First build - Strat with mini-buckers

[grahny]

Not sure if this is the right thread to drop this in, so mods feel free to move if needed.

Thought I'd share my guitar here. I bought this guitar off ebay 10yrs ago. It was a warmoth swamp ash body with what I believe is a 'vintage' neck, although it has no warmoth turtle stamp on it (truss rod is only accessible by unbolting the neck - not sure of the radius). Originally it had a tortoise pick guard, two van zandt single coiles (neck/middle) and a D'Marzio PAF in the bridge. One volume pot, 1 tone. Tone was a push/pull and gave it an out of phase sound in the 4th position (5 way switch). Sounded great, the single coils were fantastic, however it was just plain noisy. Too noisey, and the wiring was a bit of a mess. At one point I put a black warmoth pickguard on it to change things up.

So recently, I decided it was time for another facelife (i.e. get a new pickguard)... then I decided I wanted to stain it... then I was at a guitar strore one day and pickup up a Tele that had a Seymour Duncan SM-1 mini-humbucker in the neck position. I loved it. Just loved it. Decided to completely turn my "strat" into a custom job. I've never wired a guitar or soldered anything in my life, but I figured I'd give it a shot (I'm a jack of all trades kind of joe). Long story short (too late), I finished the sand/staining last week and the wiring today. It came out fantastic. No issues at all. I'm sure the soldering could be cleaner, but I'm just glad it works  :icon_biggrin:

So I guess it's not really a strat anymore. I'm just considering it a mutt that plays and sound perfect.  arty07:

Set up:
Warmoth swamp ash body (red mahogany stain, satin clear coat)
Neck (?)
SD SM-1N mini-humbucker (neck)
SD SM-3B mini-humbucker (bridge)
All electronics picked up from Warmoth:
3 way blade switch
3 pots (vol/tone neck.... tone bridge)
1 push-push pot (vol bridge) - coil splitting
Fake ivory knobs (fancy aren't they?)
New mono jack

Bridge/tremolo (schecter) and tuners are all from the original guitar. Hardest decision was knob placement. 

Please feel free to critique my wiring.. any/all feedback appreciated. I may do this again... it was a great experience and I really enjoyed it.

Album here (pics are out of order): http://s261.photobucket.com/albums/ii66/grahny/Maggie/

Some pics:

 

[Kublai]

Cool guitar!

 

[kataar]

I like it!  :headbang:

it almost lookds like that bridge has fine tuners on it... what kind of brige is it?

 

[m4rk0]

Very nice!!

it almost lookds like that bridge has fine tuners on it... what kind of brige is it?

Well, since it says 'schecter', it may actually be a schecter :icon_tongue:

 

[grahny]

I like it!  :headbang:

it almost lookds like that bridge has fine tuners on it... what kind of brige is it?

Yeah, it's an old Schecter bridge w/ 'locking' tuners... probably from the mid '90's I want to say. Not sure if it's the same Schecter that's around today though (not up on my company history). The tuners have a post/ball bearing with a cap that tightens down on the string, and you fine tune at the bridge. It's a simple, effective solution.

Thanks all for the compliments. I was able to crank it up a little bit this morning and it sounds sooo good. I play through a Blackstar Artisan 15 combo, with holy grail reverb and an Ibanez analog delay.

 

[Mor Paul]

Looks great!

By chance, was the minibucker guitar you tried out a tele?
That helped me seal the deal for my full-sized hb tele.

Oh, and I think this goes in the Strat section

 

[dbw]

Looks slick!  I really like your placement of the knobs... you found space for the fourth, AND moved the volume further from the bridge pickup.  :icon_thumright:

 

[Superlizard]

Minis in a strat... shiny... chrome... I dig it.  :icon_thumright:

 

[kataar]

Well, since it says 'schecter', it may actually be a schecter :icon_tongue:

oh don't you give me that mister!    :laughing8:

Yeah, it's an old Schecter bridge w/ 'locking' tuners... probably from the mid '90's I want to say. Not sure if it's the same Schecter that's around today though (not up on my company history). The tuners have a post/ball bearing with a cap that tightens down on the string, and you fine tune at the bridge. It's a simple, effective solution.

so kinda like the Ibanez zero resistance bridge then; no knife edges... spiffy! how's the stability?

 

[grahny]

Looks great!

By chance, was the minibucker guitar you tried out a tele?
That helped me seal the deal for my full-sized hb tele.

Oh, and I think this goes in the Strat section

There's a strat section? 

Yeah, it was like a '52 hotrod tele or something (reissue)... I'm thinking of doing a tele next.

Looks slick!  I really like your placement of the knobs... you found space for the fourth, AND moved the volume further from the bridge pickup.   :icon_thumright:

It was a tight fit for sure Spacing is kind of tight when playing, but not too bad.

so kinda like the Ibanez zero resistance bridge then; no knife edges... spiffy! how's the stability?

No knife edges, but not really like an Ibanez ZR... not as fancy of a setup. Here's a good shot of one: http://www.chrisguitars.com/par-schecter-trem.jpg   The tuners may be schaller... can't really tell (just an 'S' on the bottom etched in).

Fairly stable, but not the greatest... never had any major tuning issues except with excessive temolo use.

 

[Mor Paul]

Yeah, it was like a '52 hotrod tele or something (reissue)... I'm thinking of doing a tele next.

Good call  :icon_thumright:

I liked it, myself. A hint... PAF in the neck and vintage style tele bridge pup... awesome in each position, middle is my favorite.

 

[meg58]

I love the clean look of mini's on any guitar.

What are the sonic advantages, or differences, brought forth by minihums? Any?

Also, I am visualizing a build I want to do that includes mini's, and a LPS. Can anybody help me with one of those guitar generator thingys?

Michael

 

[nathan a]

Very cool, retro look. Love all the chrome on the pickguard.

 

[grahny]

Thanks for the compliments  :icon_thumright:

It looks so much better in person too... the pics really don't do it justice.

After a few days of playing I can honestly say that these pickups in a swamp ash body kick ass. The sound is almost single coil'ish, but thicker and warmer. One thing I noticed is just how sensitive the pickups are to the pots, nothing like anything else I've tried. I can really dial in wide volume and tone ranges, especially with the coil splitting. Very happy with them.

 

[grahny]

I put a poor quality vid up on youtube of the guitar... (ignore the sloppy playing ).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAuT-8iNlJo

 

[T.L.]

Very nice-looking guitar.  'Too many damn knobs though...