WezV Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 ok, this is the guitar i am doing a replica of I am not making a relic so wont be doing the wear or dodgy ground wire from bridge to jack. It is actually a 1974 sunburst hardtail strat that got converted by a charvel builder who lived with jake - even reshaped the headstock from teh large style one I am allowing a few differences from the originals specs - but not many!! I am using warmoth parts because the customer wants an authentic fender headstock which i wont do. We discussed getting a licensed neck and finally decided to get neck and body to speed the build up. here is the body and neck: The body is alder even though the fender was most likely ash. Most of jakes other guitars were alder so we decided to go with that. We also allowed ourselves to ditch the 3 bolt neck plate for a 4 bolt with contoured heel. I reckon its worth the sacrifice in authenticity! I got warmoth to route normal single coild because they wont do them angled. I could have just left them and done them myself but since jakes started as a fender it makes sense to have the fender rout there first. i wasnt willing to go with a swimming pool the neck is a warmoth pro because it has a skunk stripe and head end adjustment, although i need to see about getting a bullet truss rod adjuster on there even if its just a truss rod cover in the same shape. it does have 22 frest instead of the originals 21 but i reckon we can live with that!! here is a mockup of parts the black and chrome bridge was probably the hardest thing to get - it came from allparts japan in the end here are the tuners they have been reversed to left handed use now!!. we took a couple of liberties with these. First off we upgraded to sperzels over gotohs we also went with chrome buttons to match the bridge rather than pearloid of the original Pickups will be 2 dimarzio SDS-1s and a Bare Knuckle prototype in the bridge based on the alan holdsworth seymour duncan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted January 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 the warmoth vintage modern neck comes with a head end truss rod adjustment with a walnut plug in it. Obviously it doesnt look right for what i need so i have just removed the walnut plug and installed a bullet the bullet wont actually replace the normal truss rod adjustment - its too short for that. best to think of it as a truss rod cover. Its a tight psuh fit but I think i am going to have a small screw going diagonally through the hole in the end to attach it more securely - that should also stop anyone trying to use it to adjust the truss rod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 I am using warmoth parts because the customer wants an authentic fender headstock which i wont do. We discussed getting a licensed neck and finally decided to get neck and body to speed the build up. Pickups will be 2 dimarzio SDS-1s and a Bare Knuckle prototype in the bridge based on the alan holdsworth seymour duncan Personally, I don't see the point of building the neck and body for something like this since the parts are readily available for so cheap. I think that is a wise decision. I like these metal strats. My favorite is the blue one that Dave Murray used in Iron Maiden. I've always wondered about how this guitar would sound with the pickups angled like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 Did you make the pickguard yourself or did you buy it. Cool bridge. Could you not have gotten a black bridge and get aftermarket chrome saddles? the neck is a warmoth pro because it has a skunk stripe and head end adjustment, although i need to see about getting a bullet truss rod adjuster on there even if its just a truss rod cover in the same shape. it does have 22 frest instead of the originals 21 but i reckon we can live with that!! 22 frets is a must. I made the mistake of putting in 21 frets on my Randy Rhoads polka dot "tribute" guitar because that's what Randy had but now, I miss that 22nd fret dearly. I'll be making a new neck soon (its a bolt on) with 22 frets to replace it (and convert the body to set neck while I'm at it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 I'd like to try a guitar with the neck pickup angled too. I hope it would smooth out the lower strings, which is one of my only dislikes about neck pickups. The lower strings get too bassy sometimes. I take it the guy you're building for is a big Ozzy fan, Wez. Will the Seymours be a good balance with the Bareknuckle bridge? The one commonality I hear from everyone using BKP is "loud!" I just wish I had enough money to get a set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted January 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 Did you make the pickguard yourself or did you buy it. Cool bridge. Could you not have gotten a black bridge and get aftermarket chrome saddles? I was lazy with the pickguard as well. I ordered it from pickguardian.com because i was told they already had a template for it. Its really well made and i hate working with plastic so it was a wise decision Most people who try to do a copy of this use a gotoh bridge so its easy to mix and match parts. I really would have liked an original charvel, or even just a black baseplate from one - but this is the closest thing available. the main difference is that it is milled from brass rather than folded. It has the thicker back edge and this was really important to the customer. I showed him many different hardtails and this is the one he wanted. Wez. Will the Seymours be a good balance with the Bareknuckle bridge? The one commonality I hear from everyone using BKP is "loud!" I just wish I had enough money to get a set. the original has Dimarzio SDS-1's and a Seymour Duncan Holdsworth custom humbucker. So the brands dont match on that either. The original Seymour duncan holdsworth is apparently just a JB with double screw poles so thats what most people use, . I like BKP's too much to not have them on ther guitar. It