Dub's Wacky Project Guitars Thread--we're baaaaaack

[dubkitty]

ordered a Kluson ABR-1 for the M-75. if this works i’ll change out the bridges on the other two DeArmonds as well. the bridges on budget 90s-00s guitars are generally a weak point.

i’m antsy to work on something, but want to take it easy today because i’m seeing Becky tonight. when i get home on Sunday i’ll probably work on soldering the Esquire together, tape off the fingerboard on the Jetstar and do a primer coat, and maybe chop wood on the Double Jet if i’m feeling bold.

[dubkitty]

turns out that the slot-head screws come in packets of 24 or 25, so there were enough of them to change the pickguard screws on the Hopf and the green Tele including screws for the control plate and there’s four left over. the flathead screws come in packs of 12, which is exactly how many holes there’ll be in the GM pickguard. and now i have some regular Fender screws so i don’t need to order any. it’s nice when things work out.

[dubkitty]

i also ordered a set of “light tension” Strat tremolo springs in hopes of using them for the putative spring chamber under the Bigsby on the Galaxiemaster. as i recall they’re too long for the dimensions of the rout, but i plan to try to shorten them and bend one ring over 90° so each end would mount to a claw which is simple and allows the tension to be varied. they were less than $3 so i figure it’s worth a shot.

<update>i thought it'd be a good idea to try shortening a trem spring to see if it's a plausible thing. the bending-for-second-loop thing works fine, but cutting the bloody thing is a bitch. my wirecutters are far too wimpy and an xActo saw didn't do much, but then i remembered the Dremel's grinder wheels which should make short-ish work of it. so assuming that it's workable, the next thing will be figuring out how long they should be and what the eventual tension should be. the upside of using tremolo claws is that they're sturdy and simple to adjust. i'm going to need to figure out how long the screws need to be to keep from pulling out, so there's probably a trip to Home Depot in the offing as well. it should be interesting to see what effect it has.

[dubkitty]

some of the parts came in, so i’ll be messing with stuff later in the day. the compensated Esquire saddles look great, but use a larger-diameter adjustment screw so i’ll need to drill the bridge out to fit. i’d file it but my round needle file has gone missing since i put the pickups in the Hopf…i guess i could get a new set, since there’s only a couple left. the ABR-1 for the blue M-75 also arrived, and only needs to be notched to match the old one. so insh’allah i’ll have the DeArmond sorted, and the Esquire ready to wire up.

currently considering what’s next after that. i should finish my pickguard and spring chamber cover drawings and order the Galaxiemaster guards. the M-77T needs what SHOULD be simple wiring, so that’ll happen soon. painting the Jetstar bits should be less painful with the Mr.Hobby paints which are acrylic and easier to work with. and everything is here for the Double Jet so that’s a logical target.

everything else is in waiting mode. i may see Charlie this week and let him check out the pre-surgery Supro that’s waiting for the Bigsby repro pickups, in which case that’ll move up. the Telecaster is waiting till my bonus pay next month to get the pickups, and i can’t afford to do the baritone stuff until my economics clear up a bit. the only other things i’m thinking about are an offset using that wild tailpiece that lets you tune the behind-the-bridge strings, and the hideously expensive but best-in-class Duncan Dynasonics for the Dyna Jet. after paying almost $400 for the Bigsby pickups the similar cost of the Duncan Dynas isn’t quite as terrifying. but the Dyna Jet is quite functional and snappy as is…the Gretsch marketing guy played it at a meet-up for Gretschies and said “well, i gotta hand it to ya…it feels just like a Duo Jet.” so that’s not an expensive pressing concern.

it’s kept me busy and i’ve learned a lot, but i’m really ready for the intensive renovations part of my life to be over. i’ve really enjoyed dicking with the Catalinbread Pads and the Scalable Pet because it engages a different part of my brain. i have to think a lot more on a continuing basis to do guitar work…there’s no automatic pilot functions because varying attention can lead to ugly unfixable outcomes. but the point of this wasn’t to become a low-rent luthier, it was to have more cool guitars. i want to get to that part, because the things i’ve finished already have been great.

the supplies for the Galaxiemaster’s Vintage Revo Vision-inspired spring chamber in the tremolo rout should be here Saturday. rather than two trem claws, i may use eye screws or whatever they’re called on one side because the claws use more lateral space that i’d rather have for spring length. i’m exceedingly curious about how it’ll work…i and many others have noted how Strat tremolo springs can add a slight reverb effect, and i think i can fine-tune that with spring length and tension. this might be my wackiest thing yet.

[dubkitty]

i got the stuff i was after from Lowe’s. the new needle files worked well, and the integrated handles helped a lot. the new saddles are massive brass units the same diameter as the stock saddles but covering a larger area. by reversing them they offer two degrees of compensation; i went for the greater in all cases because IIRC the old saddles needed much more variance than i could supply. i reversed the center saddle so it’ll compensate better between the G and D strings.

theoretically i could string it up and intonate it now, but i don’t want to get too far ahead of myself. tomorrow i’ll do the M-75 saddles and get the new bridge on, and then either work with the soldering station or mask off the Jetstar fingerboard and prime that sucker. but the Esquire is really close now.

[dubkitty]

i went ahead and strung up the Esquire because i just coudn't wait to set it up. i've been through a couple of rounds of revision, and it's pretty close re: action and neck relief but hasn't been intonated yet, which can fuck everything up with a 3-saddle bridge. i guess i'll unpack the soldering station tonight and see what's up.

