ESP Floyd Rose to Hardtail Conversion | Part Five

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

This post is the fifth and last of a series regarding the recently-concluded Floyd Rose to Hardtail [fixed bridge] conversion on a used ESP GrassRoots G-HR-49 solidbody. After the body had been refinished, it was set aside on March 6 to allow the finish to cure. 

Then, on March 21, I resumed work by reinstalling the electronics, neck, hardware; and what-have-you. Took me the better part of two days to get the guitar ready for testing, and when I finally did put it through its paces; a feeling of joy mixed with relief coursed through my veins. I was indeed thankful to have satisfied the owner’s five requests:

One, remove the entire Floyd Rose assembly, including the locking nut, springs and claws.
Two, fill the trem and spring cavities completely with suitable wood to create a true solid body.
Three, install a strings-through-body hardtail bridge.
Four, install a Strat-style nut, remove the paint on the back of the neck and refinish it natural.
Five, make the guitar presentable and fully-functional.

Thus said, in this post, we'll just sit back and look at some pics. I’ve also put together a YouTube video to complement this post. The video highlights both clean and overdriven sounds of the G-HR-49; plugged into my trusty Fender Champion 40 amp. Do check it out. Muchas gracias :)

ESP Floyd Rose to Hardtail Conversion | Part Four

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

This post is the fourth of five regarding an ongoing Floyd Rose to Hardtail [fixed bridge] conversion on a used ESP GrassRoots G-HR-49 solidbody. In this post, we'll talk about what needed to be done; as per the owner’s instructions: “install a strings-through-body hardtail bridge” and “make the guitar presentable and fully-functional.”

Before installing the hardtail bridge, the pickups and neck had to be temporarily reattached to the body to ensure proper string-fretboard and string-pickup polepiece alignment. Masking tape was also applied to the front of the guitar, accurate measurements taken; and lines drawn.

These measurements and lines enabled me to determine the correct position for the bridge. Two “dummy” strings (low and high E) were also used to determine side-to-side and polepiece alignment.

Once I was satisfied with the position of the bridge, holes were marked and drilled for the five bridge mounting screws. The bridge was then installed in preparation for the next step, drilling the string-through holes.

After carefully marking the positions of the six string-through holes, the bridge was removed to make way for my rotary tool and Dremel Plunge Router Attachment. I would have loved to have used my drill press, but its throat was too narrow to accommodate a guitar body. The Dremel attachment, albeit being a poor cousin of a proper drill press; is still capable of helping one to drill perpendicular holes.

The six string-through holes were then drilled into the top of the guitar. The holes for the high and low E strings were drilled all the way through to the bottom, while the remaining four were only drilled halfway.

The body was then flipped, and the bridge aligned with the two E string holes. In this way, it was possible to mark the position of the holes for the B, G, D and A strings on the bottom of the body.

Subsequently, these four holes were drilled from the bottom until they “met” the corresponding holes previously drilled from the top. Then, to accommodate the string ferrules that would be inserted later, a larger sized drill bit was used to countersink all six holes.

Test-fitting the ferrules went okay, and they were removed for safekeeping. They’d only be reinstalled after the body had been refinished. Meanwhile, a hole was also drilled into the top from underneath where the bridge would be, right into the bridge pickup cavity. This hole would allow me to run a ground wire from the bridge plate into the control cavity.

Now that all the drilling had been done, the whole body was given a final inspection. Any low spots were filled with Elmer’s Wood Filler and sanded level, while gaps were sealed with a mixture of wood dust and super glue. Next, after a light scuffing with 0000 steel wool, the whole body was wiped down with naphtha.

And of course, in order to “make the guitar presentable,” I’d have to refinish the body. Samurai 29/109A Flat Black was my choice of color coat, and for top coat; Samurai F1 Flat Clear. After the final coat of clear had been applied on March 6^th, the body was set aside to give the finish adequate time to cure. Thanks for dropping by. Now, since you're already here; do check out this YouTube video I uploaded to complement this post. Muchas gracias :)

ESP Floyd Rose to Hardtail Conversion | Part Three

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

This post is the third of five regarding an ongoing Floyd Rose to Hardtail [fixed bridge] conversion on a used ESP GrassRoots G-HR-49 solidbody. In this post, we'll talk about what needed to be done; as per the owner’s instructions: “fill the trem and spring cavities completely with suitable wood to create a true solid body.”

The first step was to remove the electronics and hardware from the body. This included the two trem pivot post bushings. Following this, the bottoms of both body cavities (trem and spring) were routed flat to a suitable depth. At the same time, their side walls were chiseled and routed to closely fit the wooden blocks that would be inserted later.

The spring cavity was dealt with first. To this end, slabs of pine and chengal were glued together to form a “sandwich” sufficiently thick to slightly overfill this cavity. The “sandwich” was then glued and clamped into place; and set aside for a few days.

Subsequently, a suitably-sized “center block” of pine was fashioned and glued in to fill the void vacated by the trem block. Had this not been done, there would have been an empty space left between the wooden blocks filling the spring and trem cavities. This was a major no-no as far as I was concerned.

What next, then? Ah, yes, the trem cavity. Before tackling this task, the center pine fill block was pared down to match the depth of the cavity. Earlier on, two wooden dowels had been glued in to fill the trem pivot post holes. These were also trimmed down to size.

