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This is my first Warmoth guitar, but certainly not the last! I can say that for sure! For this project, I have bought a Candy Tangerine Stratocaster body made out of alder, routed for HSH and Floyd Rose. I'm putting two humbuckers in it. I have bought two seymour duncans. The SH-2 in neck and SH-5 in bridge. When I get some spare money, I will buy a 3/4 59' roundback maple neck and install Schaller locking tuners. All hardware is chrome.
(26.01.09)
So far, I have just started on the pickguard assembly. I have installed the pot and the 3-way switch.
I will feed this pickguard with two Seymour Duncan pickups, which will arrive this week. SH-5 and SH-2.
Please check out the "pickguard assembley"-link for more pictures.
(27.01.09)
What a great day! I traded my Marshall 1922 cabinett into two Seymour Duncan humbuckers. I got the Seymour Duncan SH-2 for the neck and the Seymour Duncan SH-5 for the bridge. When he delivered the pickups, he forgot the springs and screws - but I sent him an e-mail. A few hours later he answered that he had found two screws and two springs. I still needed two more, so I created a post on a Norwegian guitarforum. A couple of minutes later, I got a PM from a guy that had a couple of pickup mounting screws and springs. He asked me how many I needed, and he asked about my adress.
I have soldered the entire pickguard. The only thing I have to do is to solder the wires to the mono-jack, but that will have to wait until I get the body. I have also figured out that I did something wrong when I soldered the ground on top of the potentionmeter. It was coated in chrome - something I didn't notice the first time I tried to solder it. I had to remove the wires, and scratch of some of the chrome coating so that the soldering-tin could stick better to the backside of the pot.
As you can see on these two pictures, the soldering tin is better attatched to the pot. on the "after" picture. I still had to scratch of some of the chrome coating on the soldering to the right on the "after" picture to make the soldering tin float better.
For a bigger version of this picture and to see more pictures of what I have done today - pleas click the "pickguard assembley"-link in the menu to the right.
(29.01.09)
Woho! Look what I've got!
I picked it up right after school today. I carefully removed the tape, and opened the box. I can't describe what I felt when I saw the body! For more pictures, click the "Out Of The Box"-link on the right side of the page.
Installing studs for a Floyd Rose and shielding.
I ordered a set of Floyd-studs, so that I had something to do when I got the body. It didn't take long to install them. I simply used a piece of wood and a hammer. I had to use the piece of wood because I didn't want to damage the studs or the body. A few solid whacks with the hammer, and they were both in place. Until I get my neck, I'm going to visit the hardwarestore to buy some black paint for the floyd cavity.
I have to say that the body wood smelled fantastic! It's Alder, and it smells good!
  
I did some shielding as well. I'm not sure if I'll shield the cavity for the pickups yet, but I guess so.
For larger pictures, click the "Working On The Body"-link to the right.
Drilling holes for the strap locks.
Step 1.
Use some kind of maskingtape. Try to measure out the centre of the guitar. Use the cavity as measures.
NB: Do NOT use any kinds of tape if you've got a body with nitro finish!!!
Using tape prevents damages to the finish.
I didn't use my drill press on these holes.
Step 2.
Use drill bits in different sizes. Start with the smallest and work your way from the smallest to the biggest. It's important to remember that the biggest one just have to go thru the finish, and not into the wood. This is to prevent damaging the finis when the screws are screwed in.
Step 3.
Use a screwdriver and hand-tighten the screws that comes with the strap lock. A drill has a tendense to overdo it, if you know what I mean.
 
I prefer Schaller strap locks.
Drilling holes for the pickguard-screws.
This could actually be difficult, and damage the finish if it ain't done correctly. I strongly recommend to use a drill-press while drilling these holes!
step 1.
Fix the pickguard with some tape. Use some kind of tape without so much glue. The glue only sticks to the body and leave marks.
Use a marker to mark where each hole on the pickguard is.
Step 2.
Remove the pickguard, and deply tape over the marks you created.
Using tape while drilling reduces the risk of damaging the finish.
Step 3.
Put the pickguard back on, and fix it with some tape.
And off we go. Use a small sized drill bit to create drill the holes.
Step 4.
Remove the pickguard, and use a bigger drill bit. Remember that you only have to go thru the finish with this one!
Remove the tape.
No damage to the finish at all! Yippey!
Step 5.
It's time to insert some screws.
All the screws inserted! It looks awesome!
Step 6.
Same prosedure as above.
PS. You may want to fix the jackplate with some tape before drilling.
That was all for today!
It's a giant!
I have actually managed to take the project one step further! Floyd Rose is ordered and installed. The only thing for me to buy now is the neck. I'm thinking of a maple neck with ebony fretboard.
Stay tuned! |