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Post subject: Hot rodding a guitar
Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 6:01 pm
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So i have a regular japan strat besides new pickups and new trem anything else i can do to make this guitar better or sound better also have a 7.25 radius my last post asks should i sand down fretboard


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Post subject: Re: Hot rodding a guitar
Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 7:38 pm
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Dirty D Rock wrote:
So i have a regular japan strat besides new pickups and new trem anything else i can do to make this guitar better or sound better also have a 7.25 radius my last post asks should i sand down fretboard


Got pics?

Lots of ways you can trick it out. :D

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Post subject: Re: Hot rodding a guitar
Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 7:31 am
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Not sure how to post pics but ill try today any suggestions would be great!


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Post subject: Re: Hot rodding a guitar
Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 7:40 am
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Dirty D Rock wrote:
Not sure how to post pics but ill try today any suggestions would be great!


Search and you shall find :wink:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=52777/url

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Post subject: Re: Hot rodding a guitar
Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 8:44 am
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I'm curious why you're changing the tremolo... and what you're changing it too? If it's a vintage style trem GFS makes a steel block sized to metric that would be a nice upgrade. I know there are locking vintage style tuners as well that would be direct replacement if you have vintage style tuners.

As far as pickups go... that's a great upgrade but it can be difficult to pin down how new pickups will sound using your rig. I've always found sound clips to be relatively useless... I 'd rather read customer reviews. Having said that, there are all kinds of awesome pickups out there and lots of new little manufacturers to be found on-line and on eBay winding custom pickups for very reasonable prices. Ultimately, it's a very personal choice and I've found it's a case of trial and error finding replacing pickups. For example, I had a 2011 American Standard strat and I didn't like the pickups at all... I just ordered a Mexican Standard strat and thought that I'd hate the ceramic pickups... it turned out that I loved them after I swapped out only the middle pickup with an alnico magnet RWRP pickup from an American Standard (the very same pickup I didn't like in the other guitar). You just can't ever tell...

Custom wiring is also a lot of fun... I've been adding "neck-on" toggles to my strats so you can use the neck pickup with any combination of pickups (it add the option of all three at once or just the neck and bridge). If you go with strat sized humbuckers (like Seymour Duncans or Dimarzios) you're wiring possibilities become exponentially larger. In phase, out of phase, split coil, and on and on. I don't know how comfortable you are with soldering but with a little practice you can get the hang of it pretty quickly. Here's a good site for wiring mods... http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/menu.php

Most importantly, have fun with it! There are also cosmetic changes you can try... different colored plastic parts (though I can't say I'm a huge fan of the non-traditional colored plastic. I like white, parchment, aged white, aged pearl, tortoise, and black) BUT, I've seen some pretty cool looking guitars others have built using different colored plastic... hey man, it's your guitar, go for it! The anodized guards and metal flake guards would look pretty cool too if you paired them with the right colored body.

Let us know what you decide and of course, show us some PICTURES! :D

Quote:
should i sand down fretboard


In all my ranting I almost forgot to comment on this... My recommendation would be no. What are you hoping to achieve by sanding it down? I've had guitars ranging from very flat radii to the vintage 7.25 like you have. Soloing and chording is possible with all of them... they all have a different feel but you can adjust to it. Of course that's based on playing classic rock, blues, and jazzy stuff... maybe someone playing outside of those genres could better tell you the advantages/disadvantages of neck radii and fret size.


Last edited by JamGuy on Sat Oct 19, 2013 8:54 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Hot rodding a guitar
Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 8:53 am
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If you haven't already done so, you might upgrade the stock MIJ electronics to standard CTS pots, a CRL selector switch, and a Switchcraft output jack (you'll need new knobs to fit the larger CTS shafts and a new switch tip as well). Changing the tone-cap value may also be of benefit, depending upon which pickups you've installed.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Hot rodding a guitar
Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 9:06 am
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Wow thanks guys i put new pickups in it im learning everyday i was wondering abput pots what are they? See i been playing for a long time i dont have any friends that play and i dont play out alot i dont have any one to shoot the breeze with as far as guitars go so i aploigize before hand if any of my questions sound dumb, so i put a tiquitys in (not me my guitar guy) they sound good little tingy but nice and a super vee trem im lefty so my options are limited i shaved the neck down a little bit took the gloss off feels nice but as far as sounding better im a,wiays up to try new things


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Post subject: Re: Hot rodding a guitar
Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 11:35 pm
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Pots, or potentiometers are the electronics under the dials. Retroverbial (Arjay) is saying that many people change all the electronics on the Japanese guitars. The Japanese instruments are considered very well built, fine axes. If there is any criticism of the quality, there are some who say the electronics are a weak spot.
It might get rid of some of that "tingy"!

You have new pickups, (tiquities?), but you could always look at getting a "loaded pickguard", which will have new electronics on.

Or just ask your 'guitar guy' to swap the electronics for you.

People here love to shoot the breeze with guitar talk 8) !
They love pictures too! - that link of Miami Mike's will show you how to add pics if you are curious (we are). Pics are a good way get people talking about what they would do :wink:


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