Strat Copy - Partial Fret Dress

Yes, it's another Strat copy; this time from a jamming studio. Notes played on the 18th fret upwards were dead, ie all you could hear was just a dull 'thunk.' Neck relief was spot on, so that wasn't the problem. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that the fretboard had no 'fall-away' built in, and as such; the upper frets were making contact with the strings whenever you fretted above the 17th.

The obvious solution was to dress the offending frets and create a fall-away. This was done from the 15th fret upwards, to smoothly blend in the fall-away with the rest of the frets. After the fretboard was straightened, the frets were leveled with a leveling beam and then re-crowned and polished in the usual manner. I'm glad to say that this partial fret dress took care of the dead note problem.

The other issue was with the output jack socket. Plugged in, output was weak and intermittent. The jack socket itself was loose, even after tightening the hex nut. Everything looked nice and shiny on the outside, but it was a different story once I removed the jack plate. The output jack was totally rusted and was in danger of disintegrating. So into the bin went the old rusty socket, to be replaced with a Neutrik/Rean NYS229. That's about it for this post. Thanks for dropping by, and have a nice day :)

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.

Custom Neck-Through Tele Rehab: Part Two

Related Posts    

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 :)

TGM JPM100 Copy Needs an Overhaul

Here's a decent-looking HSH locking trem-equipped 6-stringer by TGM Guitars. A little investigation on the web tells me that it's a faithful copy of a 1997 Ibanez JPM100 P3 John Petrucci Signature Picasso electric guitar; save for the 5-way blade selector switch. No, I'm in no way promoting copy guitars. I do, however, appreciate that not everyone has the dinero to score a true-blue "branded" guitar. So, if a copy of their dream guitar is all they can afford; I'll humbly do my best to get it up to snuff.

This TGM came in for an overhaul, so to speak. The pickups and electronics had seen better days, the fretboard needed reconditioning, and the Floyd-Rose licensed locking trem was crying out for a thorough servicing. Turns out the middle pickup had a broken coil and magnet. I managed to replace it with an old vintage-output single coil I had lying around.

The trem and locking nut had a few parts that needed to be replaced. As luck would have it, the owner brought me two trems he'd salvaged from somewhere; so all I had to do was cannibalize them for the needed components. The TGM was also missing both its control and trem cavity covers. I DIY-ed suitable replacements from a piece of black pickguard material I had on hand.

There was just enough left in the budget for an electronics upgrade, so in went Alpha 500K pots, a five-way switch; ceramic disc tone cap; and Neutrik/Rean NYS229 output jack. Then, after reconditioning the fretboard, this TGM was strung with 9s and given the usual setup.

BC Rich Revenge Bass Refinish and Electronics Upgrade

The owner of this BC Rich Revenge Bass decided he didn't like the look of the gloss black body finish any longer. Instead, he wanted the front of the body refinished in matte black; while the back and sides remained untouched. As the body was bound, there was a fair deal of binding scraping to be done right at the end of the refinishing process. He also wanted an electronics upgrade. Out went the stock crappy mini-pots and cheapo jack; to be replaced by Alpha A500Ks and a Neutrik/Rean NYS229. And, as shielding paint had already been applied at the factory, all I needed to do was add a grounding tab to the control cavity wall.