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Post subject: Re: Strat Plus/Ultra Custom Builds
Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:38 pm
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Oh cool, not seen a build type thread for a while, that first guitar is lovely, the flame looks great :)

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Post subject: Re: Strat Plus/Ultra Custom Builds
Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2011 11:11 pm
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I finished wiring up the pickguard this evening. I decided to do something a little different on this one. I used a Blue Lace in the neck, Silver Lace in the middle, and a Blue/Red Dually in the bridge. Also, I never wire these exactly like Fender's Ultras. They put the TBX (lower tone control) on the switch lug that is connected to the volume control. This means the TBX affects ALL the pickups, ALL the time. Crazy! So I wired the TBX to just the bridge Dually pickup and then the first tone control (a 250k pot) is used on the neck and middle pickups. This way you do not have the TBX dragging down the neck pickup when you want to run the pots wide open or making things more muddy by having two pots controlling the neck pickup. I always thought it odd that Fender did that. You has more control over the tone with the two tone controls separated—and of course you still mix them when you use neck and bridge together.

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The Ultra wiring uses Fender's 5-way, 2-lug, single wafer super switch. Position #3 is the neck + the bridge. The mini-switch allows you to use the front, back or both Laces in the Dually.

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I just have the Fender Floyd Rose II bridge sitting in place right now. It needs to be cleaned and a hole drilled in the back for the tremsetter. Also I had to match the route for the bridge up with a Plus body as the hole was a bit smaller on the Warmoth. Using a black marker and a file board made with 80 grit sand paper glued to a flat board, it allowed me to gently make the route a bit bigger without changing the looks of the hole by making it uneven and hacked up! Seems like the black pickgaurd and pickups brought out the flame a lot more to me. What do you think?

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Post subject: Re: Strat Plus/Ultra Custom Builds
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 6:05 am
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I bet you weren't rattling around on that old Martin lastnight :lol: :wink:

Mr X.
I'd have thought the TBX as a presence control for all pickups would have been right up your street. So you govern tone with one control, presence with the other. Granted the way the TBX works as stock it's not ideal for that. The center position seems to be a strangled sound rather than a regular tone control on 10. And it's more like 2 tone controls. But I'm thinking could a Martian mod be done to the TBX's center position to make it like a deltatone pot. So in center it bypasses the pot completely. Then use a inductor coil like the Bill Lawrence Qfilter to change it from tone control to presence control sound.

Chet sent me a Qfilter and the only reason it isn't in all my guitars is that I haven't been able to get intouch with Mr Lawrence. He's been ill, so no pestering from me.

I did try it with a deltatone pot and was really impressed with the control.
Maybe something for you to think on.

Anyway I'm off to dismantle a TBX pot and see how it all works and try find a way to make center position as no load.

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Post subject: Re: Strat Plus/Ultra Custom Builds
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 10:06 am
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Hey Niki, I believe a TBX is nothing more than a 500k pot stacked on top of a 1 meg pot using a standard 22.5 uF capacitor and a 82.5 kOhm resistor. The sales people will tell you, "TBX Tone Control T (treble) B (bass) X (Cut) that cuts either treble or bass instead of a tone pot that cuts treble frequencies only." The 1 meg pot is on the bottom and the 500k is on the top. The hot lead runs through the 1 meg and then that is connected the resistor to the 500k pot and then grounded to the .22 cap (did I loose you? Check out the pict below).

So what happens is this: At the detent position (#5) the capacitor is not in the circuit. In other words, it acts like a standard tone control when it is on position 10. But when you turn the TBX to 10, you cut off the bass and effectively increase the prominence of the treble. When you turn the TBX to 0, it sounds and works just like a conventional tone control turned all the way down, as the capacitor starts kicking in. I have seen some mods for the TBX but have yet to try it:
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Post subject: Re: Strat Plus/Ultra Custom Builds
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 11:26 am
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Xhefri wrote:
The marks you see on the back are finger prints and reflections. I picked up a nice Ultra neck a while back. They have Ebony on the fret board (one of the few Strats to come with Ebony as far as I know) and of course has the chrome plated locking tuners. I just finished a nice fret polishing and cleaning of the whole neck and mounted it on the body. I will be doing the Ultra pickguard in black with black Lace Sensors wired, of course, like an Ultra. I laid a lot of different pickguards on this body and black just seemed to bring out the flame the best and with the Ebony fretboard, well it was my choice. What do you think?

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More to come soon....


Nice body Xhef! I agree about the pickguard, classic black can't be beat. Also, that is a beaut of a neck. I too am a sucker for Ebony although I've developed a fondness for figured Ebony vs the jet black variety - but I still love them both:

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Do Ultra/Plus necks come standard with the LSR rolling nuts? (I know nothing about them other than what Ive seen of your work...)

