1992 Fender U.S. Prodigy II Rebuild - Part Four

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Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

Here are a few pics of the 1992 Fender U.S. Prodigy II Guitar, refinished in natural, all wired up and ready for some serious action. Enjoy :)

1992 Fender U.S. Prodigy II Rebuild - Part Three

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Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

This guitar was refretted with Fender Jumbo Guitar Fret Wire (P. N. 0991999000).

1992 Fender U.S. Prodigy II Rebuild - Part Two

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Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

The wiring scheme I employed for this guitar is a little different from the stock wiring scheme (kindly provided by Brett Leasure of FMIC Consumer Relations). I went with full-sized Alpha 500K pots instead of mini pots, and an Oak Grigsby 5-way switch instead of the stock import "box" switch. The output jack was also relocated to the front of the body a'la a Fender Strat, which meant routing a cavity and adding a jack plate. This was done at the owner's request, who had already suffered a broken pickguard due to the stock pickguard-mounted output jack. A new 3-ply black-white-black pickguard was ordered from Chandler Music, and I must say that both Paul and Adrian Chandler were very courteous and helpful in replying my initial enquiries. The unused output jack hole was sealed with a rubber plug of the exact same size. 'Nuff said, let's look at some pics now.

1992 Fender U.S. Prodigy II Rebuild - Part One

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Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

This post is the first in a series of four concerning a Fender U.S. Prodigy II guitar that I had the pleasure of working on. The guitar came to me in the form of a beat-up body, neck, disconnected pickups; and assorted hardware (including the stock Kahler Spyder "Double Locking Tremolo System" minus its nut clamping blocks). The neck was crafted by D. Chavez on August 5, 1992. Here are the original specs, kindly provided by Brett Leasure of FMIC Consumer Relations.

Model Name: U.S. Prodigy II Guitar
Model Number: 014-5102
Series: U.S. Prodigy Series (introduced in 1991, discontinued in 1993)
Body: Poplar
Neck: Maple
Fingerboard: Maple
Frets: 22
Scale Length: 25.5" (648mm)
Nut: 1.650" (42mm)
Hardware: Chrome
Machine Heads: Standard Cast/Sealed
Bridge: Floyd Rose Licensed Double Locking Tremolo
Pickguard: 3-Ply Black
Pickups: 1 Standard Humbucking, 2 Standard Single Coil Pickup Switching: 5-Position Blade
Controls: Master Volume, Master Tone
Color: (725) Crimson Metallic

Now, here are some pics concerning the prep and refinish stage of this job. The stock Crimson Metallic finish on the body was scraped off, the bare wood (poplar) sanded down, and then refinished in super glue. 

 

1995 Fender Squier Series Stratocaster Refret

This Made-In-Mexico "Black Decal" Fender Squier Series Stratocaster [Serial Number MN542224] came in for a refret and lots of TLC. For more information on this Strat, please click HERE.

 

2007 Left-Handed American Standard Precision Bass

This blog entry features a left-handed black 2007 American Standard Precision Bass that came in for a string change (DR Dragon Skin) and setup. Besides this, the owner also requested that the stock Custom Shop '60s Split Single-Coil Precision Bass pickup be replaced with a Seymour Duncan SPB-4 Steve Harris. 

Features that caught my eye were the ultra-smooth and precise Fender "F" Light-Weight Vintage-Paddle Keys with Tapered Shafts (tuning machines), the 4-Saddle High-Mass Vintage String-Through-Body Bridge (adjustable string spacing), and solid shaft CTS pots. On the other hand, I was rather disappointed to see that the 0.05uF tone cap was ceramic.

Full front and rear view.

Headstock front and back.

String ferrules for through-body stringing.

Closer view of the "4-Saddle High-Mass Vintage String-Through-Body" bridge. Note that the saddles for the G and D strings have 4 grooves, and those for the A and E, three. This feature enables adjustable string spacing.

Clockwise from top left: pickguard sticker, volume control knob removed to reveal solid pot shaft, truss rod adjustment hex nut at neck heel, and pickguard assembly date sticker.

Underside of pickguard shielded with aluminium foil, and control cavity with shielding paint. Note ground lug to the left of the barcode sticker.

Closer view of the electronics.

Good to go.