# Project - To Affinity and Beyond



## Dorian2

This thread is the start of a long process, and I need your help guys. I have a 2005 Squier Affinity, made in Indonesia at the Cort factory, that I want to learn on, and go through the process (as much as possible), on not just a Mod or 3, but an entire redo......D2 style.

I've readjusted the truss rod on the warped neck and allowed the guitar to humidify for about 1 month now in 45% relative humidity. I just took it apart the other day and took some photos which will hopefully help you give advice.

Here are some of them:

Body cavities:










Twisted neck:










Neck joint on body:










Nut:









I plan on sanding the body down and working on the neck first.

I am going to take everything I know about it (which isn't much), and everything anyone posts into account. This might be the first part of a multi thread guitar rework. I'm also hoping to make the guitar into a Guitars Canada poster type build, not just my own.

Some quick things about me for your consideration:

- I'm heavily into rock, and I want to use this as a Heavy Blues/Rock type of guitar. Something distinct.
- I have a lot of tools as a home owner since 2005, but some specialty tools are definitely needed. I will try to keep tools needed to a minimum in this thread. I have researched it already, but all ideas are definitly welcome.
- I have very limited wood working experience, but I want to do this right. So I will learn.
- I have education in Electronics, but have not practiced it much. I'm a bit rusty.
- I know most of the parts and some technical lingo thanks to this forum and Ben Crow, but not as much as I need to to keep up with some of you guys.
- I don't intend to buy a new neck or body. I want to work the wood till it can't be worked no more. Nudge nudge....wink...a...never mind.
- I have an odd sense of humor, almost questionable at times.
So to start it all off, where the hell should I start? It seems massive to me at this point.


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## Kerry Brown

For heavy (gritty) blues I really like HH strats. That should work with the routing you have. I have a HH strat which I put some Gibson 490s in. Didn't like them in the SG. They absolutely rock in the strat.


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## greco

I'm going to guess that first step is to decide if the neck can be salvaged and what it will take to get it back.

Sanding the body down might be more demanding than you anticipated...especially if it has the famous "chicklet" finish(es). 
What is the plan for refinishing the body? 
Is it extremely important to you to go to all the effort to do the refinish?

Don't take my comments all that seriously...I'm not skilled at this type of thing.
However, I'll be following this thread with interest.
I do enjoy doing guitar related electronics...but you are not likely concerned about that part, especially once you get back into the swing of (minimal and easy) soldering

Cheers

Dave


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## Guest

I'm with Dave here.
Unless you want to have a natural finish,
don't waste time sanding down the body.
Just scuff and repaint.

Can't help with the neck. Sorry.


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## Dorian2

Kerry Brown said:


> For heavy (gritty) blues I really like HH strats. That should work with the routing you have. I have a HH strat which I put some Gibson 490s in. Didn't like them in the SG. They absolutely rock in the strat.


I was thinking humbuckers, but my EB has H S H configuration. My thinking is to keep it SSS if possible. That could change depending on price though.


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## Kerry Brown

Dorian2 said:


> I was thinking humbuckers, but my EB has H S H configuration. My thinking is to keep it SSS if possible. That could change depending on price though.


I put a set of these:

http://www.guitarfetish.com/1963-Strat-Overwound-Wound-Professional-Pickup-Set-_p_2095.html

In a MIJ Squier strat. They give a great blues and rock sound but get muddy with too much gain.


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## Dorian2

greco said:


> I'm going to guess that first step is to decide if the neck can be salvaged and what it will take to get it back.
> 
> Sanding the body down might be more demanding than you anticipated...especially if it has the famous "chicklet" finish(es).
> What is the plan for refinishing the body?
> Is it extremely important to you to go to all the effort to do the refinish?


I'm not sure if it can be salvaged, but I'd like to go through the process. I'm not planning on a 1 month project here. It may take more time than that in the end. I suppose my best bet is to take it to a Luthier and have it checked out. Pictures aren't the best way to do this.

I have no plan per say re: refinish. I just want a different color and go through the process. It isn't extremely important to refinish. I have wood that can be used to test stuff, so it may be a no go to go through the trouble.



laristotle said:


> don't waste time sanding down the body.
> Just scuff and repaint.


This sounds like an option for what I want to do. Never thought of it to be honest. Thanks. Might allow me to concentrate on other things that need work. The paint is actually in pretty good condition, but I kinda want to try my hand at something different.

Like I said, everything here is to be considered. And I do consider things heavily when it comes to most things.


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## Dorian2

Kerry Brown said:


> I put a set of these:
> 
> http://www.guitarfetish.com/1963-Strat-Overwound-Wound-Professional-Pickup-Set-_p_2095.html
> 
> In a MIJ Squier strat. They give a great blues and rock sound but get muddy with too much gain.


The price is certainly right. Half the price of the guitar itself!! I'm going to check these suckers out for sure. Thanks.

I checked out the GFS trem block earlier that may be added as well:

http://www.guitarfetish.com/Solid-Steel-Tremolo-Block-Fits-Most-IMPORT-Tremolos_p_688.html


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## Dorian2

Speaking of pick ups. I'm going to actually shield the electronics as well. I'm aware of the foil type and the paint on type. I imagine both will work just as well for this instance.


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## greco

Dorian2 said:


> Speaking of pick ups. I'm going to actually shield the electronics as well. I'm aware of the foil type and the paint on type. I imagine both will work just as well for this instance.


Have you checked the continuity in the cavity?
Shielding paint is often a dull/flat black colour (AFAIK).....your pickup and control cavities might already be shielded.


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## ed2000

I have a sense of humour so I'll do my best to help.
I stripped a Squire Protone Strat...toughest finish on the planet. I'm sure it could have been used for heat tiles on the space shuttle. No chemical known to me touched the finish. My belt sander with 80 grit worked to remove most of the finish but the time consuming part of the strip job was the curves.
Do not touch the neck except the nut - higher quality upgrade.. Perhaps replace the tuners. There is room for a HB Pup...look for a vintage DiMarzio = $40. Perhaps replace the output jack and the toggle switch. If the pots feel good and are not scratchy, leave them. If the bridge saddles are cast then replace them with stamped steel or just replace the whole bridge assy with a used upgrade.
Leave the headstock Squier as is - it is a great theft deterrent.

EDIT: is the neck twisted


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## Dorian2

greco said:


> Have you checked the continuity in the cavity?
> Shielding paint is often a dull/flat black colour (AFAIK).....your pickup and control cavities might already be shielded.


Thanks. Sometimes the smallest things elude you when you're unfamiliar with so much. Just checked the continuity. Nada. The only part that has it is the obvious, the tinfoil tape on the pick guard.

Guess I'm going to pick some of that stuff up.


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## Dorian2

ed2000 said:


> I have a sense of humour so I'll do my best to help.
> I stripped a Squire Protone Strat...toughest finish on the planet. I'm sure it could have been used for heat tiles on the space shuttle. No chemical known to me touched the finish. My belt sander with 80 grit worked to remove most of the finish but the time consuming part of the strip job was the curves.
> Do not touch the neck except the nut - higher quality upgrade.. Perhaps replace the tuners. There is room for a HB Pup...look for a vintage DiMarzio = $40. Perhaps replace the output jack and the toggle switch. If the pots feel good and are not scratchy, leave them. If the bridge saddles are cast then replace them with stamped steel or just replace the whole bridge assy with a used upgrade.
> Leave the headstock Squier as is - it is a great theft deterrent.
> 
> EDIT: is the neck twisted


Yes, the neck is twisted. Higher in the left bottom and lower at the nut right.

Regarding the electronics and bridge, I've decided to replace the whole works, including the trem system and block. I was looking at the GFS D30. Not sure if that is the one to use for the smaller size body cavity in the guitar.

The block that was in it measures 70mm long, 37mm wide, and a 10mm string spacing.


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## Guest

ed2000 said:


> I stripped a Squire Protone Strat...toughest finish on the planet.
> I'm sure it could have been used for heat tiles on the space shuttle.
> No chemical known to me touched the finish. My belt sander with 80 grit worked to
> remove most of the finish but the time consuming part of the strip job was the curves


Years ago, I stripped a MIM body (poly) with a heat gun and scrapper. Worked well.


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## sulphur

If the neck is pooched, I have one here you can use.

It has a rosewood board and a fairly thin profile though. Let me know if you're interested. 
That's about all the help I can be one this project.


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## Dorian2

sulphur said:


> If the neck is pooched, I have one here you can use.
> 
> It has a rosewood board and a fairly thin profile though. Let me know if you're interested.
> That's about all the help I can be one this project.


Well, I'm not sure if the neck is totally pooched. But who the hell am I to pass up an offer like that.

Are there any detailed measurements that I can take at different neck intervals or something? I'm a total noob at this type of stuff s far as hands on experience is concerned.


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## sulphur

Maybe measure the width of the heel and the spacing of the holes.

I'd think that the width would be the determining factor, as the holes could be refilled, if necessary.

The heel on this one is 56 mm, or 2.2 inches.


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## Dorian2

Width on mine is between 53 and 54 mm. within a couple cents of 54. Am I putting too much weight on the exact measurement? Please let me know. I think I've watched too many Ben Crow videos or something. Also could be a result of lack of woodworking experience.

I think I'm going into miniature territory here.


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## sulphur

I rechecked, it's definitely proud of 55mm by a hair.


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## Dorian2

So I will assume that it should be a nice fit in the joint and will work. I just checked the body joint width and it is 56mm. Give or take a hair. I'll PM you.


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## Lincoln

I see you're local to Edmonton, I went through a strat stage years ago and ended up with a good number of misc. Strat parts left over. I've got a Mexi big-block tremolo I'm sure you can use, as well as pretty much anything you could want in the way of a pick guard. Yours for the asking. I also have a full set of fret board radius sanding blocks if you want to try and tame that twisted neck.


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## Dorian2

I'll contact you as well Lincoln. Many thanks.


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## Dorian2

I've discussed it with 3 people this weekend and I believe I'm going to sand down the body. The 3 people are me, myself, and I. I figured if I'm going to learn this stuff correctly, I may as well put some extra effort in to it. I've got some ideas I have to figure out regarding this.

