Eastwood definitely "gets it." I really want an instrument that has all the advantages and looks as cool as a vintage instrument, but I want it to play and sound better than most vintage instruments do. I also don't want to break the bank or feel like I can't do a mod because it will hurt the value.
I think maybe it's time to replace my soldering tip.
I bought a bunch of these when I got my soldering station, thinking I might have a hard time replacing them since the cheap Vellman station I have is not sold around here... today is the first time i have replaced one. I couldn't get the solder to flow right for some reason.
New tip, and we are off to the races. My paint has now cured long enough that what I should do is sand it... Or put some finish on my neck. But since I don't like to do finish, how better to put that off than to wire the pick guard?
Not pretty, and the rotary switch in the middle was tricky. I worked and worked on the wiring diagram, and when I finally thought I had it, Weirdbits added a couple of things to improve it.
Transferred pencil scratchings to a colorful diagram so there would be some hope of my doing this without getting confused. Improvised a bit with the push pull pot diagram because I could not do any one photo of the components that showed all the lugs. Settled for one that showed all the lugs except the ones on the push pull pot.
The wires leading away are... three green ground wires. One for the bridge, one for the jack and one for the cap. The Yellow is hot to the jack. The orange is the other wire to the cap. I am not sure what values I want in the cap, so I was thinking I would run the wires for the tone cap to the jack cavity so they are easy to swap if I don't like the first value I choose.
What I am going for is Tele humbuckers with a coil-cut. The four position rotary switch selects HH, HS, SH or SS combinations. The SS setting is not humbucking, which is what I understand to be standard for Teles (although it may be just old fashioned). If you pop up the push pull, it selects the other coil in the Neck pickup, so that it's still SS but now humbucking. Assuming it all works.
Did a dry-fit, and realized that I needed to shave off a bit of wood inside the cavity where the hardware did not quite fit.
Not sure what I am going to do now. I am running out of excuses not to finish the the finish...
Last edited by fender3x; 10-04-2020 at 07:54 AM.
First clearcoat...and thus first clearcoat errors! So far, I have sanded in two places too soon. I saw a little piece of sawdust that got stuck on one of the frets...and when I tried to dislodge it, made a mess. Also wanted to scuff the finish on the headstock...including where the decal was. I managed to scuff the color right off the decal in fact... So I not-too-delicately pulled off the decal, put another coat of clearcoat on it last night. This moring I reapplied the decal. Once I am sure it's dry I'll put more clearcoat on... Man I hate finishing.
Everything on the neck and the body have 10 brushed on coats of clear. Now we wait a month to see if this was the final application.
It's funny how wrong my cost calculations have been on finish. I thought the clear coat was expensive when I got 1 qt for $30. *But* it has finished two guitars and necks, and I still have about a quarter of it left.
I thought the spray paint was not too badly priced at $6.50 for a 400ml can. But it took me 3 cans to do a strat body, and two to do just the top of another guitar. So that would be more in spray paint...not even counting the two extra cans I purchased that I didnt' ultimately need, and the three cans that were failed experiments. Add sandpaper and brushes...and finishing seems like one of the biggest investments in the project.
Meanwhile at GuitarFetish the difference between a finished and an unfinished strat body is $10. I am not completely sure why I am doing this, but I am now completely sure that the reason is NOT cost.
I have also discovered that spray cans are not very economical. No matter how many cans I buy I always seem to need another one.Originally Posted by fender3x
Regarding why do this when you can buy a finished body or whole guitar so cheaply? I think it's the journey at least as much as the destination. Which is problem I have with building pedals: I like building them so much that I easily end up with more than I need.
Mantra: No more pedals, must finish BlueyCaster...
Disclaimer: I haven't done woodwork since high school, and wasn't really paying attention at the time ...
It's funny how long things take me to complete. I have now got the neck sanded down to 800. Will do the finish sanding a polishing...and then it will be time to mount the tuners. Which brings me back to their oddness...
Gotoh's model name for the 3x3's is SD90. Their name for the 6-inlines is SD91.
...Mine look just like the SD90s and not like the SD91s.
BUT, they are definitely all lefties and they look like they have been trimmed on one or both sides by a monkey with a set of big clippers. NOT machine stamped or cut on at least one side, that is. So I have to assume that someone trimmed these to get them to fit on a left handed fender, decided not to use them, and then sold them on eBay to some schmuck.
So here's the schmuck's question: I think I should be able to file this down to where they will fit properly, but I am wondering if the difference in the top (seen in the pic as the bottom) will make any difference? When I dry fit them the hole in the post is lower than the nut, so that should not be a problem. I can't think of any reason these won't work, but wanted to at least ask before I commit.
The reasons for why these tuners are as they are will most likely remain a mystery. The only thing I am sure of is that somebody (not Gotoh) modded these guys. Thanks!
Last edited by fender3x; 30-07-2020 at 08:25 AM.
StewMac video on filing tuners to fit. I think they go rather OTT on getting the measurements correct, but this is still the basic idea of what needs doing.
Thanks for the video. I plan to do something similar and have put together a jig. Hoping that you're right that the SM approach is OTT, because my jig is simpler.
I'll use them unless somebody suggests the type might be a problem. They look like they should work fine... I have no idea why they use a different head on the F types than they use on the G types.
I have a theory about their provenance. I am guessing that someone had a couple of sets of 3x3 tuners sitting around...maybe NOS...and a Fender-style neck that needed tuners. They installed the tuners and realized that they only way to sell 6 lefty tuners was to trim them down to make a left handed set.
...that would also explain the price which was under $30 with shipping. The risk one takes, I suppose, when getting a "really great deal" ;-)
Waiting for the next zoom call in my home office/studio/garage...so I made a template for the tuners.
I still have final polishing to do on the neck, so I did not want to try to mount these on the neck for fear of marring the finish. But I wanted to assemble them. Turns out the approach the StewMac guy was using works pretty well, even if you don't use a feeler gauge and micrometer. Pic's a little fuzzy, but once mounted, they look like this is the way they were designed. Thanks for the advice!
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