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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 6:39 pm
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Good on ya mate, I'm glad to hear things are moving in a very pleasing way! :)

Please stay in touch, and keep us posted how things turn out re the interview and the apprenticeship. Seems a good company to start out from!

Cheers,

Nutter


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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 5:04 am
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53magnatone wrote:
Andybighair wrote:
Howdy!

Whoops! I did indeed miss the small print! Ah well, hopefully the following will redeem myself.

Here ya go buddy! :D

Image

BTW: Your mini switch is an DP/ST (double pole/single throw) switch. :D

Hope the interview went well.

Enjoy!

Andy


8) :D 8) :D 8) :D 8) :D 8) :D 8) :D 8) :D 8) :D :idea: :idea:

More than I expected, this solves my :? most definitely. A million Thank You's....
I may have to get on this tonight as I'm dying to see/hear what this Stratopartster II will sound like.

Sweet !!!

No probs mate!

Enjoy and let us know how you get on. :D

Andy

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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 7:44 am
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Update Time... :) :)
It took a few more days than I anticipated but the electronics are done except for a final solder connection of the Jack plug and Volume pot hot wire.
Since this is a hard tail, grounding is all under the bridge as there is no cavity or for that matter a trem. claw to solder a ground to.
A couple of pics to highlight the connectivity issues I was having. ( not my forte )

Big Thank You's Mr BigHair.... 8) ....Big Thank You's Xhefri... 8) ...

1st, I needed to extend some of the wiring as they had been clipped too short by the previous owner, 22 gauge wire, solder the connection and wrap with heat shrink tubing...Done.

Image



Image

The green and red wires are much longer for now and will be clipped once I ascertain how long they need to be, so in the future they can be tucked in the cavity and thus allow enough lenght to remove and flip the pickguard without binding for ( of course ) future adaptations :wink:

Image

Just as a side note not at all relevant to this, I caught a rare ( for the states ) glimpse @ Razee motorcycles while I was looking @ Ducati's 8)
Image
Image
Image


Next is the final connection and testing that all is well.. 8)

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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 10:10 am
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thanks for sharing your project.... its interesting to see each stage and the changes. i dont think i would tackle something like this.... im sure the result would be nothing less than driftwood HAHA...

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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 10:20 am
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dden wrote:
thanks for sharing your project.... its interesting to see each stage and the changes. i dont think i would tackle something like this.... im sure the result would be nothing less than driftwood HAHA...


Thanks, but it really is about tackling each phase sequentially.
I did not start out a project like this as a newbie.
Like many of us, it was change a knob, than a pickup, than a pickguard and each time you do something a bit more involved.

Granted, as a high end Custom Residential Remodeler, I have access to a large inventory of tools and refinishing and working with wood is similar wether you are working on a guitar or a custom built in cabinet.

As far as redressing frets and reshaping a neck, that was actually one of the first things I attempted many years ago, mainly because I was never satisfied with how my guitars felt and knew great improvements could be obtained.
Not to mention DIY is much less expensive.

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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 4:49 pm
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Hi 53: just been reading this thread carefully from start to finish.

Good work, that fella! That black in particular is looking seriously SHINY!

Let me buy you a beer - and because your thread has given me a boot, I'll give you one in return:

Image

Cheers - C

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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 4:51 pm
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53magnatone wrote:
A while back I posted that as time would allow, I would post a thread on the Stratopartster rebuild I have been working on since last October.
In retrospect, it was/is almost from the beginning, a two guitar rebuild, as I had a body with a few parts, but a neck I did not want to use in this 1st rebuild since it would be a SSS and a 22 fret neck did not fit in with the theme. So without further clarification, this is a recounted story up until today (March 1st 2011).

This was the body bought as is for $125, included were the bridge, two pups, jack, pickguard, as it is in this fuzzy photo. ( I had not decided to document this project at this time )

Image

Initially, the idea was to use this J.B. Player as a donor and the neck as the new Strat rebuild.
Once apart, the body of the J.B.Player was to undergo a routing and re-attachment of
missing body mass.

Image


This is the back side , not so evident until I got it home and inspected the body, was that the previous owner had stripped the top, sanded it rather recklessly and then stained it , shot a coat of clear and reassembled the guitar. In adition the body had quite a few deep dents in it which would necessitate a different approach.

Image

J.B. Neck was to be used but.....

Image

After much debating of colors and pickguard material and all the other options which seem to make a simple rebuild a complexing problem, an easy solution found it's way.
At the end of Christmas week, I went to G.C. and looking over the the Squier Bullets, realised that here was the answer to my rebuild, not only for one but I would also be able to rebuild the HSS Stratopartster at the same time. A $120.00 spent and the project was underway.

Enough for now, I will continue tomorrow as I have to backtrack and find some pics to upload for the next segment..

Ciao All....





Nice job.


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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 4:57 pm
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Wow it looks like you have put lots of time into these guitars!!! Hope they turned out well!

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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 7:44 pm
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G'day 53, I'm loving that Bug eyed ,road worn Sprite and this whole build in general. It's full of no-nonsense, useful technical tips, stuff that I'm yet to attempt.
Keep up the fine work mate. :D

Just while I have your ear mate, What is the safest way to remove a plastic nut?

Image ....Mark.


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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 7:25 am
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Boxbang wrote:
G'day 53, I'm loving that Bug eyed ,road worn Sprite and this whole build in general. It's full of no-nonsense, useful technical tips, stuff that I'm yet to attempt.
Keep up the fine work mate. :D

Just while I have your ear mate, What is the safest way to remove a plastic nut?

Image ....Mark.


