Candlewood Strat Kit Build

The candlewood body and maple neck for this build were sourced online by the client himself. Coming to think of it, most of the components used were provided by him. Resourceful fellow he be. My job was simply putting it all together.

The project began with test-fitting all the components. Here, the rule is measure 10 times and cut once. No room for mistakes. Everything's got to be properly aligned before you commit yourself to drilling any holes. Yeah, that's what I kept reminding myself, but still ended up having to fill and re-drill the pickguard screw holes, shame on me! Fared much better with drilling the neck holes, strangely enough (used my drill press). 

Once everything was positioned as it should and the appropriate holes drilled, the body was sanded to 220 grit, pore-filled, re-sanded; and stained with white emulsion paint. At this point, I suddenly had the idea of shielding the pickup and control cavities with conductive paint before clear-coating as opposed to after. After the final coat of shielding paint had dried, I tested for continuity and was satisfied with the results. I then taped off the sections where the ground tab screw would be attached; as well as the strip of copper foil that would make contact with the pickguard foil shield.

The body was then clear-coated with a total of 12 coats of Samurai Flat Clear, with no more than 2 coats being applied per day. After the last coat, I hung the body to dry for more than a week. Finally, it was time to put everything back together again, string her up with 10s, take care of action, intonation and everything else a setup entails; and actually play the darn thing.

YouTube Video: Demo by yours truly

Aria Pro II XR-Series Neck and Fretboard Repair

Right off the bat, let me say that it's safe to assume that this fire engine red Aria Pro II XR-Series Electric Guitar was manufactured in 1990, based on the neck plate serial number (9032282). It features Aria Pro II pickups in an HSS configuration, Floyd Rose Special Tremolo System, reverse headstock, 22 jumbo frets, bound rosewood fretboard, 5-way switch, master volume and tone controls; plus black hardware. I'm sure it must have set many a guitarist's heart aflutter in its heyday.

One night, so the story goes, the owner, a working musician; was on a break at one of his regular gigs. Then, without warning, a pissed-drunk customer swaggered onstage and bumped into the Aria; sending it crashing to the floor. I think you can guess the rest, it having a tilt-back headstock and all that. I'll hazard a guess that had the same thing happened to a Fender Strat, it would be no worse for wear save for a few dings; or a string or two out of tune.

The damage to the neck was extensive, to say the least. The back of the neck had cracked and split at the scarf joint all the way through to the 3rd fret slot of the rosewood fretboard; unseating the fret and damaging the binding on either side. There was also a chunk of wood missing at the apex of the scarf joint. I knew that I'd have to carry out this repair in stages, starting with the back of the neck itself.

Folks, since the back of the neck had numerous cracks spreading out every which way; I realized that just a single backstrap overlay would not suffice. I'd have to remove as much damaged wood as possible and graft on several layers of wood for extra strength and resilience. I believe I grafted on five layers of wood in all.

Once that was taken care of, it was time to repair the fretboard. A mixture of rosewood dust and super glue was used to fill the 3rd fret slot and solidify the sides of the fretboard. Yes, this meant that I'd have to re-cut the fret slot (a real hassle) later; but there was no other way.

Next, I adjusted the truss rod to get the fretboard as flat as possible; and discovered that the section from frets 1-7 was back-bowed. As the truss rod was maxed out, I decided to remove the frets and sand that section of the fretboard to the correct profile. Having done that, the 3rd fret slot was re-cut, a partial refret (frets 1-7) carried out; and the new frets leveled and re-crowned.

So far so good. Now it was time to repair the binding. The affected sections were cut off, and new binding grafted on. It was really tricky trying to create a seamless transition where the edges of the old and new binding met, and I really hoped the repair would not be too noticeable.

