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Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 6:31 pm
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Caution! LOTS OF PICTURES!!!! Ok, lets do the neck. Man oh man, after I did this I realized that I used the 1991 neck instead of the 1989 neck. Oh well, it fits great and is close to the date on the body, but just not as close as the 89 neck. So I need to get the bench cleared off so this can be worked on.

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Now I know some of you might cringe when you see my tools. Truth is, I do not use a lot of fancy tools to do a fret cleanup job. I do have a crowning file from Stew-Mac and sometimes resort to a new flat file for offending high frets. Most of my work is done with an auto-body flat board with various grits of sand paper. This works great because it keeps the fret profile equal, that is, if you use it correctly. So do not laugh at my tools. Much of this kind of thing is in the hands that use the tools. :-)

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You can see in this picture that there is a slight amount of finger grease on the rosewood. When one does the final washing, it is amazing how much gunk comes off a neck. that is why it it important to play with cleans hands and not eat fried chicken while playing. Ummm, they do that in Kentucky, right? Also note the small string grove in a few places. Very minor really compared to some necks I have filed and crowned.

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Next, to prevent gouging your fret board, use wide masking tape to cover the face. I usually use 2" wide blue tape but I see my wife stole it for one of her painting projects. So i am using the brown tape, which does not come off as easy. Using a razor knife, I cut along one side of the frets and then rub that side down, then cut the other side and then rub that down. Then make some cuts along the edges of the frets and pull the tap off the top of the frets. I timed myself. It took me around 4 minutes to do this whole process.

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Please note my blue surgical towel (came from ER here in my town!) If you do fret work much it is good to have something like this to isolate the metal filings. If they get into your work area, they can scratch up a body or get sucked onto the magnets of your pickups!

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I do something a little different (Ok, i do a lot of things a little different) but I paint the top of each fret with a black Sharpie Marker. Then I take my flat board, in this case with 600 grit sand paper and run it up and down the fret board. This does two things, it indicates any high frets and shows the groves than need to be filed out. This neck was very good with no offending frets. So I started sanding first with the length of the neck and then cross ways. When I file up past the 12 fret, I sand 2 times as long, as compared to below the 12 fret since there are more frets, to keep the frets equal in height.

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Next I use the crowning file to make sure each fret has a nice rounded appearance. Some of these did not need it at all, mostly up to the 10th fret. The I followed by using the sanding board with 1000 grit paper and then steel wool for the final polishing. The end result is a nice shiny, rounded fret—all the same height so their will be no buzz in the final set up.

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I took the neck into the house and used a stiff tooth brush with mild soapy water to complete scrub every square millimeter. Then I rinsed the neck with a low-flow of tepid water and then briskly dried it with a terry cloth towel. Not one drop of water got into the truss rod hole. The neck is now clean (the nut came pretty clean too) and is now ready for some Formby's Lemon Oil. I let it set for about 30 minutes and wipe it clean. It is now ready to mount on the body! OH! On the 7th fret there was this very small spot where someone pushed the string right down into the rosewood! How could they do that? very small and most people would never see it…..

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Last, but not least, is FIRE ENGINE....our Mainecoon......

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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 12:46 pm
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Xhefri wrote:
Last, but not least, is FIRE ENGINE....our Mainecoon......

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Howdy Fire Engine!!! :D

That is one seriously cool cat you have there Mr X. A fine looking beast! I have to ask why you named him (or is it a she?) "Fire Engine"?

Nice fret job man. I like your taping method. I have a spare neck to practice fret work on. Defiantly going to try that one out. 8)

Andy

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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 1:30 pm
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Andybighair wrote:
Xhefri wrote:
Last, but not least, is FIRE ENGINE....our Mainecoon......That is one seriously cool cat you have there Mr X. A fine looking beast! I have to ask why you named him (or is it a she?) "Fire Engine"?....Andy

This cat really belonged to my oldest daughter and she named it. When it was a kitten it would run frantically from one side of her apartment to the other and they though it looked like a fire truck going to put a fire out. (I think they might have been smoking something....in those days) so the kitten was named Fire Engine. When she moved home, after some thing happened in her life, the kat attached himself to me. This picture does not really show his size. He is HUGE!!!! And a couple years at home my daughter got her life straightened out and now works for me, for which my wife and I are very happy! But thankfully, Fire Engine, while being big is not as big as this one:

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Here is some interesting history on these Kats: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_Coon

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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 2:16 pm
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Thanks for that!

