So what's on your workbench now.

[Uluwatu]

OK that’s not 100% true. My next build will likely either be a headless shredder made from this head case,



or a 3-string cigar box.





So maybe just replace vintage with
“vintage or custom.”

 

[Bowmap]

Me neither.
As I said, I dropped out of the biz.
In 2016.

I’m only interested in vintage music gear now.

 

[Uluwatu]

BTW I currently have 12 speakers and about six old radios that can be converted for guitar amps. Three of them are vacuum tube.

I also have a huge shiny 1970s solid state

stereo receiver with a bad channel.

So all that waiting, plus a new bridge for the Gibson flattop. And more.

BUT, once I finish this puppy I’m going back to work on my project car. It needs another 3 mos work, but I took off 8 mos to work on guitars etc.

I have to finish the brakes, reset the axle, trans, engine, body, wheels…. Much little stuff.


When I bought this it ran ok but the chassis was a cobbled-up rust bucket.

It’s a 1980 fiberglass kit, that stayed in the garage for 40 years. And mine for 5 years now.

I already rewired it completely. But body, engine, trans, brakes, tires all nice enough.

 

[Uluwatu]

The 1973 VW engine.

 

[Guithartic]

I’m changing out the middle pickup and a different pickguard. I’m keeping it 1965 specs. I got a RWRP Pure Vintage ‘65 pickup to put into an American Original ‘60s. I’m still deciding between a naturally aged eggshell pickguard from an AV 1965 or a new Fender 1965 eggshell pickguard.

 

[revtime]

I didnt take any pics but I rolled the edges of a roasted warmoth neck I have on this stratatele.

 

[TVvoodoo]

For a wine red singlecut

 

[DRugerH]

Got the Kramer Focus 111s back on the workbench. I swapped out the middle pickup with a Seymour Duncan quarter pounder single, swapped out the tuning machines with locking tuners, added a roller nut (My fender had one installed by PO, and I liked it). Replaced the cheapo bridge with a Wilkinson with the stamped saddles and push in trem arm. After buying my Logan, I love the push in bars as they stay where I put them.

Anyhow, after setting it back up, the switch was giving me heck on the neck pickup. These are all the cheap import parts, so I was not surprised. I switched it all out with a nice 5-way switch and full sized alpha pots. I don't know if it's just me, but the sound of the pickups seems to have opened up. Like the old pots were holding them back or something.

I know, I have spent way more money on this beat up old Kramer than it will ever be worth, but I like the guitar, and I am not looking to make money on it. I am only looking to play it.











Dan

 

[Uluwatu]

Once you get everything working perfectly, then comes the soul churning experience where you must completely disassemble the guitar in order to sand and finish it.

Mine was almost perfect. The jack is loose, so it had to come apart.

 

[Uluwatu]

The tedium of razor scraping is exacerbated by thick fake ebony paint.



There was some oversanding at the factory. Otherwise this would have possibly been stain-grade instead of paint-grade

 

[revtime]

Im thinkin of sanding the dye or whatever is off that glarry guitar I have. May do it next weekend.

 

[Believer7713]

Wow! I haven't really posted here for a minute and see it is still going strong. When I started this thread in early 2020 I really didn't expect to see it running like this 6 years later.
Don't stop. I love it!
I just finished the latest Chiefs themed guitar for the CARE Team and it turned out fantastic! @Uluwatu, I don't know if you saw the final pics but if I recall correctly, you used a guitar for a build very similar to what this one started out as.

Right now, I am getting started on a restoration project of sorts. A client sent me a 1968 Mustang that needs a refret, clean-up, and setup. I've seen some guitars with worn out frets before but I don't think I have ever seen one that had ALL for the first 13 frets worn almost all the way to the fretboard. It"s not all.original. the pickups and tuners have been changed but the electronics, all of the wood and i believe the pickguard is the real deal on this thing. You could go surfing on the pickguard with all.of the waves it has.

I live the patina the Oly white paint took on over the last 57 years, too!

Plus, the previous owner had the trem system blocked so I am going to remove the wood that was glued in per my clients request.

 

[Uluwatu]

The KC guitar turned out spectacular!
Yes. I used an Epiphoney much like that one. For $20 it was impossible to pass up.

 

[Uluwatu]

The truss rod is thru the base on the neck. Not the head like all my other guitars.

Who else did it this way?

I thought this Synsonics was just some kiddie toy from Walmart when I got it, but I saw another style advertised as “Synsonics by Gretch”.


I saw this different ad on 2 sites.
(It’s got a different tail and a penguin head.)




Mine had 2 jacks, just the same.

Anyhow, I now feel better about the quality of the neck I’m going to scrape on for three days.

A little. The fingerboard had worms before it was milled.

Here you can clearly see that the fret work was not great.

 

[Believer7713]

The truss rod is thru the base on the neck. Not the head like all my other guitars.

My Favorite Strat is that way.

Also, the '68 Mustang that I have on the bench (pictured above) has the truss rod access in the heel. It was pretty commonplace for a long time

 

[GrooVey]

Who else did it this way

If I’m doing a new build/assembly, I like the truss adjustment at the heel to show off more of the headstock. A bit of a p i a at the set up stage as you may need to undo the neck adjust more than once.

 

[Believer7713]

The truss rod is thru the base on the neck. Not the head like all my other guitars.

I also forgot that my EVH Wolfgangs have the adjustment at the heel. They do have a spoke wheel on them though. As does my EVH style partscaster with a Peavey neck.

 

[Uluwatu]

I have seen the knurled knob setup before in photos. I could certainly do that.

I don’t think it needs it, this is a stout neck. Looks like a strat, feels like a tele.

One that’s been beat around and never got played much.

BTW I haven’t adjusted the rod. I did oil the nut and work it to be sure it wasn’t rusted.

The frets are all very tall. But short, like they have too much crown for the neck. Someone used the wrong radius press. Maybe it would have been right if someone hadn’t sanded the fingerboard too flat trying to remove wormholes?


I dunno…mere idle speculation.

I will probably press them down somehow.

 

[Bowmap]

I have seen the knurled knob setup before in photos. I could certainly do that.

I don’t think it needs it, this is a stout neck. Looks like a strat, feels like a tele.

One that’s been beat around and never got played much.

BTW I haven’t adjusted the rod. I did oil the nut and work it to be sure it wasn’t rusted.

The frets are all very tall. But short, like they have too much crown for the neck. Someone used the wrong radius press. Maybe it would have been right if someone hadn’t sanded the fingerboard too flat trying to remove wormholes?


I dunno…mere idle speculation.

I will probably press them down somehow.

Will you be doing a refret? If so grab a set of radius sanding blocks to restore the fret board radius. However, if it is a compound radius neck, you are back to hand sanding.

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