RCE HSS Solidbody Overhaul

Rumor has it that RC Stromm used to be known as "RCE" in its infancy. For those of you who aren't familiar with RC Stromm, it's a line of affordable made-in-China guitars and basses distributed in Malaysia by Kuantan Music. Which brings us to this particular RCE HSS sunburst solidbody; the owner's very first guitar. It was sent in for a major overhaul which included a good clean and polish, hardware servicing, electronics upgrade, shielding; and setup. And since the guitar was already in the shop; he also asked that the "RCE" logo on the headstock face be removed.

You know, lots of nice things have been said about Gibson Guitar Polish. Just do a search on YouTube and you'll see what I mean. And guess what? It's not all hype, this stuff actually works! As you can see in the pictures below, the whole guitar was covered in years of caked-on dirt, grime, crud and a greasy film of lord-knows-what. It was as if the guitar had been hanging on the wall of a busy restaurant kitchen for quite some time. I'm glad I had this polish on hand for this job, as it certainly got rid of all that gunk in no time at all.

Removing the RCE logo was a lot harder than I'd thought. I was expecting a waterslide decal, but it was actually some kind of thick black paint with a raised profile that you could feel with your fingertips. Trying to wipe it off with various solvents did not work, so out came the razor blade and a scrape-scrape-scrape we did go. This was followed by a thorough sanding job and refinish with Tru-Oil. By the time I was done, I dare say that no one could tell there had ever been a logo there.

Electronics-wise, all components except for the pickups were replaced. The two single coils were also rewired, as the leads were a little too short. Shielding was done in the usual manner; foil for the back of the pickguard and conductive shielding paint for the body cavities. And, of course, the rosewood fretboard was cleaned and oiled; and the frets polished. Speaking of fretboards, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this one had a radius of 14"; which is flatter than that of your typical Les Paul (12") or Strat (9.5").

Mymozika Frankenstrat Build | Part Four

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

After eight months, the Mymozika Frankenstrat is finally ready. Having finalized the position of the bridge and body-mounted hardware, the control cavity was shielded with conductive shielding paint. Once the paint was dry and the grounding tab screwed in, I was able to wrap up the wiring end of things.

Meanwhile, there was the issue of the gnarly satin finish on the fretboard, back of neck; and headstock. To protect it while in transit, someone had wrapped this beautiful Canadian hard rock maple neck tightly in plastic cling film. As a result of this, the thin finish had crinkled up and developed unsightly lines. 

I'd actually put off dealing with this problem until the very last; as just looking at the damage made me very depressed. Thank goodness a few hours of gentle buffing with 0000 steel wool got rid of most of the lines and smoothened out the finish somewhat. Following this, the whole neck was waxed and buffed.

One interesting feature of this neck is that it sports a vintage 7.25" radius. Based upon the size of the frets, I was expecting the radius to be at least 9.5". In any case, after stringing the Mymozika with Ernie Ball 10s; a routine setup was carried out. Now, what does this Frankenstrat sound like? Ballsy and full of stratty spank, methinks. If you're curious, do check out these two YouTube videos: Mymozika Frankenstrat - Clean Tones and Mymozika Frankenstrat - Overdrive.

It's been a long and bumpy ride, but well worth it. Never thought that those Japanese Fender pickups would work so well with the Fender SCN ST-BR (albeit after some rewiring); but they do. That about wraps it up for this Mymozika Frankenstrat Build. Thanks for dropping by. As always, stay safe, stay healthy; and God bless :)

Note: Fender®, Stratocaster®, Strat®, Telecaster®, Tele®, P Bass®, Precision Bass®, and the distinctive headstock designs of these guitars are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.

1981 Ibanez Blazer BL-400: Part Three

Quick Links:    Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

In this third instalment on a droolicious Ibanez BL-400, let's take a look at what was done electronics-wise. Now, as the guitar was unshielded save for some foil underneath the pickguard; a full shielding was installed utilizing conductive shielding paint, aluminium foil and a grounding tab.

The wires emanating from the Super 6 pickups themselves looked a tad iffy. Seems like someone had taken a soldering iron to them somewhere along the line and left a sloppy mess of solder blobs, loosely-hanging leads and burnt insulation. The only remedy, then; would be to desolder, clean up the leads, and resolder them to the flatwork.

