Let's do a Sharp dressed Strat.....

[Shadowrunner]

well, technically speaking, about as much as the "on" or "one" bits that comprise the image :)

so i propose that the images are worth a lot more than their weight in gold.

[tdowns]

Excellent post as always Ronkirn !!!

I made one of these a while back.


It seemed to scratch up my frets something awful. Got any tip on how you formed that end? Frets obviously have different crown profiles. Do you use a "max" radius approach with that profile in the screwdriver tip?

I heard Fender used a nail with a formed end like that back in the early days.

Great work!!

[Ronkirn]

I heard Fender used a nail with a formed end like that back in the early days.

that what I heard.... I just used a "rat tail" file and shaped until it seemed to do the trick... I polished it up a bit, I don't let it remove all the lacquer, I allow the fret leveling to do that.. then clean up everything before final polishing.

rk

[Vizcaster]

I read the same thing about Fender using a nail, but quite frankly there was so much lacquer on the sides of the frets on my '97 strat I doubt they did much to try to get it off. Anyway for my builds I tried making such a tool starting with a collated nail which has a sort of an offset heart-shaped head so there's already a shape on it. I just filed the top flat to get more or less a sharp scraper profile and it worked fine without scratching the frets too much.

[Ronkirn]

I make my own pickguards. Those available from the many manufacturers seem to vary considerably, even from the same supplier. This way, I can only get mad at my self...

I take a piece of PG material, and trace the outline from a PG template, then cut it out on the band saw… My trusty Nikon was set on the wrong setting so you will have to imagine, tortoise shell plastic, MDF template, Sharpie marker, and my stubby fingers…

I’ll use golf grip tape to double stick it to the template and step over to the drill press to drill the holes. Here the access for the pickup holes…



And her for all the screw holes..



Then over to the router table…to circum-navigate the periphery of the pick guard with a straight edge bit.



That took about 5 minutes from plastic sheet to this,



Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

Now changing bit to a 3/8ths, simply because it will fit inside the ½ inch hole I have drilled, I cut the pickup holes..





now I take a piece of sandpaper and go around the edge to remove any of the “fuzzies” the routing left behind, because cutting the bevel requires a very flat surface, the plastic can throw things off.



Now I install a 45 degree bevel bit, and adjust it so I KNOW it’s too low, and make a test cut…



Here you see the white has been exposed but very little of the black. I adjust it up just a touch, cutting and checking until I have it right..



Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

[Ronkirn]

I’ll go around several times, this gives the bit the chance to produce a smoother cut.





Since all the holes are drilled, I whip out the Dremel with a modified base to cut the switch slot..



I mount the slot template, sing the existing switch screw holes… and lower the Dremel into the work.



The bit is a 1/16 D rasp.

Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

The results…



Now back to the drill press and countersink the screw holes…



I check to be certain I am deep enough..



and the little bugger is complete.



Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

Oh, I allow the shank of the Dremel bit to ride against the edge of the MDF slot template, to guide the bit.

Now we wire the thing, collecting all the goodies... let’s go..



Some use plastic spacers under the pots… I do not, they can shrink over time causing the pots to come loose, I use real nuts… I know, it takes one to know one…



I insert the pup adjusting/mounting screws with the rubber spacer. I use silicone tubing, it doesn’t dry rot, and isn’t affected by whatever gets to the normal tubing and causes it to deteriorate. This stuff will be around for a while…



Everything is just finger tight at this point, so I can get all the holes aligned and everything installed without forcing anything. I don’t like to see wrinkled shielding because something wasn’t right.

I now tap the screw holes in the pickup bobbins (camera failure again), mount them then tie the leads to keep things neat. I use linen string. Why linen, ‘cause it’s not poly, and the string looks much more tidy than the typical tape. I try to build my guitars so when the curiosity gets the better of the owner, and they open ‘er up, what they see of my attention causes a moment of respect for the fact that it looks like it was assembled by someone that gives a hoot.



And those are Curtis Novak’s Pickups, very, very, nice.

Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

Now I continue the wiring… keeping all nice and neat.



I use an isolated ground through an audio grade capacitor. This dramatically reduces the hum and preserves the classic Strat sound..



Completed, ready for the body…..



Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

The BODY!!/… oh yeah… that babe should be about ready…..let’s rock….

