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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 4:33 pm
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Man, that is a beautiful job as well as a very nice guitar!! Didn't TGS want to use the same type of neck on her build? I hope she reads this thread. Thanks for sharing my friend!! 8) :wink:


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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 6:44 pm
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Absolutely stunning!

Nice decal btw. If you're interested for future builds, check out forum user Kozy, he does a KILLER decal process that you might be interested in.

Dan

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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 9:40 pm
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fhopkins wrote:
Man, that is a beautiful job as well as a very nice guitar!! Didn't TGS want to use the same type of neck on her build? I hope she reads this thread. Thanks for sharing my friend!! 8) :wink:


Yeah... that question has been puzzling me for a while :? But it is her build and we promised to help in any form (within reason) we could. I must say that on my very first rebuild years ago, I was very much overly concerned with all kinds of dimensions, which does run the risk of not being able to see the forest for the tree's. But it appears she has a good handle on it, a first build is a learning experience and we could say don't do this or don't do that, but "No" we can only offer support and encouragement, there are valuable lessons which have to be experienced. No matter what, when the project is finished, knowing that you succeeded and the guitar you are playing was rebuilt by you give you a tremendous amount of confidence.

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Last edited by 53magnatone on Thu Mar 03, 2011 2:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 9:43 pm
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Impulse7 wrote:
Absolutely stunning!

Nice decal btw. If you're interested for future builds, check out forum user Kozy, he does a KILLER decal process that you might be interested in.

Dan


I'm interested, as an actual decal of a play on words would be killer, you can either PM me his coordinates or I'll do a search on the forum members list

Thanks.

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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 10:02 pm
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So now it is back to the nut issue. I had gone with the Squier nut and had reslotted it but I must admit I did a poor job, actually slotting too deeply. :oops:
I was running out of time ( had to go to work ) and tried to finish it quickly. So I botched it.
There I said it... :lol: Believe it or not mistakes are par for the course when doing these projects, the trick is finding a solution to remedy the mistake(s).

Oddly enough, the guitar's nut is very much like the Court Jester of old.. :wink:
It will drive you to madness, but it is critically important to have it wisely set-up :lol:

And anyway, a Bone nut is so much more appropriate for a boneheaded mistake :wink:

Image

There is much to be done on the nut as it still has to be contoured, beveled and slotted.
This will probably take place tomorrow as I will also begin to upload pics from the other half of this twin project, but in the meantime just a teaser pic to say good night... :wink:

Image

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Last edited by 53magnatone on Sat Mar 19, 2011 10:58 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 2:08 pm
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I'm working on it.... :lol:
Just installed the nut on the Stratopartster II, going back to slot the #1 and then it'll be.....
" String Me Up Scotty... " :wink:
Ya'll Stay Tuned Now...Ya..Hear........ :arrow:

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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 11:31 pm
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OK... a couple days have passed, I was not up to dealing with the nut yesterday, mainly because if there is one phase that must not be rushed, this is one of them. An impatient moment setting up a nut means a start over. :oops:

Glue has dried and the bone nut is ready for slotting. The marks are pencil marks which correspond to the original nut.
This one will be beveled towards the tuners, as well as cut (filed down) in size after the string slots have been cut to the appropriate depth.

Image

First the bevel on the top of the nut, this gives me an angle to follow as I cut/file each string slot. In addition the top of the nut is also contoured to match the fingerboard radius.

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First string, Low E in this case is cut/filed, the process repeats itself for all the other strings, I am using a feeler gauge for measuring the gap (.035) between the bottom of the string and the top of the 1st fret. But it is only a reference, final dial in will be done by sight as well as feel when fretting

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At this point all slots are cut/filed there will be additional adjustment once the strings ar brought up to pitch and the neck is left to adjust for a bit.
This brings up a point that, if you are replacing the nut and the strings have been removed for a couple of hours, then everything will fall back into place.
However if as in this project, the strings are off and the neck is no longer under tension for a couple of days or longer, then the neck will need a bit of readjustment time, say a day or two once string tension is reestablished. (What Can I Say...It's Wood :wink: )

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So now it is time for a bit more dialing in, quite evident now that the slots are done and the strings are at home :lol: ...the top of the nut needs to be filed down to the level of the strings. Or more precisely the top of the nut matches the top of the strings.
With the strings in place, I mark with a sharp pencil the top of each string and then file down to that contour.
After loosening the strings, to get them out of the way without removing them, I just tuck them underneath the neck and secure them with a twist tie. Now I can just file down to my mark.

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The last details were to clean up and dress up the nut. By this I rounded off the edges of the nut on the outside of the Low E and High E string. I later followed up with a bit of 600 then 800 grit sandpaper.
Next was to clean off the bone residue and apply a bit of Howard's Feed-N-Wax Wood Preserver, which is Beeswax Orange Oil. Just a little on a cotton rag wipe on the entire fretboard, let it soak in for a couple of minutes, then wipe off the excess with a clean rag.

Image

This does it for the "Nut" until tomorrow when a bit of adjustment will need to be done.
Just a few of the tools needed... :lol: for a successful bone transplant....
One needed detail which I was hoping not to reinstall is the string tree between the B and E string, but because of the distance between the nut and the tuner shaft, it is a necessity.
For this I will install a roller tree as those are less binding on the string.

Image

One additional small item today was to match up the trem arm. Originally the body and bridge did not include a trem bar. One word of caution, I initially bought an Allparts arm, only to find out the shaft size is too big to fit in the trem hole, so exchange was made for a Fender.
All I needed was to replace the end from white to black. Pan of hot water, dip the arm and tip in then remove. Installing the black tip was not as easy. It needed to be heated up, I used the kitchen stove element, holding it above the element I heated the plastic so that it would expand from the heat and soften up a bit, caution is needed here, too much heat and the tip imitates Gumby... :roll:.. not enough and it won't slide on. It did however need a bit of persuasion and just in case, I bought 2 tips but did not need the second ( for now ).