Sanding:

- What grit to start with. I'm thinking fairly heavy (80) until I get down to a point. Then working it up from there to what? #0000 steel wool then wet/dry in the 1000's? Or is that too fine? I also plan on painting and finishing. But I may go natural if the wood is nice. I believe it is Alder but not sure. I may even pick up some nice wood for a top. That has yet to be figured out.
- Hand sand or start with an electric? I have both a mouse sander and a 1/3 sheet finishing sander. No orbital or 1/4 sheet.

Of course, last but not least, your ideas. I know most of you have done this, as I have but not for guitar. So I understand the basic principles of getting a good finish sand on wood. 

Like I said at the get go, this is a pretty new experience for me in every aspect. Some more than others. I want ideas and know how to apply to the community guitar.


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## Dorian2

laristotle said:


> Years ago, I stripped a MIM body (poly) with a heat gun and scrapper. Worked well.


Picked up a heat gun today. Probably needed one for other stuff around the house and in the garage as well anyway. What kind of scrapper do you recommend? A slugger like Rocky Balboa or a sneaky guy like GSP?

I DO have lots of scrapers though. I think I'll use one of those instead. I don't really want to beat the crap out of the wood if it's good.


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## ed2000

Be sure to do that outside..the fumes.
Also get yourself a used hacksaw blade for the curved surfaces - use the smooth side, not the teeth.
You can also try an opened up stainless steel hose clamp - nice and flexible and a sharp scraping edge.


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## Guest




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## Dorian2

ed2000 said:


> Be sure to do that outside..the fumes.
> Also get yourself a used hacksaw blade for the curved surfaces - use the smooth side, not the teeth.
> You can also try an opened up stainless steel hose clamp - nice and flexible and a sharp scraping edge.


My workshop is in the garage. No issues with ventilation there. I usually wait for the spring and summer/fall in Edmonton before I get any bigger staining and wood work done. I have a little workshop in the furnace room/storage area in the basement where I can do the setups and some electronic stuff. I'm pretty well setup in that regard.

Thanks for the hacksaw blade idea. I've been meaning to change the blade on that thing for a while now. Now I have a damn good excuse.

So guys. Once I've stripped it down, which sandpaper grit do you recommend? I'm thinking around 120 to start. That's a typical rough up sandpaper I believe. Or I suppose it also depends on the state of the wood itself and any residue from the original fisnish.


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## ed2000

I would use 220 paper. Anything too coarse will require more fine sanding.
I'm a bad guy but I stripped my 'mustard coloured' 96 Squier Protone and revealed a beautiful grain. I've changed the finish colour twice.


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## Guest

Pro Tones were made with ash.
That turned out nice.


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## Dorian2

Thanks Laristotle, but too late. I tried the heat method today, wasn't crazy about it, so I went full Rambo on it with my mouse sander and 80 and 120 grit paper to remove the finsih. Here are the initial results:

Approximately 1 hr of sanding with about 6 pieces of sandpaper. They clog up pretty quick.










Corner piece:










It's really difficult to find solid info on the wood used for 2005 Affinity's made in Indonesia. It is the Indonesia Cort factory from the serial though. As close as I caan tell, it was at the time of a transition period by Fender from Korea to other places. Fenders site starts the Indonesian builds in 2008 according to their support page for Instrument dating:

http://www2.fender.com/support/articles/indonesian-instruments-product-dating/

I believe from other sites I've read that it may be either Alder or Agathis, which is common in Asia. I think they call it "poor man's Mahogany".

Anyone here have any ideas? The pictures are from my cheap Android so they probably won't tell you much. The wood is pretty plain looking so far so I'm considering either a solid color or possibly a sunburst when I get to that point.


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## Lincoln

You're lucky with that body. I've seen squire bodies that were made from what looked like 4 totally different species of wood. Almost looks like basswood.


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## Budda

Lincoln said:


> You're lucky with that body. I've seen squire bodies that were made from what looked like 4 totally different species of wood. Almost looks like basswood.


It probably is. If the site says "agathis" that's a type of basswood.


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## Dorian2

I did a bit of sanding today. About 3 hrs worth. I got in a zone so it didn't seem long at all. Rough sanded with 80 grit to remove top layer of finish. Sanded down to wood in a few places. Started hand sanding with 120 grit to smooth out some pretty rough edges. I see why they are so cheap. It was like it was machined and sanded to a minimum. I was involved in some of the edges as well. I'm going to try to create as much curvature as possible. You guys may be able to see more of what the actual wood is in some of these.

Here are some photos of where I'm at:




























Still a lot of sanding to do. I'm assuming the coat is some type of clear coat The light parts are right at the wood.


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## greco

Maybe the clear coat is some sort of sanding sealer??...just a guess.

Did you find a new neck for it or are you going to try and sort out the original?


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## Dorian2

Sulfur is taking care of that for me, and MORE! He's a seriously solid and generous gentleman. Ditto for Lincoln. He's meeting up with me in the near future here to help me along with the neck, which I may or may not put on the guitar now....depends. And a heavier trem than the lightweight that came with the guitar originally.

The people in the forum are incredible. That's why I want to do this right.


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## ed2000

To confirm...there is a clear sealer over the bare wood. Luckily, paint remover can take care of that. Keep the 80 grit far away from the body now.


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## Guest

Would you strip the sealer only for the purpose of staining?
If the body's being repainted, the remaining sealer can stay. No?
Especially if he's going to re-seal or prime.


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## Dorian2

I was looking at the guitar re: the first first photo above and I have a question . How do you measure to the edges of the neck route to see how close to the middle the join is? It looks like its pretty damn close to the middle if the neck joint. I have a vernier caliper so I can measure pretty precisely. I've seen it done a few times on youtube.


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## ed2000

laristotle said:


> Would you strip the sealer only for the purpose of staining?
> If the body's being repainted, the remaining sealer can stay. No?
> Especially if he's going to re-seal or prime.


Why do all this work removing the finish when it's going to be covered by an, opaque I assume, colour?


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## Dorian2

I have 2 answers that may or may not make sense to the removal. BTW. I'm using 120 grit now instead of 80. I started with 120 as soon as I hit the clear coat. (I don't know if that's the right term, but you know what I mean).

I wanted to get down to the bare wood so I can go through the entire process, apart from cutting and routing the wood, of the refinish and Mod's. I also want to see the entire body in iits natural grain to help me decide where to go from there. I still don't know if it'll be a solid color or not. Possibly some transparency involved, but I do not know the details. I understand that different coloring approaches are harder to do. But I'm not scared of at least attempting it.

Also, I'm the type of person who can be told how to do something 100 times over. I'll still do something that I want to try, even if I'm told not to, just to see what happens. It's a learning affliction and tool of learning by suceeding or failing. I'll even do things even if it is a proven fail, just to satisfy my curiosity. In the end I tell myself....."damn, I wish I would have listened to that advice". I don't do it for everything, but it can get in the way of timing sometimes. It's just the way I roll.

So about those measurement for neck position related to the body width, bridge, and pickup positions?


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## Lincoln

Dorian2 said:


> So about those measurement for neck position related to the body width, bridge, and pickup positions?


It's not something that I normally measure. I mark out a center line on the wood blank I'm using, and reference that center line for everything else that comes later. Body templates. pickup routing templates, neck templates, everything has a center line marked and I just match them up as I go. Alternative method - with the neck & bridge in place, I string the 1st and 6th strings, get the neck lined up perfectly and then mark where those two string fall on the body for positioning the pickups. (when I don't have body center line). If I didn't have center line or a bridge, I would mount the neck and use a straight edge down the sides of the neck to position the bridge.


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## Dorian2

Thanks Dave. I tend to over think things sometimes. Bad habit sometimes.


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## Dorian2

I'm up to 150 on the body now. Got a bit done on the weekend. Note he coster sandwich, courtesy of Araz's how to thread. Those things work like a charm. The other 3 are under the guitar.










A couple of questions for anybody here. Should I use a wood grain filler before moving on to a finer. or the same, grit? I want to try to get as smooth a finish as possible in the end. If so, what kind?

I'm considering a classic sunburst finish, and I like the idea of doing it with water dye or stain. I also want to do it by hand with a cloth. I'm considering dye because it seems I may be able to customize it by mixing a few colors and testing them. Are there opinions on one or another approach. I do realise there is the spray gun method, and I do have a garage and large rolls of plastic that I can hang. So maybe that's an option as well. But I like the idea of doing it by hand. 

What do you think?


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## torndownunit

Dorian2 said:


> I'm up to 150 on the body now. Got a bit done on the weekend. Note he coster sandwich, courtesy of Araz's how to thread. Those things work like a charm. The other 3 are under the guitar.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A couple of questions for anybody here. Should I use a wood grain filler before moving on to a finer. or the same, grit? I want to try to get as smooth a finish as possible in the end. If so, what kind?
> 
> I'm considering a classic sunburst finish, and I like the idea of doing it with water dye or stain. I also want to do it by hand with a cloth. I'm considering dye because it seems I may be able to customize it by mixing a few colors and testing them. Are there opinions on one or another approach. I do realise there is the spray gun method, and I do have a garage and large rolls of plastic that I can hang. So maybe that's an option as well. But I like the idea of doing it by hand.
> 
> What do you think?


Coming along nicely! Sorry I have no knowledge as far as technique. I just wanted to comment on the progress.


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## ed2000

From my attempt at a classic burst is difficult to accomplish with basic equipment(spray bombs in my case) I now have a hobby air brush but have not used it for guitars.

My last attempt was to strip the strat body to bare wood, not seal it, spraybomb with green translucent lamp shade paint and spray the perimeter with black and silver misting. By not sealing the bare wood the grain has raised slightly giving it texture. It was an experiment and not expected to last in this state for 10 years.

--trying to post a pic but the new server wont allow it


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## Dorian2

400 grit sanding is complete guys!! Now it's time for the finishing questions. 

Can I finish yet, or should I sand up to a higher grit, like 600, 800, or 1200?

If I use wood dye, does the sealer go on after the dye?

