How to strip paint the fastest, which chemical? And are vinyl finishes frowned upon?

[FuzzFace]

On 9/18/2022 at 7:40 PM, Bizman62 said:

Should be doable with relative ease. It's always easier to take away than to add.

The only thing Im not fond of is Poplar wood. Its something Ive had stuck in my head for ages as we use it for firewood and its considered less valuable than pine here. I also find its dynamic response in reviews vs Alder and Ash to be rather dull. But it may have construction strength Im not aware of, I know some people complained about basswood being used with Floyd style trems as the posts wood squish and move. So it may suit Floyd style trems more, Ive noticed it used more and more in guitars.

On the flip side there is the cheap and cheerful Kramer Focus Kramer Focus VT-211S Electric Guitar - Teal | Sweetwater

It uses a Mahogany body and a non baked maple neck, but havnt seen a review mentioning fret sprouting yet. Clearly the Aria is a higher standard with better fixtures and fittings.

But $149 for the Kramer and about $250 for the Aria, probably for $100 the Aria makes it worth it as a Mod platform.

Ive got a source for an $80 Licensed Floyd Rose that has replaced the usual soft metals and is all "Hardened Metals".. I would have to make room for the Floyd locking nut at the first fret, but many have done this in the past. I have Stratosphere to provide very cheap real Seymour Duncan Charvel loomed pickups at a very good price.

It seems to make for an easier mod project than trying to find a neck that would fit the s520 body, as nice as that would be.

[FuzzFace]

I was just thinking the s561, which is actually quite a nice sounding instrument, is an S body that uses the 25.5" Wizard neck. Its a hard tail. Im thinking they must all use the same 25.5" 15.75" radius neck. I dont have proof but it seems too logical not to be true. 

The other thought I had was, what if I went to a gat shop, got the s521 (the one with the $150 body I want to put a charvel or a 12" squier neck on) and I got the Charvel and the Squier, all 25.5", I should be able to see if the heel lines up on each, along with the final fret before the overhang?

Sorry I sort of have 2 mod projects going on in my mind, Hopefully next year when the recession eases off and our petrol prices are more in line with the current US prices, we have been looking at some basic tools for bodies and modifications. I dont think I will ever get to the point of building neck but making my own bodies out of Poplar would pay for itself. 

In the mean time partscasting is keeping me occupied. I really want that Charvel neck on that s521 body, but would be happy putting a Floyd rose in the Aria strat.

[FuzzFace]

I wish they would increase the time out allotment on the site so you can edit posts rather than create longer threads. uggh.

Anyways, Im looking at the Aria and to be fair they are a pretty high-quality instrument for $250 US. I wish there was more info on the necks, but supposedly the radius is fairly flat and pretty thin, not that it tells me a lot, but sounds ok....

They using the top Wilkinson 2 post trem, which has pretty good tuning stability. I think if I bought on Id just play i for a  while before deciding on which electronics to upgrade and whether a Floyd is a must have. 

[Bizman62]

2 hours ago, FuzzFace said:

I wish they would increase the time out allotment on the site so you can edit posts rather than create longer threads. uggh.

Huh? For testing purposes I just clicked the "edit" button for a post I wrote in August and it still worked.

Speaking about Poplar, it's a decent choice for electric guitars. Here neither Aspen/Poplar nor Pine are valued as firewood, the former burns too fast to ashes and the resin of the latter can clog the pipes....

That said, Poplar is a pain to sand level! The softer summer growth just disappears under the sandpaper and even worse, it tends to disintegrate to long fibres. A sanding primer helps, though.

[FuzzFace]

On 9/20/2022 at 7:11 PM, Bizman62 said:

Huh? For testing purposes I just clicked the "edit" button for a post I wrote in August and it still worked.

Speaking about Poplar, it's a decent choice for electric guitars. Here neither Aspen/Poplar nor Pine are valued as firewood, the former burns too fast to ashes and the resin of the latter can clog the pipes....

That said, Poplar is a pain to sand level! The softer summer growth just disappears under the sandpaper and even worse, it tends to disintegrate to long fibres. A sanding primer helps, though.

I got no idea why I cant, maybe because I havnt been around as long and my editing restrictions are limited.

For clean tones I notice a fairly decent tonal difference in woods, Poplar being my least liked, but once you start to add dirt, imo it makes little difference. Ash and Alder I find give the best note deliniation, a nice ping.

Im still very tempted to buy that Ibanez S520 body and find a way to find a neck that will work. The cheapest I can get an S520 for is imported $530EU. That is with crappy electronics and a mid range Ibanez trem. I can order that in Cherry Burst outside the Black Weathered Ash, but I like the latter better anyway.