Image
Image

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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 6:39 am
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Looks great!
Especially like the tortoise on black...been thinking about that combo myself for a project.
Finding a good tortoise pattern is tough though.

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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 6:41 am
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53magnatone wrote:
fhopkins wrote:
When you are finished with this build we'll have to get The_Nutter add it to his "Build Thread" of all the great builds here on our forum!! :)

Link,
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=43152&hilit=build+thread


I'm not worthy...I'm not worthy.... :lol: Immortality finally :wink: :lol:

DONE - immortality achieved! :)

Cheers & carry on - this is most interesting!

Nutter


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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 8:36 am
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The_Nutter wrote:
53magnatone wrote:
fhopkins wrote:
When you are finished with this build we'll have to get The_Nutter add it to his "Build Thread" of all the great builds here on our forum!! :)

Link,
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=43152&hilit=build+thread


I'm not worthy...I'm not worthy.... :lol: Immortality finally :wink: :lol:

DONE - immortality achieved! :)

Cheers & carry on - this is most interesting!

Nutter


Thanks Nutter, you often give me a chuckle by your responses. With the challenging winter we have been having, they are most welcome and refreshing :)

Off to work at Mom's house today, we'll get back to a slight electronic problem later.
Just to mention, I have a hum and I suspect I may have reversed or omitted a ground cable somewhere in the hook-up. :?: :idea: :arrow:

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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 9:44 am
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Least I could do! ;)

Cheers,

Nutter


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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 3:53 pm
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Stratopartster I is 99% completed.

There is a glipsht with the wiring which I will backtrack and attend to later this week, or it may be in a week or two as I need to order some 22 gauge wiring in three colors.

In the meantime I'll attend to Stratoparster II as it has been a bit neglected.... It has patiently and quietly ( I might add ) sat in the wings awaiting the summon... :lol: :wink:

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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 8:32 pm
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This is how it started out as a replacement body for the J.B. Player.
I will explain a bit as the J.B. Player was modded some years back with Carvin M22 HB and H11 single coils. All the electronics came from Carvin as a kit back in 92 :?:
This was one of my first electric mods ( though all my acoustics beginning with my 1st EKO 12 string when I was 16 were always altered ) and ever since all my electrics have suffered some type of upgrade.
As little as we would like to admit, most of our instruments are only temporarily in our care and always sooner than later, pass on to another caretaker....So without further delay I'll travel back to the present.. :wink:

Image

This bridge was always problematic, so much so that I one day drilled thru both the bridge and the trem, and inserted a machine screw and nuts thereby locking it down.
It always was planned to be rebuilt and just awaiting the right circumstances.

This was a possible mock-up, but the 2nd photo is closer to the reality

Image
Image

As One can see, the J.B. Player body and the Squier Bullet body are very similar and would prove to be minimal as far as neck pocket adjusting...( expenses reduced )

Image


Once apart the neck was the 1st concern since it would receive the major modding.
It also was completely sanded, stained with Minwax Colonial Maple, then sprayed with Minwax Polycrylic gloss then satin.

Image
Image

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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 10:10 pm
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The photo's of the neck are misleading as the two pics do not resemble the same neck, however the first was taken immediately after staining so there is a bit of a sheen/gloss.
The second was taken while the polycrylic was still wet.

As far as re-drilling for the tuners, this was not needed as the same set of Carvin Tuners would be reinstalled, the dbl holes are from the previous set of original tuners, those were screwless thus the holes were for two pins that locked the tuners in once the shaft nut was tightened.

Image

Next was the nut. The original nut was a black plastic and replacement with a bonenut is a vast improvement.

Image

But 1st, the issue of the logo was attended to. Again, this would have to be a custom facsimile, as a Fender water-decal was not an option, I voiced my thoughts on this in the first segment.
This was easy as I had a Fender Acoustic sticker. It only needed to be cut along the lettering and cut in 3 segments. There was a bit of rearranging to make it fit the headstock.

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Next is the rough cut and dry-fit, then glue in of the nut into it's slot pocket.
A bit of clean up was called for with a 1/8th inch wide square file.

Image
Image
Image

Until fitting of the neck into the body, the final rough shaping of the nut will await this phase then restringing and final shaping and slotting.
In the meantime we return our focus back to the body and the pickguards.

First the body, this is also going to be a temporary setup as sometimes in the future, the Squier hardtail will be replaced by a Schaller Hannes hardtail.

Image
Image

At this point, there is some filing to be done around the pickguards bridge cutout, about an 1/8 inch needs to be removed from one side.
This will be tomorrow as it is rather early morning here and not a good time to play with sharp objects :oops:

Ciao...

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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 2:58 pm
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Final bit of adjustment with Stratopartster I
Unfortunately I had to reinstall the two string tree's.
the tuner shafts locking screw and grommet just do not provide enough angle from nut to tuner.
Now I had mentioned previously that I would replace the tree's with roller style, but decided to use the original that were on the Squier to begin with. As of this edit ( 3/22/11 ) thy have worked out fine and it is just a matter of choice and also guitar as to which works best.
Took all of 5 minutes.

Image
Image

At this point, this rebuild is done, there will be a bit of adjustment as far as action as the " STRATOPARTSTER I " gets played in and everything settles in.

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Last edited by 53magnatone on Mon Mar 21, 2011 9:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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