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Project Zero


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Zero

Kamikaze inspired pickup horse.

Neck :Allparts Maple

Fretboard : Ebony

Scale : 25.5

Frets : 22

Trussrod : ALLPARTS

Body : Allparts Ash

Tuners : Locking

Pickups : TBD

Bridge : TRS Floyd

Electronics : 1 Push/pull

I have been chasing vintage Kamikazes on eBay for a few years but just do not want to spend that kind of money on that simple a guitar. It is time to make one. I am going to use an ash body instead of the soft maple. Maybe later down the road I will build a soft maple body but for now this will do.

Allparts reverse hockey stick and single humbucker ash strat body. Both pieces are very high quality Japanese parts.

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After bolting the neck on it is time to line everything up. Using a long straight edge I mark the taper of the neck past the bridge. Next I use the centering ruler to make a center mark near the neck then near the bridge. I then draw the centerline. I am using a .5 lead pencil for this with a very light touch (not pushing on the pencil) allowing for the offset of the thickness of the lead.

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Digging through my templates I realize I do not have a Floyd Recess template. I am not waiting around on Stew Mac. I use a square 6x8" piece of hardboard with the rough side up. Mark center lines on it and start laying out the floyd recess. I leave a 1/8" on each side of the tremolo.

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Sweet. Actually saw George Lynch today at the Dallas Guitar Show.

He played pretty good this time, but he still needs to learn how to tune a guitar,

and quietly. ;D

Did you use the specs off the Floyd Rose site for the templates? I have a Mighty Mite

Strat I've been wanting to install a recessed Floyd on, but didn't feel like spending

the money for the Stew Mac templates either.

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Sweet. Actually saw George Lynch today at the Dallas Guitar Show.

He played pretty good this time, but he still needs to learn how to tune a guitar,

and quietly. ;D

I saw him with Dokken in the 80s then I met him on the first Lynch Mob tour. He is ummm... not the brightest bulb in the bunch but a really nice guy.

Funny enough I saw Lynch Mob and Badlands within a week of each other.

Did you use the specs off the Floyd Rose site for the templates? I have a Mighty Mite

Strat I've been wanting to install a recessed Floyd on, but didn't feel like spending

the money for the Stew Mac templates either.

No I just made it up on the spot... This is a rush job.

The obvious question is why are you using a pre-fab neck & body instead of making them yourself?

I really can't devote any time to this project. I have a pile of customer work that needs to get done first. It solves 2 problems... I get a Kamikaze and a pickup horse in one guitar. The paint job is going to take all summer...if it ever gets done.

I made the thread to give everyone a look at how to make templates quick.

Wants it done quick? I'm guessing from the title this isn't gunna be a "WOW MY NEW GUITAR" guitar, but is a working guitar in that you'll be leaving the controls minimal and using it to test pickups in all the time?

Chris

Yes it has to be done quick. Yes it is going to test pickups... way better than the ESP LTD F I am using now.

I have some local guys that want lower price regular guitars so this is also a little research into the amount of time to build one. Basically with all the templates done I can build a guitar in an afternoon. Finishing is the real time consumer.

Another thing is I need a guitar that can display the difference between my S9 models and a regular guitar. The difference is ergonomic overload. But when you are playing several of my guitars in a row it is cool to pickup a regular guitar and see how different they really are. I am not bringing guitars from my personal collection to guitar shows and what not.

I am torn between painting it like a kamikaze and just throwing some black oil on it and playing it. The swamp ash is really soft.

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Another thing is I need a guitar that can display the difference between my S9 models and a regular guitar. The difference is ergonomic overload. But when you are playing several of my guitars in a row it is cool to pickup a regular guitar and see how different they really are.

assuming you put the same effort into set-up - many will prefer the kamikaze :D I know i would - single pickup simple builds can be very addictive

i do the odd warmoth/allparts build, generally with very simple finishes. A decent set-up and they are as good as anything from the fender custom shop - but keeping it all quick and simple lets me put them out relatively cheap for those that need it. Last one got 3 light coats of dark green lacquer and a rub down with 0000 wire wool and wax. super simple, a nice sunken grain feel and took no time at all

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Another thing is I need a guitar that can display the difference between my S9 models and a regular guitar. The difference is ergonomic overload. But when you are playing several of my guitars in a row it is cool to pickup a regular guitar and see how different they really are.

assuming you put the same effort into set-up - many will prefer the kamikaze :D I know i would - single pickup simple builds can be very addictive

i do the odd warmoth/allparts build, generally with very simple finishes. A decent set-up and they are as good as anything from the fender custom shop - but keeping it all quick and simple lets me put them out relatively cheap for those that need it. Last one got 3 light coats of dark green lacquer and a rub down with 0000 wire wool and wax. super simple, a nice sunken grain feel and took no time at all

Actually WezV I believe I was inspired to revisit the ALLPARTS builds because of your Tele threads... so Tx!

Also I have been using ALLPARTS necks since the late 80s and they are always well build.

I really want to do the Kamikaze paint. It is going to make an epic how-to...

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i seem to remember their being a decal place doing kamikaze kits at some point. if you really want it to be done quick it might be worth looking into

Some of it will need to be decals... I was going to make them myself :D . I will look into the decal kit though as it will speed things up.

I am planning on using frisket film and a small touch up gun for the base colors. I have done them with poster board in the past (I used to make Lynch tiger copies all the time).

The color scheme is something I am toying with. I love the neon... but I think the original is the best.

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  • 3 months later...

Easy to fix. Just level it a little. Run a strip os walnut or maple over it. shape it nice n round & take the additional thickness outa the fret board. You could probobly do this in your sleep man

Thanks for the suggestion pauliemc! I haven't done any repair work in so long I forget you can fix things.

I was going to steal the trussrod and fingerboard and start over. And by start over meaning going with another companies prebuilt neck. I don't have the time to waste piddling with a $90.00 neck that is way to thick...

For the record the ALLPARTS hockey stick neck is a baseball bat. Not like some of there strat necks. There strat necks are great.

I am considering switching gears and making this into a copy of Tiger... you know a nice San Dimas with a Strat headstock.

I just don't have time to devote to this project like I should.

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Oh s$#&^ I just had a bad #$@$# idea.

I think I am going to try what paulie suggested and throw in some veneers in the process... stay tuned.

Huh ? :D wot the hell did I do !!

your gonna be an evil bsrtd and make us wait to see what your up too, arent you :D

Pretty much. B)

I always make you guys wait while I am finishing in the summer... I mean how many pictures of guitars drying can I take?

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  • 6 months later...

I've got a neck/headstock I screwed up that I use as a clamping block all the time.

I looked at how think your board is - when I used to make them that thick I had a bad habbit of doing exactly what you did. Sucks real bad.

I refuse to use cheap chunky rods anymore.

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Butchered the living crap outa it huh ? proper order. Always fun feeding someting to the bandsaw

Yeah... I was pretty pissed about the whole thing. I wanted to see why the trussrod was so deep in the neck. It is just a bad implementation. The rod was really soft metal as well... actually quite a let down as most ALLPARTS necks I have used in the past have been outstanding quality. Then again this one was "On Sale"

I looked at fixing it two or three times but in the end it will be better if I just make a neck for it. At least then it will be thin and have a double trussrod.

I am putting off making the new neck until I get the CNC fully functional.

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