Paul Marossy

Just a thought about how the "Floyd Rose" could be finished. Since that is steel, you could blue it or brown it like a firearm. Blueing wouldn't be too hard, you can buy a can of the stuff to do it. FWIW.

I also use these, and I love them!

I have this 1994 MIJ Hot Rod Reissue Strat, Floyd Rose Original locking temolo. It came with a white single ply pickguard (replaced due to static buildup from right hand technique), Crimson foto-flame body, factory installed DiMarzio humbucker on bridge, and two single coils. One volume control and two tone controls. One of the tone controls has a pull switch that switches the bridge pickup between humbucker and single coil mode. It's loosely based on a 50's Strat, has the vintage looking Sperzel(?) tuners and original headstock shape and Fender script logo. Serial number N002986.

OK, now that that is out of the way, I drew up a wiring diagram for it:

http://www.diyguitarist.com/PDF_Files/MIJS-Schematic.pdf

My question is, does anyone have information on the two resistors and pot value(s) of the TBX tone control circuit on these MIJ Strats? I couldn't tell the values of the resistors without desoldering stuff. They were hard to interpret, I came up with 4.7M (maybe...) and 320M (no way!). I didn't want to desolder stuff, as it looked like it would be a real PITA...

(BTW, before y'all direct me to the online wiring diagrams, I can tell you that all of the online diagrams are different than from my guitar. I also emailed Fender Support, and they also told me that they do not have a wiring diagram for my guitar. )

Man, I need to get a router!

Uh, don't you mean 1/8" thick?

Anyhow, I was just wondering a few minutes ago about how the do the beveled edges. I figured it must be done with a router or something. Do they make some sort of gadget that you can use with a Dremel Tool?

samoht-

Well, either you post under a different name at the stompbox forum or you don't post there much...

Duh.

I forgot about Stewart McDonald...

OK, but what about an alternative pickguard, like wood or something?

OK, here's the deal:

I bought a Floyd Rose locking trem Strat style body off of ebay. I thought it was from a Fender, but it turns out that it isn't, as the pickguard from my HRR Strat doens't match up with this body. OK, not the end of the world. However, it looks like the run of the mill Strat pickguard will not work on this body as the contours of this body are slightly different than a Fender Strat and the distance between bridge and neck connection to body is also slightly longer than the standard Fender body.

So... that leads me to a question: Is there somewhere where I can buy some raw white pearloid pickguard material so that I can make my own? And is there any kind of tutorial on how to do that? The tutorial isn't absolutely necessary, but it might help. I'm just wondering what the best way to cut this stuff is...

Yeah, but the finish is pretty thick already. I would rather strip it down and start over. I don't want all those coats of stuff affecting the resonance of the guitar body...

Yep. Rock on!

Well, in my mind, that has a simple explanation. When you turn down the volume control, it grounds the positive terminal of the output jack. To the amplifier, this does not look like an open circuit on the input anymore, so it gets quiet. Turn the volume up, and it will try to amplify anything that it can, including EMI that is being radiated by whatever is around - transformers, flourescent lighting, etc. - otherwise known as "hum".

That's cool. I was hoping to see something like that on a guitar that wasn't an Ibanez RG or JEM.

I just received my Strat body from the UPS man this morning, so I will be getting started on this project shortly. When I strip the paint off, I will know more about the direction that things will go...

What happens when you try and play something? Do you get any output from the guitar? If not, then you have an open connection to your amplifier, kind of like when you plug your cord into the amp with no guitar on the other end of it. When you touch the tip of the cord, you get a hum. In this case, it would be when you touch the strings.

Thanks lovecraft.

I think the issue with damaging a solid state amplifier is caused by severely overloading the input, which boosters can certainly do. Tube amps seem to be pretty tough in this regard.

Thanks for the update!

I've seen lots of pickup covers for sale on ebay.

Depends on what the wood grain looks like under the paint. They usually paint the stuff that doesn't have the best looking grain due to imperfections in the wood or the type of wood that is made out of. Some types of wood have a rather boring grain compared to flame maple, quilted maple, etc...

Nope, 9V guitar effects can't hurt your guitar. I have built dozens of different effects, never had a problem.

Well, that other post gives me some hope! Looks pretty cool.

I am not too afraid of doing fabric, I have covered some of my DIY tube amps with material so I know how to work with fabric, but... the part I am worried about is getting a smooth finish over the fabric. I suppose it might take a few coats with sanding in between, and a good buff at the end?

I have so many ideas to toss around now!

Right. Good point. Some fixative might be necessary.

I may decide to do it, I'm not sure. It all depends on how that body looks when I strip the paint from it...

Thanks for the replies. That's interesting that Ibanez has done that on one of their guitars...

My intuition tells me that the first coat or two would be critical, but from there on out, it should be pretty simple. At least I would think.

Hello. This is my first post at this forum. I have a Strat body that I want to refinish, and I have checked out the excellent tutorials on guitar refinishing. I thought the one on material finish was ultra cool. My confidence level isn't at the point where I feel like I could pull that off, though. As an alternative, I was wondering if you could take something like a picture from a poster and glue it on the top instead. Has anyone ever tried that? I have my suspicions that it probably wouldn't work very well because of the interaction between the clear coat and the paper material. Am I correct in that assumption?

Paul Marossy

www.diyguitarist.com