Which sealer is best? I heard Zinsser clear shellac is waxless. Is waxless better in this case. What do others do?

Any other hints of advise to get me started would be appreciated.


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## Lincoln

Dorian2 said:


> 400 grit sanding is complete guys!! Now it's time for the finishing questions.
> 
> Can I finish yet, or should I sand up to a higher grit, like 600, 800, or 1200?
> 
> If I use wood dye, does the sealer go on after the dye?
> 
> Which sealer is best? I heard Zinsser clear shellac is waxless. Is waxless better in this case. What do others do?
> 
> Any other hints of advise to get me started would be appreciated.


400 is lots! You can stop now. 
Normally, I only sand bare wood to 220, sand to 400 between coats of clear and I only do the 600/800/1200/2000 thing while wet sanding in preparation for buffing.

The wood is dyed before any sealer or anything else goes on. What I do is dye it, sand it again after it dries completely (dying raises the grain) and give it a second application of dye. 
You really need to make it out to the "Fort", I've got everything here you need and all the colours of dye. I thought I'd get you out here last weekend, but time just flew by with all the family stuff.

The sealer you use depends on the clear coat you want to use.


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## Dorian2

Lincoln said:


> 400 is lots! You can stop now.
> Normally, I only sand bare wood to 220, sand to 400 between coats of clear and I only do the 600/800/1200/2000 thing while wet sanding in preparation for buffing.
> 
> The wood is dyed before any sealer or anything else goes on. What I do is dye it, sand it again after it dries completely (dying raises the grain) and give it a second application of dye.
> You really need to make it out to the "Fort", I've got everything here you need and all the colours of dye. I thought I'd get you out here last weekend, but time just flew by with all the family stuff.
> 
> The sealer you use depends on the clear coat you want to use.


Thanks for that info. Last weekend was a busy one for sure. I'll set something up with you and go to the Park for sure. I've just received some stuff from Jock in the mail, so I'm getting a little itchy do get aquaainted with some finishing product. I'll look up more info on the sealer/clear coat combos.


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## Lincoln

Dorian2 said:


> Thanks for that info. Last weekend was a busy one for sure. I'll set something up with you and go to the Park for sure. I've just received some stuff from Jock in the mail, so I'm getting a little itchy do get aquaainted with some finishing product. I'll look up more info on the sealer/clear coat combos.


This is what I'm using these days

http://www.woodessence.com/EM6000-Production-Lacquer-P55C22.aspx
http://www.woodessence.com/EM1000-Universal-Sanding-Sealer-P131C23.aspx


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## Propyro

Thanks for all the updates, there's some great info being tossed around.


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## Dorian2

So as usual, I can't leave it at "just" doing a major upgrade/Mod with a newly finished body and paint job. But since I"ve been thinking of a couple of extras to add that others have made threads of recently. I was originally going to create a Logo on the headstock as a D2 design, but I'm not sure if I want to remove the logo on the neck that I received form Sulphur, which has a gorgeous grain to it. So I decided to do something "different" with the white pickguard and back plate for the trem.

I think this'll work for my idea, which will not be revealed until completion. They may even be blend-able. Not 100% sure yet. Anyone used this stuff before? It's readily available at Crappy Tire, Walmart, and online.








Walmart

Anybody do something similar with this or another product?


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## Guest

For one of my projects, I cut a PG out of clear plexi and painted the back white.
That plastic paint should work. You just have to be careful about runs and orange peel.
A wet sand after drying will make it smooth and texture free. Is the stuff durable though?
Will any pick scratches take the paint off I wonder?

I'm looking forward to how this works out for you.
Enjoy the process.


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## Lincoln

laristotle said:


> For one of my projects, I cut a PG out of clear plexi and painted the back white.
> That plastic paint should work. You just have to be careful about runs and orange peel.
> A wet sand after drying will make it smooth and texture free. Is the stuff durable though?
> Will any pick scratches take the paint off I wonder?
> 
> I'm looking forward to how this works out for you.
> Enjoy the process.


Clear coat over the paint on the PG should make it scratch resistant.


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## Dorian2

A bit of an update. I managed to meet up with Dave (Lincoln) at his shop the other day. He let me try out some dye on a body blank he had. Thanks for having me over and supplying me with the goods Dave!! The dye, sanding sealer and topcoat I ordered from Wood Essence came 2 days after Dave gave me some dye's to try out at home. This sunburst finish is a tough nut to crack after just 1 or 2 attempts, but I have a backup plan if the thing goes South. I think I can pull off a Sunburst with 3 colors though, so I'll make it happen. Just in this short span of testing colors out I've accrued a number of techniques that were applied from Dave himself as well as multiple how to's. One major thing that I did learn was to apply very thin amounts of light dye in multiple coats. You basically work your way up till the tone is what you want. I took a more scientific route and used a specific amount of water and added a specific amount of drops of Amber and Yellow dye to the water. I wrote them all in my MOD notebook I'm keeping as well as the number of coats I applied. I even counted the number of strokes I used for each portion to keep it as close as possible to an even coat. I think I already have my base coat color, but that'll change when I hit the real deal I imagine. I tested on a spare hunk of Alder that a wood supplier here in Edmonton cut for me.

For the initial try that was on plywood, I also applied the sanding sealer to see how it would pop the color. I'm applying the top coat to the piece this weekend to see what happens as well. It's pretty calming to do this in a nice structured manner. Probably not for everyone though. I'll post a pic when the initial coat is on the guitar and I'm happy with it. You might be in for a bit of a wait for that.

I'm also working the Tremolo angle right now. I'll post about that and some other stuff later. Right now it's all about the wood and the finish.


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## Lincoln

That's the key to using wood dye Pete. Start off light and slowly work you're way darker. You can always go darker if you're too light. But if you mix too much on the first go and it's too dark - you're screwed. 
At the rate you're figuring all this out, you'll be my "go to" sunburst guy in no time! Good luck with your project, great to meet you. You're welcome back anytime.


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## Dorian2

So I started dying the guitar yesterday. Decided to attack the back first, and started to consider a Tobacco burst as it went along. I was getting some really wicked brown flavors as I started adding drops of different colors, and it was looking really killer. But it became very apparent that you need much higher quality wood to get what I was after. I applied 1 coat of sanding sealer, just in case, and ended up wiping it clean with sandpaper today. I've now got a cool looking Crimson Black for the back with a coat of sanding sealer that I'm going to go with. I applied a couple drops black to the sealer before application because of the wierd way the wood turns out. It's hard to describe. It's like there is an outline of the guitar body just inside the outer edges of the end grain around the body. Maybe 2mm or so. But it makes for an easier time attempting the burst on the front, as I have a pre ordained outline already.


I'm thinking it's either remnants of chemicals they've used for some reason, or I didn't sand all of the previous coat off. There was always a bit of a sheen that I just couldn't sand out. It's all good though, it gives me something unusual to work with.

I won't take a pic until I have the next coat of sealer on the back. I'm going to use Red dye for that coat. It's actually almost time to do it as it suggests you wait for 2 hours before the next coat. Hoping it turns out.

By the way, do people here realize how friggin hard it is to get the right shade of black from a shitload of colors. I was attempting to darken what I had last night closer to black. but there was too much of a purple hue to allow the black color I want.

I've called the colorI'm attempting Crimson Tide. With none more Black.


----------



## Dorian2

Here are some pics of the journey so far. Just a note that there was a lot of dye applied, removed, and applied again with multiple mistakes made in between.

I decided to add a theme to the guitar itself to allow me to stay focused on what I expect the final result to be. Front and back wiith a bit of a change in tone on the front and going down the sides.

What do you think so far?
*
The Crimson Tide*

Scrubbed down: Pay attention to the outline around the edges as we go!










Base coat:









Close, but did a redo. Not quite right:










Final coat of sanding sealer: Directly after coat done.










Sanded and almost ready for topcoat to begin. I'm waiting till after the weekend. Touch ups will be made with more extremely light sanding at 000 steel wool and 320 dry sandpaper:










I'll be taking another picture this afternoon in daylight. There's a wicked 3D effect happening here due to the oddball condition of the wood. It's just popping out at me.

I'm pretty pleased so far. But the game is ON for the front.

I'm thinking that to blend in the front with the back to create a nice paint job, I should not start the top coat on the back until the front is dyed and sealed. It would make for easier re sanding and dye, which I know is going to happen.

Any suggestions?


----------



## Dorian2

Here's the original:


----------



## Lincoln

Looking good! I find it hard to top coat half a guitar at a time. There could be drips that get away on you and go down the wrong side. And then there is the problem of trying to blend in the sides when you go to top coat the second half. But, you need to find what works best for You.


----------



## Dorian2

A n update for you guys. Been busy testing different dye combos, but I stuck to the theme of Crimson Tide......for very good reason to my eye. I began this attempting a Classic Burst, but because of certain limitations (ie: I don't know WTF I'm really doing yet), I went with a "Modern Classic feel with an artistic rendition". This may not be as apparent to you as it was to me. It just popped out of the wood grain mishmash that was colored Black for a good reason.

But I got my grubby little hands on it and am going to post 2 photos of it from the front underneath where the pick guard is going to go.

I took a close up of what I'm seeing. All I can say is focus on the right bottom and follow your way up and to the left.Think "Crimson Tide" in your minds eye. That's what is in my head anyways.










Here is the whole shot:










The dark Crimson wave on the right bottom of the body is end grain slope going up the body ala typical Fender Strat style. Here's another shot on a spare piece of pegboard with a hook that I rigged up in the garage:










There's still a lot of work to do, but it's getting there. It's a shame I might have to cover those cool stripes of grain on the right.

Here one of the back, which needs a lot of sanding still. I'm at 800 to 1500 at the moment. For this pic I'll just say that I intentionally kept the inner outline that was obvious in the bare wood with a bit of subpar sanding technique. But it gave me the effect of a 3D image in the guitar, so I sanding the line down to make it obvious pretty early on:










Sorry for the crappy lighting in that one.

Gimme any thoughts or suggestions please. I like the input that people have around here.


----------



## Lincoln

I think it looks really good. Nice effect going on there.


