My Squier project

[Biddlin]

Great job, I'm lovin' it . I really like the combination of Gold and Chrome.

I may have used it myself once or twice.
Biddlin ;>)/

 

[GTSG]

I like the paint, throwback. A Fender switch won't fit in it though, yup, I learned the hard way. And "no" I didn't think things out first...lol.

Looks cool.

 

[Iván]

That strat look awesome! Congratulations on your new guitar. It reminds me to an Mayan (maybe Aztec) bird called Quetzal.

Hey, I would also like to ask you some things about electronics. As you seem to be now a very experienced guitar crafter, you may know how to help me. I've owned since a short time a Fender american strat, but surprisingly, the pots doesn't roll as I would expect them to roll. I don't know how to describe it but they are not just as "smooth" as I would expect them to be. Do you have any recommendations about that? It's very awkward but my Squier strat seems to have better pots than my fender...

 

[thatbastarddon]

Congratulations! Looks like it is coming along well. You look happy!



Don

 

[Heket]

Thanks everyone I am very pleased with my first project, even if everything didn't go quite according to plan. As the action is ok at the nut end I thought I might add a shim to the neck, which is something Biddlin advised me about before.

Great job, I'm lovin' it . I really like the combination of Gold and Chrome.

Thing is, not matter how much gold hardware you get there will always be some silver coloured metal on the guitar - the frets and the strings. Also I forgot to get new strap buttons.

Hey, I would also like to ask you some things about electronics. As you seem to be now a very experienced guitar crafter, you may know how to help me. I've owned since a short time a Fender american strat, but surprisingly, the pots doesn't roll as I would expect them to roll. I don't know how to describe it but they are not just as "smooth" as I would expect them to be. Do you have any recommendations about that? It's very awkward but my Squier strat seems to have better pots than my fender...

Wow, I wouldn't call myself very experienced. What you are describing sounds either mechanical, which would involve opening the pot, or erm... you know what, I don't even know how pots work. Maybe a new capacitor is needed? PLEASE DO NOT take my word for that as both ideas are just barely informed guesswork. Sorry I can't help, I didn't even wire my pots myself, but I'm sure there are plenty of people on here who can give an answer.

After some more playing and fiddling I'm still surprised how well the 490T suits the strat. There's also a vast difference between my SG (thick and ballsy) and the humbucker in the strat (trebley and more 'punky') to an extent that I wasn't expecting. I always found the 490T to be a bit on the harsh side anyway, but what else makes this difference? The wood? The difference in pickups?

 

[Tobacco Worm]

Miss Heket,

The 490 is wired in a standard manner yes? In that it is wired like a stock Strat and no tone control to the bridge p/u? If so, the next time you open that instrument up and pull the pickguard, try this simple mod.

Locate where the middle tone wire goes to the 5 way switch from the tone pot. Following that line of wire there will be a blank terminal post on the the 5 way switch next to the middle tone pot connection to the switch. Take a small bit of of wire and run it from the post on the switch from the middle tone pot's connection to the switch to the adjoining blank post in line with the post for the middle. Solder it in place and you will now have tone control to the bridge via the middle tone pot. It will work both the middle and the bridge. But this will make the bridge HB a more workable p/u by adding a tone control to it. A very simple thing to do and should only take about 5 minutes to do. But then you'll have a tone control to your bridge.:)

Wade

 

[Tobacco Worm]

Ivan,

You said that the controls (pots) do not "roll" correctly. Is that meaning they are stiff and are difficult to rotate? If so, it could be as simple as this being a new instrument and they are stiff by being new pots. Compared to your older guitar that has much more time and use, those pots have had time to loosen up and move easier due to far more use. The new ones will just take time to break in and become "looser to the feel" so to speak.

If that is not the case and I misunderstood your meaning, please correct me and let me know so I can evaluate the problem further.

Please feel free to send me a PM anytime you have questions too, ok? I'm always here......

Wade

 

[Heket]

Locate where the middle tone wire goes to the 5 way switch from the tone pot. Following that line of wire there will be a blank terminal post on the the 5 way switch next to the middle tone pot connection to the switch. Take a small bit of of wire and run it from the post on the switch from the middle tone pot's connection to the switch to the adjoining blank post in line with the post for the middle. Solder it in place and you will now have tone control to the bridge via the middle tone pot. It will work both the middle and the bridge. But this will make the bridge HB a more workable p/u by adding a tone control to it. A very simple thing to do and should only take about 5 minutes to do. But then you'll have a tone control to your bridge.:)

Wade

You know, I wondered what that spare terminal was for. I didn't even know it was called a terminal, haha. Sounds like a nice simple mod I can do next time I'm under the hood. One thing I'm pretty sure I did for ease of setup though - I think I reversed the tone pots so the neck is closest to the edge of the guitar. The reason I say this is that I know I reveresed the switch - position 5 for the bridge is now the closest to the strings, with position 1 closest to the edge. It was just easier that way with the way my kit was wired. Embarassingly enough, I can't seem to tell the difference that the tone pots make It's so subtle!

 

[Dorian]

Heket -- It really does look good! The feathers and gold are brilliant. You have taken it well beyond where it was as a Squier strat.

I think dbb and TW are right, though. Get the electromechanical issues worked out now. Do them the best way, even if they require a little rewiring and wood working. This way you won't have to revisit them later, and you'll really want to play it. I've procrastinated on these things, and I always feel foolish later after I get them right.

 

[dbb]

The reason I say this is that I know I reveresed the switch - position 5 for the bridge is now the closest to the strings, with position 1 closest to the edge.

hey, it's your, do it your way. On my Peavey Strat copy I set the pickup switch to give these combinations, instead of the standard ones:

Neck N+B Bridge B+M Middle

I substituted the N+M sound in favor of the N+B, a tone I much prefer, but it drives other guys nuts if they play my Strat*.

