A New Neck For Dad's Strat! (Or: Dad get's a Brazillian!)

[Verne Bunsen]

This is my dad's Strat:

He'd been talking recently about finding a beefier neck for her and found this beauty in the showcase. 59 Roundback, all raw Brazillian Ebony. It's a fantastic piece of wood, and today it's on my bench  :headbang:

We procured a set of Gotoh Magnum Lock tuners in Cosmo Black for her. I am really becoming a fan of that Cosmo Black finish, just by the way...

The tuners were a bit loose in the hole, which is interesting because more often than not I find myself having to open those holes up a bit. I gave them about a wrap-and-a-half of teflon tape and they went in nice and snug.

Before I mount this neck, should I treat it with anything or just leave it as is? Burnishing it is not in the current scope of work so I'm not trying to go there, but I feel like I should hit it with lemon oil or something along those lines? I'm new to raw necks, so learning the lay of the land here...

 

[Cagey]

Nice piece! I wouldn't put anything on it.

 

[rgand]

Looks good. That's a right fine looking guitar. I like the light colors together. I haven't put anything on my raw roasted maple necks and they are doing fine. One is three years old now. I've cleaned it once with naphtha but it really didn't need it.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Thanks for the input guys, "nothing" it is!

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Of course, it would be a shame to replace the neck without replacing, you know, everything else on the guitar. More accoutrements:

New pickguard and trem cover:

These really cool wooden pickup covers:

And a selection of knobs to choose from:

Back to work! It's about 110 degrees in the garage today, but I'm just not going to think about it...

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Well, my intention with this project had been to approach it like a reasonable person and work on it in a few relatively short sessions. But instead it was a midnight marathon to the finish. I have difficulty stepping away from things without completing them.....

After pulling the neck I realized that this was set up with the Tilt-O-Matic or whatever they call this adjustable neck angle system. It appeared as though it were in play, although only very slightly.

The new neck does not have the plate to be compatible with this adjuster, so I simply backed it out of the way and, upon re-assembly, replaced it with a small shim. Spoiler alert: it was unneccessary. I ended up having to remove the neck to pull the shim back out. I didn't want the adjustment screw to back out and turn into a buzz/rattle, but I also didn't want to remove it and end up with it getting lost. So I wrapped the screw in teflon tape (teflon tape to the rescue twice on this one!) and threaded it in until it just abutted the neck. Hopefully it stays put....

The pickups are staying. Fender Custom Shop jobbers wound by some gal named Abby.....

Seriously though, if these pickups are any indication of her work as a whole, then the hype is well deserved. They are fantastic!

The wooden pickup covers essentially just press on and are a very tight fit. I had some concerns with them not having a retaining tab like standard covers, but they aren't going anywhere.

The pickguard did not have the typical conductive foil backing in the control area, so I made my own with copper shielding tape.

Another part of this project is changing the control scheme. Gone away is the Master Volume with 2 Tone controls, here to stay is the Master Volume, Master Tone and a toggle to add the neck pickup to positions 1 and 2. Bridge + Neck and All 3 are really killer tones on a Strat.

The new pickguard impinged on the neck pocket which would have led to some neck fit issues. Corrected with sandpaper.

I had to make a couple of Executive decisions here, as I didn't really think dad would appreciate a call at 11:30PM to ask which knobs he wanted to run with. My pick was the chrome with Mother of Pearl. I think they look swell. I wasn't particularly happy with either white or black for the switch tip, so I went digging through the Random Parts bin and found an "Antique White" tip that I think fits perfectly. It's the little things....

She is strung up with Thomastik-Infeld 10-52 Power Brights.

When I was playing it after taking these pictures, I found the high "e" was sitar'ing and producing horrible sympathetic vibrations behind the nut. I ran it through with the file a couple more times and it healed right up. Looking at this picture made me laugh, as my first thought was, "that high "e" slot doesn't look so good!"

I have to say this thing looks really sharp. I wasn't really sure how the various aesthetic choices were going to come together but I like it a lot. It puts of a kind of Robbie Robertson vibe. Not that it looks like any of his guitars, but it makes me think of his music. So that's pretty cool.