----------



## Dorian2

Thanks Dave. There is quite a bit more going on there color wise that is not so apparent. Besides all the undertones that were used and sanded away, for the most part, I added Red and Black tint to make the initial topcoat. After the first 6 coats, I've mixed a different batch with just yellow. I'll see how that goes. I'm hoping for a slightly yellow/orange hue to bring out more of the lighter areas in the wood.

Glad you like it so far.


----------



## Dorian2

Got a bit heavy on the topcoat the other day, so I had a real bad run right down the front of the guitar. It was untinted clear coat, but I ended up having to sand a bunch of coats away to get back to a reasonable flatness on the top. I was pretty damned pissed. But since I've decided to follow the Crimson Tide motif, I saw yet another opening to take advantage of my error. That's pretty much how this sucker is going to end up. A trial by error until I'm happy. As with other mistakes already made, I think I can enhance the effect I'm going for.

That all aside, I need some electronics options and opinions. Thanks to the generosity of Jock (Suphur), I have a SSS configuration with 2 Area 61 Virtual Vintage Dimarzios and 1 Virtual Vintage 54. I read through the instructions that came with them, and there are a couple of options I don't have a really good grasp on as far as a Strat type instrument is concerned.

- Standard series humbucking wiring. Pretty self explanatory. Parallel wiring is NOT an option with these pickups BTW.

- Single coil tap. Much like my LP Duncan PU, I have the push pull tone knob to achieve this. For my current LP config, it's very basic IMO. 1 PU, 1 coil tap. My question to you guys. Has any one coil tapped all 3 pickups to get different variations of ingle and humbucking qualities? The variations seem almost limitless with a mini switch added. It's unlikely I'll get this specific about it, as I like a pretty basic sound. But I need to know the options.

- Phase Switch. Again, this can be achieved with a Push/Pull pot, which is a likely option. But I'm not even sure if Phase switching is a valuable addition. I've never used it so maybe some real life example s of uses would be appropriate for those who do this with a Strat or Strat type guitar. I'll be digging into Youtube to get a few examples of course also.

- Treble compensation. Most kits I've looked into getting have 250K pots, which bleeds the treble out of the sound more than 500K. I'm good with that. But am I going to miss out on some killer options if I go straight 250K? Just more info to chew on I suppose.

As you may have guessed, I tend to think things through rather thoroughly, hence the longish posts. Sorry guys. So I was looking for pricing on Fender style wiring kits, and it seems to me that a kit isn't going to be a good way to go until I figure out what different sounds and tones I want to squeal out of the guitar. In the end, I'm going for a meatier heavy Blues based tone with the option of some country vibe going down as well. But with heavy dirt.

Gimme your perspectives please. And please mention anything that I have overlooked.


----------



## nnieman

Single coil tap - I personally wouldn't bother...I don't think you will get a radically drastic sound and it will add a lot of wiring/soldering/hassle

Phase switch -if you like the out of phase sound go for it.
Most people don't like it and I don't have a use for it. It's real nasely and thin, kinda like a wah pedal just clicked on (heel all the way down).

Treble compensation - I think you'll be fine with 250k pots. 250 for single coil and 500 for humbucker, I'm not sure about those pickups.
You could email dimarzio and ask then what they recomened

I would think about a straight to jack switch, that bypasses all pots etc and sends the pickup signal straight to the output. It's like a mini boost. That will give you treble compensation with 250k pots.

How many switches/pots etc are you planning for this guitar?
Standard strat or switches galore?

Nathan


----------



## Dorian2

nnieman said:


> Single coil tap - I personally wouldn't bother...I don't think you will get a radically drastic sound and it will add a lot of wiring/soldering/hassle
> 
> Phase switch -if you like the out of phase sound go for it.
> Most people don't like it and I don't have a use for it. It's real nasely and thin, kinda like a wah pedal just clicked on (heel all the way down).
> 
> Treble compensation - I think you'll be fine with 250k pots. 250 for single coil and 500 for humbucker, I'm not sure about those pickups.
> You could email dimarzio and ask then what they recomened
> 
> I would think about a straight to jack switch, that bypasses all pots etc and sends the pickup signal straight to the output. It's like a mini boost. That will give you treble compensation with 250k pots.
> 
> How many switches/pots etc are you planning for this guitar?
> Standard strat or switches galore?
> 
> Nathan


Thanks. I'm just planning on the regular amount of switches and pots. I think the basis of your response is right on track for me. Keep it simple and standard. I'm just digging for some extra info on what I could do. But since it's my 1st Mod project of the porportion, I should be keeping it straight forward.

I just don't want to order parts without considering the possibilities.


----------



## Dorian2

Just a quick update. 2 weeks ago I resanded the 1st attempt. I had 1 too many mistakes so I started it again. Right now there are still a couple of boo boo's (some sand through on the back and a couple of dongs in other places, particularly around the horns. But since it's the going "fad", I'll just say that I have some slight Relicing going down on the finish. Sounds better than a "fuck up" at least. I'm not posting pics for take 2 until it's complete.

BTW.....the second time was much quicker with way fewer mistakes than the 1st time. I learned quite a bit in the first experimental stage. And there are more little things coming up that I can manage in a more efficient way now. Oh yeah, and I simplified the color scheme to 2 colors. But I am experimenting with the color tones of the top coat at the moment as well. That was after a number of clear coats, so I may have done it a bit backwards. But who cares., So far so good.


----------



## Guest

I'm also in the process of repainting an 'Argh!!' moment.
I'm just waiting for the warm weather to return.
Looking forward to seeing your completed project.


----------



## Lincoln

Nothing worse than sanding through on the final "wet sand" pre-polishing and having to start all over again. You're always just a few sanding strokes away from "oh sh1t".


----------



## Dorian2

So am I Laristotle. So am I. The thing that sucked for me was that I had a number of clear coats on and I went a bit too agressive with the wet sandinging by using 1000 grit. My main problem is I cannot find a lot of info on the product I'm using (Brite Tone water borne sealer and topcoat w/ Color FX dye). The dye is a gimme. But I didn't think I could wet sand the final coats until I read a review by a user on the site I got it from. I'm starting to think I should of used the Stumac or the KTM stuff where there is an abundance of info available. I have no idea if the steps they put for their product will apply to mine. I've never used the stuff before.

Dave: Yup. I've had a few of those moments already. Hey....BTW, I'm going to send you a text re: your side business. We may need some work done here.


----------



## CSOL

Dorian2 said:


> My main problem is I cannot find a lot of info on the product I'm using (Brite Tone water borne sealer and topcoat w/ Color FX dye). The dye is a gimme. But I didn't think I could wet sand the final coats until I read a review by a user on the site I got it from. I'm starting to think I should of used the Stumac or the KTM stuff where there is an abundance of info available. I have no idea if the steps they put for their product will apply to mine. I've never used the stuff before.


I've recently switched to using the Brite Tone finish and have been getting good results. You can definitely wet sand, but you have to wait a while for it to fully cure. It suggests 100 hrs on the can, but I've been waiting a full week and so far everything is coming up Milhouse. If you want to know more about my process, I'm happy to share.


----------



## Dorian2

Thanks for that CSOL. I believe I've finally got it together correctly. The main issue for me was that I was using too much second hand info that I got on the web, so I applied a number of techniques that didn't work out properly. That, coupled with having absolutely zero experience with both the product and finishing in general, led me to the typical learning from experience thing. Hahhhh.

Now I consider that I'm somewhat experienced having done 3 guitars now. The first one was the Squier, the 2nd was the Affinity, and the 3rd and final one was the Squier Affinity. I'm now on day 3 of the curing cycle before the wet sand (I somehow missed that part on the bloody can). I'm leaving it alone for at least 2 weeks and probably longer.

The body has some sweet ass relicing (AKA.....sand through spots), and probably a bit too much finish. I'm going to post some pics of the current version shortly.


----------



## Guest

I'm currently working on one as well.
Even after the wet sand/buffing, I still have a little orange peel, swirl marks and other imperfections showing. Argh!
I think that I'll leave it at that and hope that the person that I'm doing it for doesn't mind (I'll adjust my price accordingly).

Looking forward to seeing yours.
















and grain


----------



## Dorian2

Nice job there Laristotle! 

Here is where I'm currently at with 5 days curing time. Pretty obvious where my major mistakes/relic art is. All in all I'm fairly pleased so far, but there is certainly major room for improvement in many areas.


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## Dorian2

New update. I would like to hear your opinions on which Pick Guard best fits your eye. This may seem to be a small thing at this moment, but I want to encompass a number of factors.

Things that I consider important are:

- Overall look of the guitar.
- Complimentary colors to the as yet unfinished paint job. I'm letting it cure for at least another few days, possibly a week.
- I'd like the Tone, Volume, and 5 way switch to either match the Crimson and Black colors of the guitar or compliment it. I'm not particularly going for a Vintage style or contemporary style. Just one that will fit my (and your) eye.
- I am going with the all chrome hardware in the bridge, trem bar, and output jack, so the tip of the trem will be the same as the controls.
- Neck plate is chrome and will not change, but the trem cover in the back would most likely be the same color as the pick guard or possibly the neck plate..
- And of course, last but definitely not least, the pickup covers. Just s important, if not more, than everything else listed.
- The shape and style of the controls are not a biggy either, although I am very used to the Gibson style speed knobs.

Remember this is from my way of looking at things, so I want your opinions and what YOU like. No opinion is right or wrong.

I've also decided not to do my own pickguard color as there are too many new things I'm dealing with in this MOD already. So please give any ideas, links to ideas, links or names of outfits that do this....blah blah.

I'm currently considering a Red and black combo with control knobs, black on the bottom with a Crimson top. But I haven't seen anyt

Pics incoming.


----------



## Dorian2

Original White Pick Guard:










These pick guards are courtesy of Dave (Lincoln):

Black Pick Guard:










White Pick Guard:










Mirror finish pick guard:












The neck in the pictures is courtesy of Jock (Sulphur)....thanks again you two!!!

If someone posts a different colored pick guard, that would be good as well.


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## johnnyshaka

I'm voting for the black on black look.


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## Guest

johnnyshaka said:


> black on black


ditto.


