 |
The
Black Strat Project
Completed: January 31,
2009 |
|
Enter
to win a Complete Custom Black Strat Pickguard Assembly Kit
Drawing
Details |
Last
Update: 7/19/2009 - 14:04 PDT 
| Project
Components |
|
|
Cost |
| 2008
Fender 1962 Re-Issue Stratocaster Body, Black |
$ |
|
299.00 |
| 2008
Fender 1957 Re-Issue Stratocaster Maple Neck, 21 Fret, 7.25" Radius, V
Shape |
$ |
|
539.00 |
| 2008
Fender 1957 Re-Issue Gotoh Vintage Style Tuning Machines |
$ |
|
18.39 |
| 2008
Fender 1957 Re-Issue Vintage Serialized Neck Plate |
$ |
|
22.50 |
| 2008
Fender 1962 Re-Issue Output Jack Assembly |
$ |
|
7.14 |
| 2006
Callaham Vintage S Model Bridge Assembly w/Custom Super Short 4¼"
Tremolo Arm |
$ |
|
105.00 |
| Seymour
Duncan SSL-5 Custom Staggered Bridge Pickup |
$ |
|
52.95 |
| Fender
Custom Shop Custom '69 Middle Pickup |
$ |
|
47.75 |
| Fender
Custom Shop Fat '50s Neck Pickup |
$ |
|
46.58 |
| Warmoth
0.90" Black 1 Ply 11 Hole Vinyl Pickguard (Custom Routed For Mini-Toggle) |
$ |
|
25.00 |
| Fender
Accessory Kit (White) |
$ |
|
14.99 |
| Fender
Vintage Strap Buttons |
$ |
|
5.99 |
| Fender
5-Way Pickup Selector Switch |
$ |
|
8.99 |
| CTS
250k "No-Load" Tone Control Potentiometers (Audio Taper) [Quantity 2] |
$ |
|
13.98 |
| CTS
250k Volume Control Potentiometer (Audio Taper) |
$ |
|
4.99 |
| 0.022
uF 100 Volt 225 Series Sprague Polyester Orange Drop Tone Capacitors [Quantity
2] |
$ |
|
1.60 |
| Treble
Bypass Filter (AKA Treble Bleed Filter) |
$ |
|
N/C |
| SPDT
Mini Toggle Switch |
$ |
|
4.09 |
| GHS
Boomers 10-48 David Gilmour Signature Series Strings |
$ |
|
4.29 |
| 2008
Fender / SKB Hard-Shell Case |
$ |
|
82.00 |
| Conductive
Adhesive Copper Shielding Foil |
$ |
|
5.49 |
| Dremel
Rotary Tool Nose Piece Attachment For Routing (Craftsman #53141) |
$ |
|
19.99 |
| Hi-Speed
1/8" Straight Router Bit (Craftsman #53090) |
$ |
|
8.71 |
| Custom
Routing Jig For Mini Toggle Switch Hole Slotting |
$ |
|
8.12 |
| Custom
Stainless Steel Recessed Mini Toggle Switch Mounting Bracket |
$ |
|
N/C |
| Miscellaneous
Wire, Pickguard/Output Jack/Tremolo Cavity Cover Screws & Felt Washers |
$ |
|
5.00 |
| SUBTOTAL: |
$ |
|
1351.54 |
| Shipping
for all of the items above: |
$ |
|
94.25 |
| TOTAL
BUILD COST: |
$ |
|
1445.79 |
| |
| NOTE:
To
purchase some of the custom items for this project go to our Guitar
Equipment page. |
|
|
|
|
|
In The Beginning...
Electronic
parts, pickguard and components all laid out prior to assembly. Seymour
Duncan SSL-5 Custom Staggered bridge pickup, Fender Custom Shop Fat 50s
pickups (neck), Fender Custom Shop Custom '69 pickups (middle), GHS Boomers
10-48 strings, Fender white accessory kit, Warmoth 1 ply 0.90" black vinyl
pickguard (with clear protective sheeting still affixed), Fender 5-way
pickup selector switch, two CTS 250k no-load tone potentiometers, one CTS
250k volume potentiometer, custom stainless steel
mounting bracket for recessed mini toggle switch, SPDT mini toggle
switch (neck / bridge pickup mod.), tone capacitor. I swapped out
the "Seymour Duncan" white with silver logo'ed pickup cover that came stock
on the SSL-5 with a plain white fender cover in the final assembly.
