2nd build. Ash body solid rosewood neck
- Thread starter wooders
- Start date
Oldboy
Senior Stratmaster
Wow. Very nice!! What exactly was your process as far achieving that color?
Here we go. Knew things were going too well.
Starting paying a bit of attention to the neck.
1st issue is a blessing in disguise. I was convinced the neck had a finish on it, as the fret board is lighter than the rest of the neck. I started shaping heel and hey presto. Took some 180 to the neck and got most of the finish off. Going to have to go through the grits and spend some time on it, but the grain is showing through nicer and lighter. I'm ok with this.
2nd issue, I need some advice. The tuner holes take the Gotoh vintage tuner things but the spacings are off. They should be 119mm centered from 1st to last hole and I have 122mm. This will give me a gap of 0.5mm between each tuner. I've seen this on other strats, but is it ok?
Starting paying a bit of attention to the neck.
1st issue is a blessing in disguise. I was convinced the neck had a finish on it, as the fret board is lighter than the rest of the neck. I started shaping heel and hey presto. Took some 180 to the neck and got most of the finish off. Going to have to go through the grits and spend some time on it, but the grain is showing through nicer and lighter. I'm ok with this.
2nd issue, I need some advice. The tuner holes take the Gotoh vintage tuner things but the spacings are off. They should be 119mm centered from 1st to last hole and I have 122mm. This will give me a gap of 0.5mm between each tuner. I've seen this on other strats, but is it ok?
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That's a gorgeous body.
Satin finish?
Natural finish.
Feels gorgeous.
Started on pickguard the weekend. Actually thought is was doing ok but, when it came to soldering the earth wires, I gave up. Read about sanding the pots etc, but think I'll hand this over to someone more adept with an iron than I.
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Gave the neck a real good check and there were a handful of slightly high frets. Minimal, but there. So I levelled away. No great Biggie, as the levelling beam was coming out to assist with a bit of fretboard rolling.
The rouge compound gets bloody everywhere!. All ok but there are a couple of 'snaggy' fret ends now. Easy enough to deal with.
Checked the tuners and decided I'm going to keep the but I'm also going to get slightly bigger screws.
The rouge compound gets bloody everywhere!. All ok but there are a couple of 'snaggy' fret ends now. Easy enough to deal with.
Checked the tuners and decided I'm going to keep the but I'm also going to get slightly bigger screws.
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Took to the wiring again and pulled loose the cap and one earth connection. De soldered and sanded back pots then went again. Better. I do worry that I've made a hash of the soldering though.
Copper shielding done. I can't say that this bit gives me any enjoyment. It's a bloody nuisance, but the 1st build has no hum, so I have to repeat the process. Will put some tabs directly under screw holes like I did before.
Mint green guard is looking good, I think.
Copper shielding done. I can't say that this bit gives me any enjoyment. It's a bloody nuisance, but the 1st build has no hum, so I have to repeat the process. Will put some tabs directly under screw holes like I did before.
Mint green guard is looking good, I think.
Attachments
Few bits turning up this weekend. Bridge, screws, logo (not sure I'll fit that yet). Should make some headway this weekend and have it complete by next weekend. Still worried that I've hashed the electrics. If it doesn't work properly, I'll hand it over to my luthier. Getting excited to have this together and see how it plays and sounds.
