My Strat Mod

Mr Bones · 03-28-2008, 05:27 PM

Ok, so I have many butcherings of guitars under my belt, so I decided it was time to do penance and try and right some past wrongs. I have never been a strat player, and never cared for the sound of them except in a few exceptional players hands. So I decided to see if I could restore a completely butchered strat, and make it one I would enjoy playing in the process. I started with a beat to death, chunks and gouges missing CIJ 68 strat that I picked up very cheaply a few years ago. Someone had taken a chisel to it in order to install a humbucker (Ive done some nasty things to guitars in my day, but this was not my handiwork!). The guitar also had chunks missing from the contours, and some very deep scratches in the top. The poly had been stripped, and the guitar had been very badly finished in nitro.

Time to see what I could do with this thing. The guitar had a really really bright thin tone, so my initial assumption was that I could really go to the extreme with this thing, and it wasnt going to sound any worse than it already did.

Before I get into the detail, I apologize (and also regret myself) not taking more pictures of this process.

I started out by stripping all the poly off the neck. I love the look of the big headstock fenders, but do not like the look of them with the transition logo, so I was happy to see that go. Once the neck was stripped, I removed all the frets, and re-planned the board to a 12 degree radius. The radius the guitar came with, in combination with the really narrow profile of the neck made bending a no go on this guitar, so I wanted to fix that first and foremost. After re-planning, I refretted with stew-mac medium/tall fretwire. I kept the original neck markings for reference.

Then onto the body. I wanted to go to the extreme with this guitar, so I started out by routing out the entire trem cavity up to the edges of where the trem cover plate sites, and filling it with old growth mahogany. I then flipped the guitar over, and routed out underneath the pickguard all the way past the bridge, and filled that also with old growth mahogany.
Here are a couple pics at this stage:

I then drilled string through holes, and inserted ferrules on the back side.

Next, I repaired the gouges, and rerouted the roundovers using a 1/2" roundover to fix the problems that happened whenever the original owner stripped the poly of with a belt sander.

Then I route out two p-90 cavities, with a small channel running the the control cavity. Then made a pickguard to match.

I installed a bone nut, and dressed the frets, then onto finishing. I finished the whole guitar in qualalacq nitro which I have found to be much harder than the other nitros out there, and will check nicely with age. I went with a vintage white color, and a slightly ambered neck. I applied a w/sync trem big logo (which I think is the coolest fender logo out there).

I finally finished the guitar today. I was having trouble with my favorite set of p-90s being very microphonic, so I have a set of matchmaker p-90s (which IMO are hands down the best budget pickup out there) in there wired to two volume controls and one tone for the bridge PU. I moved the bridge pickup further from the bridge for a fatter tone. The bridge is just screwed directly into the wood, with the strings going through the body.
Here is a soundclip I did this afternoon. I am really really happy with the sound of this guitar. It is 100x better than before, and I suspect that this may become my go to guitar:
Click here for a soundclip
It doesn't sound like a strat anymore, but that suits me just fine. The narrow neck with 12" radius is really nice to play on too.

Here are some finished pics:

***FLICKOFLASH*** · 03-28-2008, 06:14 PM

Great thread !!!

your probably one of the best blues players on the forum .. WoW !!! Any sound clips of those Wbs coming anytime soon ?…

single cut 54 · 03-28-2008, 06:43 PM

your probably one of the best blues players on the forum .. WoW !!!

I agree , sounds Great.

TnT~55 · 03-28-2008, 09:38 PM

Looks and sounds amazing

ArchEtech · 03-29-2008, 01:00 AM

Dude that really makes me want one. I really love the sound of P90's

classic · 03-29-2008, 08:13 AM

Bro ... you've done two outstanding jobs there ...

The look of the Strat with the P90s ... and the excellent sound sample ...

:applau se:

I've enjoyed both of them ... Congrats !!!

Paul · 04-01-2008, 05:03 AM

dam fine!! wonderfull job i'm surprised how much i like it!!!

General Disarray · 04-01-2008, 06:34 AM

That looks gorgeous mate! Well done!

***b-squared*** · 04-01-2008, 06:36 AM

.taht htiw boj doog yllaer a did uoY

!ratiug gnikool taerG

BB

Harpozep · 04-01-2008, 08:00 AM

s'09 P esoht evoL

General Disarray · 04-01-2008, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nmguitars

It doesn't sound like a strat anymore, but that suits me just fine.

I disagree - I can definately still hear the strat tone in there....

