# Partscaster build. Finally starting!



## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

You might recall StevieMac putting up some parts for free about a year ago.
I was lucky enough to receive those and I promised to record the build and anything that I learn along the way. Depending on how things go, I plan to do something to pay I forward. Either get the guitar into a kid's hands or teach someone everything that I learn....eventually. I imagine that I will need to learn a bit more before I can confidently pass along any wisdom.

I've kept my eye out for the parts over the last year. I always checked the parts rack in my local store. I have even filled an online shopping cart a few times, but at the last minute backed out because of shipping costs, or too many out-of-stock items, or something.

Well, I was made aware of a deal on one of those deal-a-day sites for $50 coupon for Musician's Friend. It cost $25 to buy.

So with that, I loaded up my shopping cart with everything that I think I will need and hit the buy button. Everything but the switch knob came in yesterday.
I had it shipped to my friend's house over the border and he was in town yesterday and dropped it off.

Here's what I got









Neck plate and screws.
Jack plate.
Jack.
Pick guard screws.
Bridge screws.
Strap locks.
Vibrato bar.
String trees.

And I picked up some picks and Nut Sauce as well.

Here's the body.



















The neck.



















Loaded pick guard


















A dry fit of everything. About the only thing I need to sort out is something that is interfering with the pick guard sitting all the way down to the body. I'm sure it's just the wires bundled up because its a "soft" interference.










I tested the pickups yesterday with ye olde tap test and everything checks out.

After assessing everything, my plan is to just assemble everything and get it working.
After that, I will think about using this as a basis to learn to refinish, electronic mods, and possibly re-fretting.
That will be more of a long term thing as one idea I have in mind for the finish is to combine another project of mine and get both finished in the same colour. More on that when it gets closer to reality.
A re-fret might be something I do sooner than anything else. The frets look decent enough, but this is a skill that I have wanted to learn for a while. I just need to gather the correct tools first.

So, next step (probably today) is to get everything cleaned up and ready to go.

Big thanks again to StevieMac!!


----------



## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

Change of plans.

It's 20 C and sunny outside!


----------



## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

I did some work out in the garage but couldn't leave the guitar alone.
I cleaned up the finish and, while doing so, decided just to go ahead and refinish the body.

LOL!
Logical plan of attack averted!

This will have to be a solid colour finish as I don't really like how the black has to cover the carve on the lower bout. That works fine for what I had in mind anyway.

So, I filled in the major gouges and dents with Rapid Fix.
I will try and get some sanding done later this afternoon.

I'll pick up the finish that I want to use later this week and try and get back to the point of assembling things as soon as I can.


----------



## Jim DaddyO (Mar 20, 2009)

I was just about to say that with the burst/rosewood/white you just can't go wrong. I am waiting to see what you make of it now.


----------



## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

Change of plans again!!

If you just scanned the pictures above, read the following sentence at least!

I switched to a Maverick body for this build.

I didn't want anyone to think I managed to make the body above look like the body below.  
I'm a doctor, not a magician! Wait, I'm not even a doctor..

Anyway, after a lot of over-thinking and waiting on parts, I jumped into this on Thursday evening and finished it,

The Maverick body is one that Maverick posted about here - the bodies where the route was a little off for certain pickguards - well, I just opened up the rout with my Dremel and problem solved.

Here's what I started with (I'll point out the routing that I did in a later picture):




Here's some test fitting with the loaded pick guard that StevieMac gave me for free (along with some other parts) to help kickstart my foray in to building/assembling.


Some more test fitting with the bridge and jack plate.


Pile o' Parts:


I ended up buying even more parts after this, including another loaded pick guard, some pickup covers, knobs, and another pick guard.
Between the two bodies, I'll use up most of the stuff.

Test fitting the neck (I may have already bolted it in in this picture:


The neck is one of the freebie pieces from StevieMac. It fit nice and snug and I really like the feel of it. There are a few dings and nicks, but nothing that affects playability that I have found yet.
I have some setup to do, but I think a re-fret is in order. That's cool because that's part of why I jumped on Steve's offer - so that I could learn stuff like that.

I really had no idea how to line up the bridge. So, I came up with this idea: run string through the 1st and 6th string hardware and make sure that everything stayed on the neck.


Then I could see where things would line up over the pickup poles.



After a lot of test fitting and measuring, I decided that either the pick guard or the bridge was not the right part for the body (or both) and I ordered up the new pick guards and bridge.
..and hunted for the right bridge screws for a couple of months. I kept getting the countersunk type screws instead of the cap screws.

Once I got those, all I needed was the courage to drill in to that pretty body.

I ordered up some tools from StewMac and that gave me the template for the bridge holes. Probably overkill, but I was ordering other tools and this might come in handy in the future.
Here's the template in place. It sat there for a month before I decided to just get this part of the project done.



A quick snap of the new bridge with my locating strings.


Next up: drilling.


----------



## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

My drilling rig.



That's my Dad's drill that must be at least 40 years old. I've got it mounted in a portable drill press rig that's great for jobs like this. If you've got a flat surface to set it on, you can drill a nice true hole.


The patient is prepped for surgery.



Under the bit:


Bridge is installed and test fitting the new pick guard for artistic approval "Honey? Which one do you like? White, Pearloid? White knobs and covers or mint green knobs and covers?"


She chose Pearloid with white knobs and covers. I agree. That with the chrome hardware really seems to sparkle and pop.

Ding up the wiring here:


All done on the front side


All done on the back:


Strung it up and it's ready to go:


----------



## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

As I mentioned, I still need to do some work on the setup.

The neck is perfectly flat. I checked it with my Neck Check straight edge.
It's probably the straightest neck I've seen.

I raised the action just enough to let the strings ring free and started with that.
I have since adjusted a few of the strings for height, but I'm going to give all of them just a bit more height and see what that gets me.

I really think I'm in for a re-fret, but I'm more than cool with that as that was the point all along. I just wanted to see what's what before I dove in. Part of the learning for me is to know when a re-fret is necessary rather than just doing it for the sake of doing it. I bought the fretting kit from StewMac. So, I might muster up the courage in another year. 

Big thanks again to Steve for the parts that got me going. I only used the neck on this one, but I still learned a lot from the other parts (What fits and what doesn't. What I like and don't like). The rest of the parts will still get used with that first body just as soon as I get my hands on another neck.

A shout out to Maverick Guitars for the body. This one was a "blem" and was a great deal. The body is beautiful and really light. REALLY.


----------



## Guest (Jun 9, 2013)

That's a beaut! Love the green. Just a thought. When you re-fret the neck,
stain the fret board dark. I think that would really showcase the body and PG.
and white nut (or bone). I like the press rig! That's definitely handy, eh!?


----------



## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

Thanks!

After a few more tweaks and playing it all weekend, I may get away with just dressing the frets. Again, I'll try it and learn something.

This thing plays so effortlessly. I found that I do not have the death grip on the neck like I usually do.


----------



## NGroeneveld (Jan 23, 2011)

Nice! Love the pearloid on green


----------