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## JBFairthorne

ditto the ditto


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## Dorian2

I really wanted to do more of a contrast to bring out more Crimson, but for some reason that black one actually might just work. I'll take another couple of pics in the backyard today and post them for comparison. One thing I'm really learning with this process is tha different lighting will make almost a chameleon like change to the finish. Sometimes black with hints of Crimson, sometimes almost a tobacco look, and in the sun much more of the red will pop. I know the real litmus test won't happen until it is fully finished, but I'm certainly getting a good idea of how colors change with light much more now than previously.

I just don't think I've paid attention all that much before.

So the count as it stands is 3 for Black on "not really Black", and me still considering both black or white. I was considering a red pearloid that Dave gave me to test, but it is not really to my liking as much as a solid color.


----------



## Guest

Dorian2 said:


> I was considering a red pearloid that Dave gave me to test, but it is not really to my liking as much as a solid color.


take a pic of that one too.


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## Guest

another thought (to bring out the crimson),
colour the white of the black PG with a red stain/marker?

(random google pic)


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## JBFairthorne

The problem with red pearloid is that there are just so many shades of red and 2 different reds together often look like CACK.


----------



## Jamdog

Is orange pearloid an option? 

Colored middle ply on black/black looks great. 

The mirror one IMHO is too fragile, I'd stay away from that. Only so many times can you buff it back to New. If you want shiny put a metal ate IMHO. 

But, black/black with colored middle ply looks great.


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## 4345567

__________


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## JBFairthorne

That one looks good...because the reds are pretty close with just hints of other reds, yellows and oranges. There are a hundred other red pgs you could put on that that would look awful.


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## JBFairthorne

Double post.


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## Dorian2

I think I may have confused Pearloid with Tortoise shell...I really do not know. But this is the one I am talking about. This is only for matching because the PU config is wrong. I'm going SSS.

In my opinion, the reds are not right for my eye. Just doen't suit mystyle. I like HEAVY, if that makes sense to you. It would take too long to explain it though. That's the word that comes to mind. Probably due to the types of music I'm into for the most part.













I like the idea of that inner crimson idea Laristotle.


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## JBFairthorne

That's more of a tortoiseshell. It doesn't look bad though. Although I really like the black with the magic marker too.


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## Dorian2

Here are the photos being left inside and right outside. It isn't very sunny out today unfortunately.


----------



## johnnyshaka

The lighting definitely does make a difference as it certainly looks a lot more like a burgundy than black in the pics on the right.

Mark me down for still liking the black PG.


----------



## greco

johnnyshaka said:


> Mark me down for still liking the black PG.


Same here!


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## Guest

Me too. 
That's pretty much the 'heavy' look.
Throw a pentagram on it.


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## KeyserSoze

Coming along nicely!


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## Dorian2

Final wet sanding to 2000 complete. I removed every little (and big) shiny piece possible. Went over it a couple of times by eye in the sunlight. As most who have dome this before know, all the mistakes that I made right from the beginning have shone through glaringly and obviously. But I can live with it. The one part I'm as bit upset about is the 1 horn. You won't see it on these pics, but when I post the final buffing and polishing work, which is coming soon, you'll see. The jist of it is that after I resanded the entire body after the 1st failed attempt a while ago, I missed a couple of spots for some reason, most likely lack of attention to detail. But I chalk it to learning experience that I will carry with me from now on.

Front:












Back:


----------



## Lincoln

Looks very smooth to me Pete. Good job!


----------



## Dorian2

Thanks Dave.

Now a question about buffing and final polishing guys. I picked up the Menzerna 2L (medium) and 16 fine buffing paste as well as the Menzerna Intensive Polish (polish and swirl remover)...along with a couple of hook and loop buffing pads for the Orbital sander. The medium is to be applied 1st after sanding up to 1000. The 16 (1500 )after that. Then the swirl remover/polish. I've applied the 1st one, and and removed any residue. Then I went over the guitar with a micro fiber cloth, just like you would when applying normal guitar polish. I was outside today in the sun, tilted the guitar to my neighbots house, and I could clearly see the flower pot and many finer derails. I understand that the buffing is to remove scratches left behind in stages, but when the hell do you know if you've done enough?

Considering how fine the scratches seem, I think I can move on to the next (16) paste. Is there a basic "how much is enough" idea or do you just use your judgement?

As this is the first time I've done this, I really do not know if I'm good or stepping on that fine line of over buff. Are there any pictures that might give me an idea out there?


----------



## Guest

Sounds like you're doing fine.
This may help.
Buffing part starts at the 4:38 mark.


----------



## Dorian2

laristotle said:


> Sounds like you're doing fine.
> This may help.
> Buffing part starts at the 4:38 mark.


Heh. Thanks Laristotle. I'm actually subscribed to his Youtube page, but I somehow missed this one. He seems to have some pretty good stuff on there.

EDIT: Never mind. I did see this one. This is basically the process I used and kept all his tips in mind re: edge's and such.

I think I'm going to go to the next stage and see what happens. I'm pretty aware of sand through issues and how much they can screw you in the beginning, middle, and end now. I'm real close to the finish line so I don't want my shoes flying off with another sand through. I'd probably go full Townsend on the guitar if I do.


----------



## Lincoln

resist the urge to mount a buffing pad on your 4 or 5 inch angle grinder. It's too fast/too hard to control. And burn-through is an even bigger kicker in the knuts than sand-through. 
I normally do 2 applications of a paste, and then move onto the next one. The second time gets anything you might have missed the first time, and it doesn't seem to get any better after the second application anyway.


----------



## Dorian2

Sweet Dave. Thanks for that. For your 1st comment, I don't have an angle grinder, just an ROS. The cheap POS I had that cost me $20 stopped working after my first pass with the 1st compound yesterday. Gave me a good excuse to get a pretty good one on sale at Crappy Tire....3A Dewalt variable speed (8000 - 12000 rpm) for $90. Needed a much more decent one anyways....that first one blew.

For the 2nd point, I will go with 2 sweeps on the 2nd compound as well. I've gone over a part of the guitar with the final polish just to see, and it's actuallt not too bad. I'll inspect it very closely first though.

Thanks allot for all the help you've given as well Dave.

Off Topic: You still have to get back to me re: that Bay window so we can figure out a time and day to get it done. Shoot me an email. I also have a question or 2 about the flooring and how you want to handle it.


----------



## Dorian2

Part 1 complete, with all the screw ups. Still needs a little cleanup....or maybe I'll just leave the finishing mojo under the scratch plate. And yes, those are clouds you see. Whatcha think?


----------



## Dorian2

Part 2 is going to be the neck. Depending on which type of issues I will face. Trust me...I ain't kidding myself. There WILL be issues.

BTW, to all the Leaf fans.....looking forward to a fun draft this Saturday. Good luck. I know who you're getting, but if all the Stamkos talk has any resonance, you just might have a superior draft and after draft.

Good luck with that. From one loser team to another.


----------



## Dorian2

No real issues with the neck so far, but I've only screwed it on with the neck plate. I guess I won't no the deal till I throw in the trem system and pickups though. All I know is that the screws line up and it fits pretty much like the original. Looks pretty good with that neck so far. Hopefully it'll play well when I get there. No modifications are are planned for the headstock. Basically going to leave it as a Partscaster.....if that's the correct term.


----------



## johnnyshaka

Looking good... can't wait to see it completely assembled.


----------



## Dorian2

johnnyshaka said:


> Looking good... can't wait to see it completely assembled.


Tell me about it man. The next part is going to be a big learning curve for me re: Trem and electronics. As a LP player forever, I haven't even dealt with even tuning a trem system before, never mind setting it up correctly.

I'll be posting some of the things I have already, still in their baggies (besides the pot ), within a day or 2.


----------



## Dorian2

Took a few days off the guitar to actually work on........guitar playing. Now that I've learned Behind Blue Eyes, Jolene, Hey Hey What can I do, Gallows Pole, Tennessee Whiskey, Wanted Dead or Alive, and Opeth's Harvest, I'll be doing the preliminary electronic work.

I have just ordered the knobs and switch covers and plates to complete everything, so as I wait on that, I'm going to go at the Shielding tape I have.

I was planning on taping the pickup and switch cavities completely with no spaces for an open. I'm also thinking I should do the input jack cavity as well. Also on the entire pick guard bottom. Do any of you think this may be a bit of overkill? Will it have a negative effect on anything like tone? I cannot really see how it would, but I'll let you guys who've done this more extensively be the guide here....if there are any takers around.

Any hints, tips, or gotcha's I should be aware of. Seems pretty straight forward to me.


----------



## JBFairthorne

In regards to shielding tape.

If the tape isn't wide enough to do the job in one piece and needs to be overlapped at all, you need to make sure that the adhesive is electrically conductive so that each piece is grounded through contact. If it ain't grounded, it ain't shielded.

In American Strats, the pu cavities and jack cavities are shielded (not with tape though) so I don't see why you wouldn't shield yours. As far as the entire back of the pg, my question is, why not? It can't hurt.


----------



## Guest

I shielded my MIM strat years ago.
There was a subtle difference (to me).
It wasn't hard, just took awhile.
As for the overlaps, I did a fold over.


----------



## JBFairthorne

I remember seeing that Lari and thinking it was an excellent job.

A foldover is a great idea, but a ton more work than just buying tape with electrically conductive adhesive.

I've never done any of my cavities because all mine had that thick goo shielding paint in them. When I did my custom pgs though, I bought 12" wide copper tape from Next Gen for the best price I could find anywhere. A 12"x24" piece was enough to do 3 pgs and the fact that it was one piece eliminated any continuity concerns.


----------



## Dorian2

Thanks for verifying what I thought guys. Nice job on that MIM Laristotle. I don't have the full pieces but I do have enough for sure to accommodate overlap. Will post a pic when done. Unlikely till after this weekend though.

Have a good Canada/Free Agency day and weekend guys! (I'm a big hockey fan....today is some team's Christmas at times).


----------



## sulphur

Make sure that all cavities are connected and that overlap on the top allows contact with the pickguard,
if I'm not stating the obvious. 8)

Go to the specific pickup makers website for wiring diagrams.
Different makers use different colour codes for some of the wires.

