sticking your fingers (or any other appendage) beyond this point! ... bwahahaha!
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