Max goes to Woodstock (Another Strat in Progress )

[stratamania]

Good finish on that one. The grain in that headstock is really nice.  :icon_thumright:

Thanks. I should try and capture some video of some of the flame in this neck at some point...

 

[JPOL007]

Well here we and as the weather is warmer I had a chance to redo the lacquer after adjusting the neck heel at the turn of the year. I did not capture any photos of lacquer drying but here are a couple of shots of the neck heel and the back of the headstock post touch up, drying and wet sand and buff. After checking the neck still fits the heel which it does.

I also re polished the frets etc...

neckheel by stratamania, on Flickr


HeadstockBack by stratamania, on Flickr

The next job will be re fitting the tuner bushings and tuners and then we are back to assembly.

Smooth job :icon_thumright:loving the grain on that headstock.

 

[PhilHill]

Ditto, Nice! :icon_thumright:

 

[stratamania]

Thanks JPOL007 and PhilHill... 

 

[stratamania]

Bushings in again...with NOS nitro cracking...

bushings by stratamania, on Flickr

And the tuners fitted, same tuners into the same position and all 12 screws back to the same holes.

tuners by stratamania, on Flickr

For a build that has been in progress for five years having two updates in two days is fast going...must be the "Power of Soul"  :laughing7:


[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-M16K6UlQg[/youtube]

 

[Rick]

Looking good

 

[Dazkeirle]

Bushings in again...with NOS nitro cracking...

And the tuners fitted, same tuners into the same position and all 12 screws back to the same holes.

For a build that has been in progress for five years having two updates in two days is fast going...must be the "Power of Soul"  :laughing7:


[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-M16K6UlQg[/youtube]

Damn, this is awesome. I've had a blacked out guitar, I've always liked the white strats, never considered going white on white on white.

That neck is beautiful, super pale.

Really like this build.

 

[stratamania]

Thanks Rick, and Dr Excess for the feedback, appreciated  :icon_thumright:

 

[Hendrix]

I try to google the PU you use , find Lindy Fralin Woodstock 69' Pickups

but not on Lindy Fralin website , so they have stop production on this ?

 

[stratamania]

I try to google the PU you use , find Lindy Fralin Woodstock 69' Pickups

but not on Lindy Fralin website , so they have stop production on this ?

They are Callaham/Fralin Hendrix/SRV cryogenically treated pickups that Callaham used to sell. They are not available any longer from Callaham. Perhaps some of the Fralin pickups may be close to them probably the Blues special.

 

[stratamania]

Here we are after quite some time at the assembly stage...

Getting organised with a cool box I picked up from Ikea a while ago. Useful for putting parts and screws in and knowing where things are.

Assembly_ (1) by stratamania, on Flickr

I mentioned in an earlier post about possibly changing out the blend pot but did some further analysis and removed the pickguard. One wire got moved and then it was functioning as expected.

Assembly_ (2) by stratamania, on Flickr

And the neck is on...

Assembly_ (3) by stratamania, on Flickr

 

[stratamania]

And a shot of the front of the guitar with the neck on and the pickguard refitted. It is plugged in to just do a final check of the controls and pickup selections.

Assembly_ (4) by stratamania, on Flickr

In the end I have gone with a Graphtech Tusq nut. Here it is after sanding in the initial radius at the bottom of the nut and the trailing headstock side of the nut for it to fit in the nut slot.

Assembly_ (5) by stratamania, on Flickr

I then put on the outer E strings so that I could do final alignment of the neck which needed a slight adjustment or loosening the screws and nudging the neck into position and retightening the screws.

Assembly_ (6) by stratamania, on Flickr

The outer strings also enable me to position the nut and to figure out what needs to be removed from the sides etc...

Assembly_ (7) by stratamania, on Flickr

 

[stratamania]

Using a tremolo backplate to support the strings whilst taking the nut on and off for adjustments...sorry folks I don't have a StewMac tool for every job...

Assembly_ (8) by stratamania, on Flickr

The modus operandi was to use the sandpaper to remove from the bottom of the nut material to get the height in range.

The final dialling in of the nut height will be done in the string slots as part of final set up with nut files. But to get it in the ballpark, the sandpaper is used over the fretboard to provide a base at the correct radius for the sandpaper and the nut moved across it to adjust it. Putting the nut in the slot to check for height, removing the nut and some sanding is repeated a few times till the height shows a reasonable height when pressing the string down at the third fret that there is a ballpark height between the bottom of the string and the first fret.

After that was done the sides of the nut were marked and then filed and sanded mainly off the guitar and when ready the nut was put in place with a small amount of super glue.

Assembly_ (9) by stratamania, on Flickr

All of the strings on for the first time...view at the bridge...

Assembly_ (10) by stratamania, on Flickr

All of the strings on for the first time...view at the nut...

Assembly_ (11) by stratamania, on Flickr

 

[stratamania]

Max goes to Woodstock (Initial Assembly Follow up )

Following up on the initial assembly I brought the strings up to pitch and did some approximate adjustments to bridge saddles, the tremolo, approximate pickup height etc...by no means a final set up. Just roughing some things in to leave it for a week or two under string tension to see if the neck needs any adjustment etc and then I will finish the assembly and do a final set up.

Anyway even at this point some initial playing on the guitar unplugged and plugged in are very promising. It is very playable and has a classic Strat type of tone. The volume and master tone with the blend pot are quite a nice feature I have not used before but it works fine in this guitar.

I will give it a couple of weeks to play it now and again and for the neck to be under string tension, then fit the tremolo backplate and a couple of small items and do a final set up and post some final photos...

Thanks for looking...

 

[Logrinn]

Very nice work, Stratamania. Looks great!
I thought the trem cover as a string support was Stew Mac’s preferred method :icon_jokercolor:

 

[stratamania]

Very nice work, Stratamania. Looks great!
I thought the trem cover as a string support was Stew Mac’s preferred method :icon_jokercolor:

Thanks Logrinn, appreciated.

 

[Hendrix]

very good process photos and attention to detail steps.
At first glance I think why the bridge PU not reverse angle like other Jimi tribute guitar, then I find it look more natural with alignment to control knobs , as pick guard already  reversed.

Btw I not in plan buy PU for new projects right now, I put that in future planing list .  I already buy SD Jimi signature PU for the tribute guitar , 

 

[rgand]

Nice progress shots. Looks good. I like the white on white.

 

[stratamania]

Thanks for the feedback Hendrix (who is not Jimi) and RGand. As always it is appreciated.

I had wondered about exploring a reverse bridge pickup but that would have needed a second pickguard and routing the body and in the end decided it was not worth bothering.

 

[MikeW]

Nice work! Glad to see that it's getting finished too.

I think the blender pot mod is my favorite of all the Strat mods out there. There so much versatility in it that way. I'll be interested to hear it in action.