Ok, things have been delayed a bit due to my daughter having a baby!!!!

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

Yippee...!!!

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

What? No excuses... Just kidding! Congrats Grandpa!

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


facebook.com/313DBC

Congratulations there Mr.X to you and your family, I hope the new addition is healthy and doing well. You must be proud First things first- no big deal if you put this thread on the backburner for a while mate

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Will there be a mini sized Strat Build for small hands...

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

Congrats X!!!

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Where did you learn your guitar building skills Xhef? How many guitars do you own? I've been on your strat plus site, it's cool, really good stuff on there.

I wouldn't part with my EC strat either, had it since 88/89 and the neck is just so comfortable.

Looking forward to this build up and i love that striped body it's a corker. What kind of bridge are you gonna put in it? 6 screws or 2 like the American standard?

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Luck won't do it and ignorance can't

George Van Eps.

Xhefri is a man for all seasons. When you learn all there is to know, you will understand what I mean.

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"Another day in paradise!"

He's got some serious skills! have you been on his site? talk about strat eye candy! only thing is it makes me jealous after i've visited his site and drooled all over those strat plus's!

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Luck won't do it and ignorance can't

George Van Eps.

Come on you guys...I am a hick from the back woods of Idaho with a 9th grade education. I just play around with guitars a bit and don't even know that much.... Grandpa now too, so that means i am getting really old!!! Mr C is the real craftsman around here! Later this week back to playing with toys though....

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

Back to work Granddad!

Does this mean that you're never going to drive above 40mph again?


Heartfelt congratulations to you mate.

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No no and no

All best wishes Jeff. Just wait until you've got 5 or more.

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"Another day in paradise!"

"Just play around with guitars a bit!" you're way too modest Jeff, way too modest. Your site is a goldmine for a strat enthusiast! i hope you keep doing it.

Congratulations on becoming a grandparent.

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Luck won't do it and ignorance can't

George Van Eps.

Another beautiful example from Warmoth!



I'm with ZZDoc on this one Xhef, not a fan of swimming pool routes, but I'd give you more than $2 for it.




Its relatively easy Gorgon.

Check out: http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php

Once you build, you won't ever buy another guitar from a "big name" brand again.

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BUILD #2

Well, finally getting started on both of these builds (and maybe even a 3rd) after a death, a baby and the holiday. The only thing missing from this last week was taxes…. So here I am. Decisions have been made about wiring both of these projects. I will mention right off that there will be a lot of detail on this build, so for some of you it will be a bit mundane. Also LOTS OF PICTURES

On build #2 I will be using the Fender Ultra wiring scheme, which I modify a little bit and will explain in detail later. Since build #2 is a Mystic Black body, I am going to go for the Black/Red/Black pickguard with a S/S/H configuration. I will use Blue/Silver/Red Dually Lace pickups in Black.



First thing I need to do is drill the bridge pickup holes and the hole for the 3-way mini-switch. I have a Fender Custom Shop Ultra pickguard I like to use as a template. First thing one needs to do is line-up the holes so the pickup does not mount crooked. Note that the Fender Ultra pickguard had the middle pickup centered between the bridge and neck pickups, while most after market pickguard, like this Warmoth, keep the middle pickup in the standard position. This is one reason why Fender used the swimming pool routes on their Ultra bodies.



Using some blue masking tape I secure the placement and then head to the drill press to get the hole drilled accurately. The 3rd pict is drilling the hole for the mini-switch.





As you can see below, after peeling off the plastic protective film, the guard is nicely drilled. Also note that when Warmoth puts the shielding on the back of the pickguard, they do not cut the holes so i run my fingers over the foil and then use a very sharp box knife to cut the holes and slot out:





I like using the old school way of mounting the Lace Sensor Dually. If you order a Dually from Lace (or a vendor) they will be mounted together like a humbucker with two really small screws, which when mounted can rock around in the pickguard hole. Also, a Dually is really two independent single coil pickups mounted side-by-side, so I just take two Laces of my own choosing (in this case 2-Reds) and then use a small mounting clip to bolt one side together. This way Fender did it for years with the Ultra and Jeff Beck model guitars and since it is mounted with 3 bigger screws it is more stable.




All the screws are put into place using rubber tubing and then the pickups are screwed into place. the end result is the evil looking Black on Black with Red...






Here are the rest of the components. A single-wafter 5-way Super Switch; a 3-way on/on/on mini-switch; 1- linear 250k Pot; 1- 250k audio pot; and 1- TBX pot.

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com