I...I...I...want one! :D

Andy

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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 3:06 pm
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You, sir, are a god.

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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 3:59 pm
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stratmuchacho wrote:
You, sir, are a god.

Trust me...I am no god, or not even an angel.....Ask my wife, and if she says anything good, then believe half of that! Or maybe you were talking about Andybighair????? :D

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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 6:48 pm
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Time to get the neck mounted and the pickguard assembly wired up. That is about all the time I will have this evening. This is starting to look good. One thing about this thread—some of the things I am am showing you, if you have put a guitar together before, will just make you yawn. But for you who are afraid to try doing this, you might find some of the things on here helpful. I will also try to cover some of the mundane, seemly little things that, if forgotten about, could cause big headaches for you.

First thing is finding a clean Strat Plus neck plate with screws. Then if you examine the neck socket you will see what Fender calls "The Micro-tilt" adjustment screw. this is a basic 1/4-20 Allen screw. One needs to make sure this is in place and below the level of hitting the neck

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Sometimes it amazes me how the inside of a guitar looks. Like this dreaded by some "swimming pool" route.There is paint that looks like it dried dripping (stalagmites for a better term). And lots of rubbing compound. Some of it is mine, but not much. The back of the route is pretty rough too.

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One has to slide the neck in to the socket very carefully. I never push it straight in from the top as I have seen it chip the paint. If it is too tight—STOP. One wants it snug, but not so tight that it cracks the body or paint. This one fits SWEET....

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After the neck is in place, turn the guitar over carefully and start to mount the neck plate. This part is like putting the head on the motor of a car. Start your screws and then slowly tighten in a 1 -3-2-4 pattern and take them down snug, a little at a time in that tightening pattern. Last, place the allen wrench in the micro-tilt hole and slightly snug up the screw. Several times I have bough Strats that have this screw rattling around inside the neck hole area….

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Check out the rubbing compound in the Trem cavity area. Can't stand that kind of mess, so using Fender polish to loosen it up, and after removing the screws, the area cleaned up nice. I use Fender polish most of the time for just cleaning stuff up on the bodies. I have special wax that I use on the finished product.

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Need to gather the tuners and the Jack ferrule. One thing that might seem unimportant is the cleaning of the jack connector. Using some contact cleaner and a brass brush I make sure this is clean so there will be no static and make sure the jack is tight on the ferrule.

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Time to prepare the wires for mounting the pickup assembly. Solder the hot lead from the jack to the middle lug of the volume pot and then solder the three grounds (Trem, Body, Jack) to the back of the volume pot.

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While doing this, you need to protect the body of the guitar, so I use a Genuine Fender polishing cloth! umm… I buy my screws by the hundreds at a time. Mounting a pickguard should be done the same was as the neck plate—but slowly tightening in a pattern. every other screw. Sometimes one or two will not tighten so I stick the butt end of a Nag Champa incense stick all the way down in a hole (You need to have genuine Nag Champa to do this!) and then lift it 1/4 inch and cut it off. Then push it back down and tight the screw. No glue needed. This just takes up the loose space.

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This is starting to look like a guitar. What do you think? You like this color combination?

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Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 7:34 am
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I have to ak- as a Strat Plus connoisseur- I cannot believe I havent asked already... but do you prefer to have the Tremsetter installed or will you put a thrid spring in there?

Also- regarding the rough routing- would it be possible that you indeed have a poplar body there? I ask because some poplar bodies I have seen have routing so rough you could scratch your back with it. I would put the more looser grain on poplar may have caused that- with alder you can get very clean cut routes, even on lower priced MIM and Japanese guitars :)

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Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 7:48 am
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Xhefri wrote:
One thing about this thread—some of the things I am am showing you, if you have put a guitar together before, will just make you yawn.