This time, I’m using a power sander on a variable speed control to do the initial “break glaze” its 500 grit being used wet with water. This tales literally about 1 minute to do both sides.



I only do this to break the glaze and allow the hand sanding to gain “purchase” much quicker.

As you can see in this shot, the surface is darn near ready for polishing, but I’ll go over it by hand with 800 grit first..





as your sanding keep stopping, allowing the surface to dry thoroughly and looking at reflected light to fins any “low” spots, they will be shiny,



Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

As you’re looking for the low spots, they tend to be along the edge, they can be quickly removed by hand sanding, but doing so will result in a less than Plano-flat surface, If you will continue using the block on those areas, your final gloss will be virtually mirror flat.

To do concave curves, I made a slight rounded block, this one is made from Corian..



it follows the curve much easier than trying to “make do” with whatever you can find..



the results are spectacular..



Now the areas where a flat block just are not appropriate, I use my good ‘ol fingers…



Ron Kirn

[Telepatio]

A bit late, Ron, but with your fret leveling technique will I have any problems with stainless steel frets?

Will 150 grit paper sand the steel?

Thanks,
Chad

[Ronkirn]

the stainless used for frets is softer than the stainless we see in tools etc, so it'll be no problem... just a little more work, 150 will be fine... I use 180 for everything.

rk

[Ronkirn]

Once she’s all wet sanded, it’s time to choose one of many different ways to polish. For those long on elbow grease and short on bux, you can sue plain old automotive cleaner car wax, it will do a super job too. Just rube the cack out of the body and you’re done.

I use a little faster approach. First up is red rubbing compound… if you sanded to about 3000 grit wet or dry, you can skip this step, but this is a heck of a lot less fatiguing.



This is available in a past at your local auto parts store over by the finishing goodies, but I use it in the quart size squirt bottle.

I use a very “tactile” method of distributing the compound once it leaves the bottle, it takes me back to finger painting in kindergarten…



Then is to the buffing wheel at about 700 rpm, and a gentle quick touch. This stuff will burn through faster ‘n you can say, ?Dammmm I hate it when that happens.”



You will notice the wheel shows red residue, that’s because I use a specific wheel for the specific compound, you don’t want to move to the next finer grade using the same wheel.

In a few minutes.. literally, you have a semi buffed surface…



all this is doing is removing the microscopic scratches left by the wet or dry paper.. now we move up to a finer polishing compound…

Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

The fine polishing compound is usually identified by a white color; here I'm using a compound stick, its compound suspended in a "wax" substrate. You simply "charge" the buffing wheel by holding the stick against it for a few seconds.



Here you can see the difference about 10 seconds makes between the red compound, and the white, oh, at the auto parts store, next to the cans of red compound, you will see white, this is the finer roughly the equivalent of the compound stick I’m using here.



Now, it’s simply a matter of buffing the entire surface. A word of caution for those venturing into this world for the first time. DO NOT buy a small polishing wheel for your Craftsman Grinder, it rotates at 3480 RPM or thereabouts and will burn the finish right off the body and take a bit of wood too so fast you won’t believe it happened. You must use a relatively slow speed RPM to prevent learning that first unpleasant lesson.



After the entire body is buffed, examine it carefully, making certain it is indeed done…. Then you can now choose several other methods to finalize the polishing, simply wax the body, it’ll look darn good, or use one of the many automotive glamour waxes to give it a wet appearance, or, as I do, I move to an extremely fine polishing compound, roughly equivalent to 10 to 20,000 grit they tell me,



It’s a super fine volcanic ash suspended in something wet (that’s the technical description) but it does pot down a hellova shine..

Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

Again, I rely on my tactile method of application, you will notice its very wet and it only takes a few drops from the bottle, interestingly it also smells a lot like burnt rock, if you don’t know what burnt rock smells like, take a small pebble, hold it in the flame from your Zippo…. No… that’s not burnt rock, that’s your fingers dummy, hold it with a pair of pliers….



And back to the buffing wheel, and once again, I have changed to the appropriate wheel for the compound...



Go all over the body once again; adding compound as necessary, and the results, is one shiny body…



At this point, I’ll give the entire body a coat of a good wax; it simply adds a layer of protection as we enter the home stretch.

Now what???