[dubkitty]

finished the initial setup on the Esquire…it’ll probably get some additional tweaking, but the compensated saddles intonate perfectly. i’m really impressed, and will have to replace the Duo Sonic saddles presently. i might still do the M-75 bridge today, but i don’t think i’m doing anything with the soldering station till the weekend. it’s funny that i originally thought of the Esquire solely as a source for the Sherwood Green body and now it’s a happy little beast on its own with its $80 replacement body.

i got an unexpected bonus from work for kicking ass writing up the Fender products, so i might be able to order the Telecaster pickups before the last half of December which would be nice. i’ll have to see what the next few weeks look like.

[dubkitty]

the springs, second tremolo claw, and screws for the Galaxiemaster spring chamber are out for delivery, so i’m probably going to mess with that sooner than later because i’m so curious about how it’ll come out. i’m in the process of replacing the M-75 bridge, and am startled by how much heavier and more solid the Kluson replacement is. i anticipate a marked improvement in tone and sustain. i guess i should replace the other cheap import tunomatics where present, particularly on the other DeArmonds. i still could get into soldering this weekend depending on how i’m feeling.

i also ordered knobs for the Telecaster. i found some lovely tortoiseshell Tele knobs online from a site where 75% of the few items on offer were sold out. this meant i couldn't get the matching toggle switch tip, so i went back to Xentric for an orange Autumn Pearl tip like the ones i put on the BRG Strat which should be close enough.

[dubkitty]

i got the new bridge installed on the M-75 and holy crap. it improved the sustain and resonance so much that it hardly feels like the same guitar. i couldn’t figure out why it was so plunky compared to the demo of the Gold Tones in an Explorer i saw on YouTube that convinced me to try them; it was the shitty bridge. it absolutely snarls now, and has the lovely resonance you’re looking for in a mahogany (or mahogany-esque) guitar. i want to A/B it with the Tokai Les Paul to see how they differ. seriously, folks, if you have an imported guitar with a shoddy tunomatic—which is most of them—get that sucker off there ASAP. one more nail in the coffin of “the only thing that matters is pickups.”

it also looks much better. the oversized bridge made the whole lower bout look subtly out of proportion. it looks right now. i also replaced the big Grover-style tuner buttons with mini buttons for a more vintage aesthetic like the old-school Aristocrats and Bluesbirds.

[dubkitty]

the Galaxiemaster spring chamber is a little trickier to implement than i thought, but still quite doable. counterintuitively the rout is wider than it is long, so i’ll need to run the springs at 90° to the string path rather than parallel. the second claw i ordered (on right in the photo) is a Squier-sized item and is much better for this application…it has holes so i can mount it perpendicular to the walls and gain more spring room, and also has longer tabs i can bend to hold the springs better. i ordered another and the chamber can wait until then.

the stock size of Fender tremolo springs is approximately the same length as the width of the rout, so i’ll definitely need to shorten them by a half-inch or so in order to have room to tension them with the claws. it’s yet to be determined how taut they should be; i imagine i’ll literally be tuning them to where they feel right and have a bit of BOING when the body is struck. it would be nice to see the actual chamber on the Vintage Revo Vision guitars so i had something to go on, but what’s DIY without trial and error?

[dubkitty]

while waiting on parts and getting it together with the soldering station i came up with a couple of side quests. my MIM fretless Fender Jazz Bass needs a neck shim as a last-ditch attempt to avoid having the neck, whose truss rod is maxed, steamed, and the Lead II’s pau ferro fingerboard, which has a weird grainy texture, needs to be sanded. the board feel keeps me from really enjoying the guitar. i expect i’ll eventually have to send the bass neck out, but i don’t need that expense.

[dubkitty]

i got a third of the way through sanding the Lead II’s pau ferro fingerboard, and the difference is remarkable. it was originally surprisingly rough, and took a ton of oiling to be barely acceptable. once sanded it’s nice and smooth, and since it seems considerably harder than rosewood it should stay that way. what’s really surprising is how the color changes…the unsanded areas on the left are dull and predominantly reddish in hue, while the finished parts are browner. the light streaks become lighter, and the dark streaks darker. the result is a striking pattern that reminds me of a mountain sunset.

ain’t that purdy?

i would love to finish this today, but realistically it’s going to take until tomorrow because i’m not going to spend another six hours at it today. i’m really excited to play it when it’s done.

[dubkitty]

parenthetically, Fender seems to have problems preparing non-rosewood fretboards in their non-US facilities. this isn’t the only example; you’ll recall that i had to sand the Indian laurel board on the Esquire, which was made in Indonesia while the Lead II is from Mexico. it seems to me that they try to simply do the same processes as with rosewood, but that’s not suited to either wood…laurel needs to be grain-filled and aggressively polished, while pau ferro, being harder than either, comes to life when sanded to 2000 and polished. it’s unfortunate that the market life of the reissued Lead series was probably negatively affected by the pau ferro issues. i know other people online who also bought them sight unseen were similarly bothered, and i have to assume people trying them in person would have been put off.

[dubkitty]

i woke up at 1:30 AM with painful inflammation on my face, particularly around the eye sockets. apparently pau ferro dust is known for causing allergic reactions. since i don’t have any kind of protective gear i’m just going to have to do good ol’ COVID shit, wash my hands obsessively and not touch my face while working. it probably got me by rubbing my eyes. fortunately i’m over halfway done, but i wanted to caution y’all because this is really unpleasant.

[dubkitty]

i’m pleased to report that the inflammation has largely subsided after lots of steroid cream. i did 3 more frets last night and managed to get away without further problems. though my right wrist tried to go off, i managed to take care of it and it was fine this morning. i have 9 frets left to go, up at the high end of the neck. if i apply myself i could conceivably be done today. i started doing multiple frets at a time hoping to make it go faster and though i’m not sure it works it’s still good because it helps me be more consistent from fret to fret. once it’s done imma put the neck back on and have a Mission of Burma party. then i reckon i’ll shim the bass neck and then tape up the Jetstar neck for priming. yes, i am still putting off the soldering stuff.