Project 51-The Strat - Page 2

BillStickers · 07-14-2010, 10:51 AM

I have just learnt that I drew the diagram wrong... oops. Final revisions underway.

I'm working Mondays and Thursdays now at Hobgoblins... tiz fun. I finished a Violin yesterday

edandis · 07-14-2010, 11:42 AM

I think you should name this guitar "Odyssey".

BillStickers · 07-19-2010, 06:23 PM

The Internship goes well!

The guitar is almost finished. We finished coating the scratchplate and we're now adding an acoustic guitar pickguard just in case. You'll see just how.

I put it together for a preview but I lost the Rotary switch yesterday. We bought a new one today.

I'm uploading pictures of the "Preview" Pre the new rotary switch tomorrow. With luck next time you see it, it'll be completely finished. Wiring should be this weekend and as it turns out I needed to revise my wiring as I got a couple of things backwards. So now it should give the sounds I planned instead of sounding a bit odd... You will all see... eventually.

Watch this spot next Tuesday... best scenario, we'll have Mission Accomplished piccys

pictoratus · 07-19-2010, 08:21 PM

I'll be watching for it, BillStickers.

Also hoping we can hear some sound clips of the finished product when it's complete.

edandis · 07-19-2010, 10:03 PM

We'll all be waiting and watching.

BillStickers · 07-20-2010, 05:48 PM

I wish I could make some clips... but that might be REALLY difficult...

I'll give it some brainstorming but I don't think I'll be able to share it's voice

Oh no... I'm being watched... they're waiting for me to make a mistake! Nothing is safe we must escape!!!
But not before I share the Previews of the Strat '51:

And now for some very naughty bits indeed...

BTW, yes they are Photoshopped, Photoshopped from RAW no less

if y'all would prefer regular photos instead of or as well that's fine

edandis · 07-20-2010, 07:58 PM

I think you should name that guitar "Rome", as in Rome wasn't built in a day. LOL

BillStickers · 07-20-2010, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edandis

I think you should name that guitar "Rome", as in Rome wasn't built in a day. LOL

I'm thinking of sticking with "Lead Nellie"

Like Lead Belly only female and really about what Americans may refer to as "oh, THATkinda High School crush... I see /0.o\"

Feedback is welcome...
Of all kinds

YouTube- Nirvana Aneurysm Live From The Muddy...

Squirr · 07-21-2010, 07:05 AM

And that's a great video

BillStickers · 07-22-2010, 08:18 PM

Tanx Squirr, means as much as it can on the interweb

Me loves Minuscule BTW, the fam finds it hilarious and utterly charming, thanks for sharing the source of your avatar pic so we all could bask in the happy glow of Minuscule

Some more pics as I got the Rotary switch on. We are going to get a large piece of plastic stuck to the front for extra protection against pick strokes. Hopefully it won't take away from the look.
We needed to drill and chisel to accommodate the HB screws and the Switch... sadly these are not the final bits of routing, I forgot to take a picture when we finished completely, but no matter.

The Rotary switch will function like a faux Tone control, as you turn it clockwise it changes to the Bridge pickup as if rolling the Treble frequency drain off. The Squier '51's switching is consecutive between positions 3,4 and 5 so as to reflect the design and make it easier to mimic in practice without having to cycle through the other 3 settings.

BillStickers · 07-27-2010, 11:53 AM

OK.
Another Preview. Wiring STILL needs to be done along with the complete shielding.
Let's compare how it's coming along...

The Plastic sheet has now been applied so it's extra protected like an Acoustic Guitar. You should be able to see how far it reaches...

BillStickers · 07-27-2010, 01:32 PM

Kinda reminds me of this:
http://www.squierguitars.com/product...tno=0303050589
Rather than reminding me of a Squier '51 like it's supposed to

BillStickers · 07-30-2010, 10:17 AM

Hopefully this is the last time I'll nit pick and fiddle with these before posting them AGAIN for the millionth bloody time

BillStickers · 08-02-2010, 06:26 PM

Hi folks,

Dunno if you've gotten bored of me and my threads yet but I'm going to do the soldering this weekend... maybe myself

Either way maybe next week I can share the finished product.

I've just noticed another mistake I made on the wiring diagram... I've already drawn it correctly on paper as a pictorial and a schematic but it's at my Bro's house and I haven't memorized it very well. So I've been neglectful to photograph the physical copy and drawn it on Powerpoint... apparently not very well... grrrrr pencil and paper is a lot less strenuous on the brain than computers at least for drawing wiring diagrams

Happy thoughts, I'll make everything better... again...