*Strat in my world = Peavey Predator with Fender CS TS pickups.

 

[thatbastarddon]

You know, I wondered what that spare terminal was for. I didn't even know it was called a terminal, haha. Sounds like a nice simple mod I can do next time I'm under the hood. One thing I'm pretty sure I did for ease of setup though - I think I reversed the tone pots so the neck is closest to the edge of the guitar. The reason I say this is that I know I reveresed the switch - position 5 for the bridge is now the closest to the strings, with position 1 closest to the edge. It was just easier that way with the way my kit was wired. Embarassingly enough, I can't seem to tell the difference that the tone pots make It's so subtle!

I was wondering about the tone cap in your pickup wiring thread. It is not clear in the pictures, but i was wondering if it was possibly shorting itself out with both legs touching the back of the pot? That may explain the tone pot's subtle character.

 

[Heket]

I think dbb and TW are right, though. Get the electromechanical issues worked out now. Do them the best way, even if they require a little rewiring and wood working. This way you won't have to revisit them later, and you'll really want to play it. I've procrastinated on these things, and I always feel foolish later after I get them right.

*Sigh* I know you're right. It would right a lot of the ills I currently have. I don't even know how to route out the wood though. What kind of tool would you use? I have a Dremel with some sanding and drilling attachments and I think I have a jigsaw but don't know how dextrous that is.

I was wondering about the tone cap in your pickup wiring thread. It is not clear in the pictures, but i was wondering if it was possibly shorting itself out with both legs touching the back of the pot? That may explain the tone pot's subtle character.

I have no idea I didn't even think of that. To be honest, I don't even know how it should be standing. I didn't wire that part myself, but it's possible it got squashed. I'd be a bit sad to unstring it all again now, but next time I go for it I'll have a little check.

 

[Dorian]

Heket -- I don't own a Dremel tool, but I have borrowed one a few times to do cutting or grinding. Routing bits are make for Dremel tools, and I found one (part number 652 edit: 654 might be better) for about $10 in the U.S. I think a Dremel tool with a routing bit might be quite good for deepening a pickup cavity.

I wouldn't want to hold the tool freehand, though. Evidently there is a plunge router attachment available for Dremel tools to hold hold it and control depth for $38. I would probably be too cheap to buy one myself at first, and would probably experiment with ways to clamp the Dremel tool to a block of wood that spanned the pickup cavity, after carefully protecting the artwork, of course. I would certainly practice with routing out some scrap wood to develop my technique, anyhow, and if I found I was hopeless I would then buy the $38 attachment.

But then, maybe you ought to invest in the router attachment. You might consider doing more of this in the future. Lots of folks can do the woodwork and the electronics, but good artwork is special.

Speaking of guitar art, I don't know if you have seen this wood sculptor of guitars
Carved Guitars
I don't like much of what I see on his web site, but I appreciate his skill, and he does have to work to customer requirements. He has been at it for a long time, evidently.

 

[Iván]

Still, I think the guitar should be called Quetzal. It looks like a quetzal. Quetzals are cool. I like quetzals.

quetzal

 

[Heket]

Still, I think the guitar should be called Quetzal. It looks like a quetzal. Quetzals are cool. I like quetzals.

quetzal

QUETZALCOATL!

It's a much cooler name than Squirt, indeed, but Squirt has kinda stuck. And now he's Sir Squirt!

About my intonation:
I've noticed that my bridge leans forwards towards the neck, so it's not parallel to the guitar body. Could this affect my intonation issues? I'm afraid I can't really test if the bridge pickup is too close at the moment, but I've seen pictures of other people with pickups close to the strings. My SG's bridge pickup is about as close as this one. I just think it's odd that no matter what I do with the saddle it always stays sharp by the same amount. How is that even possible?

It's annoying and noticable even when playing down the lower end of the neck - all standard tuning notes have it when comparing to their open string counterparts. I've done some checks regarding the nut and that seems fine.

 

[Tobacco Worm]

Ah, see I would have used a flat bottoming gouge, a cornering gouge, and angle tip files in the old days. Our head master at the luthier school insisted that we learn the "proper manner" in which to remove and shape wood in localized areas. Being a fine old gentleman and master craftsman of the old school in Germany, he DID insist too! His view, and mine as well, is that power tools tend to get away from you too easily when trying to work in small areas and are for the larger jobs really. In fact it I were to take this job, I'd use my bottoming gouge and files and relieve just enough wood in the area for the HB to fit and that would be all the wood needed to be removed.

Wade

 

[Tobacco Worm]

Miss Heket,

As to the bridge being angled. This is a MIM style tremolo unit. It is a big block style. The Squier Strat bodies are often thinner than the MIM or USA Strats. Thus it is possible that the back plate is pushing the block toward the face of the instrument and cauisng you issue. May also be a contributing cause to the tuning issue as well. Remove the back plate and check for this possible problem.

Wade

 

[dbb]

Wade, your experience as a guitar tech is amazing and welcome!

 

[sgtbeefheart]

Do you have the bridge screws all the way into the body?

That will pull the bridge forward.

Loosen the strings, unscrew the screws, but not enough that you can see the threads, tighten the springs till the bridge is level.

Push the bridge forward, till it's up against the screws, and turn the outside screws
to where they are almost touching the bridge, say 1mm.

Check that the trem works, then do the same with the rest of the screws, and make any adjustments you need from there.

Good luck.

 

[dbb]

Yeah, this is good advice.

As a tech I like setting up a trem Strat, but it is one of the harder set-ups to get dialed in. It's a good design (duh!) but needs some tweaking to work well.

Heket's doing good for a first rebuild.