Polishing a turd

[bigfatmonkeyboy]

SUBSCRIBED!

[EMG_GUY]

subscribed

[billythegoat]

I was wondering whether or not to expand my pedal board or upgrade my new Oscar Schmidt.

 

I think this thread has figured it out for me.

[dcindc]

So the neck is off. The first thing I do is hit the sides of the neck with my MindRiot file. Thanks again! It only takes a few passes to finish the frets off properly.



Bass side before


Bass side after


Treble side before


Treble side after



I don't know if you can see the difference, but it makes the fret ends very square. And of course they are farther inboard cuz you have filed some of them off. Makes them less "feelable".

The edges of the neck are very slightly rounded so I probably won't roll them. This is also a pretty small narrow neck so it's not like it's needed. If I was going to roll them I would just hold a large socket against the edge of the neck at a 45 degree angle and with strong pressure pull it down the side of the neck. Instant neck roll.

[dcindc]

Then I wiped the fingerboard down with acetone. I was also able to remove the superglue "schmutz" or whatever it was at the 17th fret.



Then I noticed a small chip I hadn't seen before. It's at the bottom left of the board in this pic directly above the 4 in the date. Oh well..

[dcindc]

Here's how the heel of the neck looked after I took it off



Then I hit it with my mill flat file. Not a bastard! You can see areas that still haven't been filed on. That right there shows you that the heel wasn't flat.



I stopped here to get the pic, but will make it completely flat before I'm done. As I went along I picked the debris out of the holes by running my needle file around the inside of the hole. Not filing, just sticking it in there and going around in a circle.

MANY times I have found that dowel at the end of the truss rod channel to be proud of the heel, and had to agressively file it flat.

[Still.ill]

can you later do the same thing except with buying a 600$ "moderate priced" guitar

and then an $1500+ guitar

like to see the less correction stuff needs

[SmoothJK]

I wish you lived close to me. Would be nice to have a trusted guitar guy around (there is one guy who's pretty good -- Metro Guitar -- but he's expensive and lives in a really inconvenient location).

Anyway, enjoying the ride. Good stuff man!

[dcindc]

like to see the less correction stuff needs

 

 

HA! So would I. So would I.

[ILikeGuitar]

sweet thread

[k_strat]

If you like to tinker/mod/repair, subscribe now. Here's the plan: I just got this, a 2004 Squier Standard Series in Candy Apple Red. There's nothing "wrong" with it, but there are the usual minor annoyances. Usually when I get a guitar, I just fix all this stuff. It's how I can play my cheap guitars with great satisfaction. Well, lots of people on here don't know how to do all this stuff. So I figure I'll document it in a thread with tons of pics, and tips. Did you subscribe yet? Click on Thread Tools, then Subscribe, then enter. See ya soon!

I know I'm coming in a ways late but count me in too!

[Verence]

You know I subscribed!

I can never get enough of your Turd-Polishing MacGyver Shenanigans!

[Loxley]

I'll be pretty much doing the same exact thing with my Yamaha Pacifica this summer, since the pickup switch and the input jack are already worn out, so this is great information for me.

[valentsgrif]

Love it. I'll never have the balls to cobble up on my guitars, but I love reading these threads for the learnin' and displays of ingenuity.

[sartana]

Late to the party but count me in with great interest....
Thanks
S

[Ratmonkey]

Just read thru all the posts and subscribed too....great thread:thu:

[dcindc]

I'm trying to steam the dents out of the neck and my soldering iron isn't hot enough. I also don't have a clothes iron. We'll get back to that. So I moved on to the body.

Here's how I remove knobs. This is a piece of yarn about a foot long, tied in a circle with a square knot. It's soft cotton yarn like you'd make a knitted cap out of, not harsh hemp twine. I have that too, but for a different use.



I pull it under the knob, like so.



Then I fold it over and put it back under the knob going in the opposite direction from the first time.



Then I pick up the two loops and pull. Careful, sometimes the knob will go flyin'.



You will want to remove the knobs BEFORE removing the pickguard screws. Let the body hold the pickguard for you. I never woulda got these knobs off without damage except for this method. They were on TIGHT.

[dcindc]

Here's how I hold the screwdriver when working on the guitar. This way if the tip slips, or the screwdriver falls, it won't mark the guitar.



Nekkid!