All the control cavity components were replaced, save for the Switchcraft #11 jack which was in immaculate shape. Nothing out of the ordinary: Alpha A500K pots, Gotoh DM-50 selector switch, NKK DPDT toggle switch; and Russian K40Y-7 0.033uF tone cap.

Custom Explorer Bass Makeover | Part Four

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five

This is the fourth instalment of an ongoing series concerning a makeover on a custom Explorer-style five-string bass. After final-sanding the body with 220-grit sandpaper, Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Filler tinted with StewMac Red Mahogany ColorTone Liquid Stain (#5032) was applied liberally and left to dry overnight.

After sanding off the Red Mahogany grain filler, a second round of filler was applied, this time tinted with Dark Walnut (#5104). This was once again sanded off after overnight drying. As the grain still was not as dark as I wanted it to be, the wood was stained with Sumi black ink. After sanding off the ink, the grain was about as dark as it would ever be.

So now it finally time to stain the body with Cherry Red (#5038). Yes, I was rather pleased with the results. However, I noticed that the headstock face was a couple shades lighter than the body. This being the case, I had no choice but sand off the Tru-Oil applied earlier and restain the headstock face.

Having taken care of the grain-filling and staining, I could now apply conductive shielding paint to the pickup and control cavities. The next step should be applying a clear matte finish to the the body and headstock face. Thank you for dropping by. Do stay tuned for future updates on this Custom Explorer Bass Makeover. Stay home, stay safe; and I'll see you real soon :)

Yamaha ERG121C Makeover: Part Two

Quick Links: Part One | Part Two | Part Three

In Part One of this series, I'd put down about a half dozen coats of Tru-Oil; and this included a light scuffing with 0000 steel wool every 3 coats or so. Well, after 20 coats of Tru-Oil, I lost count and just concentrated on achieving the desired finish thickness. After the final coat, the body was set aside for a week to allow the finish to cure. Then it was time to take care of the conductive paint shielding and grounding tabs.

Following this, the pickups and electronics were installed. Now, since a complete rewire was on the cards, I decided to do a minor upgrade and put in a Russian K73-16 0.022uF tone cap, Gavitt cloth-covered pushback wire for short runs; and Gavitt single-conductor braided shield wire from the volume pot to the output jack. I felt that it was only fitting as the owner had already spent his hard-earned money on bona fide Seymour Duncan pickups, CTS 500K pots, CRL 5-way switch; and Switchcraft #11 jack.

As I type this the rewiring's been completed, tested; and everything checks out okay. What's left is to reattach the neck, string her up with 10s; and do a complete setup. Do stay tuned for updates on this Yamaha ERG121C. Till we meet again in cyberspace, stay home, stay safe; and avoid crowded spaces.

ESP LTD M-10 Electric Guitar: Part Two

Quick Links: Part One | Part Two | Part Three

In the previous post, we took a long, hard look at this ESP LTD M-10. Yes, there was lots that needed to be done, and in this post; I'll show you exactly what I did. The very first step was putting 0000 steel wool, 3M Flexible Polishing Papers and Autosol Metal Polish to work. Of course, there was also lots of elbow grease involved.

The most challenging task was separating the frozen bridge stud from its bushing. I'm glad to report that alternately heating the bushing with a mini-blowtorch and "shock cooling" in water finally did the trick. Thorough scrubbing with a steel-bristled brush got rid of any corrosion and caked-on gunk, and after a good lubing; everything was fine and dandy.

The pickups? Yes, they were actually Belcats in disguise. On the plus side, the pickup and control cavities were adequately shielded with conductive shielding paint. However, as I've noticed on other ESP LTDs; grounding tabs were missing. That being the case, I wired in new ground tabs terminating in the control cavity wall; with a jumper cable soldered to the back of a pot. Also added a piece of conductive self-adhesive copper tape to ensure good contact with the foil shield on the back of the control cavity cover.

New electronics comprised new Alpha A500K pots, a 3-way switch, 0.022uF poly film cap; and Neutrik/Rean NYS229 output jack. I've tested the electronics sans neck and strings, and everything seems to be working well. Got a set of Ernie Ball Super Slinkys (009-042) at the ready for the next step; which should be restring and setup. But that will have to wait until tomorrow, at least. Till then, stay home, stay safe, wear a mask; and avoid crowded places.