Un-Relicing is the new Relicing

So I wasn't really happy with the way the relicing of the neck came out, so i went for something more subdued. Lots of acetone, lacquer thinner, and sandpaper later, I have a distressed but not colored-in fretboard. I'm really happy with how this came out.







In other news, I started crowning the frets. That's going pretty well, but they're going to need some serious polishing. I'm going to use the buffing wheel, otherwise I fear my fingers are going to fall off.

How to dull a Poly Finish

Often the benefits of Nitrocellulose lacquer are extolled with regard to relicing. And while it's true, Poly finishes are thicker and tougher, and don't generally look as good when reliced, you can dull them to that well-used look . . . with goo gone!

I had some crud on blackie's body, and I used goo gone to get it off, and BAM! the shine was gone. The finish is noticably softer, too. This will be good for banging it around to "break it in." No pics, but as I wrap up this project, I'll be posting plenty of pics.

Tele Pickguard Installed

Well I took the plunge. After trimming the pickguard to fit the Telecaster's control plate, I drilled my holes and installed the pickguard. It looks amazing, I think. Click here for a picture:

TelePickguard

I also took the time to resolder the wiring, so now the only thing left to do is install my new compensated saddles, and the Tele will finally be finished!

Fret Level Complete + Fretboard Relic

Today I spent a few hours in the shop. Goal #1 was to level the Predator's frets, never having done this before. I got a good straightedge from the art-supply store, and used a socket to straighten the fretboard using the truss rod. Once I couldn't get a .004" feeler gauge under the frets, I knew I was straight and ready to go. I colored the frets using a sharpie, and then took a straight, flat block with 320-grit paper on it, and made light passes up and down the fretboard, following the radius of the neck.

Within 2 or 3 light passes, all the sharpie was gone, except in a couple dented flat spots on the first fret, which don't really bother me. What was left was nice, bare metal flat tops.

Then I started relicing. This was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. I had the thought that I would wear the finish off the frets that get the most vigorous play on this guitar, namely around the A, D, and E minor pentatonic scales. So i took the sandpaper and started thinning the finish. finally I broke through the finish in these little ovals. That was no good. My dad had a good idea. He handed me a turning gouge and suggested I push the finish off with the bur on the end. This allowed me to wear down especially under the strings I wasted to. Then we took black and brown wood stain and we wiped down the whole fretboard with it. It only stuck in the places where the finish was really thin.

Then we used the brown stain to tint a batch of satin lacquer. This gave the whole neck a darkened look, and eased the contrast between the wood and the worn areas. I'm anxious to see what happens when I play it. I may have to sand it down and start over. . . . which needless to say is not something I'd really like to do. Anyhow, you can see pictures here.

Blackie Relicing

Next step is to crown the frets as soon as my file arrives!

Blackie Takeapart

So it begins. Again. It's good to be back here, in the project space again. I belted out a few last songs with Blackie in her stock state, and took her apart. The project will have three distinct phases:

1. Fretwork - The neck needs a good level, crown and polish
2. Relicing - The body really doesn't need much in this department, though I am planning on using Naptha to thin and soften the finish in certain places, though it may not work on a poly finish. I also have a lot of work to do on the neck. I want to wear the finish strategically to match my playing style.
   
3. Electronics - I'm doing surprisingly little in this area. Though I'm rewiring it to include some nice series wiring options, I'm keeping the original switch because it works flawlessly, and and I'm leaving one of the tone pots intact, as well as the bridge pickup.
   

So I took it apart last night to begin the process. Some interesting revelations. It appears that Peavey's guitar operation was much less machine driven than contemporary Fender. The Micro-Tilt in the neck pocket is installed in a rather rough manner, not that it's a good thing, but it goes to show you someone actually did it by hand. The neck and body had inspection stickers on them, something which hasn't been on Fenders I've seen in a while. All in all it seems like a very nicely-made instrument. Take a look at the pictures as well as the details at my Web Album here:

From Blackie Takea...

Pickup Mystery Solved

Thanks to the guys at the Seymour Duncan and Harmony Central forums, I figured out what pickup I got for $7. It is a USA Neck pickup, with the slight possibility of it being one from Fender Japan. Either way, it's a top-quality neck pickup, which I'll use in the Maple Strat instead of the Middle pickup from the GFS set.

I was playing with the Predator with the bridge pickup, and I have to say I like it. It has a unique sound that I don't want to get rid of.

So I'll leave the bridge pickup from the Predator and use Vintage Noiseless for the other two positions. Time to get to work!

Blackie's Back!

Well after a long wait, I finally got my Peavey Predator in the mail today! It's deliciously worn in. It was actually in tune, and the action was decent. The ceramic pickups sound hot, sweaty, and pure RAWK. So nice I almost considered keeping them. It's just like I remmber it. Click the button to go to the picasaweb album.

Blackie

Cheap Pickups

I love the mystery of eBay. Turn your pocket change into a game of pickup roulette. I just bid $7.01 on this pickup and won. It's Alnico, it's old, and it's a bridge pickup. It's probably Fender, judging from the rubber washers instead of springs.

The seller said it was either MIJ or American, a bridge pickup that measures around 7k.

Past that , it's a mystery. I'll find out soon enough. It's gotta be better than the Ceramic that's in the Predator.

Pickup Shuffle

Well soon (hopefully) I'll have three 3-single-coil guitars. I obviously need to differentiate them from each other to justify their existance. Currently The Maple Strat is doing a fair impression of a Regular Strat, but isn't quite there. The Blue Strat is doing just fine, the only thing I want to change there is to add Series wiring.

Now, I've been wanting P-90 tone, and I'd like to use the Maple Strat to get it. So, for $15, I picked up an EMG Select single-coil pickup, which from reviews, I've heard sounds similar to a P-90, but is too muddy for use in the neck position. For $15 it was impossible to pass up. With the arrival of my Predator, the stock of pickups I'll have sitting around will be:

5 Ceramic-magnet single coils (From the previous and current predators)
2 Fender Custom Shop Vintage Noiseless
3 GFS Vintage Staggers
1 EMG Select SES
1 Seymour Duncan Hot Rails
1 Seymour Duncan Duckbuckers

13 Pickups in total, with 9 slots to put them in.

Currently it's laid out like this:

Maple:
N - Vintage Noiseless
M - GFS Stagger
B - Hot Rails

Blue:
N - GFS Stagger
M - Duckbucker
B - GFS Stagger

Predator:
All ceramic

When I'm done, I'll have done this mod to all three of them, and the pickup configuration will look like this:

Maple:
N - GFS Stagger
M - EMG SES
B - Hot Rails

Blue:
Same

Predator:
N - Vintage Noiseless
M - Vintage Noiseless
B - Ceramic Single Coil << Not for long

That way, I'll have two Regular Strats and one strange hybrid. Should be interesting.