Looking forward to more!

Cheers,

ORCRiST

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Last edited by ORCRiST on Wed Jan 19, 2011 3:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Strat Plus/Ultra Custom Builds
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 11:43 am
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Figured Ebony? Cool, never saw that before! Yes all Plus/Ultra guitars come with roller nuts. There were three types used over the years: The Wilkinson Split nut, the Wilkinson full nut and then the LSR.

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The very first version of the Wilkinson roller nuts to be introduced (above, left) had the top 3 strings floating while the other strings had to feed through an upper pin. It was discontinued late 1987 or early 1988. The other photo show the regular Wilkinson nuts that had all the strings fed through a upper "roller" pin that the string rested on, while it went down under a 2nd pin. Mid 1993, Fender stopped using the Wilkinson nut and replaced them with the LSR Roller nut, the last pict. These made string changes much easier, as each string rode on top of a set of roller bearings—a great improvement over the Wilkinson nut, IMHO.

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Post subject: Re: Strat Plus/Ultra Custom Builds
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 3:41 pm
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Xhefri wrote:
Figured Ebony? Cool, never saw that before!


Really? I believe that 90% of all Ebony necks/fingerboards started out just like mine above - until they're dyed a uniform black at the manufacturer (which, IMHO, is a damn shame), but I digress. You can also get whats called Macassar Ebony (Dispyrus macassar) which is more of a dark chocolate brown with light vanilla streaks instead of the traditional black(er) Ebony (Dispyrus melanoxylon). Available from the same place you got that awesome body... 8)

ORC

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Post subject: Re: Strat Plus/Ultra Custom Builds
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 4:28 pm
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Are all these Ebony woods of comparable hardness? Even if their lighter colored?

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Post subject: Re: Strat Plus/Ultra Custom Builds
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 5:12 pm
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Xhefri wrote:
Are all these Ebony woods of comparable hardness? Even if their lighter colored?


Yes. Regardless of coloration/species they're the same hard, close-grained, slick-feeling, tonally 'bright' wood.

ORC

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Post subject: Re: Strat Plus/Ultra Custom Builds
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 6:23 pm
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That highly flammed maple top looks real fine!!! 8)

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Post subject: Re: Strat Plus/Ultra Custom Builds
Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 12:24 am
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I nearly finished the guitar tonight. Now it needs to sit for a week and maybe get pounded on from time to time before the last set-up is done. The guitar sustains great and I can easily get those squeaks and squawks a Strat should make. Played some Gilmore on it and it sounded good. The Blue /Red is a nice in the bridge as it does add more color to the tone.

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Post subject: Re: Strat Plus/Ultra Custom Builds
Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 12:57 am
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So Mr X, you're going to sand half the finish off and relic it? You must really want that wood to breathe eh? Best get the CPR training underway. And go buy a defibrillator :lol:

In all seriousness, it looks stunning. Kinda like a tiger ready to pounce.

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Post subject: Re: Strat Plus/Ultra Custom Builds
Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 3:44 am
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Nice work Xhefri- Love the body!

Check this out- can anyone see the one thing this guitar has that a real Ultra doesn't?

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A nice chunk of flamed maple that is actually thick enough to be called a 'Top' instead of a veneer! 8)

You inspired me to do some digging lastnight looking into the availability of Ultra necks, obviously I went for a duck on that one. But there are good deals to be had at Warmoth- maybe my next purchase will be a strat with my own name on it with Laces in it.

One thing I would perhaps do a little differently would be a mint or a vintage 'cream' guard- but thats really just personal preference at the end of the day.

I must say that is one classy guitar you have there, that is what Fender should have done with the (discontinued) FMT/QMT HSS Deluxe- slapped a nice pickguard on it and made it look like a nice classy strat like this one!

Top Dog. Mr Xhefri that is.

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Post subject: Re: Strat Plus/Ultra Custom Builds
Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 3:57 am
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Blertes

You wouldn't rather have a rear mount body and have no pickguard at all? Show off as much of that figuring as possible?

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Post subject: Re: Strat Plus/Ultra Custom Builds
Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:15 am
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nikininja wrote:
Blertes

You wouldn't rather have a rear mount body and have no pickguard at all? Show off as much of that figuring as possible?


I hear ya, But I just couldn't agree with that model.. :roll: I believe a strat is a strat with a pickguard, otherwise it looks like a fancy Ibanez or Jackson without one. Then again, Im no purist- just my preference.

I prefered the Ultra look with the guard on, but a fancy one like aged pearl or the like.. :)

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