Ron Krin

[Ronkirn]

At this point, I’ll fit the neck to the pocket…. As I’m making the body, I keep things tight, knowing that as I add lacquer to the neck, it will get even tighter, therefore I’ll take a small block I have made and remove lacquer buildup and a few thousandths from the inside edges of the neck pocket..





I will also remove any accumulated crud from the neck pocket, Here the lacquer buildup.





This gives me a clean floor for the neck.

Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

Taking the Dremel, I’ll go at the lacquer on the walls to get a secure fit.



and follow up by scraping any remaining funk into oblivion.



Because I know it’s snug, I give the walls a good coat of wax, Minwax Finishing wax here, but there are plenty of other brands available.



throw in the shim… I shim all my Strats…..



then it’s time to get serious…

Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

For those wondering why go to al the trouble of removing all the funk if I was going to shim…. Well…why not??

Now I insert the neck, place the pickguard in position, then place the tremolo in the correct position. Measuring from the 12 fret, locate the first bridge 12 ¾, and that’ the location of the tremolo. Since the neck and PG are in place, I give it a good look to be certain everything looks correctly positioned. I use a 4 foot ruler to indicate the position of the strings and make any adjustments as necessary.

Then mark the location of the posts for the Tremolo, here the Wilkinson VS100.



Once the location is marked, over to the drill press.



the studs are driven into the body, to keep from buggering up anything, I run in a stainless bolt into the threads, then I can bang away all day without harming anything..



then a few whacks… and it’s in.



Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

Now, holding the tremolo in position, I flip the body…



and place the trem cover in place, outlining 2 sides with tape… we’re moving quickly here because the tape’s adhesive and lacquer do not get along.



Remove the cover to see if I guessed straight. . .



I did not, so I realign the tape to the trem rout.




Ron Kirn

[Arlo]

Amazing work Ron!

[Ronkirn]

Nowwwww I replace the trem cover and outline the thing with the tape,



Actually before I did this.. I took my tremolo cover template and routed a test in a piece of scrap whatever was close enough to grab… that way everything is ready to roll as soon as possible..



To see how I did this, you may want to reference this thread…

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/stratocas...d-here-ya.html

On this one the stuff just fell into place, on the build in the thread above, I had to make soma accommodation to irregular sixes.. It happens..

OK back to the main show…. Now I align the template to the taped outline, it is not critical, there is more than enough “wiggle room”. Ya just want it close and straight.



Not I take the router and give the inside edge a little bite, to check depth… lookin’ good. So I give ‘er a complete buzz….



Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

Before removing the template, check to be certain it fits correctly… good to go..



and here’s what she looks like now..



Now, since I’m on a roll, I move on to the neck plate… I rout a test in the scrap….



then drop the plate in to be certain it fits, note, I leave about .003 all the way around on this and the other recessed parts to give the body a bit of room to breathe, or move with contraction and expansion. I can pout ‘em in there with .000 clearance, but if the body contracts any, CRACK, the lacquer is brittle and will not give. If anyone whines about how sloppy .003 is.. c’mon, getoutta here…



Again, this bugger fit perfectly on the first try, either I’m getting good, or I need new glasses…

Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

Now I place the neck plate in position, noting the screw holes, getting it as precise As I can.



Then locate the template over the plate, leaving the inside margin equidistant and clamp it in position… on yes a side note… lacquer is brittle, so when you clamp the templates, do it with only enough pressure to secure the template, if you go torque crazy here, you will be refinishing the whole body.



Now I take the router and give the body a poke, to check depth..



Rockin’ so. . . . buzz time again…



Drop the plate in the hole to be certain it fits,, if it didn’t, see the link to the thread above….


Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

Done,. . . so to speak…

[Ronkirn]

Here she is complete with router fuzz,



and after the number has been stamped…



So two down, one to go…..

The Jack plate presents a different collection of problems, the main one, no 2 are alike, and they are not semetrical, so what tha heck… let’s roll….

First, do a test… checking the depth of cut, then the over all shape…





I have sat the piece in up side down, to get a preliminary assessment, it fit, but that dosent mean a thing when flipped over… so you must cut out the inside of the test to allow the jack and plate to fit to see if it is indeed a good cut, since it was… (I have never had a situation where all 3 worked out perfectly on the fist cut on the same guitar must be good karma for ya Dave)

Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

Place the plate on the guitar body in the approximate location,



Then place the template over it, aligning it with the plate then clamp the template…



Be certain to use router but, that is small enough to accommodate the small radius of the point on the jack plate.



now I take a little nip to check for depth…



Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

Buzz time again….



