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Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 1:38 am
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Xhefri wrote:
Hey Andy, wow, that is like crazy! I would like to see what kind of soldering iron you used! Amazing it worked on the 1st time. Will we get some sound bits on YouTube or something like that?? So often it is easy to have one bad solder joint or a crossed wire. I use a magnifying glass to examine every solder joint to make sure it is not only connected, but will stay connected. A few times they worked when I was done, but a week later, after it was installed one position would stop working. Turned out to be an almost soldered joint that was not making a connection.

Hi X Man, Crazy indeed! I wouldn't recommend this set out for any gigging musician as there is a lot that could go wrong. Those S-1 switches get some pretty bad reviews as far as reliability goes. For my soldering I use an Antec 18w Iron.

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Just in case you missed it I did a little bit on soldering back on page 25. I make sure where possible to have a good mechanical join on all my connections and I check all my soldered joints by giving them a little tug with my tweezers. That pickguard is rock solid as far as the wiring goes!
Xhefri wrote:
I had a Tele that was kind of wired like this, but used a 3-way rotary switch. It was a real job getting that into a Tele!

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I only wish my wiring was a neat as yours mate! 50 point for getting all of that in to a tele cavity. A truly Jedi-like achievement if I ever saw one. :D
The_Nutter wrote:
I recommend Yamaha HS80 monitors, they have a very clean, flat response, and I have used mine now for 3 years and am very happy with them. I have recorded and mixed many different styles of music on them from grindcore to singer/songwriter, and they did a good job on all of them. For the more slender budget I suggest the KRK Rokit series, they are well worth their money and I have used them quite a few times. Don't go for small cones though, I think the Rokit 6 are a good place to start.

Thanks for the recommendations Nutter. Very handy indeed! I had a quick peek and found a set of KRK R6 Monitors for £260.

http://www.soundslive.co.uk/product~nam ... ~11256.asp

I might have to re-visit my home studio budget and see if I can make some room for a set.

As far as I can tell there's not a great deal of work going in Brighton that I know of but if I hear anything I'll give you a shout. Having somewhere that you can get away with a bit of carpentry is a real luxury. Does your current accommodation have a garden? I've seen some pretty cool stuff made on a work bench outside. Ceri for example did the majority of his carpentry work on his last build like that.

I'm looking forward to your amp build mate. Next on my project list is a little amp for Home use / recording purposes.

Cheers!

Andy & Randel the Cat

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Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 2:05 am
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AndyBigHair wrote:
Thanks for the recommendations Nutter. Very handy indeed! I had a quick peek and found a set of KRK R6 Monitors for £260.

http://www.soundslive.co.uk/product~nam ... ~11256.asp

I might have to re-visit my home studio budget and see if I can make some room for a set.


Just a quick note on those: Good price, go for it. But the product description is incorrect, they are in fact ACTIVE speakers, not PASSIVE. I don't know your studio rig but that might be of importance.

Also I have some nice gear I can't use where I am now so if you want to drop me a line, maybe a gear-share is the way to go. But the least I can do is give some more tips on studio stuff if you want. I think I left my adress somewhere a few pages back but here it is again: alex@andersounds.de

Cheers on the work subject! Thanks for taking the time, mate! And good work on the soldering! :)

-Nutter


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Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 2:34 am
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The_Nutter wrote:
AndyBigHair wrote:
Thanks for the recommendations Nutter. Very handy indeed! I had a quick peek and found a set of KRK R6 Monitors for £260.

http://www.soundslive.co.uk/product~nam ... ~11256.asp

I might have to re-visit my home studio budget and see if I can make some room for a set.


Just a quick note on those: Good price, go for it. But the product description is incorrect, they are in fact ACTIVE speakers, not PASSIVE. I don't know your studio rig but that might be of importance.

Also I have some nice gear I can't use where I am now so if you want to drop me a line, maybe a gear-share is the way to go. But the least I can do is give some more tips on studio stuff if you want. I think I left my adress somewhere a few pages back but here it is again: alex@andersounds.de

Cheers on the work subject! Thanks for taking the time, mate! And good work on the soldering! :)

-Nutter

E-mail sent! :D

Cheers

Andy

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Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 3:28 am
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Howdy!

Finishing – Continued

The Danish Oil has now fully cured and although the body looks great and has a lovely satin sheen, it doesn't feel as silky smooth as it did before and it now smells. Its not a really bad smell... I just don't like it. So I want to do something about the feel and the smell before we go any further.