I couldn't resist adding the sprite for a bit of distraction, when I was 14 my dad had a 66 Sunbeam Alpine which I would sneak out down the driveway and road every so often when my parents were gone. I always thought I was clever until he hinted something years later which led me to suspect that he knew :wink:

Removing the nut is easy. Take a small hammer ( 12 ounces or less ) a nail set or you could use a punch.
Your guitar neck should be snugly cradled so that the force of the tapping affects the nut and your neck is not moving from tapping on the nut.
You want to gently tap the nut out from the side, a couple of gentle taps from the high E side then the low E side. The nut is held in with a drop of glue and it is snug inside the slot.
You do not want to try to pry it upward, you risk then in ripping up the fretboard.
You need to be patient as it will take a little time for the nut to start sliding out.

If the former does'nt work then you could try this. With a jewelers saw, slice the nut lenght-wise thru the middle of the nut. be careful when you reach thru the nut and get close to the fretboard. You only want to slice the nut, not the fretboard.
easy light saw strokes, you want to slice the nut in two halves, this should allow you to tap out the two halves quite easily.

When you replace the nut with a Bone Nut :?: you'll need to sand it to fit snugly inside the slot. Again patience is key as it does take a while to do this.
If you rush thru this you will do what I did on the 1st build which was to do it again :roll:

Good Luck and let me know if I need to clarify anything.

I'm glad that forum members are enjoying my builds. I just had a setback yesterday which I will post today concerning the electronics.

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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 7:27 am
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Guitar squirrel wrote:
Wow it looks like you have put lots of time into these guitars!!! Hope they turned out well!


Thanks, Yes it always takes a bit more time than one anticipates, but if you rush thru you really get a mess.
It's not as if you can dismiss mistakes once you are actually playing the guitar.. :roll:

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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 7:38 am
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Ceri wrote:
Hi 53: just been reading this thread carefully from start to finish.

Good work, that fella! That black in particular is looking seriously SHINY!

Let me buy you a beer - and because your thread has given me a boot, I'll give you one in return:

Image

Cheers - C


Thank You, Sir Ceri

Once again I'm down with a congestion, that is twice in less than a month. Working at Fed-Ex
is really throwing a monkey wrench in the works.. :roll:
two days ago it was sunny and 18C ( 60+F ) this morning it is snowing again.... :wink:

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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 7:58 am
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The_Nutter wrote:
Good on ya mate, I'm glad to hear things are moving in a very pleasing way! :)

Please stay in touch, and keep us posted how things turn out re the interview and the apprenticeship. Seems a good company to start out from!

Cheers,

Nutter


Late reply...sorry...I did not get the position as there was 21 other candidates, many with more tenure than I. But I figured that if I'm to stay with Fed-Ex, there is no way I plan on staying at the ground level for long, even though everyone starts there, no exceptions.

On a potentially good positive note, I'm finalizing an estimate for a customer's house. Finally it has been a long winter.... :roll:

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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:18 am
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Back to the task at hand for Stratopartster II.

I decided to clean up the headstock decal a bit and to replace the tree with a black one which fits the theme more appropriately than the gold one. Easy swap as they are exactly alike.

Image
Image

That being completed, it is back to the main task at hand.
As can be noticed from the above photo, only the low E string is installed resting temporarily on the unslotted nut.
I was figuring out if everything worked as far as pickup and coil selection.

It Did Not.... :?
So I backtracked and found that I had not completed my ground sequence. Pots are all grounded, pups are all grounded... But since this is a hardtail, I failed to connect all the grounds. (1) jack ground, (2) ground from the body, (3) ground from the pups/pots.
For this I spliced a wire and connected them at two points.
(1) The body ground screw inside the cavity, (2) Under the bridge plate..... Voila... 8)

But, I still have a problem... :?

IT seems that I have reversed my 5 way switch wiring...
I have bridge pick-up as well as single to dual coil activation but I do not have Middle and Neck pup activation.

Stay tuned, have to go under the bonnet and investigate, will post pics in a moment :idea:

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Post subject: Re: Stratopartster Rebuilds I and II
Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 12:54 pm
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Well...this is not going well at all...
I'm stumped as to the hook up on the 5 way switch.
I've reversed my wiring so that it should be correct according to the 5 way switch I'm using.

A bit of info is needed here, I installed a 5 way from http://www.stewmac.com Of all the products I have used from Stewmac, this is the worst.
1st the lugs are reversed from a standard Fender 5 way and the reviews I read on their site are predominantly negative. So it is not just me, I wired this up according to Andybighair's diagram posted earlier. This resulted in the above description of Bridge but no Neck and middle pups. :?
Next I switched it all around and reconnected according to the Stew Mac diagram. I have all pups but output is minimal :?: :?: :roll:
So this being the case, I have decided to put this on hold until I can get a hold of another 5 way switch and resolder everything once again. I may even replace all the wiring, so this is going to take some time.

This is a pic of the grounds going into the body and under the bridge.

Image

This is the hook-up according to Mr. ABH, which I believe is correct but was not compatible with the Stew-Mac switch.

Image

This is after the rewiring, very messy and in need of a complete clean redo.
At this point, I'm frustrated and in no mood to tackle this minor setback.
Tomorrow is another day.
Plus I need a couple days to sort out the needed parts.

Image

Sorry All but there seems to be a delay in progress. I also seem to be having a problem with the jack connections, this may need to be changed to a new jack + - connection, I have a feeling the connection inside the pressed socket is deficient. I have another brand new replacement, so it is just a matter of undoing the nut, cutting the connections and reassembling.

That being said
I Will return as soon as possible.

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