Since each of the Custom Shop Fat '50s pickups in the set of three are
of different resistance and inductance the pickup designated "neck" (blue
dot) was the only one used out of this set for my neck pickup. The
set of three pickups in the Custom Shop Custom '69 pickups are all of the
same resistance and inductance so it made no difference which one was used
for the middle pickup.
The custom made routing jig/guide
(clear Acrylic) used for precise routing of the small elongated hole in
pickguard for the recessed mini toggle switch. Using the rotary tool
with the routing base attached the clear routing jig did not allow any
lateral movement of the rotary tool, it only allowed for forward and backward
movement required to create the slot. The pickguard is held securely
in place sandwiched inbetween two pieces 3/16" thick 7" x 10" acrylic sheets
(free remnants at a local Tap Plastics) held tightly in place with four
6-32 mounting bolts which align with two of the perimeter pickguard mounting
screw holes and two of the pickup mounting holes. In both of the
clear acrylic sheets there is a 3/4" hole in the location where the slot
is to be routed to allow access of the routing bit on the top side and
clearance on bottom side. The actual jig itself is made out of 1/2"
square acrylic bar stock and held in place on the top sheet of acrylic
with "Acrylic Cement" which is a solvent type bonding agent that has the
consistency of water and is a applied with a hypo-type applicator.
The bond that the acrylic cement produces becomes as strong as the acrylic
itself for it literally fuses/melts the two pieces together.
This jig precisely aligned
the rotary tool/router in the correct position and orientation for routing
of the small elongated hole so when the mini toggle switch is mounted in
the stainless steel recessed mounting bracket
it would position the switch lever so it would protrude precisely centered
through this small elongated hole. It worked out great, when the
toggle switch is flipped in either the up or down (on) position the toggle
lever has approximately 0.030" of clearance between all edges of the slot...
Perfect!
Normally
when the toggle switch is in the up position, towards the pickups it is
in the OFF position, when it is down (ON) it selects or activates the neck
pickup. But of course this orientation of the switch can be which
ever way is most comfortable and desirable for you and your particular
playing style.
Close
up of the routing jig with a freshly routed pickguard still sandwiched
inbetween. The pickguard pictured secured in the jig was the first
pickguard to be routed with this new routing jig and it worked out perfect.
All my calculations and measurements that went into constructing this jig
worked out exactly as expected and produced the desired slot length.
This new routing jig is a dream to use in routing these slots for the recessed
toggle switch, there's no guess work, everything is secure and the slot
can only be produced with the fixed length of 0.300" and the width of the
router bit of 0.125". When I decided to start selling these pickguard's
pre-routed for this recessed mini toggled switch I figured it was best
to make a new and refined routing jig to streamline the process and help
eliminate a lot of the variables that could be easily introduced with my
original and very basic routing jig. The original jig worked fine
for my first personal project, but this one is so much better and accurate
for small scale production work.
The variable speed Dremel MultiPro
rotary tool I used for routing the small elongated hole (0.125" x 0.300")
in the pickguard for the recessed mini toggle switch lever to protrude
through for the neck and bridge pickup modification. I set the rotation
speed to approximately 8,000 to 9,000 RPM's which is just a little bit
faster than the lowest speed (5,000 RPM) this rotary tool is capable of
and no melting or chipping occurred indicating it was not too fast nor
too slow.
Close
up detail of the router nose piece attachment and the 1/8" straight router
bit. The 1/8" shank, 1/8" straight router bit is a Craftsman #53090.
Close-up of the pickguard
after the 0.300" x 0.125" elongated hole was routed out for the recessed
mini toggle switch lever to protrude through.
The rear side of pickguard with
the custom stainless steel recessed mini toggle
switch mounting bracket in the position/location as it will be mounted
and secured with the volume and tone potentiometers. After constructing
the recessed mini toggle switch mounting bracket all edges were cleaned
up by filing / grinding of all sharp edges and corners and then finished
up by bead blasting which produced the dull, flat and smooth appearance.
I chose to use stainless steel for this bracket for it's added stiffness
and ability to remain clean and not rust or oxidize through time as ferrous
steel would. Plus I had a few large sheets of this stainless steel
in stock in the shop from a previous unrelated project (darkroom sink).