I'm going to apply a very very thin coat of Liberon furniture wax.

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Now that stuff smells great!

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I applied a small amount of wax with 0000 fine wire wool which at the time left the body looking rather dull which after the very pleasing oil finish had me a little worried. I didn't remember this happening last time I used wax on a guitar body. I then left it for 30min before giving it a serious buffing with a clean cloth, which did the trick!

The wax has buffed up to an even nicer satin sheen than the oil finish before it and it now feel fantastic. Very silky indeed! :D

Check it out!

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The sides have come up a real treat.

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Front....

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….and back.

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The end result has far exceeded my expectations. I'm very pleased with that shine! :D

And we're all done with the body now. All we need to do is fit the hardware and as you can see in the above pic I've already fitted ferrules for the neck screws. I'm also going to make a few little custom accessories which I'll show in the next update.

More soon!

Enjoy! :D

Andy & Randel the Cat.

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Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 4:14 am
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FANTASTIC! These results are as spectacular as any I could imagine using the oil type finishs.


I better get moving on my project :wink:

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Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 5:17 am
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:shock: Well the oil and wax did the trick. The grain is standing out well. Almost a shame to cover this with a pickguard. I was straining my brain counting the possible tone combinations with that hairy wiring job but gave up. :roll: Can't wait to see this instrument finished and hear some sound bites.


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Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 5:48 am
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Thanks chaps! :D

tdanb2003 wrote:
:shock: Well the oil and wax did the trick. The grain is standing out well. Almost a shame to cover this with a pickguard. I was straining my brain counting the possible tone combinations with that hairy wiring job but gave up. :roll: Can't wait to see this instrument finished and hear some sound bites.

Yeah, drawing up a list of what pickup combo's there are is on my list of things to do. I'll get back to you on that one! :wink:

Cheers!

Andy & Randel the Cat

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Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 10:42 am
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Andy, this is truly mouthwateringly beautiful. It is a joy to behold! :)

The wax will do you good I think. Well done!

I'd seen you post that one pic of the waxed body on another thread and had been anticipating more... you have not failed me! :lol:

how does it smell now? The wax's smell usually wears off pretty quickly. I used Briwax on mine and though the incidental smell is usually quite breathtaking it has now stopped smelling altogether. Any expectations for the wax you used?

cheers

-Nutter

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Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 11:31 am
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Thanks Nutter!

The_Nutter wrote:
how does it smell now? The wax's smell usually wears off pretty quickly.

Still smells better than it did. It won't last forever, give it a month or so and it should start to smell like me.... Humm, maybe some more wax in a month or so. :lol:

Cheers!

Andy & Randel the Cat

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Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 7:14 am
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Howdy!

Just a little update for ya'll today! :D

Accessories.

I've decided to pimp my Strat with a few Big Hairy custom accessories.

With a tiny bit of the left over timber from the body blank, I've made a trem arm tip and a 5 way switch tip. The 5 way tip was an absolute fiend to make with my big hairy hands. :?

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The 5 way tip was a bit chunky so that got streamlined a bit. Then they both got the finishing treatment and now look like this...

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Cool! Accessories are important right?

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I'm liking that trem arm. It works a treat!

Now we need to do something about those S-1 switch tips that are all marked Vol. Can't be having that now can we?

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Using some of the veneer I'm going to cover the tips.

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I've roughly cut out the veneer and keyed the switch tip ready for a wee dab of super glue. Then we can sand the edge back...

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….so it all nice and tidy ready for a bit of Danish oil. Here's the before and after pics

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They all fit and move very smoothly inside the knob. Job done.

Not much more to do now so the next few updates will probably show me and Randel putting all the bits together and then we can rap this up. Quite excited about that! :D

Enjoy!

Andy & Randel the Cat

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Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 7:44 am
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Damn me, this is good stuff!

Andy, you have totally revised my views on oil finishes. Now I can't wait to do one on a guitar (only ever done kitchen worktops with Danish oil before :lol: ). It looks amazing!

I love the knob tops! That is so cool! 8)

And tell us please: how did you make a slot in the bottom of the wooden switch tip? That's exacting work to get right. For that matter drilling out the arm tip can't have been easy either.

Wow, what a thread! Award yourself many points - and then carry on!