They look to be ceramic pickups with the magnets on either side of the pole pieces. Typical tiny pots, polyester capacitor, and enclosed switch.

[dcindc]

I've decided to do some mods to the guitar. I realize that kinda strays from the intent of the thread which at first was just making everything "right".

I'm probably gonna put a finish on the neck. Cuz I wanna.

I'll definitely be doing some mods to the electronics. But these are meant to improve and make more versatile, without actually changing any parts!

I'll be making the far tone into a no load pot and using it as a blender pot. The near tone will be connected so it works on all pups.

[dcindc]

Pic of the stock electronics



Here's how to make a no load pot. This is the stock far tone pot. The arrows point to the little tabs that you need to bend out to remove the back of the pot. I use a right angle dental pick.



Here's the pot with the back off, and you can see the back with it's little tabs bent out enough to clear the front of the pot.



The insides are kinda gummy with lube/grease. I used a Q-tip to try and get it off of the trace area so I can put nail polish on it. I bent one of the fingers with the Q-tip. Then I took my soldering iron and melted the round black part to give better access. Shoulda just done that in the first place. There's three fingers that are all the same piece of metal so it doesn't matter. The yellow area is where I put the nail polish. The objective is to insulate the last bit of the potentiometer's trace, where the fingers would land when the knob is turned full up. What this does is take the wiper of the pot out of circuit at max rotation.

I use the cheapest nail polish I can find. I found a clear topcoat at the dollar store. That's the right price




This pot which will be in the far tone position will be a blender pot connected between the neck and bridge pups. When turned all the way up, there will be no connection between them. When turned down from max, it will connect them together varying with the knob. This will allow Bridge and Neck for a Tele-ish sound, which isn't normally possible on a Strat.

[phreddy]

Great stuff. Are you going to have to shim the neck since you filed the heel?

P

[Verence]

Pic of the stock electronics Here's how to make a no load pot. This is the stock far tone pot. The arrows point to the little tabs that you need to bend out to remove the back of the pot. I use a right angle dental pick. Here's the pot with the back off, and you can see the back with it's little tabs bent out enough to clear the front of the pot. The insides are kinda gummy with lube/grease. I used a Q-tip to try and get it off of the trace area so I can put nail polish on it. I bent one of the fingers with the Q-tip. Then I took my soldering iron and melted the round black part to give better access. Shoulda just done that in the first place. There's three fingers that are all the same piece of metal so it doesn't matter. The yellow area is where I put the nail polish. The objective is to insulate the last bit of the potentiometer's trace, where the fingers would land when the knob is turned full up. What this does is take the wiper of the pot out of circuit at max rotation. I use the cheapest nail polish I can find. I found a clear topcoat at the dollar store. That's the right price This pot which will be in the far tone position will be a blender pot connected between the neck and bridge pups. When turned all the way up, there will be no connection between them. When turned down from max, it will connect them together varying with the knob. This will allow Bridge and Neck for a Tele-ish sound, which isn't normally possible on a Strat.

...

I have NO idea what you just said.

But please continue!

[dcindc]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potentiometer

 

This link explains potentiometers (pots).

 

It's basically a resistor with a sliding "wiper" that can tap anywhere along the resistor.

 

For your typical volume control, one end is grounded, one end goes to the pickup(s) thru the switch, and the wiper goes to the output jack. This allows you to pick off a variable amount of the signal.

 

What the no load pot does is insulate the highest most point of the resistor from the wiper at full on (10). So it's variable, but acts like a switch at the end, disconnecting from the resistor, which is essentially the signal you are interested in.

 

Since I'll be using it as a pup blender, this prevents any signal from one of the pickups bleeding into the output when I don't want it to.

[GarysBlues]

DC did you play a Squier VM Strat yet? I can't seem to run into one in the music shops. But my VM Thinlines are so nice I'm really wondering about the Strats.

Stock pick-ups on the Tele are Cloth insulated and Brass plated on the bridge pup. Just like Seymour Duncans. A/B with my Tele actually loaded with the same set of Seymour Duncans? They are very very close. Output is the same, the Duncan designed sound a little thinner, but in a good way.

I have never, ever played Dunan Designed built this well or sounding this good. And its not a fluke cause I own Two of the VM Thinlines.

[Hanglow]

Great thread

 

Are you going to change the tone cap - I like a 0.01 on mine, or put a treble bleed resistor on the volume control? Or do you feel it doesn't need it