Epiphone DR-100 Acoustic - Part 1

Part 2 ▶

January 5, 2025. CA Guitar Repair. Taman Impian Ku, 25200 Kuantan.

The owner of this Epiphone DR-100 Acoustic has requested a string change and tuner upgrade.

Fender Japan ST72 Stratocaster | Part Two

◀ Part One

In the previous post, I highlighted the main external features of this stunning Fender Japan ST72 Stratocaster. Now, I've dismantled everything because it's going to be thoroughly serviced, cleaned and polished.

Hardware wise, everything was in good shape except for the bridge. Rust had begun to take root, especially on the stamped bent-steel saddles. It took lots of Autosol, steel wool, various lubes, and a Dremel polishing attachment to get things up to snuff. 

On to the body, then. As expected, there's no shielding, save for some aluminum foil under the pickguard where the controls are. I really like the "worm route" in the bridge pickup cavity, it's a nice vintage touch. 

Now, the electronics. This ST72 features three ceramic single-coil pickups, a Hosco VLX53 five-way lever pickup selector switch, Gotoh A250K mini-pots, 0047uF (473) tone cap; and generic output jack. I was kind of disappointed seeing mini-pots instead of full-sized ones, I must say. I mean, they could put in a Hosco switch, but not full-sized pots? Guess Fender Japan had to save a little money somehow.

The wiring had been tampered with, as I spotted splicing and heat-shrink tubing on the black and white wires to the output jack; and the totally gnarly solder connections on the output jack tabs. Well, as the volume pot was stuck, I'd have to remove a couple components; and might as well do some rewiring while I was at it. The stuck pot was turning again after some spray lube and lots of coaxing with a set of pliers; thank goodness. A spritz of contact cleaner; a few quick rotations both ways; and this pot was back in the saddle.

I replaced the spliced wires with a length of shielded coaxial cable, and added a lock washer to the output jack socket to prevent it turning by itself and coming loose. You'd be surprised at how many manufacturers try to save a few bucks by not using a proper lock washer. Instead, they'll simply add another hex nut on the inside; making it doubly-difficult to remove the jack from the jack plate for servicing. Nope, you won't find this shortcoming on Switchcraft #11 jack sockets.

Once the electronics and hardware had been serviced, this ST72 was reassembled and set up with Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys (010-046). I was secretly pleased that Shaifful requested 10s and not 9s like most players. He has found that 10s give him a much beefier tone than 9s; you see. Way to go, Shaifful! Last but not least, tonewise, this ST72 oozes a totally righteous Strat vibe; I do declare. Don't believe me? Well, give this YouTube Video a listen and tell me I'm wrong.

Fender Japan ST72 Stratocaster | Part One

Part Two ▶

Here's a gorgeous Fender Japan ST72 Stratocaster belonging to Shaifful SENI. Shaifful politely requested that his pride and joy be thoroughly cleaned, polished, serviced and set up; and I was only too happy to oblige. You see, Shaifful is the son of the late Che'gu Ahmad Kisai; a dear acquaintance of mine from the '80s. And that makes him family in my book.

Now, there are lots of MIJ (Made in Japan) Stratocasters around, including many versions of the ST72. As such, I was unable to obtain specific information on this particular model. I believe the experts out would do better than me, based on the serial number and pictures I've uploaded. So, whatever specs stated in this post are from my own observations. As to what it sounds like, here's a short YouTube Video I uploaded that highlights all five pickup positions.

As you can obviously see, the finish is a three-tone-sunburst. The body wood looks like alder to me; but I can't be certain. What I can tell you, though; is that it's definitely not basswood. The neck is one-piece maple, so there's no separate fretboard. The headstock is the big '70s style, and sports Gotoh tuners, two string trees with nylon spacers; and a "bullet" style truss rod adjustment nut.

The maple fretboard features a 7.25" radius and 25.5" scale. The nut appears to be bone, based on visible file marks and nature of the nut slots. The 21 frets are of the small, vintage variety; while the fretboard markers are black dots. I must point out that the fret ends have been meticulously shaped; testimony to the quality of Japanese craftsmanship.

"Made in Japan" and the serial number have been silkscreened onto the neck heel, while the neck plate bears an engraved "F" logo. Now, let me see if I've left anything out. Ah, yes; one very interesting feature of this ST72 is the larger-than-usual tremolo block. I reckon it's almost as large as the "big blocks" found on some US Strats. Nice touch, methinks.

