Captainstrat

3 hours ago, mistermikev said:

looks good, nice work.

Thanks!  I'm learning, slowly!  

Project complete!  

The answer is yes!  And the Fender tremolo arm fits the Hondo bridge better than the original Hondo Fame one that went missing!

okay, my parcel tracking app tells me the new replacement tremolo arm was delivered while I was at work; this is where we see whether or not the Canada Post carrier is smarter than the Amazon one!  

Alright, so Amazon shipping messed up again...I really hate it when the delivery guy assumes that leaving the parcel on my doorstep is "good enough"...I mean it's one thing if I'm home, but when I'm not, it's a different story!  Thus far I've had 2 DVD's one pedal and more recently, the replacement tremolo arm, stolen by a neighbor! 

They've always been good at refunding my money, and this time around, they added notes to contact me before delivery, and to ship to the nearest retail outlet if I'm not available...hopefully that helps.

So...DHL was instructed to deliver the tremolo backplate to the nearest DHL outlet, and since the new replacement tremolo arm is being shipped via Canada Post, it'll either be slipped through the mail slot (like duh! It's not that big Amazon couriers!  ) or  it'll be sent to the nearest Postal Outlet (a block away from the DHL place, so it's alright, good exercise  )

Miss Pauline is pretty much finished, the back plate is for cosmetics only (I'm using my old cream colored one that came on the MIM Strat, until I went white pearloid on it), and while I hardly ever use the tremolo arm, it's nice to have the option available  

My other DIY (with LOTS of help from master luthier Brian Mascarin), I call her Gypsy Rose  

Miss Paulina and her Cousin Miss Pina

I'm using a Fernandes FSK-401 kit for Stratocaster style guitars, which I got new from Ebay a while back - tried installing it in My Mexican Strat, trying various bridge pickups other than the Fernandes bridge  humbucker (that was mistake #1) didn't like it, "re-Fenderized" my Strat and put the kit in a box (with several damaged pieces due to my dumbass mods). So many years later, I was very fortunate to find replacement parts (for the ones I damaged) and go "full Fernandes" on Miss Pauline (well, the electronics are anyway, except for a better quality pickup switch and the Squier pickup in the middle).

Somehow, the system is working loads better on Miss Pauline than it did on my MIM Strat...again, replacing the bridge pickup was the initial mistake.  Besides, I like to have a standard Stratocaster with the Vintage Noiseless pickups for that signature sound, and the overpowered DIY counterpart with active electronics and singing sustain  and the comfortable weight is another plus (I've had neck & shoulder issues and developed mild arthritis in my back, so the lighter the better).

31 minutes ago, mistermikev said:

hope your circuit has reverse polarity protection on it... as another thing that will smoke real good is a diode being burn out by rev power... and it's kind of fun to see (ask me how I know).

Well, it's still wroking fine, even after I did the mistake you pointed out earlier (forgot to flip the wires, then corrected my mistake when I noticed there was no signal).  That Sustainer preamp impresses me,  even the cheap ceramic single coil pickup I have in middle position (a remnant from a Squier Bullet Strat I once owned) has no hum being wired to that preamp!  Not sure if it has built in 60 cycle filters, but whatever it is, I like it!  And when that sustainer circuit is engaged...oh Mama Mia!  It's looouuuud meng! 

7 hours ago, mistermikev said:

looks like yer using two bat clips to extend the wire length?  you prob already thought of this but note that that will flip the wires so bare end will be wrong colors... not that it matters.  just lookin' out for my fellow bro!

 

oh snap... just saw the shot where you flipped em back for the final clip.  was still lookin' out for you tho!

Much appreciated    While my Dremel got quite the workout (as did my vacuum cleaner to my cat's chagrin ) and my random oscillating sander came in quite useful in the finish sanding process; the most overlooked and underappreciated tool in the bunch (yet the one that saved me the most headaches) was my manual drill!  I used it for all of the pilot holes on the guitar body, including the tremolo spring claw!

Oh yeah, one thing that got my attention real quick was the smoke that the CA glue makes when "hardening" the threaded holes...and wiping the excess with a paper towel, I could feel it getting hot!  anyway...