...oh wait... I dunno for sure... I dunno wether I'm going to go for the Strat continuity which is shown in the chart as being similar in physical progression to a Strat's 1st, 2nd & 3rd positions. Or if I want to go by the Classical Humbucker continuity which has the HB in the 1st Position so as you ascend it goes to the North coil just as the first Humbuckers on Jazz guitars specified with the North being upwards towards the neck; this way round is also convenient at having the HB in the 1st Position as it's a nice setting to "accidentally" hit if ever... which I don't. i do fine with all the Strat's controls being where they are

SHALL I HAVE THE HB POSITION IN 1ST OR 5TH???

BillStickers · 08-06-2010, 08:10 PM

It's Saturday according to my clock. Today I should be wiring up

! Just going to upload some piccys and hit the hay, count the sheep, meet my pillow, rock-a-by-Bill, sleep, drift to the land of nod, meet the wild things where they are, materialize Zs from thin air in Comic-Sans Font and contemplate the female form.

As there's been no input... I have decided to have the HB Humbucker in the 1st position following the original coil placement continuity of the early PAFs on those Jazz-type Gibsons.
I think that's actually how I drew it...

SO. I REALLY NEED TO JUST PHOTOGRAPH MY WIRING DIAGRAM AS IT IS ON PAPER! I've wasted a fair bit of time trying to get this computer representation correct... grrr urgh argh...

Oh well... nearly done

slotrod65 · 08-06-2010, 10:49 PM

This looks great! I love your idea:
I cannot get my hands on a 51, so I will build me one.
That is so Rock-N-Roll.

Phred

BillStickers · 08-13-2010, 02:32 PM

Hello Schematic:

BillStickers · 08-21-2010, 02:14 PM

I came across two problems:
1-Getting my Ground wires to have enough slack and to stick in some cases.
2-The Rotary Switch being constructed differently from the original one I was going to use.
3-I wired the Neck to the wrong side... the only mistake I MYSELF made... HOORAY

!

I eventually overcame the problems and got it working!!!

I changed to the Star Grounding with the thought about "Signal Chains" and that it might make some difference to use the Shielding purely as Shielding and not as a Connection between things. However, I am aware that I changed the Grounds for the pots but neglected to undo the Grounds that connected onto the 5-Way switch's lugs... but Grounding the Bridge through it is far more convenient so I didn't bother...

BillStickers · 08-21-2010, 02:16 PM

IT'S FINISHED!!!
The sustain with the Maple is INSANE!!! It keeps going and going... I'm going to time it in fact...

It's very Jazzy, got a lovely smooth sound thanks to the wiring. The Three settings that emulate a Squier '51 are BRIGHT!!! VERY LOUD AS WELL!!!
I'll see about some sort of soundclip... maybe that'll appear in a month or so... maybe

I'll upload a nicer picture soon with it fully strung and Setup.

BillStickers · 08-21-2010, 02:54 PM

Here is a direct mirror of the wiring I have actually done. The wire colours match as do the numbers. I have coloured the Jack to help show how it functions. The Rotary Switch is a 6-way 2 pole, remember.

Well... that's pretty much it until it's set up properly and my Bridge Upgrade some time from now... gonna get me something Vintage Spec with a Steel Block...

Total of 18 combos. Practically 36 with my SOZ Jack Mod. Everyone should use that mod, man... I know it's egotistical of me but it's genius. It's a great way to cheat and double your settings. It's also completely Invisible!

Sparkfire · 08-21-2010, 09:01 PM

He's a friggin mechanical genius! Great job Bill. I want one.

Ron

edandis · 08-22-2010, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparkfire

He's a friggin mechanical genius! Great job Bill. I want one.

Ron

I second that. I think you found your niche in life.

AllroyPA · 08-22-2010, 10:07 AM

Bill Stickers why dont you prewire these pots and switches and sell them to the world, would make ya some extra spending cash. (aka... guitar money)

BillStickers · 08-24-2010, 11:58 AM

Some pretty pictures

BillStickers · 08-24-2010, 12:05 PM

I'm going to get some better Neck screws soon and a better Bridge eventually. It creaks a little and feels a bit delicate. I couldn't get the spring tension right on the Bridge and accidentally got it Floating perfectly xD. I don't have a Trem arm for it so it works fine that way...
It does sound fantastic, I will see about some sound clips if I can.

Teleblooz · 08-24-2010, 01:40 PM

Beautiful job, Bill!

