My official Strat Project Thread

[Zora350]

So about last November or so I decided to build my first custom guitar. Here is what happend:

Here is the 2000 MIM Strat body I purchased off of Ebay.

It was originally a Poly finish in Electric Blue, but I wanted to refinish it just for the heck of it. Famous last words: "How hard could it be?"

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...t/CIMG5895.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...t/CIMG5911.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...t/CIMG5913.jpg

6 hours later...

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...t/CIMG5923.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...t/CIMG5925.jpg

Here is where the project took a little detour. I covered it in Zinsser Oil based Primer in preparation for painting. I have never painted a guitar before and had no idea what I was doing.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...t/DSC00558.jpg

Lucky for me I ran into a guy from my church (Tonar8353 on the Warmoth board) that knows what he is doing when it comes to painting guitars. He volunteered to show me how it’s done. Needless to say, the five-dollar can of primer was quickly removed.

More pics from the painting process coming soon, here is my wet sanding station:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...t/CIMG6500.jpg

Here is the result:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...t/CIMG6590.jpg

It is a black Nitrocellulose finish and I think it looks amazing. I am so happy with how it turned out. The pictures really don't do justice to just how deep this finish is. Thanks again to Tonar.
_____________________________________
As for pickups I decided to go homemade because the P-90 in my SG turned out so good. I bought the single coil pickup kit from StewMac because it was the best deal on that stuff (included magnets, pre-cut fiberboard, and cloth-covered wire). I put that all together and wound the pickups on my record player. 43-gauge formvar magnet wire was used.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...t/CIMG0876.jpg

Whats actually in that picture is the first pickup I made, but the setup was the same for winding on both. The bobbin is on the right and the wire runs through the magazines for tension, then onto the coil. At 45rpm it takes quite a while to wind anything

My goal as far as output was the Fralin Blues Specials. So, these pickups have Alnico V magnets with a bridge output of 7 .14, middle at 6.20, and neck at 6.02. These pickups though should end up sounding a little brighter though as I used 43-gauge wire as opposed to the 42-gauge used in a typical strat.

42 and 43 gauge fomvar wire:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...t/CIMG6675.jpg

Potting: I forgot to take pictures during the potting, but I took some pictures after of the tools I fashioned. I basically got a cheap double boiler and formed a hanger to suspend the pickups in the hot wax. The rest of the process is explained on the StewMac website, so I won’t bore you with the details.

Coat hanger for suspending pickups, Double boiler for heating wax (from $6 fondue set), and a candy thermometer. Just add wax.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...t/CIMG6681.jpg

Magnetizing: The Alnico V magnets in the StewMac kit come uncharged (I guess that’s the term). So, you have to buy these special super strong magnets and charge the pole pieces. Again, forgot to take pictures (stupid!).

This is actually a different pickup just to show you.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...t/CIMG6679.jpg

Wiring: So the pickups are done, and now its time to wire this thing up. I got my five-way switch and 250k pots from Callaham. The were about the same price as everywhere else and all the parts are cryogenically treated (whatever that means). I decided to wire the guitar up with what’s called Star Grounding. This is basically a central ground that eliminated a ground loop found in stock strats (http://www.bothner.co.za/articles/hotrodstrat4.shtml). Then I decided that the first tone control would serve the neck and middle pickups while the second would go to the bridge. The cap I’m using is the .022 ceramic disk from Guitar Fetish. This might get replaced later if I feel like the guitar is too bright.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...t/CIMG6606.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...t/CIMG6607.jpg

The Rest of the Components
-Full Callaham bridge/trem assembly (I’m proud of this one)
-Pickup covers from StewMac
-Switch tip, trem tip, and knobs from All Parts
-Pickguard from WD music
-Trem cover from Guitar Fetish
-All screws from Guitar Fetish
-2001 MIM Strat jack plate
-2007 MIM Strat neck
-2007 MIM Strat tuners
-Graphtec Graphite Nut
-Ernie Ball Regular Slinky (10’s)

I got the idea for the black with this pickguard from this guitar. Its the 72 Tele deluxe reissue backup from Josh's (eyescicle's) rig (http://guitargeek.com/chat/showthrea...threadid=99220).

Here is one of my ideas for this guitar. I'm sure someone has done it before, but I'm still proud I figured it out. Its a plug between whats connected to the body and the pickguard so you can just pull the pickguard out it you need to work on it.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...t/CIMG6692.jpg

Here is the body with the special copper tape here. The copper tape is like super shielding for your guitar. It worked really well on my SG with P90s.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...t/CIMG6687.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...t/CIMG6688.jpg

Here it is. A good nine months after the idea popped into my head, here is my first custom guitar.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...0/CIMG6729.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...0/CIMG6724.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...0/CIMG6726.jpg

And here is a quick sound clip I made. Just something I made to give you an idea of what it sounds like. This is with no effects (some overdrive at the end). By clicking this link you agree to not judge the guitar based on my clumsy fingers.

http://media.putfile.com/Strat-Test-47

END

[jm417]

the darker wood could just be end grain which tends to be darker. your body in particular does seem to be much darker than usual. I'm not entirely sure but be careful with the pickup cavities in case there is shielding paint under the blue paint.