Then check to be certain things are in order…



I figure if it’ll go in upside down, I can bang the heck out of it when right side up… NOT!

Since the plate is a stamped piece of metal I need to relieve the edges of the rout to allow for it to seat correctly, Dremel time…



and the results…..



so, that’s 3 for 3…..Phew!!!

Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

SO, rumor has it that the Klingons are circling, so I guess we better throw up the shield…

I start with raw copper sheeting, and cut it into the necessary parts….



I use the body template to lay out the bottoms of the various routs..



Then cut then into the shape needed..



Then using a special tool, one that is a trade secret, so it’s even called by a fictitious name to keep it from being commonly known, this one is called a Craftsman Deep well ¾ inch socket… is that cool or what, who will ever figure that one out..

I flatten all the copper by burnishing it.



Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

Oh yes, the letters on the copper, it’s a very technical system to identify which goes where, the N indicates, the neck position, and the M, the middle, and y’all thought I was a dummy…



With it all burnished flat, I take an abrasive pad and buff the collection, why? Because I know sometime in the future, curiosity will get the better of the owner, and he will pop the lid… I want him to look in there and see, this ain’t no stinking off the rack guitar. Or, another thought, I don’t want to ever be in the same room with something I made and have to explain something goofy.

Now, I place the parts….



then apply adhesive to the back side of the walls. This holds it in place until it’s soldered.



And all the other strips…



Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

Working around the edges, I solder at about 1 inch intervals… be careful in the deep section, the back of the guitar and all the beautiful lacquer is only 1/8th inch away. Heat it too much and a mice blister raises it’s ugly head, and it’s back to refinishing..



and completed…



I’ll take a moment here to coat the fresh wood in the routed areas with lacquer. This gives it a fighting chance if anything wet hits the guitar, If left open, the water could soak into the grain, and cause the underlying wood to swell… not a good thing…





Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

I’m down to the little stuff, drilling pilot holes, etc…





When using a 22 fret neck on the Strat, the pickguard has to be in place prior to mounting the neck, fire up the old Weller…

I run the ground wire through to the tremolo spring claw.. And attach the jack leads. The spiral winding produces about the same effect as suing a shielded wire, but the nice thins is it maintains the vintage appearance.





The claw requires considerable heat, a soldering pencil will not do it, the Weller Gun is about 150 watts and it barely has enough heat to overcome the “heat sink” qualities of the claw.

Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

With the pickguard in place I can mount the neck. I place it in the slot… that sounds logical… then take an awl and mark the location of the screws. I will press the awl in a skewed angle to mark the neck a bit long, or away from the body, Then drill the holes in that location. What that does is, as the screws are driven home, the force the neck down and into the pocket creating a very tight joint, which is paramount in a Strat due to the way the pressure from the strings pull the neck and body together.



I shim ‘em all with maple…



Run the screws in. . . and . . .



here she is. Ready for strings…



Ron Kirn

[Ronkirn]

Nuthin left but to string ‘er up and d a little tweaking..





on to the setup….

Ron Kirn

[boris bubbanov]

It was perfect, and then he put 10-46s on there, oh no!



Actually, I've been doing a few lately in EXL 110s myself. Man does does live by 11-49s alone.

This thread is so mind bogglingly good! My apologies, Ron, I didn't get to the guy in Raceland these past few days, the girlfriend had me bound and tied.

[Ronkirn]

the girlfriend had me bound and tied.

Now, Now.. this is a Family environment..

rk

[Vizcaster]

Are you going to use a white volume knob and two black tone knobs?

OK, here's the serious question: I notice you didn't countersink for the pickup or switch screws. Do any of the custom pickup makers use bugle head screws to mount their pickups or is the Fender Custom Shop the only one that recesses their screws in the vintage reissue guards?

I'm sure anyone would spot this guitar's quality at a distance, but I have to compliment the detail of the recessed plates.

[hopdybob]

after seeing this been build, and someone would ask me.(what will never happen)
you can have a custom master build of fender ore one from ronkirn
it would be ronkirn
this is so unbelievable good work.
and i am learning a lot of these topics.