The new item on the agenda.

[ozzbike]

I have cut down the number of coats of Fine Buffing Oil, Cabinetmakers Wax and Carnauba Polish I have used this time. The body is done I think????

The neck has had the logos attached....the back one looks a little washed out.

Not a sign of flame or grain in the neck...sad face.

I have tried using shellac with a colour tint....sand again...I have tried timbermate and sand again....and then four coats of Tru Oil including two over the logos....and nothing.

I think it still looks nice as cedar/blackwood timbermate under four coats of Tru-Oil.

I will let both dry whilst I am at work.....then copper tape for the body...and then Fine Buffing Oil for the fret board and cabinet-makers wax and carnauba polish all over the neck.

[ozzbike]

The sad face neck.

***I have to say I had forgotten how small a six string is compared to my basses....wow.***

[McCreed]

How long before we get a review of those Entwistle Noiseless?

[ozzbike]

How long before we get a review of those Entwistle Noiseless?

Gotta say that I am an unflash guitarist and a way better bass player.....but even then not much of a musician.

I shall give them a blast.....but not going to have much point of reference and skill here to give you an effective review....and definitely not going to make a video of me failing at playing.

I am enjoying this one.....the body looks really nice....and the pick guard with the electronics fitted drops straight in.

Off to work I go.

[McCreed]

Hah! Fair enough... I appreciate your honestly (as self effacing as it may be )

[wazkelly]

Lovely end grain on that body Ozzie.

Looking good (as usual).

Cheers, Waz

[ozzbike]

Over these days off I have finished the neck....feels great...finger board done with 4 coats of Fine Buffing Oil and then three coats of cabinetmakers wax...then a run over of Carnauba Polish. It feels really smooth...yet not glossy and wet and sticky.

I put her together this evening and put the kit strings on her....as usual tremolos are a pain to get strings on.

I have a WVP6 Wilkinson bridge....fitted straight in....the 5 + 1 staggered screw holes helped with that.

McCreed...the pickups are really chimey when played clean. I have a cheapie 30 watt Joyo Modelling Amp with models from JC Clean to Heavy metal. I love the sustain of the pickups.....amazing. My personal belief is that they are magic on the Tube Screamer and Blues and even a Crunch Amp model.

I love how Strats just bark out the sound on a low overdrive setting on the fat E string.....made me smile.

They are amazingly quiet. I have also copper taped and sealed everything you can....to the point that I had to tape and heat shrink the tip connector of the jack socket....as it was touching the copper tape....and no sound was coming out.

I am going to let her sit now....under tension....then a setup including fret levelling.

The claw screws on the back must have had their holes drilled on an angle....the claw edge and the the springs touch the white back plate. Bamboo skewers and redrill I think.

The pickups are really quiet....better than the Blues set of Tone Riders I have....and way better than the cheap ones in a Chinese cheapie I have. But they seem a little more like a Tele on a clean setting....very tinny and country/rockabilly. I have to dial in a little more low end than normal....and then they are away.

The Blues, Tube Screamer and Crunch is magic....I don't really play metal.....but may have to give it a run.

No routing required. Smart use of zip ties, tape was all that was needed to guide the wires to the controls......oooh.....the highest TONE knob does not seem to do anything.....the bottom one does drop the tone of the middle pickup...not the bridge one.

The push pull pot works great....but is also not showing an effect from the top tone pot.

I really don't move them much.....but the swipe of A style pot is smooth and the Oil in Paper Capacitor is smooth with the treble drop.

I have rambled a little hear.

In summary, lots of this kit is great, and is a step up from the base models....but overall it is still a cheap kit. I have put in better electronics, Grover tuners, Bone nut, Wilkinson Tremolo.....and will put the Ernie Balls on after the setup hold tune. It is has been some time since I did a six string......these are more race horse...to my Bass kits which are more work horse.

Loved the experience.

[McCreed]

Good stuff Ozz!
Thanks for commenting on the Entwistle pickups. I may have to give them a try now!

re: the tone pot not doing anything on the bridge pickup...

That's because you used a standard strat wiring scheme which does not have a tone control for the bridge pickup on its own. The standard vintage wiring never did. It's always been middle & neck p/u tone controls only (T1 & T2 respectively).

That's why people do the "Bridge Tone Mod". There are several ways of doing it and with different performance results, but all really simple.

However, when you combine the bridge p/u to the neck p/u via the push/pull pot, the T2 pot (middle pot) WILL effect the tone, BUT it is ONLY effecting the tone of neck pickup.

To get a tone control (T1 - bottom pot) to work on the bridge p/u only, you need to wire it to the switch differently.
If you're interested in doing it, I can link to a diagram or post one.

[ozzbike]

McCreed thanks for the info on the tone pots.

I have played some more this morning....the neck pup gets nothing from the tone pot...middle does work on the bottom tone pot...and as you mention the bridge gets nothing.

I will have to take the pick guard off and have a look to see if the wires are all connected.

Maybe have to solder on its own capacitor for the neck pup.

I like the push pull volume pot....the first two positions on the five position switch give you neck and bridge and all three pickups....interesting tones.

I had a bash with some higher gain amp models today. Really amazing sounds from these pickups. Not in the same class as hum buckers for metal and heavy distortion....still very clean and ring like a bell.

I have to say I like that they are so quiet....literally no noise at all....amazing.

[McCreed]

I have played some more this morning....the neck pup gets nothing from the tone pot...middle does work on the bottom tone pot...and as you mention the bridge gets nothing.

Maybe have to solder on its own capacitor for the neck pup.

If it's wired as per the Seymour Duncan diagram, the T2 tone pot should have an effect on the neck p/u.
Probably worth double checking your wiring just to see if there is something awry.

The shared capacitor shouldn't be the problem, but you can have one for each pot if you want.

FWIW, I do individual caps on all of mine, but mainly because I've done it that way for years and just stuck with it.
Also worth mentioning that I do the "bridge tone mod" on all my strats, and use different value caps for the bridge & neck p/up pots.
TBH, I rarely use the tone control in the neck position, but regularly use the tone on the bridge pickup.