That's about it for this post, then. In Part Two, I'll be taking everything apart so we can have a good look at what's inside this Japanese beauty. Till then, stay home, stay safe; and God bless us all.

 

Partscaster Gets Some Help

Here's a good-looking sunburst Partscaster assembled and refinished by a Adel, a 15-year-old schoolboy from Pekan; Pahang. Pretty impressive work, I must say. Reverse headstock, 25.5" scale, 14" radius dark hardwood fretboard, maple neck, locking tuners, two humbuckers, master volume and tone, vintage six-screw tremolo; what's not to like? 

Quite a lot, it would seem. For one, the guitar was unplayable. The action was way too high, especially at the nut; and the strings could not be intonated based on the 12th fret harmonic. Also, the break angle at the headstock was non-existent due to the straight headstock and lack of string trees. The strings kept popping out of the nut slots as if they had a mind of their own.

Then there was the problem of fitting the pickguard. Trying to position the pickguard as I wanted it could not be done. The pickups could only be adjusted so far sideways or be lowered so much before running into wood. Right away I realized that the pickup cavity not only needed to be widened; but deepened too. Besides this, the three-way switch had been wired "backwards." Selecting the neck humbucker gave you the bridge instead; and vice-versa. The volume and tone controls were working as they should; thankfully. 

To compound the problems already mentioned, I noticed that the high E string was almost falling off the fretboard edge and string/pickup polepiece alignment for both pickups was way off. To remedy the situation, I knew that (i) the bridge would have to be repositioned laterally; and (ii) the neck shifted slightly in its pocket.

And so began the task of getting this Partscaster into playable condition. After taking some measurements, the scale length was determined to be 25.5 inches. Only problem was that the saddles, with about 1/16" of play left; were 25.75" from the nut. So I knew that the bridge would have to be shifted forward until the saddles were at the 25.5" mark.

As for solving the string/fretboard edge and string/polepiece alignment issues, it involved deepening and widening the pickup cavity, lots of measuring and testing with a length of string; as well as a slight neck adjustment. All this meant that the old holes would have to be plugged and leveled; and new ones marked and drilled. Tedious, no doubt; but absolutely necessary.

To provide sufficient downward pressure at the headstock end of the nut, a Floyd Rose-licensed string retainer was added. Besides this, the nut slots were deepened sufficiently; and the whole nut reprofiled afterwards. Before re-assembling the guitar, the "backwards" switch wiring was taken care of.

Perhaps one of the more interesting aspects of this job was the request by Adel that the tremolo bridge be immobilized and effectively turned into a "hardtail" or fixed bridge. A man wise beyond his years, Adel be! To this end, two more springs were added for a total of five, the trem claw screwed in nice and tight; and a painstakingly-shaped block of hardwood installed in between the trem block and cavity wall.

Once this Partscaster was reassembled and set up with Ernie Ball Super Slinkys; the time finally came to plug it into my Fender Champion 40 and give it a good workout. I must say the tones that emanated from this guitar were way better than I had anticipated. If you'd like to know what this guitar sounds like, do check out the YouTube video I've uploaded. That's it for this post, and thanks for dropping by :)

Jay Turser JT-220 Overhaul | Part Two

◀ Part One

In the previous post, we were introduced to a Jay Turser JT-220 solidbody that was badly in need of an overhaul. Now, in this post, I shall briefly outline what was actually done to make this instrument playable again.

For starters, both humbuckers were dismantled, relieved of their covers; and given a thorough cleaning. I also rewrapped the coils in fresh black pickup tape from StewMac. Now that everything was looking much better, the pickups were reassembled without the covers; something I knew I'd do all along. The rest of the hardware and plastic parts were scrubbed clean and polished where possible. 

As for the electronics, they were all presented with a letter of appreciation and given an honorable discharge. After bidding farewell to the retirees, it was time to welcome the new recruits; which included good 'ole Alpha A500K full-sized pots. I also used caps of different values for the tone pots: 0.015uF (neck) and 0.022uF (bridge). And yes, quality shielded cable was used extensively in the rewire. I guess that about sums up this Jay Turser JT-220 Overhaul. Thanks for dropping by. Now, before you go, do pop over to SoundCloud and listen to what the guitar sounds like in both Clean and Overdrive mode.