Here's a partscaster from Keratong that came in for a complete overhaul. It appeared to have a 2006 rosewood Fender neck and generic locking tuners. The body and pickguard had been thoughtlessly sprayed with some bluish metallic rubberized paint. It was such an unsettling sight that I did not take any pics. Boys and girls, a guitar is not a motorcycle or helmet!
The bridge appeared to be a highly corroded vintage-style Fender tremolo with stamped bent steel saddles and a mighty big block. After a thorough evaluation, only the saddles, springs and intonation screws were replaced. The tremolo arm was also missing, so I'd have to find a suitable replacement.
A previous owner had also hacked the tremolo route to facilitate some kind of floating trem setup; with disastrous results. As the onus was on me to fix that, I decided to fill the gaping cavity with wood and restore the route to standard specs. This would mean removing the existing finish around the area in question. And, since I'd be removing finish anyhow; I decided to do a full stripdown and refinish the body natural. The garish pickguard would also be restored with some acetone and lots of elbow grease.
The electronics consisted of three single coils, CTS pots, Oak Grigsby switch, yellow rectangular 0.047uF caps; and a generic output jack. The neck and middle pickups appeared to be genuine Fender single coils, while the bridge was clearly a ceramic with a broken magnet.
None of the pickups were working, so they'd definitely be replaced. Soldering quality on the whole was unacceptable, as can be seen in Pic 08. It was decided that all electronic components be replaced and rewired with Gavitt wire. The guitar would also be shielded with copper foil and conductive shielding paint.
And so, folks, this Keratong Partscaster ended up with a natural finish, Wilkinson M Series pickups, rubber pickup tubing, Alpha A250K pots, Gotoh DM-50 switch; and Switchcraft output jack. Now, what does it sound like? Good question. To answer that, kindly click this
SoundCloud link.
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| Generic Locking Tuners |
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| Rosewood Fretboard with Jumbo Frets |
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| Neck Heel Stamp |
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| Note the finish |
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| Hack Job |
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| Big Block |
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| Dead Pickups |
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| Soldering Nightmare |
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| Restoring the tremolo route to standard specs |
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| Body Stripped Down |
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| Clear Coating in Progress |
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| New Electronics and Shielding |
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| Rubber Tubing |
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| Wilkinson M Series Pickups |
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| Proline Block Saddles and New Tremolo Arm |