....it's just strapped on a pair thats all.

drewbertca · 04-01-2008, 08:44 AM

Nice.....my kind of strat....I love stock strats but I have a soft spot for p-90s

Mr Bones · 04-01-2008, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by General Disarray

I disagree - I can definately still hear the strat tone in there....

....it's just strapped on a pair thats all.

Your right, on the neck PU it does sound a lot like some of the clapton tones with his active circuit. I'm really loving this guitar more and more. I've never been a strat guy, but this guitar is really cool sounding.

terence_tez · 04-01-2008, 12:24 PM

wow.awesome guitar man.sounds great with those p90s too.

Ejecto · 04-12-2008, 08:12 PM

Soooo glad i found this, what an absolute peach of a guitar!
And what a sound, just beautiful.
Very, very well done.

MrWrong · 04-13-2008, 07:53 PM

Interesting mod, sounds great!

Mercutio · 04-13-2008, 08:53 PM

that logo is my favorite fender logo too. nice job and great licks!

decoy205 · 04-18-2008, 09:00 PM

Wow man I'm just seeing this now. What a great job building and playing.

captain tightpants · 04-22-2008, 12:24 AM

I freaking LOVE that!! OK, I've so got some Strat G.A.S. now!

Where did you get the white P-90 covers?

BigC · 04-22-2008, 10:06 AM

Awesome playing, I can never get my fingers to sound like that!

Are you just using the Blues scale, or is there something else in there aswell?

Edit: Also, what amp are you using?

sapi · 04-22-2008, 10:33 AM

Sounds great bro and a job well done too! Cheers!

jo

5F6-A · 04-22-2008, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b-squared

.taht htiw boj doog yllaer a did uoY

!ratiug gnikool taerG

BB

why am I reading these lines backwards?

Paragon · 05-02-2008, 08:53 AM

Looks nice.

Are those G&L slotted tuner heads?

BCRGreg · 05-02-2008, 09:40 AM

Well done, as usual.

dennistruckdriver · 05-02-2008, 10:03 PM

Wow!

bildozr · 05-25-2008, 11:37 PM

I don't like strats

But why do I want yours

03-28-2008, 05:27 PM	#1 (permalink)
Mr Bones V.I.P. Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: 225 Parsons Street Posts: 754 Thanks: 0 Thanked 7 Times in 3 Posts	My Strat Mod Ok, so I have many butcherings of guitars under my belt, so I decided it was time to do penance and try and right some past wrongs. I have never been a strat player, and never cared for the sound of them except in a few exceptional players hands. So I decided to see if I could restore a completely butchered strat, and make it one I would enjoy playing in the process. I started with a beat to death, chunks and gouges missing CIJ 68 strat that I picked up very cheaply a few years ago. Someone had taken a chisel to it in order to install a humbucker (Ive done some nasty things to guitars in my day, but this was not my handiwork!). The guitar also had chunks missing from the contours, and some very deep scratches in the top. The poly had been stripped, and the guitar had been very badly finished in nitro. Time to see what I could do with this thing. The guitar had a really really bright thin tone, so my initial assumption was that I could really go to the extreme with this thing, and it wasnt going to sound any worse than it already did. Before I get into the detail, I apologize (and also regret myself) not taking more pictures of this process. I started out by stripping all the poly off the neck. I love the look of the big headstock fenders, but do not like the look of them with the transition logo, so I was happy to see that go. Once the neck was stripped, I removed all the frets, and re-planned the board to a 12 degree radius. The radius the guitar came with, in combination with the really narrow profile of the neck made bending a no go on this guitar, so I wanted to fix that first and foremost. After re-planning, I refretted with stew-mac medium/tall fretwire. I kept the original neck markings for reference. Then onto the body. I wanted to go to the extreme with this guitar, so I started out by routing out the entire trem cavity up to the edges of where the trem cover plate sites, and filling it with old growth mahogany. I then flipped the guitar over, and routed out underneath the pickguard all the way past the bridge, and filled that also with old growth mahogany. Here are a couple pics at this stage: I then drilled string through holes, and inserted ferrules on the back side. Next, I repaired the gouges, and rerouted the roundovers using a 1/2" roundover to fix the problems that happened whenever the original owner stripped the poly of with a belt sander. Then I route out two p-90 cavities, with a small channel running the the control cavity. Then made a pickguard to match. I installed a bone nut, and dressed the frets, then onto finishing. I finished the whole guitar in qualalacq nitro which I have found to be much harder than the other nitros out there, and will check nicely with age. I went with a vintage white color, and a slightly ambered neck. I applied a w/sync trem big logo (which I think is the coolest fender logo out there). I finally finished the guitar today. I was having trouble with my favorite set of p-90s being very microphonic, so I have a set of matchmaker p-90s (which IMO are hands down the best budget pickup out there) in there wired to two volume controls and one tone for the bridge PU. I moved the bridge pickup further from the bridge for a fatter tone. The bridge is just screwed directly into the wood, with the strings going through the body. Here is a soundclip I did this afternoon. I am really really happy with the sound of this guitar. It is 100x better than before, and I suspect that this may become my go to guitar: Click here for a soundclip It doesn't sound like a strat anymore, but that suits me just fine. The narrow neck with 12" radius is really nice to play on too. Here are some finished pics: __________________ ahandkerchiefsandwich weblog Hobby Guitar Builder/ Notaluthier