Good luck on that venture.


----------



## Dorian2

Thanks Jock, yet again. DiMarzio site....here I come. Any suggestions on "how much" overlap to use? I'm think an inch or so should be sufficient.


----------



## greco

I would only extend the copper about 1/4 inch or so from the cavity onto the top of the body (look at laristotle's pic). You only need enough to make decent contact for (electronic) continuity and to stay hidden under the pickguard.

Looking forward to the pics.

Enjoy your Canada Day weekend!

Cheers

Dave


----------



## JBFairthorne

It's just gotta touch. Just hope the adhesive is conductive.


----------



## greco

JBFairthorne said:


> Just hope the *adhesive is conductive.*


This is typical with electronic shielding tape. However, it would certainly be wise to overlap two small (sample) pieces and test it (i.e., the overlap) for continuity.


----------



## JBFairthorne

Yep, but my point was, that there are all sorts of metal tape out there. Much of it is designed for purposes other than electrical shielding and may or may not have conductive adhesive. If you bought the product from a music type retailer then, yeah it's PROBABLY conductive. If you bought it at Home Depot, maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I just wanted to throw it out there (repeatedly, sorry) because in this application, it's important. It affects the manner in which you need to overlap it (just overlapping or folding over).


----------



## Dorian2

Oh, this is definitely EMI tape. But I'll test it anyways, just to be sure.


----------



## Dorian2

Taters are ready for the Q!


----------



## Guest

Nicely done.
In that light, the body looks great.


----------



## Dorian2

laristotle said:


> Nicely done.
> In that light, the body looks great.


I used your pic as an example dude. Thanks for that.


----------



## Dorian2

Here's the wiring diagram that I'm thinking will work well for me. 

http://www.dimarzio.com/sites/default/files/diagrams/3Area_cntrrev_nbtone_split2and4_a.pdf

I also have a CTS 250K Balance Blend pot that I'll be incorporating into the electronics. So I have 1 master Volume, 1 Master tone, and 1 blender tone knob. The youtube video I will post seems like a pretty good rundown of what to do and such. But is there anyone here that has done somethng like this? And to what effect. I was going to go simpler, but I really love having as much control as possible over the tone of certain pickup configurations. Ideas?


----------



## Guest

I'm not sure if I've ever heard a guitar set up with a blender pot.
The concept sounds interesting though.
One of my strat's is set up for tone pots on the neck and bridge.
The mid pup is no-load (no tone pot). I like that sound.
Another one has the bottom tone pot hooked to the bridge and middle.
I like that sound too.
Looking forward to see how this turns out.


----------



## Dorian2

I was looking at all parts pots, and I saw a couple of them that I never heard of, this one included. So as usually I had to google WTF they did. I liked the concept as well, and the end result with 1 tone 1 vol and 1 blend instead of the 2nd tone sounded simpler and more effective for my taste....being a LP user for so long.

I think (hope) it should sound pretty cool from some examples I saw. I also bought the wiring kit so I have a spare tone pot if worst comes to worst.


----------



## Dorian2

Getting closer to soldering time...had to take a break for house reno's setup that Dave (Lincoln) is heading up for me and my wife.

So I slipped the CTS Blend pot into the pick guard, and noticed that it was quite a bit higher than the other Strat pots I got together. Thought I messed up and got a long shaft, but that isn't the case. Apparently some CTS pots are a bit different than others. Can anyone recommend the solid way of correcting this? I'm thinking of just heading down to the local HomeDepot and picking up a few wahers that are as close a fit as possible. Are there any issues with this idea that others have run into? I know that those lock wahers are a big no no because the knob will end up at an angle, and I also see that the washer made for guitar electronics are a different type (SAE lock wahers for potentiometers ). I'm thinking these potentiometer lock washers might be a possiblitiy, but I might need more than 1. I can guaratee it as a matter of fact.

Do you think I should get the ones at HomeDepot and maybe just pick up a few of the lock ones and add 1 at the end.....if that makes sense. Say 2 Home Depot's and 1 SAE or something. I'll be really busy this week so I'll attempt to get back here as often as possible.

Here's a link to the StewMac ones:

SAE Lock Washers | stewmac.com

Thanks for your help.


----------



## JBFairthorne

Put another nut at the bottom of the threaded shaft before putting it through the hole in the pg. It'll act as a spacer, lowering the pot inside the cavity. Then lock it in with the nut outside the pg once you've adjusted it and reached the desired height.


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## Dorian2

Heh. That makes a hella lot more sense than the washers. I ws thinking that initially...but then I went on Google and you know what happens at that point.
But should I put one of those tooth washers under the PG as well to keep it locked in once it's all set? Or will that make it too tight?

EDIT: Too early in the morning. I think I mixed up washers and nuts somehow in the original. Never mind.


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## JBFairthorne

I would probably put a lock washer between the lower nut and the back of the pg if there's room for it. This is actually a pretty common issue.


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## Dorian2

Thanks JB. That's what I figured from the bit of research I did. It's all about the details eh.


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## JBFairthorne

Happy my limited knowledge was of some use...to someone.


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## Dorian2

Latest hiccup in my big MOD. Strymon output jack. Found a while ago that the 1/4" length strymon output jack that came with the Fender Strat kit I ordered is too long. I was thinking about fixing it with a 3/8" 32 thread nut and lock washer so it wouldn't poke out of the plate so much. Finding the damn part in Edmonton seems to be a big ol PITA. Online orders are out as shipping costs 5x more than the parts. My backup plan is to order thru L&M and wait a couple weeks, which is fine.

Has anyone dealt with this in some other way? Suggestions? Is it even feasible to put another nut and washer under the plate, or will it loosen too easily over time? Seems like a simple thing to work around but I'm not sure of the future ramifications it might have.


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## Guest

I had the same thing with my project strat.
You can add a nut/washer behind the input cup if you're concerned about aesthetics, but, a caution though (I learned the hard way), 
prior to screwing the cup into the body, plug a cable into the jack to make sure that the 'pin' contact does not press up against the body cavity. 
If this happens, you'll either have to; a) carve out enough wood to accept it, or b) don't worry about how far out the jack pokes out. 
I went with 'b'. Function over appearance.


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## Dorian2

Thanks. I was planning on going with plan B myself to start and see where it goes so I can stop pissing around with parts and looks and get the thing going. I'll mess with the details later if need be. Seems like I'm wasting too much time trying to get everything perfect. Even a mild case of OCD sucks balls sometimes.


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## Guest

I can relate to that.
You're correct. Make 'er playable first.


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## Lincoln

It's a pretty easy job to do later on a strat. 2 screws, the output jack plate comes off, and you can do with it whatever you want. It's not like a 335 or even something with the jack right in the pick guard where you'd have to remove the strings to get it out. Is a common Switchcraft mono/non-shorting jack any shorter?


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## greco

Lincoln said:


> Is a common Switchcraft mono/non-shorting jack any shorter?


Like *Lincoln*, I am curious. 
Switchcraft are certainly an excellent choice for a jack and are typically easy to find.


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## Guest

Sure, that's the easy way.
It adds costs though.
The thrill about 'projects' is what you can do with what you have and make it work.
As a last resort, buy what you need.


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## Dorian2

Dave and Dave and Laristotle.....sorry for any confusion. For some reason I had Strymon on my brain when it is Switchcraft that I meant to type. Must be all the dust in my house, thanks to the Lincoln house mod.


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## greco

laristotle said:


> I had the same thing with my project strat.
> You can add a nut/washer behind the input cup if you're concerned about aesthetics, but, a caution though (I learned the hard way),
> prior to screwing the cup into the body, plug a cable into the jack to make sure that the 'pin' contact does not press up against the body cavity.
> If this happens, you'll either have to; a) carve out enough wood to accept it, or b) don't worry about how far out the jack pokes out.
> I went with 'b'. Function over appearance.


I would add "c" to this list: 
Try rotating the jack in the input cup by maybe a quarter turn and then put the plug into the jack and try the fit of the input cup into the body. Rinse and repeat until you have gone through 360 degrees rotation. I only had to rotate the jack slightly in my strat and it all fit together perfectly.

However, I didn't put a nut and washer on the inside as you have done, so my suggestion above might not be applicable.

It is worth a try.


----------



## Dorian2

So apart from the minor hardware details, here's a really good demo of what I'm trying to get to with this blending pot idea. The wiring and number of options is becoming a nightmare to a 2 humbucker LP player with no good experience with any of these types of Mods So I'm going at it the standard strat wiring for all 5 positions (N, NM,M,MB,B)). Fro my very limited understanding and through some research I've done, it's basically the Lindy Fralin setup with the neck and bridge blend.


----------



## Dorian2

Minor update here. Haven't had time during the Reno's here. I have the 3 pots grounded together at this point. Took a bit to get my soldering technique back to snuff but it's an OK job so far. Received the black Dimarzio PUP covers a week ago. One's I ordered previously were more fender style widths so they did not fir correctly. No biggy. I've also done the research on the Balance/Blend pot and how to configure it the way I think will work for me. Basically the Fralin Mod but not quite the same cap wise. Hopefully I can dig into this again soon, but it's currently on the back burner.


----------



## Dorian2

Bump........ 2 years later I'm getting back to this guitar. I'm beginning to be like @Lincoln . Sorry Dave, couldn't help myself. So I need some advice on the Trem section. It's more than likely I'll opt to block it, so if there are better materials/woods to use than other, and different ways to do it, that would be helpful. 
So how do you guys block your Trems when you do it? I read the other day to use 2 piece on either side of the Metal Trem block, but I'd like your opinions because I know most of you aren't regurgitating the same response that can be prevalent on the Web. Here's what we're looking at. Not sure if I should leave the 5 springs in, so tell me what you would do in that situation as well if possible. And of course any gotcha's that I'm not aware of. Which are probably all of them.










I've also seen people mention to just stick with the 5 springs and tighten the claw. I'll go ahead with that idea first to test things out.


----------



## Dorian2

I'm also usaing a braided wire for the Trem ground. Is that a good or poor option?