The thickness of this bracket is 0.030" which allows each of the two securing
potentiometers to still have enough threads protruding through the pickguard
for adequate fastening with the mounting nuts without resorting to the
long shaft versions of these potentiometers. Pictured above is the
very first recessed mini toggle switch mounting bracket I made and it was
bead blasted after final grinding and filing of all the corners. Now I
polish them with a buffer instead of bead blasting, the end result no longer
looks dull and flat gray in appearance, they now take on a nice shine.
Rear side of the pickguard
showing the volume and tone control potentiometers mounted in place which
secure the stainless steel recessed mini toggle
switch mounting bracket to the pickguard.
Close up of the top side of
the pickguard just after installation of the volume and tone potentiometers,
the 5-way pickup selector switch and the recessed mini toggle switch.
Notice the very small amount of space to the left of the toggle switch
in-between the toggle lever and the edge of the elongated hole (approximately
0.030"), this same amount of space is the same on the opposite side when
the toggle switch is in the "On" position or flipped to the right as pictured
above. This small amount of space is ideal in order to keep your
slot for your toggle to protrude through at it's smallest possible size
and still allow for the full throw of the toggle switch without hitting
the pickguard when the switch is in either the on or off position.
Close-up detail of pickup control
electronics after all wiring was completed. All connections were
done with 20 AWG primary wire with RG174/U mini coax for the main audio
lead from the output jack to the volume potentiometer which provides a
shielded central audio lead. In order for the Seymour Duncan SSL-5
to be in phase with the Fender pickups when selected together the SSL-5
must be wired in reverse, the SSL-5's black wire connects to the selector
switch and the SSL-5's white wire connects to the ground (If you are using
all Fender pickups then wire them all the same with the white wires connecting
to the 5-way switch and black wires to ground). Both of the no-load
tone potentiometers have their own Sprague polyester 225 series 0.022 uF
100 volt tone capacitor. I intend on swapping out the neck tone capacitor
with a 0.01 uF since the neck pickup needs less roll off of the high frequencies.
It's still a little experimental at this time but I feel that those two
tone capacitor values will suit me fine, just need to get her apart, again!
I have modified the tone potentiometer connections to the 5-way switch
to provide a separate tone control for both the bridge and middle pickup
and a separate tone control for the neck pickup. To achieve a tone
control for the bridge pickup you install a jumper wire between the two
inner most terminals on the 5-way switch on the side where the connections
from the two tone potentiometers connect (outlined below in the wiring
diagram). I have added a
treble
bypass filter on the volume potentiometer to help preserve the high
frequencies when the volume is rolled down.
Rear of the pickguard assembly
showing the addition of the adhesive copper foil shielding to help reduce
noise from external sources. As the pickguard
came from Warmoth it only had aluminum foil shielding in the pickup selection
switch and volume/tone control section. I completed the shielding
on the rear of the pickguard by the addition of conductive adhesive copper
foil. The adhesive on the copper foil shielding is conductive
so all overlapping pieces are conductive to one another. The two
lower holes in the pickguard's aluminum shielding make contact with the
two small copper foil tabs extending out of the body cavity shielding at
two of the pickguard mounting holes as pictured below.
My Personal
Black Strat Wiring Diagram
With SPST Mini-Toggle
Switch Modification To Activate Neck Pickup
Tone Potentiometers
are "No-Load" 250K Audio Taper
Volume Potentiometer
is a 250K Audio Taper
This
is not an exact replica wiring diagram of "The" Black Strat, but performs
the exact same functions with the addition a few beneficial enhancements.
This is not the wiring diagram we provide with our "Black Strat Parts Kits
or Recessed Toggle Switch Brackets". They are more specific and true
to the original.
Based
on published information by Phil Taylor, David Gilmour's Black Strat utilizes
a single .050 uF ceramic disc tone capacitor which works with both tone
potentiometers, it does not have the addition of the bridge tone control
modification and does not include a treble bypass circuit or utilize "no
load" tone potentiometers. These additional enhancements are what
I feel are beneficial and just make good sense.