As I mentioned earlier, I ordered a black tremolo cover plate to match the pickguard, pickups and knobs.  The first tremolo arm I ordered was a cheap POS that didn't fit my old Hondo Fame bridge (technically a Samick I guess?) and litterally bent as I attempted to test the tremolo bridge!  Ordered a new one (meant for standard Fender threading, hopefully it's close enough to the Fame's) and why not, with a matching black knob  

Also with the battery clips, I got a cool deep blue strap with lightning print for Miss Pauline (sorry, couldn't help it...I refer to the Pinecaster as Piney and the Sustainer Strat as Miss Pauline because of her Paulownia body  )on which I'll install the other pieces of the Strap Locks.

Gave the guitar another buff (the lacquer does scratch and chip easily  )

Moving closer to the finished product!  Got a black back plate on order for the tremolo cavity!

Okay...so it looks like the battery box fits the battery sideways rather than flat...I'd have to carve too deep in the body, and the box would interfere either with the pickups, the pots  or the preamp controls itself...so either I need a different battery box (a flat mounted one) or keep the current one and splice the battery wires so I can carve the battery box cavity an inch or so behind the tremolo cavity and have the battery wires reach all the way down there...or I can do what this dude did and be done with it!

1 hour ago, ScottR said:

Your nut actually looks fine in this shot. I'd say your neck and bridge are just slightly out of alignment. with each other. If you have no adjustment left.....can you loosen the neck up a tad, push the headstock to the bass side a hair and re-tighten? If not, I'd just push the nut itself a little that way to center the strings up a little better.

For the G-string, will a slight raising of the bridge saddle fix it? If not you can sand or file down the 22nd fret till the buzz goes away and then re-polish it. You don't have to worry much with the 22nd fret, there is no 23rd to buzz if you get it too low.

SR

1 hour ago, mistermikev said:

I think he may have glued this neck in no?  either way... looks pretty close... could loosen trem screws and try to gain some leeway there and/or move the nut L/R.  If it isn't glued in then... what he said^!

Perhaps slightly enlarging the bolt holes in the neck pocket a smidge would allow me to push the headstock to the bass side and align the strings better on the fretboard...Paulownia is so soft I get leery of any such mods  I'll give the whole neck to body joint and bridge saddle height on the G string a few more tweaks when I come home from work!   

Today's update: used a Baltic birch shim to prop up the bridge (a Popsicle stick cut to size  ) , strung up the guitar, adjusted the saddles for sound, checked the intonation and tested the sustainer circuit...we have liftoff   

Left to do: strap lock installation, battery compartment and tremolo cavity cover.  And a setup...thus far I got the strings sounding clear across the fretboard, but the G string notes out at the 21st fret (I.e. I hear the 22nd fret)  all of the other strings sound fine at those frets...very off it's only happening on the G string, I might need a professional setup/fret dress...,that 6 screw bridge has been a PITA to install and setup!

Turns out the nut was cut unevenly, the strings line up properly over the pickups,, but a bit too inwards on the low E and just barely enough on the treble side...or is that the normal way Stratocaster nuts are cut?

• pickguard/bridge positioned so the strings properly align with the fretboard and pickups - check
• Pickup cavity enlarged to fit the active electronics and wiring - check
• patch-up job to repair the battery wire that broke at the quick connector - check
• desoldering the stereo jack to thread the battery negative, ground and hot wires through the tiny hole leading to the output jack cavity - check
• fixing the ground problem that gave me lots of hum and no signal - check ( even the middle position single coil now gives me signal with very little hum!)
• drilling the tremolo cavity claw holes - check (Used my manual drill, didn't even need the Dremel angle attachment) 
• centre-punching the holes to the tremolo while the E-strings are properly aligned - check
• Drilling the bridge holes using one of the silicone depth colars - check
• putting in the tremolo screws (bridge and  claw), removing them and soaking the holes with thin CA - check

Left to do once the parts come in - 9 volt battery box installation, rolling string trees on the headstock; ad installing the strap lock buttons..

One problem detected: that neck is very thick at the heel, I'd have to really jack up the bridge saddles to get them to ring.  I could sand the heel and risk an uneven job. or raise the tremolo bridge itself...I borrowed an idea I read from an old Guitar Player interview where this one guitarist (Duke Robillard I think?) would use several layers of masking tape under his bridge to get a better rocking motion on a floating tremolo....we'll see how that works out!