----------



## greco

Dorian2 said:


> I'm also using a braided wire for the Trem ground. Is that a good or poor option?


I can't see how it should make any difference. If you haven't soldered it yet, just a warning that the trem claw acts like a fair sized heat sink and can make soldering to it a bit difficult. Apologies if you knew that...or if the soldering is completed.


----------



## Dorian2

greco said:


> I can't see how it should make any difference. If you haven't soldered it yet, just a warning that the trem claw acts like a fair sized heat sink and can make soldering to it a bit difficult. Apologies if you knew that...or if the soldering is completed.


Yeah, it's been done as per the pic above. The solder joint is a bit more dull than I'd like, but I only have a 40 Watter at the moment. Continuity checks out fine, but we'll see when she's all together I suppose. I'll take a close up and post a bit later when I get home.


----------



## Dorian2

Here's a pic of that solder joint. Will have to wick some off left of the solder joint though. Probably should've used shrink as well. Oh well. I can tape it.


----------



## Dorian2

Hey...another update! I decided after too much thinking to change the idea of the Blend, Master Tone, Volume idea to just standard wiring. Spent a part of today and more time earlier testing, soldering and re soldering silly screw ups. So here's where I'm at now.










The burn on the yellow wire is from the lighter I used to heat the shrink. Not worried about that though. I have the bridge hot connected, pots connected for ground, and the 22 uF tone cap done. Next is the middle and neck hots, and the grounds for those on the volume pot. I'll probably splice them to 1 wire and connect to Volume. Unless there's a better alternative. I'm trying to keep it as clean as possible. After that I think it's just input jack connection and bridge to ground. Then the strings and setup. Funny thing is I don't have a Strat type, so instead of buying one and learning how to play it, I'm building the damn thing almost from scratch. Seems a bit ass backwards but I've been known to be that way on occasion.

I'm open to any comments, critical feedback, tips, and tricks as always. And thanks for all of the help received so far. It's much appreciated.


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## Dorian2

Been on a roll the last couple of days. 

Pickups wired to ground and 5 way switch complete. I decided just to wrap them together and solder onto the 1 point with heat shrink.









Wired output jack to hot and ground. Have to re string the LP so the rest will wait till later. Probably tomorrow.









I'm gettin pumped to finish this finally. Hope it works!


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## Dorian2

So it's almost complete! Wiring done!










Unfortunately, so are the Volume and 1st Tone pots because I apparently used too much friggin heat. Doh. Used the Multimeter because I wasn't getting sound through the amp. Only Pot left standing is the last one. Back to the drawing board. Still a lot of work to do as the action is totally FUBAR as well. But that's for after the wiring gets fixed. I'm learning a lot what NOT to do though, so there is that. LOL. I kinda figured I'd have an issue with the cheap $20 25W iron with crap tips I'm currently using (Weller). I'm going to upgrade before I get back to it. I know which one I'm aiming for, which @Lincoln and a few others have mentioned before. Hakko I believe.


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## Dorian2

Ordered my Wife's X-mas gift to me! Should've done it a year ago though. Thanks to the posters that recommended one of these(I believe you have one Dave/Lincoln. I think @Rozz may have had a thread on it too)...unfamiliar name brands and all.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00NF2Q8N8/ref=pe_3034960_236394800_TE_3p_dp_1


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## Lincoln

Dorian2 said:


> Ordered my Wife's X-mas gift to me! Should've done it a year ago though. Thanks to the posters that recommended one of these(I believe you have one Dave/Lincoln. I think @Rozz may have had a thread on it too)...unfamiliar name brands and all.
> 
> FX888D-29BY Digital Soldering Station (FX888, FX-888D): Amazon.ca: Tools & Home Improvement


Yes, I've got one. Love it. But if you've got one of those, you're going to have to start building amps! 

It heats up so fast, you know it's able to maintain the exact temperature no matter what you're doing with it.


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## Dorian2

Lincoln said:


> Yes, I've got one. Love it. But if you've got one of those, you're going to have to start building amps!
> 
> It heats up so fast, you know it's able to maintain the exact temperature no matter what you're doing with it.


Yeah Dave. I saw that mentioned in a number of reviews and such. The old Weller I had when I took EET in the 90's lasted a really long time so I figured I could get away with one of their lower end models for such a small job. Apparently I was wrong. They're a standard in the industry with a very good rep for quality equipment so I was quite surprised at the lack og quality from everything that the iron offered right from the get go.


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## alwaysflat

Re your neck picture a ways back, I though it looked pretty straight to me, the nut is angled it appears. Eyeballing it in your hands may be different. Anyway, here's something that's cheap to check it out. Michael's craft store - aluminum 2 foot ruler as a straight edge. Mark the ruler with a marker, nut and all frets, then nip little vee's into the marks. There is your 60 dollar plus shipping neck ruler. 
You can now check the level and twist of your neck with some accuracy, set up the truss rod for no gaps end to end. If twisted, you may find you can only get level in the center of the neck, and as you move to the high and low edges with the ruler, you'll see light appear at different areas of the neck to give you a clue of the twist and contact areas. With a feeler gauge you can note how bad it is, and of course if its negligible or a couple thou, you can fix it with just a beam fret level/crown job. 
I did this for a baritone 27" scale and have just recently notched the other side for by Gibby scale. Works for me


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## Dorian2

Thanks for that. A generous member sent me another neck...thanks Jock ( @sulphur ), but I just check it again and it doesn't seem as basd as I originally thought. I'll try the DIY ruler thing at some point. Sounds like a great idea.


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## Dorian2

Got this just today!! Got here a bit earlier than the given date! Haven't plugged 'er in yet. That can wait till after Christmas.....Maybe...


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## greco

Congrats

I'm jealous.

There's nothing like the smell of solder in the morning...especially Christmas morning.


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## Dorian2

Today I used my new Soldering station to remove the 2 250K Pots I THOUGHT I destroyed. Once I desoldered and tested them again with the meter, they are reading correctly. 261K and 276K respectively. I also decided to test the 5 way switch to see if that may have been the issue. Can somebody who's done some PUP wiring on a typical 5 way switch let me know if these numbers jive together?

Positon : Pickup

1st - B: B = 7.58K M = 6.36K N = 6.49K
2nd - B/M: B = 3.45K M = 3.45K N = 6.49K
3rd - M: B = 7.58K M= 6.36K N = 6.49K
4th - M/N: B = 7.58K M = 3.2K N = 3.21K
5th - N: B = 7.58K M = 6.36K N = 6.49K

All the numbers seem to be correct, but I'd like some clarification.

Thanks much.


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## greco

Dorian2 said:


> Once I desoldered and tested them again with the meter, they are reading correctly. 261K and 276K respectively.


This is good news! It is actually reasonably/surprisingly difficult to cook a pot...although I have managed to be successful a couple of times.



Dorian2 said:


> I also decided to test the 5 way switch to see if that may have been the issue.


Your table of KOhm readings is impressive, but not something I would suspect many have taken readings of.

A typical test for switches would be continuity. If you haven't learned about continuity testing, I strongly encourage you look into it. It is extremely simple and used all the time for electronics troubleshooting.

Here is something to start with:


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## Dorian2

Yeah, I tested for continuity at the switch when I was wiring it up. I did the extra measurements today because I didn't check it again after the PUP leads were in place. Thought I might have dropped some solder in there or something, but it's all clear from what I can see. I'm also basically working backwards and checking any questionable solder joints. I'm not too crazy about the joint for the middle PUP because depending on where I place the Meter leads, I sometimes get questionable results. Doesn't seem too stable at places. I did all those tests today because I'm unfamiliar with which reading I should be getting with the switch positions and pickups being used. Thanks for the reminder about continuity though. I've followed that procedure since you mentioned it a year or so ago. It's been a big help and time saver at times.

BTW: I've watched a couple of this guys videos. Does an excellent job.


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## greco

Dorian2 said:


> I'm not too crazy about the joint for the middle PUP because depending on where I place the Meter leads, I sometimes get questionable results. DOesn't seem too stable at places.


How much difference is there in the readings?



Dorian2 said:


> I've followed that procedure *since you mentioned it a year or so ago*


OOOPS...Sorry...my memory is not that good.


----------



## Dorian2

greco said:


> How much difference is there in the readings?


No difference. Just the points that I'm touching the solder vs. the actual lug that it's on are a bit wonky. I have to move the MM probe around a bit to get something solid. Possible cold solder joint?


----------



## greco

Dorian2 said:


> Possible cold solder joint?


Could be.

You might want to reflow/resolder it.


----------



## Dorian2

So everything is wired up and working, except for 1 little issue. When I scew in the pickguard screws nearest the 5 way switch down, I get no sound at all from the Bridge and Neck Pups. I found this issue just yesterday, so I'm going to be doing a bit of measuring to see if the standard Fender switch is either bottoming out or hitting the side of the cavity. I'm also going to try to make sure that the wiring is as clean as possible and going through the body routes as neccesary. I didn't fully think the wiring route through with regards to the stupid cavity route, so it's a bit of a PITA to get in and under there once the pick guard is in position. I'll update later with results and hopefully pics. I'm hoping that the Dremel doesn't come into play, but if it has to be, it will be. I'm actually learning a lot from this and I believe I've made every possible mistake possible to get to where I am. Next one will be easy peasy........famous last words lol.


----------



## greco

Is the cavity painted with (black) conductive shielding paint? I had the same thing happen with a pot in an LP touching the shielding paint. I proved my hypothesis with a piece of black electrical tape. Afterwards, IIRC, I sanded the paint from the area around the pot.



> I'm actually learning a lot from this and I believe I've made every possible mistake possible to get to where I am. Next one will be easy peasy........famous last words lol
> 
> 
> 
> This is an excellent way to learn. I just did similar with working on the fret ends of my Mansfield Strat ($50.00 amp and guitar combo).
> 
> Things do get easier with experience/practice. Then you hit a new (to you) issue and it starts over.
Click to expand...


----------



## Dorian2

greco said:


> Is the cavity painted with (black) conductive shielding paint? I had the same thing happen with a pot in an LP touching the shielding paint. I proved my hypothesis with a piece of black electrical tape. Afterwards, IIRC, I sanded the paint from the area around the pot.