03-28-2008, 06:14 PM	#2 (permalink)
*FLICKOFLASH* GLOBAL EMO MOD Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Hagerstown,MD USA Posts: 9,588 Thanks: 30 Thanked 105 Times in 35 Posts	Re: My Strat Mod Great thread !!! your probably one of the best blues players on the forum .. WoW !!! Any sound clips of those Wbs coming anytime soon ?… __________________ http://www.marshallforum.com/ http://www.geartalk.com/forums/index.php http://www.gpickups.com/forum/ http://www.sevenstring.org/

03-28-2008, 06:43 PM	#3 (permalink)
single cut 54 V.I.P. Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: england Posts: 1,142 Thanks: 17 Thanked 16 Times in 4 Posts	Re: My Strat Mod your probably one of the best blues players on the forum .. WoW !!! I agree , sounds Great.

03-28-2008, 09:38 PM	#4 (permalink)
TnT~55 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 549 Thanks: 3 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: My Strat Mod Looks and sounds amazing

03-29-2008, 01:00 AM	#5 (permalink)
ArchEtech V.I.P. Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Des Moines, IA Posts: 1,041 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: My Strat Mod Dude that really makes me want one. I really love the sound of P90's __________________ 2007 Les Paul Custom 200x Fender Mary Kaye Relic V-Neck See thru Blond 2008 Fender Custom Classic V-Neck Daphne Blue 2003 MIM Strat Faded Green Metalic A couple of Alvarez Acoustics AMPS: VOX AD60VTX, Micro Cube

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03-29-2008, 08:13 AM	#6 (permalink)
classic Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Wild SW of Germany Posts: 712 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: My Strat Mod Bro ... you've done two outstanding jobs there ... The look of the Strat with the P90s ... and the excellent sound sample ...:applau se: I've enjoyed both of them ... Congrats !!! __________________ ****************** Roger ... stay tuned ...

04-01-2008, 05:03 AM	#7 (permalink)
Paul V.I.P. Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: australia Posts: 1,305 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: My Strat Mod dam fine!! wonderfull job i'm surprised how much i like it!!! __________________ "these knobs go up to eleven" "why dont you just make it go upto ten and have ten be the highest?" ".......but these go up to eleven"

04-01-2008, 06:34 AM	#8 (permalink)
General Disarray Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Leeds UK Posts: 437 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: My Strat Mod That looks gorgeous mate! Well done! __________________ Current Family: Les Paul Standard ('00) Honey Burst Fender Cyclone Custom Built Strat (single P90) Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier (3 Channel) Ex Girlfriends: '79 Les Paul Custom Les Paul DC Studio and many other non-Les Pauls!

04-01-2008, 06:36 AM	#9 (permalink)
*b-squared* The Velvet Hammer Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: About 15 minutes from the LOU...(STL) Posts: 6,599 Thanks: 44 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: My Strat Mod .taht htiw boj doog yllaer a did uoY !ratiug gnikool taerG BB __________________ __________________ I use: and Jonesy's Caps, too!

04-01-2008, 08:00 AM	#10 (permalink)
Harpozep V.I.P. Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Near the Casinos...... Posts: 4,438 Thanks: 22 Thanked 11 Times in 6 Posts	Re: My Strat Mod s'09 P esoht evoL

04-01-2008, 08:44 AM	#12 (permalink)
drewbertca V.I.P. Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Timmins, Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,990 Thanks: 4 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: My Strat Mod Nice.....my kind of strat....I love stock strats but I have a soft spot for p-90s __________________ BFG Defender....The normal ones...Not the over priced "First 52 of Each" ones. THIS THREAD IS DEAD!