BillStickers · 08-24-2010, 02:02 PM

Thank you very much

It imitates a Squier '51 a real charm! Including in the operation...
The 5-way switch operates just like the Coil Split on the Volume of the Squier '51, except on crack as it does more than just Split the Coils on the Humbucker...
The Rotary Switch has all the settings of the Rotary Switch on the Squier '51 right next to each other... except there are three more extra settings that add a 50s LP style Tone Control or a Jazzy setting akin to a Broadcaster.

The 50s LP Tone Control works a charm

I used it preemptive that the TOne might be a little too Bright... and I was right to do so as it makes for a fantastic richness. All Maple is really nice...

The Glossed Maple Neck is really comfy xD! Extremely smooth and... well... plays like Butter

BillStickers · 09-04-2010, 03:41 PM

Amazing! This thread is one of the most popular Project Threads on this forum at a current count of 1,888 views!

My Strat must be really nice then

WHO_AM_I? · 09-05-2010, 12:41 PM

BIILLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
hai nice guitar, kthxbai.

BillStickers · 09-05-2010, 01:02 PM

0.o

Ok.

I have only two guesses and if they're both wrong

BillStickers · 11-23-2010, 06:37 PM

Over 2600 views.

Puck me.

Thank you all so very much just for your interest and an extra thank you for everything else I can thank you for

.

After playing this Strat '51 of mine for a while I have found that some of the settings are almost completely redundant. So, I've done a redesign!!!
Now it's more 1951 than ever!
In there now is...
Squier '51
1951 Broadcaster
1951 Les Paul (although it's release was 1952 but screw it I'm making up silly continuity!

)
I have found that a Capacitor in a Stereo Jack is useless. It is only useful to unground one of your Tone Control Caps so you might be able to blend in another PUP; this only works if your PUP Hot is always connected to it's Tone Control, my UniStrat works in such a way to blend in the Bridge PUP.
But I digress, my SOZ Mod sucks unless it's with a Tone Control. instead i'm going to add a Passive effect like the Black Ice Overdrive. The Black Ice is a bit rubbish so I went and got some info (didn't take much, just search black ice overdrive in Google Images), after that, I found that I could do it myself without StewMac and their annoying Geographic inconvenience...
I bought some OA91 Germanium Diodes at a price I was just about cool with...
Anyway, enough jibber jabber, here's the plan.
Also, like any Car, I've added a letter on the end of the "model no." for coolness... ahem...

horax · 11-23-2010, 10:55 PM

Looks awesome!
What did you use to get the veneer and finish off of the body?

BillStickers · 11-24-2010, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by horax

Looks awesome!
What did you use to get the veneer and finish off of the body?

Scraped it off then belt-sanded it.

WE SANDED HIS FACE OFF!!!

What happened to your face!?

The rest was lovingly sanded by hand til silky smooth

The French Polish is gorgeous, I'd go as far to say that it let's the body resonate better than Polyurethane and maybe even Nitrocellulose. But I haven't done any tests so I can't say really

...
The French Polish finish is FANTASTIC! It's also gone a really cool Golden colour like Maple Syrup, it's freakin' tasty... seriously I gotta remember it's wood... I get the same food munchies when I look at Ebony or Lignum Vitae; they look like the biscuit bit of an Oreo and a Chocolate Caramel...MMMMMMmmmmmmmMMMMMMMmmmmmmm
Owh! My teeth...

BillStickers · 03-13-2011, 06:32 PM

The bridge has been an absolute expletive deleted!
The new bridge won't intonate properly despite many adjustments (got it down to just the high E but it will not intonate!).
Plus the Treme arm has snapped... TWICE! The second time it has now left the threaded shaft inside clogging the hole.
Basically, that's £20 down the toilet...

Does anyone have some recommendations for Strat Trems that are great?
I've wondered about a Wilkinson or a Fender even Callaham but they don't sit right except for Callaham which I won't buy because of the dreaded postage... though I may think about it...

Thoughts?

PS-Do not buy the Fender Spec Strat Trem that's £20 from Axesrus. DO NOT BUY IT!!!

dtrud0h · 03-13-2011, 09:05 PM

a true luthier. After all this time, not satisfied till it's right, GO BILL !!!!!

WHoooooooooooo

BillStickers · 07-13-2011, 04:25 PM

UPDATE:

After so long on this forum I'm back!

The revised wiring has been done for months and works like a dream!
I have also killed... urm... I'm not sure if it's 2 or 3 birds with one stone... either way I've killed a bunch of birds with one stone with the cannibalism of the very crappy bridge I bought for this project. I will post pics of the annoying snapped trem arms as well as the carcass of the old Bridge... well 2nd "old" bridge...
I'll show you what I've done.
I know y'all like pics better than words... so do I