So now, we had a trem cavity of uniform depth that was ready to be filled. A tracing of the cavity's outline was made, and then transferred to a block of local hardwood I’d bought from a friendly carpenter. This block was then shaped, glued in; and clamped in place for a couple days.

Then the clamps came off, and the arduous task of leveling both upper and lower wooden fill blocks began. This involved lots of planing and sanding; and I was thankful for having two power sanders at my disposal. Once my trusty spirit level told me everything was nice and even, I heaved a huge sigh of relief. 

Oh yes, the holes left by the back plate screws were also plugged with wooden dowels and leveled; as wood filler just would not do. Finally, the whole body was scuff-sanded in preparation for the refinishing that was to come. Meanwhile, do check out the YouTube video I uploaded to complement this post. Thanks for dropping by, and God bless :)

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.

Custom Neck-Through Tele Rehab: Part Three

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

Well, let's see here. I've already refinished this Tele in Tru-Oil and installed the electronics. Now it's time to string it up and do a proper setup for maximum playability. Easier said than done, huh?

The maple fretboard's already as straight as an arrow, so I reckon there won't be much truss rod tweaking needed. So on goes the Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys, I tune up, and then realize the first issue: excessively-high action at the nut. Boy, are you going to have problems fretting barre chords such as F or Bb major!

In case you're wondering just how I determine nut action, it's pretty simple. With the guitar tuned to pitch, press any string at the 3rd fret and eyeball the distance between the bottom of that string and the top of the first fret. There should only be a tiny gap, a hair's width; one might say. I know there are more scientific ways to measure the gap using feeler gauges and what not; but eyeballing it works just fine for me. If there's just a tiny sliver of light shining through; you'll be good to go.

Anyway, out come the fret and torch nozzle files; and away we go. Now I've lowered the nut action to where I like it, the strings are sitting way too deep in their slots. And then there's the fact that this bone nut is really gnarly and needs a face lift. A nut reprofile job should kill these two birds with one stone, methinks.

I start by filing the top of the nut down to where about half the diameter of the wound strings are visible, and then do a cleanup and polish with successively finer grits of 3M Flexible Polishing Papers. I really like these polishing papers as they're flexible, durable; and offer a degree of control you won't get with regular sandpaper.

So now the nut's been taken care of. The fretboard's still relatively flat with the strings tuned up; and there's only the tiniest bit of relief in the 7th to 9th fret area. Nice, but fretting any string at the 21st and 22nd frets produces the same note. This means that the 22nd fret is way too high -- when you fret a note at the 21st fret, it's actually fretting at the 22nd!

The solution is to do a really minor fret dress on just the 22nd fret to lower it. I do just that; problem solved. Of course there's lots of fine sanding and polishing to do after lowering the fret height; but that's life. I've finally got the action and intonation just right, so I'm calling it a day on this job. Here's a YouTube video of yours truly trying out this Tele straight into my Fender Champion 40, no effects; no nuthin.

Custom Neck-Through Tele Rehab: Part Two

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Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

To date, I've completed the Tru-Oil refinish, fabrication of a control cavity cover, and slight neck pickup cavity enlargement to fit the new humbucker-sized P90 clone. Conductive shielding paint, copper foil and grounding tabs have also been utilized to reduce rogue interference as far as possible. 

I've also adjusted the neck pickup in its cavity for optimal string/polepiece alignment with the help of "dummy" low and high E strings. Electronics-wise, the guitar has been rewired with a new 3-way switch, Alpha A500K pots, poly film 0.022uF cap; and Neutrik/Rean NYS229 output jack. 

Everything works as it should, thankfully. All that's left now is to string this guitar up with a set of Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys (10-46) and do a full setup. I think I'll take care of that tomorrow; now it's time to take a break and listen to some Nat King Cole. Thanks for reading this, and I'll see you soon :)

Custom Neck-Through Tele Rehab: Part One

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

This is a Tele-style guitar, no doubt. It was custom built for the owner, who then handed it over to an individual or number of individuals for further "upgrades." And now it's come to me for some serious rehabilitation. Gnarly finish, no pickups or electronics; and no control cavity cover. 

A very attractive guitar all the same. Intricate abalone inlays, neck-through construction, five-piece maple neck, strings-through-body; never mind that the holes for the string ferrules are seriously out of alignment.

The first stage of rehab involved a partial refinish. Partial as in I did not sand down right to bare wood as it was stained and I did not want to have to do a lot of restaining. Turns out I did burn through the finish along the edges and center of the body, and had to restain the affected parts with StewMac ColorTone Liquid Stains. 

Vintage Amber (#5030) was used to restain the maple center, and for the edges; a mixture of Medium Brown (#5033) and Red Mahogany (#5032). Next, I filled the grain with StewMac ColorTone Clear Grain Filler so as to provide a relatively even base for the Tru-Oil that would be applied.

Then I remembered that I had not fashioned a control cavity cover yet. So I put the refinish on hold, and got right down to cutting and shaping one out of black pickguard material. I made two at one go, the other one being for the Explorer-style bass I'm also working on.

As I write this, the Tru-Oil refinish is complete and I'm moving on to the pickups and electronics. Two humbucker-sized P90 clones have arrived, and the neck pickup won't fit in its cavity. There's going to be a bit of chiseling and Cremeling to do, no doubt. Do stay tuned for the next installment. Till then, stay home, stay safe; and keep on rocking the free world :)