Goncalo Strat Build

[tt0511]

Here's a little bit of progress.  Probably need to do something around those pickups to dress it up.  Don't know about rings on the top.  Does anyone make anything to fill in around the pup that stays flush with the wood?  That may be cool.

It's really turning out nice the way the Goncalo blends with the Mahogany back!  I'm loving this.  Now I have to let it set up till next weekend and do a final polish on the top with the 0000 steel wool and then lemon oil.

Really would like to hear opinions about the way the pickups look and ideas about dressing them up.  Most humbucker wood top guitars I've seen with no pickguard look sweet, but you don't see so much around the pups.

 

[texicus]

This is looking awesome.  Good choices!

 

[tt0511]

I ordered single coil pickup rings just so I could see what they look like on the machine, ...but, ...I'm not finding many pics of guitars online with single coils in rings.  I see tons of buckers with rings, but not single coils.  Of course, ...almost every pic I've seen of strats have pickguards so the rings don't apply there.  But, what's the deal?  Does it look like crap with rings?  I expected to see more pics with them.

I saw one pic of a H-S-H configuration that had a ring around the middle single coil that looked great.  I've seen a pic or two of single coils with no rings that looked aweful, and a pic or two without rings that looked fine.  Seems to depend on the particular guitar between those without rings.

Just looking to chat a bit.  I ordered the black rings from Stew Mac and I'll get to see what they look like in a few days.  If I like the way they look, I can still mount the pups directly to the wood and just use the rings to dress up those cavities.

 

[blue313]

You could try blacking out the heads of the pickup screws, or finding black screws.  It might help the look by not drawing the eyes there.  You could also try coloring the routs black, something very temporary just to see if it works for you.

 

[tt0511]

Hmm.  Here's what it looks like with the pup mounting rings.  I can't decide if I like it or not.  Haven't drilled any holes on the top yet.  From across the room it's almost hard to tell the difference since the black covers look kinda like blacked out pockets except for the lack of wiring showing.  Votes?  Only get one shot at this since it involves drilling the top for screws.  I'm gonna sleep on it and come back and look a few times before doing anything.  I can send the rings back for a refund minus shipping.

Up till this point I've known pretty much what I wanted.  This one point is hard to decide.

 

[tfarny]

Paint the routes black and the screw heads too, and see if that satisfies you.

 

[tt0511]

I'm gonna try this.  I'll have to run pick up some black paint this weekend.  What would really be cool is if Stew Mac had that electrostatic paint in black, but last I checked it's grey.

 

[blue313]

You could try blacking out the heads of the pickup screws, or finding black screws.  It might help the look by not drawing the eyes there.  You could also try coloring the routs black, something very temporary just to see if it works for you.

Perhaps you should try the temporary route first....before you make a permanent change.

 

[tt0511]

Guys, thanks so much for all the help that you provided on this build.  It's a great community here and this was my first Warmoth build and homemade finish.  Did all the work myself, and that is rewarding!

For anyone doing a Tru-Oil finish, I don't think it can be stressed enough to put coats on thin.  In fact, it's actually kinda hard to get it on thin enough!  Thin enough to avoid lap marks.

This turned out pretty good.  The finish doesn't look quite professional but no one but a trained eye would notice.  If I had it to do over again I'd probably stick with 3-4 coats of tru-oil to get the results on the headstock.  It looks nice and oiled with the pores showing and looking natural.  The 6 coats on the body leaves it somewhere between that and gloss, but still looks good.  Just between that natural look and a glossy finish.

All I gotta do now is find a switch tip to match the knobs.  I'm calling it done for this one.

Goncalo Alves neck wood
Ebony fingerboard
Goncalo laminate top on the body
Mahagony body wood
Schaller mini locking tuners
Dimarzio FastTrack2 bridge, Cruiser Neck in middle, Pro Track in neck position
Hardware from a mexican strat
Painted pickup cavities black and painted pickup screws black.

Sounds great and plays great.  I set the intonation, bridge saddle height and adjusted the neck bow slightly.  I've set the action moderately low and there's only slight buzzing that doesn't get heard through the amp, so the neck is pretty good direct from Warmoth.  At least as good as a store bought fiddle.  They all require some setup work to be their best.  Now I have to save up money to get the Plek setup!  She'll kill then.  Anyway, here's the final pics.  With my camera, they certainly don't do justice to this thing.  Wish it wasn't raining outside so I could get some outdoors pics.  Oh well, ha ha.