Rockhorst

Hey all. I've got a couple of guitar bodies I want to refin next spring/summer. It's going to be my first try at it. One of them is a contoured heel Strat body that going to be white (hopefully ). Two quick questions: -Previous owner put a thin coat of clear lacquer on it (no clue what it was). I've sanded most of it off with 220 grit sandpaper. How zealous do I have to be about it? It's a bit hard to see if all the clear is off. Can I just sand it smooth and put a grain filler on it (even though the wood seems pretty dense, probably alder)? -Sites like Stew Mac and Reranch can't ship to Europe. Any adresses in the Netherlands or Europe where I can order laqcuer/color aerosols? Vox Humana (Dutch) has a finishing system on offer, but a very limited choice in colors. Edit: one more question: there are a few small dings in the body, not very deep but deep enough to not be sanded out. Should I fill them up with some wood paste, or can it be fixed with sand&seeler and primer coats? Thanks a lot!

Its a pity that the Sperzels for some reason have chrome posts, which kinda ruins the 'all black' look. Otherwise, it would've been a done deal (I know, I'm picky). What's also a pity, is that for some reason the tuners on the Jim Root signature Tele aren't sold separately (as far as I can tell). They look damn near ideal: Guess I'll probably end up with black locking Schallers with a set screw...not going to fill up the old holes either, if I ever want to go back to the original tuners. If anyone has got the golden goose, I'd still be happy to hear it (out of dough now anyway, tuners will have to wait a while).

i may have been lied to but a while back i baught a set of used american staggered fender tuners off ebay and they fit right on my mim strat. Black or chrome? I've seen them in chrome, even Fender sells them. Can't find black ones though.

I got the ones from Angela, which was a bit disappointing. The have the 2 prongs, but they're in a different position than on MiM and American Standard tuners. It says in the add 'fits most fenders', but I don't think that's very accurate. I also found out Schaller makes 2 prong locking tuners, but nobody seems to stock them. These might be the tuners on the Jim Root signature Tele, but Fender doesn't offer the replacement parts for this. On the other hand it seems that Grover locking rotomatics might be big enough to cover up the prong holes. I could try that and not use the set screw, I doubt it'll be that unstable in combination with a locking nut. Visually inspectimg the Chinese ones, I'm afraid they're not right either: the distance between the post and the two prongs is much less than on the fender tuning machine. Darnit, how hard can it be. Any other thoughts?

I'm looking all over the internet for black replacement tuners for a Fender American Standard neck, the ones with to pins that lock the tuner in place. I can only find them in chrome. There are similar tuners, but the ones I've tried don't hide the pinholes at the back of the headstock, which I really don't like. Anybody got any suggestions? I just find it hard to believe that I'm the only one looking for this...

See 'my' thread, look for the diagram at about half way of the first page.

So, it's been like this for the past week: Also carefully heated it with a heat lamp for about an hour last sunday. Waiting for the steel rings and other parts to arrive. Until then, I'll keep it clamped.

The truss rod screws on very easily for the most part, but doesn't do a lot. Then at some point it starts affecting the neck and you feel a normal 'counter' force when turning it. When the neck is almost straight, it all of a sudden becomes almost impossible to turn it (running out of thread?). Anyway, it's clamped now, I'll leave it like that for a while. (pictures later)

@Masterblastor: the posts of the Floyd are recessed, but without the entire routing to make it a real floating trem (so when bending up, the bridge meets the body quite quickly). Also, two shims under the nut and a micro tilt system installed. Guess Fender shared your concerns . Over the last couple of days I've tightened the truss rod and the neck is now just about straight (just enough relief left). However, the tross rod really is at its max and putting string back on will probably bend the neck again. I'm gonna let it rest for a few days. A friend of mine offered two make me some custom washers out of plate steel for the truss rod nut. I think I'll also ask him to make the nut shims the same size as the nut: they're sticking out now, which is kinda ugly.

I've never painted a guitar, but I'm pretty sure pictures would be helpful

Yeah, It's a pretty kick ass trem. axcessories.com used to carry them. Still do, but the black one is out of stock.

@Firefly: yes, the problem is too much relief. I noticed it when I changed the strings to a higher gauge, but the truss rod seemed maxed out, so I couldn't adjust further. I took all tension of the neck (strings and truss rod) and noticed the neck had a very pronounced forward bow just by itself. I've got the following strategy at the moment: Everyday I retighten the truss rod slightly, about a quarter turn twice a day. I warm up the neck by rubbing it and then carefully bending it straight by hand, tighten the truss rod and then let it relax. Get the neck as straight as possible with this method If I can't get it straight enough with the rod, I'll try the clamping method. With the rod still tightened, I'll set up the neck clamp and tighten it just enough for the whole assembly to hold together. Then I loosen the truss rod, forcing the neck to clamp itself, so I have some kind of 'base pressure' to work from Everyday heat up the neck with a low power lamp or hair dryer, slightly tighten the clamp and let it rest I hope to get by with just the truss rod, but I'm preparing for the clamping just in case. Yesterday I made a mold of the neck at the 7th and 8th fret with 2 component 'fake wood', so that the clamping force is distributed evenly. Will post a picture of it later.

Great to see some replies. @Masterblastor: it has a brass block, so I guess it's a Ping indeed. Reading some good stories about them, and it seems that it should be an easy swap with an OFR (or a black Ping, if I can find one...anybody know where?) @Firefly: have to get back to work now, will comment later.