IMPORTANT
NOTE:
If you are NOT using a Seymour Duncan pickup in the bridge position as
indicated above and using a Fender pickup, then DO NOT
reverse wires on the bridge pickup connections, you would want to wire
your Fender pickups all the same with the white wires connecting to the
5-way switch and black wires connecting to the ground. |
Wiring diagram with mini toggle
switch to activate neck pickup. When the mini toggle switch is in
the down position (as viewed with the guitar in the playing position) the
neck pickup is turned on in parallel with which ever pickup(s) are selected
with the 5-way pickup selector switch. If you have the 5-way pickup
selector switch in position 5 (bridge) and mini toggle down (on) then both
neck and bridge pickups are active in parallel with each other. If
you have the 5-way pickup selector switch in position 4 (bridge and middle)
and mini toggle down (on) then all 3 pickups (neck, middle and bridge)
are active in parallel with each other. In positions 3, 2 and 1 of
the 5-way pickup selector switch there is no reason to use the mini toggle
switch (turn on) since the 5-way pickup selector switch provides the remaining
pickup selections. Notice the small jumper wire on the 5-way pickup
selector switch that connects the adjacent terminal where the wire from
bridge/middle tone control connects. This enables tone control for
the bridge and middle pickups. Each tone control has it's own 0.022
uF capacitor. By utilizing separate tone control capacitors you may
install different values of capacitors to provide different amount of darkening
for either the bridge/middle or neck pickups. Since the bridge pickup
is intended to be a more brighter sounding pickup you might just want a
subtle amount of tone control by using a 0.01 uF capacitor, this would
allow more rotation of the tone control before the high treble rolls off,
it would be a less sensitive adjustment. With a 0.022 uF capacitor
you will just barely start to roll down the bridge/middle pickup tone control
from 10 and you'll notice the high end treble start to roll of rather quickly,
which does not give you a subtle tone control, it's touchy and darkens
quickly.
-
The Black Strat Wiring Diagram -
|
Here's
a new wiring diagram I just drew up today May 8, 2009, it's much better
as it's true in appearance to the actual wiring as if you were looking
at the pickguard assembly from the back side. It is a rather big
image but it will make it easier to read than if I was to scale it down.
So print it out with your color printer and use it for your reference or
save it to disc for later reference on screen.
After
application of the adhesive copper foil shielding in the body cavities
to help reduce electrical interference. Notice the two small copper
tabs in the upper portion of the picture, these tabs protrude over to the
pickguard mounting holes and make contact with the shielding on the pickguard
and when screwed in place it makes contact with the body cavity shielding,
pickguard shielding and ground.
Notice
in the lower portion of the photograph just right of center and inbetween
the neck and middle pickup routing cavities. This is the location
of one of the factory drilled standard '62 pickguard mounting screw holes.
The '62 body has this one differently located mounting hole on an 11 hole
pickguard, and since Warmoth does not offer a pickguard with '62 mounting
hole patterns I simply drilled the one hole in the body just to the right
of it required to attach the typical 11 hole pattern pickguard. This
new hole is just to the right and up a small amount as viewed in the above
photograph. The hole I drilled was a lot cleaner with smoother chamfering
than the factory drilled holes. It's as if Fender doesn't quite care
as much for surface finish of these holes since they will be covered by
the pickguard. If you'll notice the 6 bridge mounting screw holes,
they have nice clean factory chamfering quite similar to the hole I drilled
which is necessary to have a good clean mating of the bridge plate with
the face of the body to allow for smooth bridge rocking or tremolo use.
A
few close-up photographs of the back side of each of the pickups.
Neck
Pickup
Fender
Custom Shop Fat '50s neck pickup. Notice the blue dot on the one
pole piece, second from the right, this denotes this pickup as the neck
pickup. Each pickup in the Custom Shop Fat '50s set has different
characteristics and for them to be correctly identified Fender has color
coded them. The bridge pickup has a red dot and the middle pickup
is simply silver with no color coded pole piece but it is reverse wound
for hum cancelling in 5-way switching positions 2 and 4 and it also has
yellow and black leads indicating the reverse winding. |
Middle
Pickup
Fender
Custom Shop Custom '69 pickup (middle position).
Initialed
and dated by builder Abigail Ybarra of Fender. |
Bridge
Pickup
Seymour
Duncan SSL-5 Custom Staggered Poles bridge pickup. |
The completed Black Strat
body assembly. Ready to go, ready to rock!
Back side of body showing
the 1 ply white vintage tremolo cavity cover.
Close-up
detail of the Callaham Vintage S Model Bridge Assembly. I currently
have the bridge mounted with the top plate flush with the body of the guitar.
It is not setup/adjusted to be free floating. You can only loosen
the tension of the strings with tremolo use. It's a good idea to
apply some melted paraffin wax to the threads on the 6 bridge mounting
screws to help lubricate them during installation into the body.
