Beater Guitar Fixup -- "done"

[fookgub]

My poor old Yamaha has been the victim of a number of abuses over the years. It's been rewired several times, routed and cut up, had hardware stolen to use on other guitars, and, worst of all, refretted twice while I was teaching myself fretwork. I decided to to get this guitar back into shape a while ago, and now that it's basically done, I'm posting the results.

The main thing to do was get the neck back into shape. I had re-fretted and re-radiused the board to the point where it would no longer hold fretwire, and I had sanded into the side markers. Pretty bad looking:

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework031.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework032.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework033.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework034.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework035.jpg

First thing's first. I steamed off the fretboard:

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework038.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework039.jpg

Next... make a new board (Jatoba):

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework036.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework037.jpg

Glue on the new board (simple, right?):

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework040.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework041.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework042.jpg

Oh crap! Gap!

Well, I know how to fix this... first thing's first. Steam off the board:

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework044.jpg

Mr. Neck, meet Mr. Jointer. He's here to straighten you out.

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework045.jpg

Now that's a nice flat gluing surface.

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework046.jpg

My newly re-surfaced neck along with a nice new Jatoba fretboard blank:

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework047.jpg

A thought occurs... the truss rod now sits proud of the channel. I think I know what to do:

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework048.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework049.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework050.jpg

Making another fretboard:

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework051.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework053.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework054.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework055.jpg

Glued on. (Yay, got it right this time):

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework056.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework057.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework058.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework059.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework060.jpg

Now, let's install those side dots. I radiused the board first, but didn't take any pictures.

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework061.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework062.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework063.jpg

Nut shelf is a little uneven after the jointing operation. I think I know how to clean it up. I should have taken better pictures here. My router is bolted to a sled that rests on those rails. Then I simply ran a follower bit across the piece of wood that's bolted over the fretboard.

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework064.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework065.jpg

Now, remember how the trussrod nut was in-place in the last photo? Well, all I can say is I'm glad it was aluminum, because I forgot it was there.

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework066.jpg

Now, we're going to have to skip a few steps. I fretted and finished the neck. I was going to lacquer it, but cold weather and impatience combined for a Tru Oil finish. I gotta say I'm very impressed with how good it came out. Every bit as satisfying as a nicely lacquered neck, and a lot less work. Finish on the headstock face is original, everything else is Tru Oil.

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework002.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework003.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework006.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework010.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework011.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework012.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework013.jpg

http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/yamaha-rework014.jpg

Ok, so we got the neck taken care of. Next up: electronics. Previously, the guitar had an over-wound Strat pickup in the neck position, and humbuckers in the neck and middle positions (GFS Crunchy PAT and Crunchy Rails). The humbuckers each had a series/parallel switch, and all the pickups were switched using a standard Strat-style 5-way. I wanted more options. So I wired the humbuckers to a 6P4T rotary switch that selects series/parallel/inside coil/outside coil for the humbuckers, and replaced the neck pickup with an Artec rail humbucker hooked up to a 3-way swtich for series/parallel/single coil modes. I'm still using the Strat 5-way, but there is a middle/neck pickup swap switch that let's me get the Tele sound. I also put in a kill switch, but it's too noisy to be of much use right now. No tone knob, either... don't need that.

Rather than waste too many words trying to describe the electronics, I'll just post a schematic.

Couple threads related to my electronics:

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...c=35808&hl=

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...c=39331&hl=

I'm already toying with some other electronics ideas. I might change to neck/middle swap switch to a "neck pickup on" switch. This would give me one more combination (all the pickups in parallel), but I find the swap switch more intuitive. If I can figure out how add neck+middle, neck+bridge, and middle+bridge series combinations without adding too many more holes in the pickguard, I might do that, too. I've also been toying with the idea of a "blower" switch like the one Myka posted recently.

Of course, I had to bust out the router for some of this stuff, but I didn't take any pictures while I was doing it. I also shielded the pickguard, but not the control cavity (too much work). The wiring avoids ground loops, so I haven't had any problems with noise anyway.

Still to do:

- Make new nut

- Install string tree for D/G strings

Edited February 7, 2009 by fookgub

[kolanski]

Thats an interesting pickup configuration (at least to me ha). Does that have any sound benefits to it?

[fookgub]

Thats an interesting pickup configuration (at least to me ha). Does that have any sound benefits to it?

I guess the main benefit would be versatility. It can do passable impressions of a Strat and Tele with the right amp settings. Plus it's got the regular Superstrat sounds, and a few unique sounds, too. Unfortunately, the "right" amp settings for each voice are very different, so you would need a multi-channel amp to be able to get all the sounds in the same set.

I don't actually use, or plan to use, all 39 combinations, though. I wired the guitar like this more so I could easily test a number of wiring configurations, and come up with a switching system that lets me access my favorite ones in the most convenient way possible.