[Pinshlo]

I dont think thats end grain. It looks like the body is made out of different kinds of wood, the top being a thin sheet and the darker part being slabs of wood glued together. I have a guitar body thats exactly like that.

[Zora350]

Originally posted by jm417
the darker wood could just be end grain which tends to be darker. your body in particular does seem to be much darker than usual. I'm not entirely sure but be careful with the pickup cavities in case there is shielding paint under the blue paint.

end grain? like a different part of the same piece of wood?

thanks for the tip, but I'm not planning on sanding the cavity and I'm going to cover it in copper tape.

Originally posted by Pinshlo
I dont think thats end grain. It looks like the body is made out of different kinds of wood, the top being a thin sheet and the darker part being slabs of wood glued together. I have a guitar body thats exactly like that.

but isnt the Mexican strat was all alder?

[TimK]

It's probably a veneer of a different wood. Like someone said, it's a thin sheet of a lighter wood over the darker one. Might be for color purposes. This way they don't have to apply as many layers of paint to make it a lighter shade as you would with the darker wood. They usually do this with semi-transparent finishes and sunbursts.

[Zora350]

Originally posted by TimK
It's probably a veneer of a different wood. Like someone said, it's a thin sheet of a lighter wood over the darker one. Might be for color purposes. This way they don't have to apply as many layers of paint to make it a lighter shade as you would with the darker wood. They usually do this with semi-transparent finishes and sunbursts.

that sounds good, but I know alder is a lighter colored wood , and that I have a Mexican strat which is supposed to be made out of alder. Plus the original finish was just a standard color, not a sunburst or semi transparent one.

im so confused right now. Im currently sanding the back and I will know in an hour or two what the back looks like.

[bdesntchr]

Originally posted by TimK
It's probably a veneer of a different wood. Like someone said, it's a thin sheet of a lighter wood over the darker one.

+1

the body blank is probably 3-4 joined pieces with the veneer top.

also;

http://guitargeek.com/chat/showthrea...5&pagenumber=1

[Zora350]

Has anyone here installed a graphtec nut themselves?

I ordered one for this strat and it has like a tab thing sticking out of the bottom. It is in the middle, the width of the nut, and about 1/4 inch (a little less). Cut it off? other ideas?

[ShizamDaMan]

Originally posted by Zora350
Has anyone here installed a graphtec nut themselves?

I ordered one for this strat and it has like a tab thing sticking out of the bottom. It is in the middle, the width of the nut, and about 1/4 inch (a little less). Cut it off? other ideas?

I sanded it down with some sandpaper when I installed a TUSQ nut on my Strat. Takes a while, but works fine.

[Zora350]

Originally posted by ShizamDaMan
I sanded it down with some sandpaper when I installed a TUSQ nut on my Strat. Takes a while, but works fine.

do you know why its there?

also, related to that, I got a pre-filed one, but I guess installation usually requires some filing work to get it right. Did you file yours yourself, or how did you go about that?

[VOODOOTRIAL]

You can always do the filing yourself, but that is something I'd personally leave to a pro to do it for me. It's just one of those things that has so little room for error, and at the same time play a big role on your overall action, string tension, and tunning stability. That, and fretting a neck are the two things I'd never do on my own... but that's just me.

However, if you're up for the challenge, stew mac has a variety of tools to do the job, dedicated rulers, files as well as some info of how to get it done.

You might also want to check this out http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Sp...ing_Gauge.html
it's probably a bit on the expensive side, but I reckon is a great tool to have.





btw, what color are you thinking for the strat

[Zora350]

Originally posted by VOODOOTRIAL
You can always do the filing yourself, but that is something I'd personally leave to a pro to do it for me. It's just one of those things that has so little room for error, and at the same time play a big role on your overall action, string tension, and tunning stability. That, and fretting a neck are the two things I'd never do on my own... but that's just me.

However, if you're up for the challenge, stew mac has a variety of tools to do the job, dedicated rulers, files as well as some info of how to get it done.

You might also want to check this out http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Sp...ing_Gauge.html
it's probably a bit on the expensive side, but I reckon is a great tool to have.





btw, what color are you thinking for the strat

Those would all be great tools to have, but if I bought all the right tools I could have paid for another guitar. I may end up having it sent in for the nut install, but I was hoping to avoid it. How much do people charge to install a nut?
I can at least take that tab off and glue it in without too much trouble, right?

I'm not sure yet on the color. If I find an artist here on campus I might have them paint something cool on it, if not I was leaning towards a matte black finish with some sort of hot rod style pin striping.

[Zora350]

bump for picture updates

[redross]

Nice job on the paint but I have to say the pickguard takes the cake

[thezealots]

you wouldnt happen to do relicing work on the complete telecaster website do you? the three circles thing is something he does as well. great pickguard as well. i want one of those, but 60 bucks is a little steep for me.