I installed the two outer most bridge mounting screws first (without any
tremolo springs installed) and screwed them in just until the rear of the
bridge started to rise off the body a fraction of an inch and then backed
them off just enough so the bridge sat flush back on the body. This
ensures that the bridge will sit flush with the body without and pressure
downward on the front edge of the bridge with the two outer mounting screws.
I then installed the remaining 4 inner bridge mounting screws down to a
point of about 1/32 of an inch from the top plate for stability.
Once all 6 screws were in place I installed the tremolo arm and rocked
the bridge back and forth (without tremolo springs) to check for ease of
movement and for any binding of the mounting screws. It was nice
and smooth, no binding at all. You want your bridge to be free of
any binding or friction on the mounting screws to allow for smooth tremolo
use and tuning stability. The three tremolo springs were installed
and adjusted/tensioned to provide just enough back pressure on the bridge
to retain tuning stability and to keep the rear of the bridge flush with
the body, but when you use the tremolo arm it does not take much pressure
to lift the bridge. The tremolo springs are tight enough to not allow
any bridge lift during extreme string bends. There is that happy
medium of tremolo spring adjustment to allow easy tremolo use but still
stay stable in tuning. Of course all tremolo spring adjustments are
performed with the stings installed and tuned to playing pitch.
Tremolo
cavity, Callaham bridge block, tremolo spring claw and tremolo springs.
I prefer to have 3 springs installed, any more than that makes smooth tremolo
use more difficult. A grounding wire is soldered to the tremolo spring
claw and is inserted through the hole in tremolo cavity and passes through
to the electronics cavity on the front (top) side and is soldered to the
volume potentiometer case along with the other ground wires.
Heel of the 2008 '57 Re-issue
21 fret maple neck and the Fender Custom Shop Fat '50 neck pickup.
Callaham
Vintage S Model Bridge with the Super Short 4-¼" tremolo arm.
Seymour Duncan SSL-5 bridge pickup and Fender Custom Shop '69 middle pickup.
I've been alternating between the super short 4-¼"
and the 5-¼" tremolo arms, but I now seem to favor the 4-¼"
arm. I used to like the 5-¼" tremolo arm better but have become
accustomed to the shorter 4-¼" tremolo arm it feels very comfortable
now.
Close up detail of top side
of the body, controls, pickups and Callaham Vintage S Model Bridge Assembly
with the Super Short 4-¼" Tremolo Arm.
Another
close up detail photograph of the top side of the body from a different
angle.
The 2008
'57 re-issue Fender USA 7.25" radius 21 fret "V" shape maple neck.
Also showing the 1957 vintage re-issue Gotoh tuning
machines, Fender spaghetti logo and the single string tree. Notice
the blackening in the string slots in the nut, this is the product called
"Slick Nutz" which is a liquefied graphite that assists in smooth string
movement during tremolo usage or string bends and helps the strings return
to correct pitch. Slick Nutz is applied as a thick liquid for ease
of application but soon after the moisture evaporates and the lubricating
graphite remains.
The 2008
'57 vintage re-issue Gotoh tuning machines from the rear of the head stock.
If building this project again or if I was to replace the tuning machines
I would go with the Kluson SD9105MN nickel tuning machines instead of the
Gotoh, I feel they are better tuners. I've got a set of them in stock,
I might change them out at some point down the road....
Close-up detail of the 2008
'57 re-issue Fender USA 7.25" radius "V" shape maple neck at the 12'th
fret. It has a superb nitrocellulose lacquer finish throughout!
The USA '57 re-issue necks are very nice and don't compare to the newer
American Standard maple necks. The frets are vintage style so they
are smaller than the medium-jumbo frets you'll find on newer Strat's.
The '57 re-issue necks have 21 frets.
Fender vintage serial numbered
neck plate. When installing the 4 neck joint screws it is wise to
apply melted paraffin wax to the threads to ease and lubricate installation.
Easy way to do this is to simply warm up the screws and touch them to the
block of wax. When the warm screw touches the wax it melts and adheres
to the screw threads. You don't need much, but it is better than
dry screws. You might notice this wax on factory installed screws
when you remove them, especially the larger ones.
Nestled
in for a warm nights sleep in the Fender SKB hard shell case.
Final Notes Of
The Black Strat Build Project:
I designed
and constructed the small see-through (clear) routing jig to route the
small elongated hole for the recessed neck pickup toggle selector switch.
