Searcy Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Damn, what did I get myself into? Well, this project is now into the second half so I feel good that the most difficult part, which is the routing is done. Here is the cavity fully routed including the ledge, it is all free-hand as I found making a template very challenging from the start, it was not worth it. The cavity ledge came out just about perfect. Ironically all of the stain that flaked off was when I scoured the cavity location with a blade, I was trying to do this precisely to not crack the stain, turns out that the router is so fast that it does a very precise cut right over the stain as it can be seen in this pic. No biggie, the back of the guitar is full of chips, pretty beat up. Using the TV Jones inserts, to my surpise they did not fit at all, I had to sand them for width, length and height to conform to the slopping top, that's $15 I did not need to spend. Mock up of the bridge pickup setting, I would have made more progress if the neck pickup did not have metal tabs at the bottom that I will have to trim out. Those pickup rings really make it scream Gretsch to my eye. Very cool project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaleb Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 I love it! I'm still wondering what to do with mine. I'd like to put P-90s or LP Deluxe-style mini-buckers, but I want Filtertrons or Dynasonics for sake of Gretschness. I would also risk putting humbuckers in it just to feel original and to have a throwback to the era of putting humbuckers in everything you could get your hands on (including your girl!). Hell, I might not even put a new Bigsby on it. I might do a Floyd with humbuckers, just to make people's heads turn. I need a shred guitar anyway, but I think I'll stick with a Bigsby and Fliltertrons (or maybe a Dynasonic in the neck and a P-90 in the bridge!). For my shred guitar, I'll probably get another Strat (or build a Partscaster) and hot-rod it with a Floyd and humbuckers. But it's the last thing on my music-related list for now. I'm trying to score this sweet 1985 tobacco sunburst LP Custom from a local guitar store (which I will do anything to support. Hopefully the "apocalypse" will mean the return of mom-and-pop stores!). It's 2 grand, and I'm gonna have to pay it off, so that is my main concern. Plus, I'm gonna start recording (a friend of mine has a studio). My band is looking to come off our short hiatus and making a great comeback (maybe a New Years Eve deal). And I plan on scoring a few pedals and maybe a new Marshall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted November 27, 2012 Author Share Posted November 27, 2012 Well, humbuckers do fit the cavity width, I have a set of Classic 57s that I dropped in the cavities and the guitar looks really, really weird, the look takes big chunk of Gretschiness. I am realizing that the pickups rings clash with the pickguard color, I am going to leave the pickguard off, it looks badass. Plus since I had to modify the guard to fit the new pickups this is one less thing to do. I need to get some muriatic acid to dull the bridge because the bigsby is opaque aluminum, the pickups have nickel covers and the knobs are pretty dull too, the shinny bridge stands out too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted December 6, 2012 Author Share Posted December 6, 2012 Made some progress, every modification on this guitar has required tweaking. - The bridge and input jack plate were chrome while the rest of the hardware is nickel, really obvious (to me) so I distressed the chrome parts with muriatic acid fumes. the "blueish" hue of the chrome is gone and some of the actual chrome for that matter. - Sanded down the pickup ring on the fretboard side, the option was to extend the pickup cavity route. Routing was so tough that I did not want to mess with it again. - Installing the pickups at an angle, with springs and compression rubber is a royal pain. Who came up with this? Last step is to wire the control cavity, all wires are ready. 1 volume control, push/pull (series/parallel)with treble bleed mod. 2 tone controls with 0.022 Russian PIO cap for the bridge pickup and 0.015 for the neck pickup. Pots measure 500k and 450k, The 500k will go on the bridge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Looking fantastic. Can't wait for the sound clip. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted December 6, 2012 Author Share Posted December 6, 2012 Thank you and yea, I am looking forward to a sound clip as well, I have never even played a guitar with HS Filtertrons. When I record something it will be more in the vein of AC/Dc or The Cult though, I don't know any Rockabilly licks though I am sure I could lear something to record a short clip, I just don't have the speed for fast Rockabilly licks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 ...I don't know any Rockabilly licks though I am sure I could lear something to record a short clip, I just don't have the speed for fast Rockabilly licks... Just use a healthy dose of slapback echo. It will sound like you are playing twice as many notes.... P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Wow, I should really have been following this. Good work! She's gonna be gorgeous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 I am trying to decide if I replace the tuners or not, a couple are bent. I could replace them with GFS tuners for $30 or I could go for locking Sperzels for $60. The Sperzels require modification but as you can see I have no problem doing that. Decisions, decisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaleb Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 I am trying to decide if I replace the tuners or not, a couple are bent. I could replace them with GFS tuners for $30 or I could go for locking Sperzels for $60. The Sperzels require modification but as you can see I have no problem doing that. Decisions, decisions. I'd go for the Sperzels but that's just me. On anything with a Bigsby, they're a must. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share Posted December 8, 2012 I hear you but I only play at home, tuning is not a problem. The Tusq XL nut (teflon lubricated) I installed on this guitar works really well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted December 27, 2012 Author Share Posted December 27, 2012 Well, she is finally fully functional, these pickups sound pretty sweet, definitely a great addition to the tone repertoire. The only one thing that I will be adding is a Villex passive mid-range booster which will be activated via the push/pull. These High Sensitivity Filtertrons have a mild, airy, lose overdrive that is quite sweet. They sound great clean as well and single notes sound great, mellow but with a ton of character. A different animal from a PAF for sure. Bridge was very shinny since it was chrome, I gave it the Muriatic Acid fumes treatment that knocked the plating significantly. The pickguard stays off, need to find something to cover the screw hole. Maybe this will work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twiz Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 This is turning out awesome. Great work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Wow... I'm with Twiz... it's an awesome project on the looks side - and if it plays well for you, it'll be something special for life with the memories of the work itself that made it yours. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 . I've been following along without comment, but seeing your new pics, I just gotta say - WOW ... she looks fantastic. Love your choices and your careful work. What a killer axe. . B) . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted December 27, 2012 Author Share Posted December 27, 2012 Thanks guys, I had the opportunity to plug in for a few minutes and I am liking what I hear, I did good on the volume knob placement, easy to reach yet out of the way for strumming and since I use the bridge pickup 90% of the time the tone knob is very easy to reach as well I really like the string definition of these pickups even when strumming chords. I can hear a little hum when I lower the volume, the treble bleed mod works but I did not use a resistor this time and that may be the issue. I will look into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVOL! Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 I concur with everyone else; she's a beauty. Great work on the mods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trelf Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Very nice - reminds me of the angus young model Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 I am sure you meant Malcolm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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