zjokka

this means that the casing of the jack is somehow connected to the signal wire. what's happening is your body's picking up interference and you amplify it by touching somehting that in the signal path. the outside sleeve of the jack is ground the tip is signal. If contact cleaner dosn't help, open it up to see te situation. a fingerbend might be all it needs good luck

I solved the bridge problem as good as i could: on jag-stang.com (great but odd structured website - that for the link again) you can read how the bridge can be prevented from rocking to and fro by wrapping the legs with electrical tape. I used duck tape and this worked just fine. There is a not on the same site about how the reissue saddles are smaller than the original Mustang saddles although the bridge assembly is identical. All after-market Mustang bridge have the same dimensions. I you look at how it allows the string to swing up and down, you know it cannot be good. In hindsight, I don't really understand why a 'student model' should have a tremelo, complicated string mounting method and hard to set up intonantion? The sound has improved quite a bit. ZJ

Ok, sorry about the pictures. Anway shielded and stargrounded and recapped this baby now. The electronics are ready to go. Indeed, as pictures from F.com confirm, the screws screw in from the bridge side to the neck side. No basic setup info at jag-stang.com about setting up that Mustang bridge althought they talk about how it's better than a jaguar bridge. If the screws go like that I just don't understand how you are supposed to set up intonation. If it's stringed, it's impossible to adjust the screws with a normal screwdriver. You seem to need something with an angle, and still I noticed something else: the strings were slid into the string retainers from the neck to the bridge and then pulled underneath over the saddles and so on. Is that correct? I imagine that if they are put in from bridge to the neck side they would sit higher and maybe not touch the screws? But this changes the functioning of the vibrato? Pushing down still should lower pitch, not? Will have to test the electronics it still before I put the strings on and fix the bridge. Did read that using electric tap on the bridge's leg (assy?) can stabilize it. Now where's the tape? thanks for the comments, if you want to see a a report of the electronics mods, check my blog below, lotsa pics! :-) zj

hi all, a friend asked me to look into his 'Stang because it was so noisy and didn't sustain well, didn't sound good in all. Here are the issues, feel very free to comment if you recognize anything: http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b230/zjo...0V/DSCN3521.jpg (a) grounding: the ground tab on the input jack was unused because supposedly it's ground through the control plate over the jack casings. I think grounding it properly will improve the noise. http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b230/zjo...angwiring02.jpg ( pickups: it was believe that this one had us strat pickups in it, but according to the view these seem to me to be jap pickups. will try some real ones or custom shops, but... I I'm not mistaken the Mustang is routed to have a strat pickup put upside down! Is that why Stangs cannot have staggered pole piece pu's? maybe I do have a staggered lefty lying around. http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b230/zjo...0V/DSCN3527.jpg © owner said he always he played with tone and volume on 10. Classic problem: will be installing a treble bleed and lower the stock ,047uF cap for a 22nF standard. Also will go for the alternative switch wiring scheme which concentrated pickup selection in one switch and kicks out the vol and tone control with the second one. (d) very peculair acoustic problem: I noticed that the strings seem to rest on the screws that adjus the saddles. Intuitively I would say this would kill your tone dead on the spot. But seems inevitable with this setup... Are these the correct screws? Is the bidge on right? This cannot be how it should be. Pic says all http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b230/zjo...0V/DSCN3525.jpg thanks for reading, feel free to comment any experience, will sure help me sort this baby out: I'm kinda new to mustangs zj

I have to drill out the screw holes first in order to make the cylindric plug fit tightly, right? What type of glue should I use -- that doesn't affect the wood? Thanks for the tip about stringing it up in order to allign the strings before drilling. As a matter of fact the LH neck fits very thightly into the RH body (which is cool), buth RH neck sit very loosely into the LH body. For the latter some adjustments will have to be made in the LH body neck pocket. On all guitars (JP CN squier/fenders) I've removed the neck from I found some tape in the neck pocket for adjustment. I've already made a new nut for one of the guitars, but haven't slotted it yet. So logically, before I can string up and check alligment of the neck, the nut should be ready. In order to made the nut slots, the neck should be on the guitar. looks like a double bind! ZJ

StewMac has a fret saw the saws on the pull stroke, heard lots of good about it: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_suppl...otting_Saw.html hope it helps J

here is a picture. I made guide holes by driving the screw a little in: zj

thanks for the advice, but as I understand "a dowel" ( http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=dowel ) is a wooden pin. I'm not native English speaking, so had to look it up. The new holes will be only so slightly off that the new drillings will overlap the original ones. That's why I was really thinking about filling it up completely, maybe using a pin and some glue + sawdust combination. I don't think it's possible to make a wooden pin that fits exactly, as the the holes are the result of the screw. I am afraid (half certain) that if I drill into the pins, the will be pulled out by the drill's traction. I know these are crappy strats... , but had to find out for myself. Just a fun project, but the necks are really chunky and fat, not really my liking, might still dump them, but at least want to have tried switching them around. Don't know whether switched necks should allign? As anybody ever tried this with Japanese, Mexican or US strats? Will get more graphics in a minute. Johan

hi all, this really looks like a strong board, so here's my first post. I did searcht the internet thoroughly but didn't find an answer to my questions. I bought two Affinity Squier Strat, one lefthanded the other righthanded. Originally I wanted to make just one for my lefty friend, but in the end it turned out cheaper to just score a righthand copy and switch the necks. so here they are, just to give you an idea, they aren't assembled yet Now the problem: If I assemble the necks on the bodys, the screw holes are only slightly off. So I should fill the old screw hole is the necks, because just drilling in the new hole just makes the original hole broader. What should I use to fill the old screw holes to be sure that the screws won't move if I drill in the new holes? A friend suggested sawdust and glue, but really want to check with the assembled knowledge of this board first. Epoxy? Glue? Something else. Thanks so much for reading this ZJ