I do have a Cat picture - these were sighted today in my condo.

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Whoa, Kong - snap! I don't have a tremolo pedal, except in multi-FX units. I occasionally think I should have one, and have contemplated doing a BYOC as a route to fulfilling that desire. So if you do it there will be hungry eyes here watching with deep interest anything you care to show. Please take as many photos as possible and record every tiny step of the thing - a real service to your fellow Forum users!



An excellent instinct! Feel well supported if you decide to go that route.

But never mind all of that. This:

WELCOME KONGLET!

We've been waiting patiently for this first sighting: huge congrats to both parents.

...Sleeping through yet?

Cheers - C

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This little girl is just too much......

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"Another day in paradise!"

Get your keister over here and Kong, Martian and myself will buy you a pitcher full of BB Kings...

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"Another day in paradise!"

Had a few of these at Happy Hour earlier this evening...

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Hi Ceri,
She's not sleeping through yet, but she is growing like a weed. She's gained more than 2 lbs since she was born. She sleeps for about 2-3 hours at a time, and we've recently gotten her to sleep for 4. What a nice stretch of rest for Mom and Dad! She just figured out how to roll onto her back this week. It's crazy how fast the past 7 weeks have gone! But I imagine it's just the beginning. We're totally in love with the little munchkin!! Thanks for the well wishes guys!

BoK

What's not to love? Looking forward to an in person smile sometime soon.

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"Another day in paradise!"

Congrats Kong! great news on the new addition to the kong family

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My Rig: Guitar into Pedals then into Amps and out into Speakers.

Got my parts in and finished up the Strat yesterday.

Here are pics of the stock pickguard and pickup assembly which was removed:




I had previously wired up the pickups I'll be using (GFS Premium Texas Wound) so it was just a matter of dropping them into the new guard, and soldering the jack and the ground on the trem claw.





Next I wanted to intall the new tuners. I used conversion bushings and a set of Wilkinson nickel vintage style tuners. You have to press the bushings into the tuner holes. I used a small C-Clamp to press them in and a piece of cardboard to protect the finish on the neck. They were a nice snug fit.




I had to drill holes for the tuner screws. To get the tuners lined up, I clamp a straight edge to the headstock up against the tuners. I used the trem cover plate for this. Then I marked the holes. I also used a small nail as a punch to make a hole as a guide for the drill. I had one mishap with the drill between the 2nd and 3rd tuner and drilled all the way through the headstock . I broke off a toothpick in the hole and it is not that noticeable - another lesson learned - drill slowly.





Then it was time to replace the wimpy trem-block. As far as I can tell the 2010 models got the crappy block with the 2011 units receiving the full size block from Fender. I went with an inexpensive brass block from GFS. I made a note of the saddle positions before I removed them so I would not be that far off on the intonation when I put them back on. To replace the block is a simple matter of 3 screws that attach it to the bridge.





Finally I treated the fretboard with some lemon oil, I wiped it on and left it for about an hour and then wiped off the excess. I installed new strings, set the action and intonation and gave the whole guitar a quick polish. I'm very happy with the final results. The guitar is very light, the neck plays like butter. I love the way the headstock looks with the vintage style logo and tuners. Trussrod adjustment being at the headstock is just more convenient. The pickups sound great. I think the guitar has a kind of 60s vibe, but hotrodded a little bit with the large frets and 9.5 radius and hot bridge pickup.







Hope you had as much fun as I did. The pictures I took do not do the guitar justice. I will try and take a couple of decent shots in the daylight. The thing looks killer (IMHO).

Ceri - by the way, I was looking up DIY tremolo pedals and came across a few different options including just using a schematic and getting the parts myself. I'll keep you posted when I start to get a project together. This one looked interesting:

http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/pro ... ea-tremolo

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Hi Mrs K: normally it would be pictures of guitar innards I'd be paying attention to, but not on this page. She is SO cute! And small, and vulnerable and... surprised looking. Just so charming: you have a gorgeous daughter. Deep admiration. So much work, so many broken nights - but years and decades of pleasure ahead. You lucky things! Again, congratulations.

And just so Mr Kong doesn't feel left out on his own thread: bang up job, Sir. As we've come to expect from you. I especially like the trouble you took to get the tuners on exactly straight. That's a touch that separates the men from the boys. Respect.

Cheers - C

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You don't know me at all but sir, your daughter is adorable. Congratulations to you and the missus

And that blacktop sure has undertaken an amazing transformation. From someone who lacks all technical proficiency....respect!! I could never own that guitar however, it's the exact colour scheme of our bass players precision. He'd kill me

Top job. On the guitar and the lil baby

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"I like it when a flower or a little tuft of grass grows through a crack in the concrete. It's so f*ckin' heroic!"

Hang around Schritzer....we'll get to know you better...and you, us.BTW....those little tufts of grass between the bricks on one's patio tend to engender less admiration.

Kong, my friend....nicely done.

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"Another day in paradise!"

Thanks for the nice words about the baby. It seems everyone just falls in love with her on sight. I'll post one more pic . . .



Oh yeah, thanks for the compliments on the guitar as well. It was a fun project, and I think I may be hanging on to this one. Plays great and looks killer, and less than $400 total into it - I love Craigslist.

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Oh i'm sure my general ignorance and annoying questions will plague you all for some time

Kong.....$400 for the entire project?? That is just ridiculous!! Us Europeans get shafted on price. Especially here in Ireland....My local music store was selling a blacktop strat ex-demo about a month ago for 765euro. That's about $1050.00!! For a blacktop!!

Obviously I don't buy anything from that store, but even buying anything from the States means we gotta pay import duty, not only on the cost of the guitar but we also have to pay duty on the cost of the postage too. It's ridiculous.

That guitar, for $400, could never ever be a reality here!!

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"I like it when a flower or a little tuft of grass grows through a crack in the concrete. It's so f*ckin' heroic!"

Wow, duty on the postage too, that's a crusher.

The project actually cost $418 if I'm to be totally honest, plus 1 set of strings. I picked up the guitar for $320 on Craigslist. They go for $499 new here in the States. The parts were $98 with shipping. If I can get $50 for the loaded HH pickguard which will get me back down under $400, and leaves me with a nice spare set of tuners.

Tortoiseshell SSS Pickguard fits Strat $15.95
Tortoise Shell tremolo Cover Plate $5.95
Nickel Vintage Tuner Conversion Bushings $6.95
Wilkinson Fender-Style Nickel Tuners- Six for Strats and Teles. $28.95
Set of Three White Strat Replacement Knobs $3.95
Made in Mexico" 10.5mm spaced brass Tremolo Block $24.95
Shipping - $11

Craigslist in my area is flooded with really nice used guitars, lots of MIM Strats and Epiphones. I just missed a mint MIM Sunburst Strat with a VibroChamp amp for $300 about a week ago. I picked up a nice Epi Korina Explorer for $250 last month.

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