Cheers - C


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Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 8:00 am
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Ceri wrote:
And tell us please: how did you make a slot in the bottom of the wooden switch tip? That's exacting work to get right. For that matter drilling out the arm tip can't have been easy either.

Thanks Mr C!

Both were a complete pain in the arse to make! :x

For the arm tip I drilled into a pre-cut piece of the blank and left the drill bit in. Then clamped the drill bit end in the vice and rounded the edges down with the block plane and set about further rounding with sand paper. Several careful hours later I had a nice long round tube. I cut the end off which became the 5 way tip.

The slot on the bottom of the 5 way was probably the most annoying task undertaken in this build. I have a drill bit that's soooo small is doesn't fit in my drill chuck. I used that and my craft knife to slowly slice out the slot. Its still a bit bit, width wise but a couple of small squares of paper wedged in there make for a very secure fit. I'll post some pics of it later.

For the hassle I wouldn't recommend bothering with making switch tips... I was just trying to show off! :D

You were missed on the forums mate. Mind you, I had tremendous fun hijacking my own thread in your absence! :lol:

Cheers!

Andy

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Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 8:10 am
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Andybighair wrote:
I was just trying to show off! :D

You succeeded! :D

Did you think of popping both those pieces of wood into the chuck of the drill and using it as a miniature lathe for shaping them? I've a feeling you've seen me suggesting that elsewhere in the last few hours... ( :wink: . Regarding which: are you and I the two people who's opinions are wanted in that department? Or is it you and someone else? If so, how rude of me to shove my way in on that one... :lol: )

For a second I was thinking of suggesting you made complete wooden knobs by that method. Then I remembered the S1 aspect of the thing. That might be a bit too fiddly even for hairy hands!

Are we nearly, nearly ready to see the assembled guitar? Mouths are drooling at the thought...

Cheers - C


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Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 8:57 am
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Ceri wrote:
Did you think of popping both those pieces of wood into the chuck of the drill and using it as a miniature lathe for shaping them?

:oops: That was the plan to start with but, ashamed as I am to admit it I'd not drilled in very straight (that's becoming my trademark!) so once I'd attached it to the Big Hairy drill jig I was ever so slightly scared to go near it once it started spinning! I really needed a lathe to be able to make those properly. I was hoping to add a few grooves with the chisels to add some grip on the trem arm tip. Now that would have been very flash! Next time maybe.
Ceri wrote:
I've a feeling you've seen me suggesting that elsewhere in the last few hours... ( :wink: . Regarding which: are you and I the two people who's opinions are wanted in that department? Or is it you and someone else? If so, how rude of me to shove my way in on that one... :lol: )

[Ahem] I reckon it should be me who should be asking you that question! Who wouldn't want you personally advising them on their build? :D
Ceri wrote:
Are we nearly, nearly ready to see the assembled guitar? Mouths are drooling at the thought...

Indeed! Should be all done in time for next weekend. Just waiting for the oil on the headstock to cure and I'll start putting this beast together! :D

Neck to Body Join.

I'd like to do a very quick bit on one aspect of this build I'm very pleased about. This what I believe is a fabulously tight fitting neck pocket! Please excuse the flash on the last pic!

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The neck was the first part I bought for this project and right at the beginning I made sure all my templates fitted the neck heal as tightly as possible with out scraping the sides of the neck off. The reason I can get away with a nice tight neck join is down to the oil finish. It won't crack, or chip like high end lacquer or poly finishes and if you plan it from the beginning I see no reason why you can't get away with it.

I believe a good neck join is a pretty important feature on any guitar. Bolt on necks IMO offer slightly less sustain as some of the string vibration can be lost if there's movement between neck and body. The neck to body join on this Strat is so good that I can confidently hold the body vertical by the neck with no fear of it falling out.

I reckon this should make for nice long sustaining open notes if I can get everything else right! :wink:

More soon.

Enjoy!

Andy & Randel the Cat

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Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 9:24 am
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That is SO impressive. For anyone as doesn't know, that is serious quality workmanship and very tricky to achieve. Just can't express how good that is.

Craftsmanship indeed. Very, very good.

Cheers - C

PS Oh, I keep forgetting to mention: the shaping of the back of body at the heel looks really excellent too. All together the neck to body join might be the finest thing about this build, outrageous electronics not withstanding. Brilliant.


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