I wanted to mention it earlier, but kept putting it off...that black spot in the pickpu cavity, near the bridge...that's a crack where a knot used to be, you can actually see through to the tremolo cavity.  I dismissed it at first, but this is Paulownia after all....that crack/hole might be a structural flaw, being that it's so near the bridge cavity?

Now that I have the superglue, I guess I could fill it with a mix of sawdust and superglue?  Dan Erlewine sai in one of his columns that superglue and baking soda is also good to plug holes (but that was for stripped screw holes)?  Any recommendations?

Masking tape to the rescue...I'm going to do another fitting later after work, a) make sure the bridge position properly aligns the strings with the fingerboard, b) once the bridge is properly positioned, that the pickguard is properly positioned so the pickups are properly aligned under the strings and c) after beasuring the Sustainer circuit board, Iwill need to rout at least 5 cm of wood to accommodate te circuit and wiring... tape up the parts that need to be marked up and go from there...more later!

preliminary fitting... it took 2 tries to get the bolt holes in the heel to properly align with the holes in the neck pocket (light sanding in the neck pocket did it) and the StewMac angled shims aren't a drop-in direct fit...based on pickguard 1 (I had tried to replace the Fernandes humbucker with a high powered rails single coil...didn't really work) there's a lot of wood material to remove in the pickup cavity, and I'm wondering if the Dremel will be up to the task...I might have to use the router after all...but since Paulownia is such a soft wood I'm worried I'll mess up...

With the pickguard properly aligned to the bridge, things are starting to look decent...slow progress since I want to make sure I do things right; but progress

Pickguard, output jack and corresponding screws delivered! I'll use my old pickguard as a template to drill the Sustainer mini switches holes...tonight's after work project  

3 minutes ago, mistermikev said:

really looking nice.  good work.

Thanks!

Alright, wet sanding done last night, hand rubbed buffing and polishing done this morning, not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but a lot better than what I did on the Pinecaster.  Hung the body again until the missing parts are delivered.  Here's what it's looking like now.

Ordered a new SSH black pickguard from Amazon with screws included, as well as a Strat output jack (the pickguard screws and output jack I'd ordered from Ebay seem to be lost in transit, and black pickups/knobs on black will look sharper than the current yellowish pearloid pickguard I have.). The rolling string trees and trem arm aren't as urgent, and the battery box and thin super glue (Bob Smith 103 Insta-Cure 2oz Super Thin) should  come in this week...progress!

Okay, curing day 13, I think it's ready for wet sanding!  I've been soaking wet and dry sandpaper in a bucket of soapy water (grits 600, 800, 1000 & 2000) since around 12:30 pm,  they should be just right when I'm home from work (I work evening shift).  If memory serves, I do circular sanding motions with the 600 grit (until I'm rid of the drips and "runs" in the finish, I used a foam brush since I don't have a spray booth), straight back and forth sanding with the 800 grit, circular again with the 1000 grit and back and forth with the 2000 grit until smooth.

I actually took the time to apply 12 coats of Watco clear lacquer this time around as opposed to only 8 on the pine caster (which sanded through in some spots). I read on another board that one guy uses one of those "pink pearl" erasers wrapped in wet & dry sandpaper to wet sand the contours, so I'll give that a try!

5 hours ago, ShatnersBassoon said:

So far so good! That neck looks like a vintage amber rather than the result of smoking, but I could be wrong.

I meant the pickguard looked a bit yellowish, that its prior owner might have been a smoker

3 hours ago, mistermikev said:

I had a slight issue with my first bass build as the neck neck needed a hair of a shim - very slight... I just took a block and sanded in an angle to the neck.  I guess it depends on how off yours is... but in a pinch.  cheers.

I figured that getting them pre-made by Stewart McDonald  would save me a lot of time and trial and error; I'm a hack  

4 hours ago, ShatnersBassoon said:

So far so good! That neck looks like a vintage amber rather than the result of smoking, but I could be wrong.

yep, it was supposed to be "vintage style" when I bought it, save for the extra fret.   It was inexpensive, so I pulled the trigger on it.  I'm going to have to rub off that waterslive Fender logo, it's not Fender licensed or Fender OEM (the Telecaster neck I got for the Pine caster was supposedly an OEM neck)