Post #118. Cavity had the black paint and I copper shielded it. I checked for continuity at the time and wasn't getting it, so I went haywire on it. They're noiseless pups so I've considered removing it, but the electrical tape sounds like a great idear. Thanks.


----------



## greco

Dorian2 said:


> I'm going to be doing a bit of measuring to see if the standard Fender switch is either bottoming out or hitting the side of the cavity.





Dorian2 said:


> When I screw in the pick guard screws nearest the 5 way switch down, I get no sound at all from the Bridge and Neck Pups.



Please let me know your progress with this. I am interested in what is causing the problem and how you solve it.


----------



## Dorian2

greco said:


> Please let me know your progress with this. I am interested in what is causing the problem and how you solve it.


Taped up the part around the switch and done deal. Perfect fix. Thanks much!! Now all the guitar needs is a full setup and she's done. Next post will be completion.


----------



## greco

Dorian2 said:


> Taped up the part around the switch and done deal.


Good stuff!

Congrats!

Hope the setup goes well.


----------



## Dorian2

So my next post doesn't hap[pen to be setup complete. I lied. Went to check the fit on the back of the guitar, and I ended up putting the wrong friggin block in. I think it was one that @Lincoln ....Dave gave me. I think it was on a Mexican Start, so it was about 1 - 1.5mm too deep. Took the saddles off that one and ended up having to use the original again. That was after a restring, neck relief set, string height adjustment, etc. But I did use the saddles from the MIM strat after a look. Certainly better quality than the ones that were on the Squier block. Then I dicked around with the notion of floating the bridge, not floating and blocking again, etc. I'm doing the blocking after thinkiung about it for a bit, so I'll be cutting a block of woodto fit as well, alla Eric Clapton.So i'm basically back to wehere I was when my last post was made. But I'm not complaining. In the end I'll probably know more about how a Fender Strat is set up than the guitar I've been playing forever, the LP.


----------



## Lincoln

Dorian2 said:


> So my next post doesn't hap[pen to be setup complete. I lied. Went to check the fit on the back of the guitar, and I ended up putting the wrong friggin block in. I think it was one that @Lincoln ....Dave gave me. I think it was on a Mexican Start, so it was about 1 - 1.5mm too deep. Took the saddles off that one and ended up having to use the original again. That was after a restring, neck relief set, string height adjustment, etc. But I did use the saddles from the MIM strat after a look. Certainly better quality than the ones that were on the Squier block. Then I dicked around with the notion of floating the bridge, not floating and blocking again, etc. I'm doing the blocking after thinkiung about it for a bit, so I'll be cutting a block of woodto fit as well, alla Eric Clapton.So i'm basically back to where I was when my last post was made. But I'm not complaining. In the end I'll probably know more about how a Fender Strat is set up than the guitar I've been playing forever, the LP.


Yeah Pete, I gave you a "big block" that fit all the normal strats. Bigger is better, right? At the time the only Squire I had was a hardtail strat, and I didn't realize the squire bodies were thinner. I was pretty much done with Strats at that point and I think I unloaded all my left overs on you. 

You should be able to cut that trem block off with a hack saw, file it smooth, nobody will ever know, and we'll never tell. If you want trem that is.


----------



## Dorian2

Lincoln said:


> Yeah Pete, I gave you a "big block" that fit all the normal strats. Bigger is better, right? At the time the only Squire I had was a hardtail strat, and I didn't realize the squire bodies were thinner. I was pretty much done with Strats at that point and I think I unloaded all my left overs on you.
> 
> You should be able to cut that trem block off with a hack saw, file it smooth, nobody will ever know, and we'll never tell. If you want trem that is.


Actually it wasn't the Fender block, it was the other one you gave me at the time. I've got it stashed in a bag. The other one I believe was MIM, which is the first one I tried. I'm going to block it anyways so that will add a bit of weight. Isn't worth the effort at this point. But it WILL be a point of reference for anything in the future. Like everything I've done and undone to this point. Remember, that's the 3rd paint job on it as well. I've got all the bases covered for a future, better build. Did a lot of electronics this year as well. Lots of fun and thanks for all your help man. Truly appreciate it.

PS: That initial; $50 I spent on the 2005 Affinity was money very well spent.


----------



## greco

This thread is better than a miniseries!


----------



## Dorian2

greco said:


> This thread is better than a miniseries!


Writing the script for the next cliff hanger as we speak. Season 3: The Action in Motion.


----------



## Dorian2

Picked up a foot of 1 x 2 mahogany the other day at Windsor Plywood. After a bit of cutting, chiseling and sanding....one thing I learned...Mahogany is really easy to work with.


----------



## Dorian2

So I've spent the last week or more screwing with the action of the guitar. After running into some issue with the string bottoming out on the frets in the upper fret board, I decided to take the MAverick neck off and check the neck height to the squire. It's about 1mm thicker at the heel and the actual heel seems longer than the Squier as well. I've also read up on the Fender neck "hump". I'm not really sure where the problem lies.

I originally thought it was just a simple bridge height adjustment, but it appears to be way to high for just a basic clearance of 4/64" (old Fender specs I believe) on both Low and High E. Am I going in the right thought direction or am I waaay off course here as far as the necks are concerned? I've tightened the 4 neck screw with plate hand tight plus a bit so it's secure. I'd really rather be using the Maverick neck because it's much more level and dressed much better than the old Squier one. I'm thinking I might have to shave some wood out of the neck joint, but I'm not going there until either I find the solution. 

If my description makes any sense to you guys, or if you have some specific questions or details I should be aware as far as Angles, measurements, etc are concerned, I'd like to hear your input. I'd imagine a couple of people here have run into a similar situation when they first started trying to figure this stuff out. Any and all suggestions on what to check are welcome, as long as I have the tools to achieve the results. I'm thinking a Philips, and wood chisel, and some sandpaper might be the most I'd need for any alterations. Thanks in advance.


----------



## Budda

Do you need 5 springs with the block?


----------



## Dorian2

Budda said:


> Do you need 5 springs with the block?


Nope. But I have nothing better to do with them at this point.  I hope it isn't contributing to the string height issue. Not sure if it would or not.


----------



## Budda

Dorian2 said:


> Nope. But I have nothing better to do with them at this point.  I hope it isn't contributing to the string height issue. Not sure if it would or not.


I dont think so, with the block in there.


----------



## Dorian2

Thought I'd bump instead of creating a new thread. So it's finally done, give or take a few more tweaks here and there. I'd like to start off this post by relaying my thanks to ALL of the forum members you helped me in my first partscaster "build". I use the term build loosley. Special thanks to these two fine folks:

@Lincoln : Advice on stain and finish, parts, shop time, more advice, more parts and components, moore shop time, etc etc.
@sulphur : This amazing gentleman who I've never met sent me the Maverick neck and 3 Dimarzio pickups for this project.

Quick recap: I've been a LP player my entire life. Never touched a Strat before. So what does numbnuts decide to do? Build a Strat partscaster with no experience in the setup, refinishing a body, or build techniques. Picked up a Squire Affinity for $50 and went at her. For 4 years now. I haven't spent all that time on this guitar, just the way it worked out with all the variables of life included. Plus a lot of procrastination. I'm glad I did this and I now know most of the gotcha's that come with doing this type of work. At the very beginning of this project a couple of posters here warned me about the issues using Affinity's for something like this, and I mentioned to Lincoln the last time I saw him that I wish I used a better guitar for this. It was worth it nonetheless.

I'm calling all mistakes like sanding through relicing because it sounds better.  Doesn't look half bad neither honestly. I'm happy with it.










This is a pic of the Mahogany block I put in. Decided to put all 5 springs in as well just for fun. This is my little reminder and tribute to some of those who helped. I included myself first for posterity. 









The 2 sandthroughs on the bottom are from the initial finishing. The one left of the the trem is a sand through from the body cavity. I used a CRL 5 way switch which would not fit into the thin assed body of this thing. So I dremelled it to within a mm of it's life and proceeded to sand righ through the back lol. I'm going to put a sticker on it later. Sticker style to be determined, but I'm up for suggestions. Maybe I'll order a Gooched sticker from DAve's world of fun stuff. I'm a fan of his youtube show.


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## Dorian2

Here's how she changes in different light conditions. Turned into a pretty cool guitar! Sounds great too, at least to my humbucker ears. I really have nothing to compare it to.


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## sulphur

Nice job, looks good!


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## Dorian2

sulphur said:


> Nice job, looks good!


Thanks man. I put a lot of work into that finish. If I do it again I'll have a better approach to it. This guitar has taught me a lot. Both good and bad.

Speaking of good, here's a photo of the neck I took this afternoon. Feels as good as it looks! Super smooth and straight. Thanks again. Pickups are great too! Still figuring out the height.


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## Lincoln

the pictures don't do it justice. It's a really nice looking guitar. Love the stain job & clear coat.


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## Dorian2

Lincoln said:


> the pictures don't do it justice. It's a really nice looking guitar. Love the stain job & clear coat.


All thanks to you. You introduced me to the whole concept first time we met! I have pages of the number of drops from different colors and the time frame in a writing tablet. But at the end I improvised so they're probably useless at this point. Except for the experience and knowledge I get to keep. Sorta sounds like a good guitar practice routine if you ask me!


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## MarkM

4 years is like a degree in strat building?

Congratulations !


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## Dorian2

MarkM said:


> 4 years is like a degree in strat building?
> 
> Congratulations !


Now it'll take me four years to get to know it properly. It's still pretty alien to me at this point. But I've also just recently learned my first Hendrix tune, so now I have some Little Wing to go with the process.


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## MarkM

I am a LP to Start convert albeit 25 years ago.

Now I am moving back to a strat style neck through with humbuckers.

I have my first LP with bolt on neck that needs a new neck, might be my first build.

Just have to find a neck?


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## 2N1305

I have to say, that looks absolutely fantastic!! Your choice of colours is beautiful. I'll have to read the whole thread to see how you painted(shellac'd?) it.
Who made the neck?


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