should match well with the sds-1's because the singles can go closer to the strings and are more adjustable than normal strat ones - they are built more like a p-90 with magnets either side of screw polepieces Personally i dont think BKP's are any louder than any other brand unless you go for the higher output models... which a lot of people do. I would have liked to use BKP singles as well but it wasnt to be. They really benefit from some time adjusting the heights. they can sound alright but kind of normal at one height then jump into glorious sonic nirvana with a slight tweak.. not necisarily louder, just a hell of a lot better and its very noticeable. You sometimes see people saying that there new BKP's dont sound that great for the money on the BKP forum.. then they always come back after tweaking them and say how wrong they were!!! The guy already has a blueburst like jake used with Ozzy that was built by legra guitars. As far as i know he is more of Jake/badlands fan in general rather than just ozzy stuff. We are currently discussing a white and black SG junior like Jake used as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perhellion Posted January 13, 2008 Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 I dont know how important authenticity is to your customer, but two details spring to mind (one which I would consider important for the look and one which isn't) The not important one is Jake's use of two sizes of frets -- jumbos 1-11 and smaller ones 12 and up. The one detail I would want to duplicate is the headstock. The original is not a small Fender shape. It's closer to early Charvel shape. The difference is in the round part on the end. The Charvel end includes a little more of the circle than a Fender. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted January 13, 2008 Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 (edited) 22 frets is a must. I made the mistake of putting in 21 frets on my Randy Rhoads polka dot "tribute" guitar because that's what Randy had he diddnt have 21 frets Edited January 13, 2008 by killemall8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted January 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 I dont know how important authenticity is to your customer, but two details spring to mind (one which I would consider important for the look and one which isn't) The not important one is Jake's use of two sizes of frets -- jumbos 1-11 and smaller ones 12 and up. The one detail I would want to duplicate is the headstock. The original is not a small Fender shape. It's closer to early Charvel shape. The difference is in the round part on the end. The Charvel end includes a little more of the circle than a Fender. I know what you are saying about the headstock, but the customer is happy with the small fender shape. The neck was made with jumbo wire all the way down, he could have had two different sizes of fret wire to be more authentic but at the end of the day it has to be comfortable for him first not jake himself. We are happy that whilst not producing an exact replica, he will have one of the closest guitars to jakes original in a lot of ways and the guitar is still built to suit him as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted January 13, 2008 Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 the original has Dimarzio SDS-1's and a Seymour Duncan Holdsworth custom humbucker. Jake's was a "Duncan 59 with double screws". Maybe that's also what a Holdsworth is too ? (for some reason I have always assumed a Holdworth is more JB like. Never had my hands on a Holdsworth pickup) Anyway, I got the info straight from Seymour's place, back in the late 80's. I then bought a Jackson J-50 (basically vintage PAF copy), drilled out second slug coil, installed some threaded plastic inserts, then I had me a cheap double screw "59ish" pickup. And Actually got closer to the Jake sound, when I popped that bucker in a heavy ash Fender, and got farther from his sound when I popped it into a Basswood Fender. Pretty likely Jake's was a Heavy Northern Ash body. There's a photo somewhere of it, when it was still a sunburst. Of course amp/effect is half the sound, at least. I sure didn't have no early 70's Marshall hundred watter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perhellion Posted January 13, 2008 Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 Does anyone know why Jake likes the two different sizes of fretwire? I can see how the smaller frets might give your fingers more room where the frets are closer together, but Jake has really small hands (I shook hands with him after a show, and mine are pretty average.), so that's probably not why. The small frets are probably shorter also, so it would be like a fallaway (is that one word), allowing lower action. Anybody know for sure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted January 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 the original has Dimarzio SDS-1's and a Seymour Duncan Holdsworth custom humbucker. Jake's was a "Duncan 59 with double screws". Maybe that's also what a Holdsworth is too ? (for some reason I have always assumed a Holdworth is more JB like. Never had my hands on a Holdsworth pickup) Anyway, I got the info straight from Seymour's place, back in the late 80's. I then bought a Jackson J-50 (basically vintage PAF copy), drilled out second slug coil, installed some threaded plastic inserts, then I had me a cheap double screw "59ish" pickup. And Actually got closer to the Jake sound, when I popped that bucker in a heavy ash Fender, and got farther from his sound when I popped it into a Basswood Fender. Pretty likely Jake's was a Heavy Northern Ash body. There's a photo somewhere of it, when it was still a sunburst. Of course amp/effect is half the sound, at least. I sure didn't have no early 70's Marshall hundred watter. It sounds like jake swapped pickups a lot, apprently the guitar had both the 59 and JB like holdsworth pickup at different times. It also had a