It was now time to seal, stain and refinish the back of the neck. I opted to refinish the entire back of the neck in an attempt to achieve continuity between the repaired and untouched sections. After the wood was sealed and sanded smooth, it was stained with a mixture of StewMac's ColorTone Liquid Stain, namely Medium Brown and Vintage Amber. Following this was about 10 coats of Tru-Oil, steel-wooled to a uniform satiny finish.

The rosewood fretboard was de-gunked  and treated with lemon oil; as I usually do. The hardware and electronics were also cleaned, lubed and serviced, after which the neck was reunited with its body; and the guitar strung with Ernie Ball Super Slinkys (courtesy of the owner). Final setup wasn't particularly an enjoyable experience, what with having to deal with a Floyd Rose Special and locking nut (you know what I mean). Oh yes, before I forget; I have nothing to do with the missing truss rod cover. Seems that the owner had stashed it away somewhere and forgot to pass it to me. 'Nuff said, then. Let's look at some pictures.

YouTube Video: Demo by Armz-3D

KAK Ukulele Bridge Reglue

According to its owner, this KAK Concert Ukulele was hanging on the wall when the bridge "suddenly popped off," taking some of the top veneer with it. So, the task before me was to re-glue both the bridge and veneer, and make the repair look presentable. I discovered that the bridge had popped off because there had only been a few squiggles of glue attaching the bridge to the veneer. The glue joint would have been much more secure if the bridge had been glued to the bare wood of the top, methinks.

After separating the slivers of veneer still attached to the bottom of the bridge, I carefully re-glued them to the top with Titebond III and lightly clamped them overnight. Once the glue was dry, I scraped off the excess glue and filled any gaps with super glue. The affected areas were then sanded, stained and sealed with a couple layers of Tru-Oil. If you look closely at the pics, you can make out the repaired areas.

As for the bridge, it's location was accurately marked on the top. Then, the boundaries were lightly scored with a sharp hobby knife and veneer carefully scraped off from the area within. The result was a neat rectangle that exposed the bare wood of the top. This would provide a good gluing surface for the bridge.

The bottom surface of the bridge itself was also prepped by sanding, with the intention of removing any old glue still sticking to it; and also provide a flat surface for maximum contact with the top. Once again, Titebond III was used to re-glue the bridge to the top.

The clamps were taken off after a week, and dried glue squeeze-out cleaned off. After light sanding and leveling, the whole top was sealed with Tru-Oil. The ukulele was then restrung, tuned to pitch, and delivered to its owner, who did declare that it "sounded better than before." Oh, happy day :)

2008 American Standard Stratocaster

Work done on this black Strat included fret dressing, volume pot replacement, re-wiring, replacement of rusty screws and rubber pickup tubing; as well as general de-griming and polishing.

2013 Surf Green Fender American Special Stratocaster

Lovely instrument, this. '70s-style headstock, gorgeous satin urethane Surf Green finish, 22 jumbo frets on a 9.5" radius maple fretboard, Texas Special single-coils, Greasebucket Tone Circuit, vintage-style tremolo bridge -- what's not to love about this Strat?

Folks, even the best of guitars is bound to give up the ghost if used, abused and deprived of proper care for years on end. Which is the fate that befell this unfortunate soul (yes, guitars have souls). The volume pot had crapped out; and rust, corrosion and grime had spread far and wide like a zombie epidemic. I'd initially planned to give the whole guitar a thorough cleaning, replace the rusty hardware and malfunctioning volume pot, service the electronics, polish the frets, set her up with 10s; and call it a day.

However, the owner, a working musician, confided that he'd never been happy with the the tone controls from day one (he'd bought the Strat new); and wanted the Greasebucket Tone Circuit removed. Fair enough, said I. And so, it came to pass that this guitar was rewired with two tone pots sharing one 0.022uF cap; just like ye olde run-of-the-mill Strat.

Further Reading
Mod Garage: The Fender Greasebucket Tone Circuit
Fender American Special Stratocaster Surf Green Maple Neck
Fender 2013 Illustrated Pricelist