Sure, I could of simply drilled a large enough hole to allow for amount
of space needed to accommodate the range of throw this mini toggle switch
exhibits as it is recessed, but that would of put a 3/8" circular hole
which would of looked terrible with the recessed toggle protruding through,
you would be able to see directly into the pickguard and see the base of
the toggle switch and it's chrome locking nut and washer. I feel
that the 0.125" x 0.300" slot is much more desirable and visual appealing.
I also could of simply mounted the toggle switch as it was designed with
the small chrome washer and nut securing it on the top side of the pickguard
(panel mount style/method), but that would simply look bland and typical
and then the toggle lever would protrude approximately 1/2" to 3/4" above
the pickguard surface and could be easily switched unknowingly by a simple
bump of the knuckle. It may seem like a lot of work for such a small
feature, but I am a perfectionist (not always a good thing) and always
enjoy a challenge, and sometimes it's the small things that make the difference
between average and truly custom.
I also
designed and constructed the small stainless steel bracket that mounts
between the volume and neck tone control to secure the recessed mini toggle
switch.
After
initial construction of the guitar the following adjustments were performed:
-
Each slot
of the nut was "cleaned-up" ever so gently with appropriate sized nut files
to allow for smooth, non-stick movement of the strings during tremolo action.
Slick Nutz graphite was applied in each of the string slots of the nut
to provide nice smooth movement of strings through nut slots, Slick Nutz
graphite was also applied on the underside of the string tree to reduce
friction.
-
Removed
the neck to make a truss rod adjustment for neck relief (twice).
-
Adjust
each bridge saddle height for comfortable string height/action.
-
Adjust
each bridge saddle for proper intonation.
-
Adjust
each pickup height for balanced output.
-
Adjust
tremolo spring tension to provide nice and smooth tremolo action.
In
Summary:
I've
custom built 8 completely unique Stratocaster's during the last 5 years
and I'd have to say that this one is the most satisfying with it's overall
sound quality, playability and visual appeal being top notch... This project
strat will remain as one of my favorites. I has a stark beauty all
it's own. Simply put, it is a dream to play, it sounds beautiful,
plays smooth and lends quite well to the creativity that comes from an
instrument that molds to you as one, and this is where musical creativity
can truly begin....
The
total cost of this Black Strat as indicated at the top of this page at
is based entirely on already possessing some of the necessary tools for
assembly and setup, such as:
-
Dremel
hi-speed rotary tool.
-
"C" clamps.
-
Soldering
iron.
-
Solder
(don't buy the lead free crap).
-
Wire.
-
Wire cutters/strippers.
-
Assorted
sized phillips and slotted screwdrivers.
-
1/4" drive
socket set.
-
Hex wrenches.
-
Feeler
gauges.
-
6" stainless
steel rule graduated in 1/64" increments.
-
Capo.
-
Electronic
tuner.
-
Possibly
more that has escaped me for now....
If you
do not have any of these tools, parts or accessories already in your possession
your cost will be more. Price also depends on the source you acquire
your parts from and the quality level of the parts you choose for your
build project. One can always acquire lower quality or imported parts,
but remember, you get what you pay for... eBay can be decent
source for some parts, but be careful and get to know your seller and be
sure that your seller knows what they have and are advertising it accurately,
and be sure to research their feedback history prior to committing to an
auction. One seller on eBay I have trusted for years is "reliablefender"
or known by the store name of "The
STRATosphere". Matt Gibney of The STRATosphere has some parts
you would be hard pressed to find elsewhere (mainly authentic Fender bodies
and necks), he parts out virtually every model of Fender guitar you can
imagine and offers the individual parts for purchase. His auctions
bring a lot of bidders and sometimes they get carried away and bid items
up far too much, so don't get caught up in the bidding frenzy and end up
paying too much for something that can be purchased at one of the stores
listed below at comparable pricing (and brand new!)...
Here
are a few company resources of importance:
With
this list of companies you should be able to acquire everything you'll
need from the parts, tools and accessories for building, maintaining and
customizing your guitars.
You
will also need a good working knowledge of the entire guitar setup and
assembly procedures, how to read a wiring diagram or schematic and how
to solder efficiently. You should also be proficient with using the
hi-speed rotary tool in order to accurately route the small elongated hole
in the pickguard for the mini toggle switch lever.