lipstick in the neck position at one time as well. The customer is fairly happy with the jake tone he gets from his alder blueburst so we stuck with alder. Does anyone know why Jake likes the two different sizes of fretwire? I can see how the smaller frets might give your fingers more room where the frets are closer together, but Jake has really small hands (I shook hands with him after a show, and mine are pretty average.), so that's probably not why. The small frets are probably shorter also, so it would be like a fallaway (is that one word), allowing lower action. Anybody know for sure? I havnt done it on this guitar but i do like to do it on 24 fret guitars, especially if they have shorter scale lengths. My guess is that if jake did it it was probably because someone said it was a good thing to do, rather than actually needing it done. When you do it you try and get fret wire with similar heights. i do it with dunlop 6100 for the first 12 (0.110" wide, 0.055" tall) and 6105 for the last 12 (0.090" wide by 0.055" tall). A drop away over the last half of the fretboard would not be desirable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted January 13, 2008 Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 Why not? As long as it's not some sort of absolutely insane dropaway (a few micrometres isn't much), you could potentially remove possible sources of fret buzz. In theory at least. If that logic doesn't stack up, I'd be curious to know why not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted January 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 because suddenly half your frets are on a lower plane to the rest. I dont see how you would get lower action with that.. in fact i think if you tried to get a lower action that way you would get a lot of fret buzz from frets 7-9. Much better to get a lower action with a good fret job if thats what you are after. If you set the guitar up normally you would have higher action than neccisary over the second lot of frets I know some people like to put in a slight drop away once the frets reach the body and i have less problem with that since its usually only the last section of fretboard but i still feel even that is only making up for poor fretting or a dodgy neck. still, if it gets you what you need then why not i guess i am just a traditionalist and like frets levelled and the correct amount of relief dialled in after If i wanted to do this with two other fret sized i would have a lot of filing to make sure they were level Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted January 14, 2008 Report Share Posted January 14, 2008 A very good point. I wasn't thinking in terms of getting the lowest possible action, which is never really one of my personal aims anyhow. I dislike having action that low. But yeah, if you had an absolutely excellent fret job and a great setup, having them all the same level WOULD make more sense. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted January 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2008 i dont actually set up most of my guitars with the lowest possible action either - - but i do like the lowest possible action to be real low, just incase someone does want it i feel its something the guitar needs to be capable of doing whever its needed yet or not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted January 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 done the work needed on the warmoth body. pickup routs and appropriate bridge holes Here is the whole thing for those of you with no imagination humbucker is ordered and its off to the sprayers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 It's backwards........ God save me if I ever build a lefty project. It's a gut instinct that something will definitely go wrong. Looks good so far. I forgot to ask, but is there going to be any funky wiring setup going on? I'm not familiar with Jake's equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted January 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 i dont know if jakes had any tricks so we are going with standard 5-way operation and a single volume with no hidden switches Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack The Riffer Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 (edited) Cool Project. How is it coming along? I just got a Charvel Custom Shop that is very close to this, it has a Duncan Custom in the bridge though, the SDS-1's are not slanted and the fretboard is ebony. Edited February 7, 2008 by Jack The Riffer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted February 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 i have the Bare Knuckle holdsworth humbucker now and wired up the scratchplate ... the body and neck are being sprayed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted February 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 andi have a pic of two of the colour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted February 8, 2008 Report Share Posted February 8, 2008 Looking fantastic! What kind of paint did you end up choosing? It's a nice shade of white. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted February 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2008 i think its a two part automotive lacquer we went with in the end, we just ordered the base white that is used to mix all the other colours, we figured that had to be the whitest white. Looks like we have a run or two on the back as well but we were assured it wouldnt be a problem with the type of paint - just got to get it all on there and flat it off afterwards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted February 8, 2008 Report Share Posted February 8, 2008 Good idea with getting the base white! And a nice tip from my dad when he got his LeMans painted was that white hides imperfections well But the getting the drip off should be no problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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