mj_gant

You always ground the bridge. When you see a diagram showing ground to bridge, it doesn't necessarily mean soldered. The only time I actually solder it is when it is a tremolo with a spring claw. In the case of a fixed strat bridge, you can just squash the groud wire under it, or better yet, do what bassman said with the foil tape and solder. Nice tip there.

I recently performed this modification to a strat:

http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/sw1.php

I have noticed that with all 3 on-off-on switches in the OFF position and volume UP there is a hum when I lift my hand from the grounded bridge. It goes away when I turn down the volume.

This makes no sense to me...

Please tell me if my explanation is not clear.

M

Gauge: 22AWG

Type preferred: Tinned, stranded copper single-conductor, PVC-insulated.

Tinned is just easier to work with.

The discoloration does add character. However, these little pours or scratches appear and as soon as I sand them out...new ones appear. Not surface scratches, but what appears to be pours within the bone itself. Just thought I'd check to see if anyone else has encountered this.

Blemishes and pours in bone nut blank. No matter how much I sand, buff, clean there is discoloration and lots of inconsistencies in this particular blank.

Normal or bad bone?

M

I had a set of the double sided stewmac nut files and sent them back. I found that they were not very accurate for slot size and required alot of rolling side to side to get the slots right. They tend to cut a "V" shape.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Special_..._Nut_Files.html

I exchanged them for the traditional files gauged for specific strings, but you can fudge them and the slots are a nice "U" shape.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Special_...ting_Files.html

best,

merritt

I just recieved my custom made oversized jackson mounting rings from frets on the net. They are much higher quality than the OEM. They were a perfect fit and installed beautifully. I went with the original black plastic. If you ever need a quality, custom mounting ring look no further. Highly recommened! And thank you Darren for the link.

M

Thanks for the chart. I was hoping there was a way of determining start and finish with a meter, fork, potato, something!

I have some older generic 4 conductor humbuckers with very strange wiring colors. I have determined which wires go to which coils by use of a multimeter and piece of metal to touch the coil top.

How do I determine which is the positive and negative (start and finish) of each coil?????

Thanks!

Merritt

Thank you so much for that link!!!! I was beginning to think I was the only one with those oversized mounting rings.

I am restoring a '80's charvel, neck through, carve top. It came with jackson pickups (J-50B and J-80C). The mounting rings for these humbuckers are oversized! I am missing one ring and have no idea where to get one. The screw holes to the body measure 3.275x1.700. Standard mounting rings are 3.275x1.430. Any help for a resource would be VERY much appreciated!

Thanks guys! It looks like I am on the right track. One thing I have noticed with the first 3 levels and dressings I've done is more buzz than usual towards the first 5 frets. I put a little relief into the neck to help but it still seems to buzz a bit. Any thoughts? Here is my technioque in brief:

1. completely straghten neck on table. Neck is not supported, body is clamped to table, so neck is "floating"

2. tape off fingerboard

3. magik marker all fret tops

4. run leveling bar with 220 stikit over entire neck, not much pressure.

5. analyze high and low spots.

6. continue leveling until all fret tops shine.

7. gradually lower grit on sanding bar.

8. crown tops

9. final sand and polish

10. remove tape, restring, adjust neck with some relief at 7th fret (between .005" and .015")

When preparing to level frets do you adjust the neck for straightness while it is laying on the bench or while holding the instrument? The reason I ask is because a neck that is straight in the playing position is NOT when you put it on a bench. So I assume we re-adjust on the bench prior to leveling??

I noticed that the A-D and G-B "saddles" are adjustable for intonation. (Wilkinson)

If I remove those two saddles, It would enable me to mill the actual bridge to lower those particular saddles. I like this idea better than grooving the string slots with files.

Thanks for the suggestion. These particular bridges appear to have no slots in the saddles unlike standard Gibson bridges. They are also nickel. I hate the idea of building a guitar around this style of bridge knowing that I have to modify it to work correctly.

Does anyone have any ideas as to where I can find a Wilkinson/gotoh style bridge with a radius of 16" instead of 12"?

I am using a strat style neck with nut width of 1 7/8 and a compound radius of 10"-16"

Thanks!

I need to raise up the neck on a solid body, bolt on strat type. Typically I see "chop shop" jobs with picks, sandpaper, etc...in the pocket towards the body.

My question...would it be more "pro" to shim the entire neck up with thin wood that fits the entire pocket, or is there a reason for shimming towards the body only?

Thanks!!

I use 220 and 320 grit 3m stikit. I bought the rolls from a company online that sells it way cheaper than stewmac. The company is brownstar.

http://www.brownstar.com/

yeah, I said brownstar

Thanks Rob. I have some stumac fret board oil I would like to apply. Should I apply it before or after the re-glue job?

Yes, all of the frets are loose. They do re-seat when I clamp them. I think I will pull them all. Lightly sand fret board with cauls to remove surface glue residue. Clean all slots with knife and shop vac. Clean frets with naptha. Resize tang, then press again with glue.

Soapbar- What is this paiste wax and where do I get it?

I have a bound neck through guitar with jumbo frets in it and ebony fingerboard. The frets are lifting out after 12 years of use. They were glued and pressed in when it was made.

I was wondering if I should try and wick glue around the frets and clamp with cauls or pull them all the way out, clean and reglue? I want another 12+ years out of this. The frets have minimal wear. Any and all suggestions welcomed.

I am looking to purchase a standard strat body for a project. I have been to stewmac, wd, mightymite, and Warmoth. Are there any other suppliers I should consider?

BTW...I don't want to paint. I would like to find one finished.

Travel in the right direction, test center on scrap wood, and don't try to do the proper depth in one pass. Otherwise...I see no problems.

I've heard many claims as to the proper way of storing a guitar. Personally, loosening strings and loosening the truss rod kind of freaks me out. To me, it makes sense to keep the wood tensioned exactly as it is played when storing

What say you?

I was told to take some superglue, and put it under the lifted frets. Then take two pieces of scrap wood, and put them on either side of the neck *fretted, and back* and then clamp them overnight with a c-clamp. Annnnnnnnnd ur supposed to do 2 at a time like this.

Yes, that's the idea, but if you do not use cauls with the proper radius on the fret side, you'll have trouble seating them properly.

Today I talked with the luthier who worked for BC and made this guitar, he recommended #10 stewmac adhesive and clampling. He said the life span of the glue job would be fine. He said to give the naptha 24 hours to gas off, then spray the surface to be bonded with blast accelerator to clean the area and let that dry for 24 hours. He then said to wick the thin adhesive into the area, clamp for 15 min to 1/2 hour, and remove excess adhesive with a razor blade or acetone.

Thank you for the replies.