70's custom color hardtail strat project

[Axewielder]

Here's a project that I've been working on as of late. I decided to build a 70's hardtail strat mutt. I don't care for the headboard lookin' natural finish ones that you always see, and wanted a "custom color" with NO damn relicing. Here are the components:

- I spec'ed out a Musikraft strat body in swamp ash w/ lightweight sort and hardtail bridge. The color is shell pink (nitro). These guys did a great job on it. I sent them my bridge and neck for custom fitting/drilling.

- The bridge is a Warmoth narrow-spaced strat. I wanted 70's looks but modern string spacing so I have a bit more fret margin.

- The neck is a Highway One CBS headstock, maple board, poly finish. I snagged this off the bay.

I like a nicely shielded guitar, so I did three coats of graphite paint on all the cavities:



The pups are going to be a Dimarzio YJM in the neck, HS-2 in the middle, and HS-3 in the bridge (pretty close to a YJM strat). This is my first attempt at wiring up a strat pickguard. I installed one of those copper pickguard shields for additional grounding and ease of wiring.



That cap is a .22 uF orange drop. Stay tuned for updates!

[daisp]

Gonna be cool!

[Axewielder]

Here's how I roll when it comes to grounding. Since my pickguard has the copper shield, I can use shielding tape to simplify the installation. Here you can see the bridge is grounded to the tape, which makes contact with the shield. The back side of the tape has continuity with the front side. It's a bit easier than having a direct soldered connection to the pickguard. If I were more ambitious, I could do the input jack the same way. That would allow me to swap loaded pickguards with NO soldering. Nah, not going to go there. Check out the swamp ash grain in the neck pocket. The shell pink color looks correct in this pic. Hot hot!!

EDIT: When using this technique, try to hit a pickguard screw hole location with the tape. That will make for a better contact. I had to redo the tape after forgetting that the first time.

[skorb]

that is gonna look killer

keep posting pics yo

[Axewielder]

Had to chase a couple wiring bugs, and I also busted the 5-way switch. That cost me a trip to the ATL Guitar Center! The body is together now. I'm going for the 70's tuxedo look with the pickguard and knobs.

[SEEGERMANY]

Very nice!

[Axewielder]

Total weight of the assembled guitar: 7 pounds

[Axewielder]

It's GO TIME!





I'm fairly encouraged so far. It'll take a few days to dial in the setup. I put my 10 - 52 heavy bottom strings on and adjusted the neck. These D'Addarios really bark!

[Bengal65]

Awesome job! Looks great. I love Shell pink. Nice work with the Graphite shielding paint. How much paint did you get on you?

Who did your SP paint work? Was it the guys in Tenn.?

I'm testing the Dean Markley .010-.052"'s The ones that are Cryogenically frozen. I like how they sound. A tad better than the D'Addario's IMO. And I swear by DA's.

[Axewielder]

Thanks! Hehe the mess was minimal. Musikraft built the body and painted it. I highly recommend them. They were a little funny about some things, like they wouldn't drill the pickguard screw holes or the bridge mounting screw holes. Also they didn't want anything to do with the "thin skin" finish that I originally spec'ed. That's nickel and dime stuff though, they hit their marks on all the major stuff.

The tab for the hot wire on the input jack was rubbing against the graphite paint and shorting out. That puzzle took me a bit to solve, but it was an easy fix (just bent the tab over a bit).

Hmm I'd try the DM's if I didn't have a huge stock of DA's lol.

[Bengal65]

Yeah those DM Blue Steels are nice. I wanted the exact strings Dick Dale uses on his Strat for my new project. (.016-.058") Dick uses the Blue Steels. I talked with Jim at DM and got the exact gauges. Of course you can't go wrong. Play Loud Malmsteen uses them as well.

Yeah, I'll have to say Musikraft is pretty good. I can see them not drilling the p guard screw holes because of variances in guards. They usually screw up my neck orders however, and have to make another one or two until they get the order right. They don't read the order sheets before they ship. Otherwise they would be much better on a quality delivered product.

[Axewielder]

So the Highway One neck needs some work. There is zero fret wear, but I've got some high fret issues. The neck is nice and straight and adjusted perfectly, and I don't see any rising tongue. But, it's rattling all over the place. That's disappointing. Anyone play these Highway One's? How is the quality generally speaking?

[DocNrock]

Nice project guitar. Your grounding technique is very similar to mine, except for the strip to contact the pickguard shield. I'll have to remember that for my next single coil build.

Looks sharp!

[nhspike]

Axe,
That thing is just stunning.
I love it.
Congrats on a wicked nice build.
Good luck with the neck... I've not had any experience with them, so can't offer any thoughts on it.
Maybe a quick leveling would do the trick.
Good luck with it brother!

[quiksilver]

So the Highway One neck needs some work. There is zero fret wear, but I've got some high fret issues. The neck is nice and straight and adjusted perfectly, and I don't see any rising tongue. But, it's rattling all over the place. That's disappointing. Anyone play these Highway One's? How is the quality generally speaking?

--
I had a Highway One Strat, and its quality was great. Nice fit and finish, played well. No issues whatsoever.