Related...
Re: Current DIY projects you are working on ... or planning on.
72Wrapped up a few things the past week or so.
First, I finally finished the last bits of wiring on my old Squier strat. It came in an HSS arrangement, though it was routed for HSH. As a teenager I put some high output Seymour Duncans in it and wailed on the Peavey. Then I sold the pickups when I was broke. Now it has some GFS Surf 90 single coils (in Humbucker sizing). I think I got them on sale for 30 bucks a piece. At first I didn't think much of them, as I mentioned elsewhere. But I spent a good amount to time tweaking the height and amp settings. Now I think they are actually rather good. Tried them next to a friend's traditional strat pickups yesterday and these definitely sound bigger. Good full frequency range, a little louder, and definitely more bass in the bridge position.
It is a really solid guitar (and far heavier than I remembered), but I'm still not a strat guy. Notice that I got rid of the second tone control and moved the volume to a more reasonable position. Putting the toggle switch on the horn was just an experiment. $8 blank pickguard that I tried to dremel straight pickup routs free handed. I wound up using pickup rings to hide the imperfections.
Second, I put another $8 pickguard on my Squier Mustang and installed compensated tele saddles on the original top loading bridge. The string path is not all twisted around anymore and the thing intonates like a champ. I was able to polish out some rough spots on the frets so that they don't affect playing anymore. You can spot them if you look for them though. Kinda nuts how fun this guitar is to play. It has a neck width roughly what they call "vintage fender" online. (~1.6something") It is somewhere between the wide neck on my les paul and the stupidly narrow neck on my strat. If I get to choose in the future, this is the nut width I'd pick (and thicker like the les paul). Makes me wish my les paul was about a mm more narrow.
First, I finally finished the last bits of wiring on my old Squier strat. It came in an HSS arrangement, though it was routed for HSH. As a teenager I put some high output Seymour Duncans in it and wailed on the Peavey. Then I sold the pickups when I was broke. Now it has some GFS Surf 90 single coils (in Humbucker sizing). I think I got them on sale for 30 bucks a piece. At first I didn't think much of them, as I mentioned elsewhere. But I spent a good amount to time tweaking the height and amp settings. Now I think they are actually rather good. Tried them next to a friend's traditional strat pickups yesterday and these definitely sound bigger. Good full frequency range, a little louder, and definitely more bass in the bridge position.
It is a really solid guitar (and far heavier than I remembered), but I'm still not a strat guy. Notice that I got rid of the second tone control and moved the volume to a more reasonable position. Putting the toggle switch on the horn was just an experiment. $8 blank pickguard that I tried to dremel straight pickup routs free handed. I wound up using pickup rings to hide the imperfections.
Second, I put another $8 pickguard on my Squier Mustang and installed compensated tele saddles on the original top loading bridge. The string path is not all twisted around anymore and the thing intonates like a champ. I was able to polish out some rough spots on the frets so that they don't affect playing anymore. You can spot them if you look for them though. Kinda nuts how fun this guitar is to play. It has a neck width roughly what they call "vintage fender" online. (~1.6something") It is somewhere between the wide neck on my les paul and the stupidly narrow neck on my strat. If I get to choose in the future, this is the nut width I'd pick (and thicker like the les paul). Makes me wish my les paul was about a mm more narrow.
Re: Current DIY projects you are working on ... or planning on.
74Thanks. I spent a good while playing both last night. Now I'm tempted to swap the pickups from one to the other. How neurotic. The mustang humbuckers are just too hot, not so clear, and a little dark. Still impressively better than what budget pickups used to sound like.
Honestly, I feel guilty about the mustang. At $150 new, people are just not getting paid right.