Hi Jeff: I've done it plenty (though not as much as you) and it still doesn't make me yawn! :D

Xhefri wrote:
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Wow, I have never seen a gunkier trem cavity than that! Good grief, that looks more like plaster-of-paris than buffing dust! Luckily, you've left it looking much better... 8)

I'm ashamed to admit I have never bothered to clean an output jack. Tip noted: thank you!

Also, regarding your earlier post: I mask a fingerboard the other way - and it is one of the jobs I find really boring! Never tried it your way: next time I will. Another good tip!

Keep up the masterful work!

Cheers - C


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Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 7:51 am
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Blertles wrote:
I have to ak- as a Strat Plus connoisseur- I cannot believe I havent asked already... but do you prefer to have the Tremsetter installed or will you put a thrid spring in there?

I will for sure put in the tremsetter. I really like them especially with the bridge floating. If I was going to lay it flat on the body, I would do 5 springs.
Blertles wrote:
Also- regarding the rough routing- would it be possible that you indeed have a poplar body there? I ask because some poplar bodies I have seen have routing so rough you could scratch your back with it. I would put the more looser grain on poplar may have caused that- with alder you can get very clean cut routes, even on lower priced MIM and Japanese guitars :)

I am guessing this is Alder but was in the era of poplar being used. The paint looks like stalagmites, as if the guitar was hung upside down with some heavy, wet paint dripping and then dried! really odd. BUT then again, it COULD BE wood fibers that are sticking out that are just covered with paint.....that really does make more sense.....maybe it is Poplar!

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Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 3:20 pm
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Xhefri wrote:
stratmuchacho wrote:
You, sir, are a god.

Trust me...I am no god, or not even an angel.....Ask my wife, and if she says anything good, then believe half of that! Or maybe you were talking about Andybighair????? :D

HA!

Well, I've often wondered.....:lol:

Qualtiy! :D

Andy

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Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 3:32 pm
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I have pics of my pewter body I took the first time I took the pickguard off. I'll have to find them and see how mine looks, I think mine was pretty clean though.


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Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 2:30 pm
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Xhefri wrote:
stratmuchacho wrote:
You, sir, are a god.

Trust me...I am no god, or not even an angel.....Ask my wife, and if she says anything good, then believe half of that! Or maybe you were talking about Andybighair????? :D


You're an artist. It's just beautiful.

Andybighair: I want one too!

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Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 4:30 pm
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I just realized I posted these picts on the wrong thread. this is where we were discussing, momentarily, the Telecaster Plus I bought. I said that when it came in I would post a few picts. Way better condition than I expected! Very happy. The guy had Flat Wound .11s on it. The mini-switch turn on the bridge pickup when using the neck pickup. Sweet....
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Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 4:51 pm
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Xhefri wrote:
Blertles wrote:
I have to ak- as a Strat Plus connoisseur- I cannot believe I havent asked already... but do you prefer to have the Tremsetter installed or will you put a thrid spring in there?

I will for sure put in the tremsetter. I really like them especially with the bridge floating. If I was going to lay it flat on the body, I would do 5 springs.
Blertles wrote:
Also- regarding the rough routing- would it be possible that you indeed have a poplar body there? I ask because some poplar bodies I have seen have routing so rough you could scratch your back with it. I would put the more looser grain on poplar may have caused that- with alder you can get very clean cut routes, even on lower priced MIM and Japanese guitars :)

I am guessing this is Alder but was in the era of poplar being used. The paint looks like stalagmites, as if the guitar was hung upside down with some heavy, wet paint dripping and then dried! really odd. BUT then again, it COULD BE wood fibers that are sticking out that are just covered with paint.....that really does make more sense.....maybe it is Poplar!


Yeah I know that burst colours had been reserved for the little Alder where the metallics and flat colours were poplar :)

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