I think I'm going to treat it as a learning experience and try to straighten the neck myself, using a washer and a bit of clamping. From what I've read it should work fine. Anybody here ever done anything similar to this:

I've never seen a neck change it mind this quickly: when I bought it, neck was straight...couple of hours later with a new set of strings, is bent all out of shape. Anyway, pictures! Here we have the patient: Supported by some fine 20th century literature and with string close to standard tuning, it's easy to see the curvature: Here's a close up from the side, capo on the first fret. That is a huge, multi-millimeter gap: Floyd Rose trems have their downsides, but at least the truss rod is easily accessible if need be: The nut moves easily when unscrewing, hex insert looks fine. It's now quite loose I think, I'm a little unsure how far I can go...Maybe it's too far out already? Could I take it out to inspect the thread? The original manual states that a truss rod should never be without tension. Another close up: With the strings slack and the truss rod loosened, the neck still isn't straight. It's actually about the same curvature as with the strings tightened. My best guess would be to gradually tighten the truss rod (eigth or quarter turn every day?) while gentle heating it up by rubbing it. Or should I put some more permanent tension on it for a couple of days? Bonus question: does anybody know who manufactured this floyd and if it's any good?

So today I bought a second hand MiM Fat Strat to mod the hell out of, something along the lines of the Adrian Smith signature Jackson. Everything seemed fine, but I missed the over adjusted truss rod...big oops. Neck had a perfect relief with the 009 set that was on there, but when I put 010 strings on it, the action all of a sudden was enormous. The truss rod was very tight, so I loosened it, which produced a 'ting' sound, like plucking the tremolo springs. I've loosened the strings and loosened the truss rod to the point where it just grips (which it still seems to do). The curve in the neck is quite severe even with this little tension on it. I tried rubbing it warm and gentle bending it into shape manually, which seems to have little effect. I reckon it's a good idea to let it rest for a couple of days in this state. Any suggestions (other than 'take it to a tech')?

Got it (well, at least part): cavity was sprayed with (carbon?) paint. This has a resistance of a few hundreds of kOhm. Guess that's what made the connection from tonepot to circuit. Grounded the tone pot and switch to the volume pot now.

Using an EVO 2 and and Air Norton, both Dimarzio. Good sounding combi by the way. No conductive paint or tape. The pot really isn't touching anything. Like I said, the insides are a bit messy due to long wires, so I'd doubt a photo might help. I did notice that touching the metal parts of the pickup switch causes the same noise as touching the tone pot. That might be a clue. If I can fix that, I'm happy, since on clean settings there really isn't that much noise (guess it was late last nigt). So can somebody help me with that?

Jack is definitely wired correctly. Got a meter, so I'll run through those checks today. Last day of my holidays, so I hope I can fix it. Edit: those reading all check out!

Hi all, Today I installed a pair of humbuckers in a LTD MH superstrat, according to this diagram from Dimarzio. The diagram doesn't mention a ground wire from pot to bridge, but I've installed it anyway, as an attempt to solve the problem described below (didn't help much). One other thing is different: I did not connect a tone pot (hate 'em). So, the problem is this: pickups do function and give a nice output. However, compared to any other humbucker guitar I have (including some quite overwound ones) both pickups are way to noisy. Touching anything connected to ground (strings, volume pot) makes the noise disappear. So far, it sound like a normal grounding issue. I didn't cut the wire bundle to size, so it's quite a lot of wire cramped into the control cavity. I've (double) checked the ground connections. Strange things I notice: touching the plastic of the wire from pot to jack (with my finger in the control cavity) increases the noise. Also (and this really confuses me) touching the tone pot increases the noise greatly. This seems strange to me since the tonepot is just there for cosmetic purposes: it's NOT connected to anything in the circuit! Suggestions, anything I might be overlooking? Considering just desoldering everything and start over, with shorter wires...but I hope someone can save me the time by making a smart remark Much appreciated.

Pictures, as promised. Not to clear but I hope you can make stuff out. Two notes: the soldering on the pot isn't the prettiest ever, but it holds up on continuity check, second you can see the copper foil removed underneath the volume pot. After the above discussion I guess I should put it back.

So that'd be option 2 right?

Pot is 100% functional, all relevant parts have been checked for continuity and the switch works fine. Really peeps, I doubt that's where the problem is (but I'll double check later). Pictures coming up within the next 12 hours By the way, this 'mod' was just something I wanted to try out. The bit of noise from a strat never bothered me that much, the article just got me curious. So if at some point I really need my strat again (it sorta is my main axe) I'm just gonna rip all the shielding out, string it up and play that thing . But it would be nice if we got it fixed before I get to that point If only to satisfy curiosity...

Thanks Paul! My house isn't that big so my amp is about a meter from my computer. Never gives me much trouble though, even with single coils provided I don't stand directly next to it. They're also at different angles. About the antenna thing: I posted a link to an article on that on the previous page of this thread. PUs I'm using are 2 stock MiMs and a texas special in the bridge. The most important thing for me right now is to KNOW which is the correct way to go: Option 1: audio circuit completely seperate from shield, shield being connected to ground Option 2: audio circuit makes contact with shield through the casing of the volume pot and the shield is at one point connected to the bridge Option 3: something different (brainfart: what would happen if I left the shield ungrounded? My guess is that should work If I know which one of these is correct, then I can start troubleshouting convergently, instead of having to run every test twice or thrice.

Additional note: the instrument is NOT stringed yet (but I don't see how that would make any difference). When tapping the PUs with a screw driver you hear pops as expected. When I lift the pickguard off the problem remains the same. If I would attach the ground wire from the bridge to the pot, instead of to the bottom of the cavity the audio circuit would be grounded again and the guitar would be playable I guess. But that would leave the shield ungrounded. EDIT: I connected the pot casing to the shield again and got something different: it is less noisy (but far from silent) then when not connecting pot to shield. Noise still goes away when touching metallic parts. When not touching you have a noise level with a constant 'tick' sound: about every 0.5 second your hear a 'tick' through the amp.