Custom HSH S-Style Revisited

I remember working on this custom HSH S-style some time in 2019; carrying out a full refret and installing a bone nut. However, I misplaced most of the images; and only managed to blog about it almost a year later. The guitar belongs to Lan, a Segamat-based dyed-in-the-wool hard rock guitarist who gigs with, of all things; a dangdut band.

Now, this instrument is a custom build by renowned west coast luthier Yeop Sagor. It features two genuine Ibanez humbuckers (V7 neck/V8 bridge) and a single-coil (middle). Meanwhile, hardware highlights include bona fide Fender '70s F Style tuners, tortoiseshell pickguard, two-point synchronized tremolo with "Fender"-stamped bent steel saddles; and four-bolt neck plate.

It's also a unique instrument in many ways. For instance, the maple neck is chunky and feels like a baseball bat; just the way I like it. You're not likely to come across a neck with this profile on a run-of-the-mill production guitar; methinks. The scale length is 25.5 inches; and fretboard radius 9.5. As the fretboard is a separate slab of maple, there is no need for a "skunk stripe" on the back of the neck. 

The body wood is of an unidentified tropical hardwood species that exhibits a really deep reddish-brown hue and striking grain pattern. Why, there's even a whole lotta striping going on; as can be seen in the pictures accompanying this post. 

Then there's the "bi-flex" truss rod, which features a hex adjustment nut. So, there's no channel to insert a hex key. Instead, I found that the 5/16" truss rod wrench I use on PRS guitars fit perfectly; so that's what was utilized for setup. Besides this, I should also mention that the truss rod access channel is the widest and longest I've ever seen on any guitar or bass.

As Lan gigs regularly, and it had been quite a while since the guitar was serviced or set up; he called me to book a much-needed appointment. Once he was here, Lan confided that there were quite a few things not right with his pride and joy. For one, the electronics were acting up frequently; and he was not a hundred percent confident about gigging with it any more.

As it turned out, all three pickups were in working order. It was the wiring, pots and switches that needed to be replaced. Out went everything, and in their place I wired in new Alpha A500K full-sized pots, a poly 0.022uF tone cap; and generic five-way switch. As for the Switchcraft #11 output jack; it was good as new after a good scrubbing with a wire toothbrush and a little spritz of contact cleaner. Oh yes, I also applied shielding paint to the body cavities to reduce electromagnetic interference; as Lan loves to play at high gain and volume settings. 

The unstable two-point synchronized tremolo bridge was another cause for concern. Set to float, the high E pivot post was wobbling like crazy in its bushing; a sure indicator of worn-out threads. Swapping the high and low E pivot posts revealed that the pivot post was OK. It was the threads on the inside of the high E bushing that were worn out. With this in mind, I removed the worn-out bushing, replaced it; and the problem was solved. 

Frequent string breakage at the bridge was an additional malady, and SRV immediately came to mind. My gut reaction was to smooth out the inner rim of the bridge plate string channels with a jeweler's diamond grinding bit. We'll see how it goes. It the strings continue to break, then the last resort will be to slide wire insulation over the first inch or so of each string; like Rene Martinez used to do on SRV's Strats.

Let's see, then. What have I not mentioned yet? Oh yes. The frets I installed in 2019 needed to be leveled and recrowned. Lan plays with a heavy hand, even with 9s. I don't know how he pulls that off with strings that light; but he does. The fret dressing involved the usual SOP. Straighten the neck, tape the fretboard off, mark the tops of the frets, level them, add fall away from the 14th fret onwards, mark the fret tops again, recrown them; abrade and polish. You know the drill.

As mentioned earlier, Lan plays with a heavy hand and has his trem set to float so he can do both dive bombs and pull-ups with ease. The '70s F Style tuners he'd had installed right from the start had done a good job, but he wanted more tuning stability. And so it came to pass that these were replaced with a set of Musiclily Pro locking tuners. Installation was a breeze, they felt solid and turned smoothly; so there's no regrets here. 

Nope, that was not all. Lan suddenly felt that a black pickguard would match his guitar's aesthetics better than tortoiseshell. No problem, as I was able to hunt one down in a couple days. I then unscrewed the old pickguard, removed the electronics, desoldered the output jack leads and trem claw ground, reinstalled the electronics in the new black pickguard; and resoldered what needed to be. As expected, the mounting screw holes for the new pickguard did not exactly match the holes in the body. Yes, we merrily went a plugging and redrilling; and all was right once again. 

What followed was a regular setup with a set of Ernie Ball Super Slinkys; and special attention paid to get the two-point synchronized tremolo floating as per Fender specs. Finally, this custom HSS solidbody was put to bed in its plush hardshell case; awaiting its owner's arrival. What with the slew of lockdowns and travel restrictions, it was quite a while before Lan could come pick up the apple of his eye. But come he did one day, and I must say I was sad to see the guitar leave. Boy, that was one heck of a neck!