March
7, 2009 Update: Here at Military Gear HQ, we are now offering the the
following items to assist you in the realization of your own personal Black
Strat Project:
I will
continue to update this page as more detailed or subtle build information
comes to mind. The current revision date is in the upper right portion
of this page just under the black title box, if the date has changed since
the last time you visited then new information/revisions or updated photographs
have been added.
~Craig
Wells
Have
a comment, question, suggestion or recommendation? Please
drop me a line, I'd love to hear from you.
April
24, 2009: Well... There's a new project in the works...
I started on my second Black Strat today. This one will be a little
different, it will have an essentially brand new 1997 Fender USA '57 Re-Issue
Stratocaster Maple Neck that's apparently been sitting around for 12 years
going untouched, with a 1997 California Series Black Stratocaster body.
Pickup selections will be a Fat 50's neck pickup in the neck position,
a Custom Shop '69 in the middle position and this time a different bridge
pickup, a Seymour Duncan SSL-1 as opposed to the SSL-5 in my previous project.
The SSL-1 will have a more truer vintage tone. The electronics wiring
will be a little different than my first Black Strat, it will have a single
tone capacitor (0.022 uf) for both tone controls, both tone controls are
no-load 250k pots, it will include the mod for a bridge/mid tone control
along with a treble bypass filter. And of course the recessed mini
toggle switch for the neck/bridge pickup selection mod.
April
25, 2009: I built the pickguard assembly this afternoon using
one of the "Custom Black Strat Pickguard Kits"
that I'm selling. I'm still debating on which bridge I will install,
but more than likely it will be a Callaham, the choices are the Vintage
S bridge or the Vintage Narrow bridge. The Vintage S bridge has 2-7/32"
mounting hole spacing with the same spacing for the E to E strings.
The Vintage Narrow bridge has a slightly narrower 2-1/16" E to E string
spacing which puts the strings in a little bit further from the edge of
the fretboard but has the typical vintage 2-7/32" mounting hole spacing.
With the Vintage S bridge the string spacing of 2-7/32" puts the strings
a little closer to the edge of the fretboard. I've taken some measurements
of the pole piece spacing of the SSL-1 and the center to center E to E
is just about 2-1/32" (as it sits at it's angle (of course)) and this would
probably be fine with the Vintage Narrow bridge. Although..... I
could save $130 to $165 since I have a complete Fender '62 re-issue bridge
laying around that I bought about 4 years ago, it has seen very little
use, probably about less than a years worth of being installed and not
used often. The Fender '62 re-issue bridge has 2-7/32" mounting spacing
with the same spacing for the E to E strings, not exactly what I really
want, but will work just fine and save some cash.
April
26, 2009: Wow! I don't know how it escaped or eluded me....
But... What luck! I found a brand new Callaham Vintage
Narrow bridge assembly on the shelf, in stock! It has the vintage
2-7/32" mounting spacing with the narrower 2-1/16" E to E string spacing
which is just what I had in mind and would prefer for this project.
I guess after building 8 of these custom Strat's (just for myself, not
counting for others) some things go missing, lost (until found), unused
or simply forgot. Oh well, my loss is my find and gain... Now I all
I need is a weekend of fun in assembling it all and tweaking it to perfection....
Probably next weekend will be the one... Can't wait!
Now that find saved some cash...
May
1, 2009: I have decided to install the Vintage Fender '62 Re-Issue
Bridge Assembly on this guitar due to the way the strings were not aligning
up with the neck pickup pole pieces well. Actually it was mainly
the 1st and 6th strings that were offset the most. The '62 re-issue
bridge is perfect for the pole spacing on these pickups.
May
6, 2009: Well...... I've made the decision, and have decided
to sell this second
Black Strat. Tough
decision, but it's done, it's listed for sale here on the site.
It's got some really sweet stuff in it, and it's an awesome and superb
condition 1997 vintage Strat and someone else should have fun with it.
If you have any questions about the guitar drop me an email and I'd be
glad to answer any of your questions. Click on the picture below
and it will take you to the item page with full photographs, technical
specifications and details.
June
11, 2009: For those that might be interested in purchasing this
guitar I can swap out the SSL-1 bridge pickup for a SSL-5 if that is more
suited to your preference. The 0.022 uF tone capacitor that is currently
installed can also be swapped out for any of the following: 0.01 uF, 0.033
uF or 0.047 uF. Or I can simply include another of your choice and
you can swap it out when/if you want.
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FOR
SALE
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