04-01-2008, 12:24 PM	#14 (permalink)
terence_tez V.I.P. Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: singapore Posts: 1,358 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: My Strat Mod wow.awesome guitar man.sounds great with those p90s too. __________________ they have firm bodies n exotic curves.they cry n scream bt we love them all the same--who need women anyway?

04-12-2008, 08:12 PM	#15 (permalink)
Ejecto Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 146 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: My Strat Mod Soooo glad i found this, what an absolute peach of a guitar! And what a sound, just beautiful. Very, very well done. __________________ Poorly guarded construction sites are a goldmine Ronnie Beck, Three-time soapbox derby champ

04-13-2008, 07:53 PM	#16 (permalink)
MrWrong V.I.P. Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Southern Ohio Posts: 628 Thanks: 1 Thanked 5 Times in 2 Posts	Re: My Strat Mod Interesting mod, sounds great!

04-13-2008, 08:53 PM	#17 (permalink)
Mercutio Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 316 Thanks: 1 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: My Strat Mod that logo is my favorite fender logo too. nice job and great licks! __________________ 2007 Gibson Les Paul Custom - Alpine White 2004 Gibson SG Standard - Ebony 2005 Gibson Songwriter Deluxe - Natural 1996 Fender American Standard Telecaster - Surf Green Live Amp: Marshall JCM2000 DSL 50 and 1960A Lead Cab Home: Mesa/Boogie F50 1x12 combo Boss EQ, Boss Tuner, Dunlop 535Q Wah, Ernie Ball Volume, Ibanez Tubescreamer ---> SKB pedalboard

05-02-2008, 10:03 PM	#25 (permalink)
dennistruckdriver MLP Trucker Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: South of South St. Louis, MO. USA Posts: 3,937 Thanks: 27 Thanked 55 Times in 10 Posts	Re: My Strat Mod Wow! __________________ Life without music would be TOO DANG QUIET!!! -Dennis The Truck Driver, 2008

04-18-2008, 09:00 PM	#18 (permalink)
decoy205 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Brooklyn NY Posts: 1,576 Thanks: 17 Thanked 15 Times in 3 Posts	Re: My Strat Mod Wow man I'm just seeing this now. What a great job building and playing. __________________ click below to for details: http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/back...ntry-info.html http://www.myspace.com/meteorsound http://www.bcrmusic.com/index.htm http://www.soundclick.com/bands/defa...?bandID=872850

04-22-2008, 12:24 AM	#19 (permalink)
captain tightpants V.I.P. Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Orland CA Posts: 1,975 Thanks: 6 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: My Strat Mod I freaking LOVE that!! OK, I've so got some Strat G.A.S. now! Where did you get the white P-90 covers?

04-22-2008, 10:06 AM	#20 (permalink)
BigC Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: North UK Posts: 167 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: My Strat Mod Awesome playing, I can never get my fingers to sound like that! Are you just using the Blues scale, or is there something else in there aswell? Edit: Also, what amp are you using?

04-22-2008, 10:33 AM	#21 (permalink)
sapi Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Malta, somewhere in the mid of the Med Sea. Beyond that, everywhere & nowhere. Posts: 352 Thanks: 2 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: My Strat Mod Sounds great bro and a job well done too! Cheers! jo __________________ Shanti, Jo www.tribalimusic.com

05-02-2008, 08:53 AM	#23 (permalink)
Paragon Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 34 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: My Strat Mod Looks nice. Are those G&L slotted tuner heads?

05-02-2008, 09:40 AM	#24 (permalink)
BCRGreg Grumpy Old Luthier Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 3,724 Thanks: 23 Thanked 71 Times in 15 Posts	Re: My Strat Mod Well done, as usual. __________________ Cool guitars, extreme repairs and brutal honesty. www.bcrmusic.com www.grumpyoldmenband.com http://www.youtube.com/user/unkagreg www.ristguitars.com

05-25-2008, 11:37 PM	#26 (permalink)
bildozr Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Middle uh no where Flawda Posts: 1,514 Thanks: 20 Thanked 19 Times in 7 Posts	Re: My Strat Mod I don't like strats But why do I want yours __________________ I unintentionally throw gas on the fire http://customguitar.forumotion.net/forum.htm Epi Les Paul Standard Plus Top Cherry Sunburst w/ Bigsby B70 MLP Thread Pirates "That creepy guy with the parrot and the glass eye"