 

[bagman67]

That's a very handsome bit of work you've done there.  And a very kind gift to your dad.  Very tidy work you've done, and like you, I am a fan of master volume & tone and an on-off switch for the bridge pup.


My sole question is whether the switch in the V1 position might not have been better located further away so it's not accidentally knocked into an undesired position during more aggressive playing.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

That's a very handsome bit of work you've done there.  And a very kind gift to your dad.  Very tidy work you've done, and like you, I am a fan of master volume & tone and an on-off switch for the bridge pup.


My sole question is whether the switch in the V1 position might not have been better located further away so it's not accidentally knocked into an undesired position during more aggressive playing.

Thank you! Regarding the switch location, I'd tend to agree with you. On my Strat I put the switch in the T2 position and left V1 and T1 in their usual locations. The layout seen on this guitar was specifically requested by dad. Surprisingly, it's not in the way as much as I thought it would be when you're playing it. But, if he changes his mind, it is correctable.

 

[rgand]

Well, the thing sure changed. It's a whole different, cool look. That cosmo black is pretty nice looking. Good work, there. He should be very pleased with it.

I also like to keep switches, and all controls for that matter, away from the bridge pickup. But not everyone plays the same and most don't have any issues.

 

[fdesalvo]

That's really unique!  I bet he's going to love the 59.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Well, the thing sure changed. It's a whole different, cool look. That cosmo black is pretty nice looking. Good work, there. He should be very pleased with it.

I also like to keep switches, and all controls for that matter, away from the bridge pickup. But not everyone plays the same and most don't have any issues.

Yeah, “changed” is right! I think the only stock parts left are the pickups and the body. Everything else is new.

Regarding keeping the controls “out of the way”, I think that was part of his thought process. He was dealing with a tendency to knock the volume pot around when playing; this moves the volume pot back a slot, and it takes more than just a “nudge” to actuate the switch.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

That's really unique!  I bet he's going to love the 59.

He does! That raw wood is pretty darn sweet.....

 

[rgand]

Well, the thing sure changed. It's a whole different, cool look. That cosmo black is pretty nice looking. Good work, there. He should be very pleased with it.

I also like to keep switches, and all controls for that matter, away from the bridge pickup. But not everyone plays the same and most don't have any issues.

Yeah, “changed” is right! I think the only stock parts left are the pickups and the body. Everything else is new.

Regarding keeping the controls “out of the way”, I think that was part of his thought process. He was dealing with a tendency to knock the volume pot around when playing; this moves the volume pot back a slot, and it takes more than just a “nudge” to actuate the switch.

I put a low profile push/push switch on mine so I wouldn't hit it.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

I like that layout! I like that little push/push too, I don’t suppose you have a link handy for where you sourced it?

 

[rgand]

Yeah, I like it, too. It's easy to get to everything and nothing's really in the way.

That switch came from an electronics shop in Oxnard that went out of business many years ago. It was in a sale bin, as I recall. I used a couple of them in an avionics switching panel I made for my airplane. Fortunately, it's the same type of switch used in a lot of amplifiers to change channels. Push and it stays in on one channel, push again and it pops up for the other channel. Just look for one that is threaded for a mounting nut. If you find a source for those, you're in business. For that matter, if you find a source for those, let me know, too. Every once in a while I try to find them but none of the ones I found were on/on with 6 connecting pins. I could use a couple more to have around.

 

[rgand]

The closest I've found are these that would be good for a single on/off application.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

You've definitely given me something to think about, thanks!  :icon_thumright:

 

[rgand]

You've definitely given me something to think about, thanks!  :icon_thumright:

I've thought about those. You could always not wire power to the light. I may get one just to see how they work.

I remember I found these on/off switches

which have only two terminals but would be usable in certain applications. They're small little guys, though.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

The SPST 2 terminal configuration on that smaller switch would be perfect for this application. The mounting bushing is 10mm according to the specs, it would be a really close thing whether it would fit a standard 3/8" pot mounting hole without massaging it. Not that that is a big deal, just an observation. It is an intriguing idea. If I give it a try you'll certainly hear all about it!

 

[rgand]

I ordered one just in case I might need one. I measured the threads on it at .3865. About a half a twist with a tapered reamer would open a 3/8" hole just enough.