The Infernal Machine: going back to the Old Religion

[b3john]

Originally Posted by mudfinger

My RM is set to be delivered today, and Casa De Lefty is on full alert! I suspect you're right; a pic or two of the amp as delivered, and then a bit of silence...

Wait... You're a lefty?

Can't be, that axe is strung right way 'round: Ginger's Mods

[cynic79]

Funny, I've got about a dozen Skilcraft pens littering my office right now. I never knew they were so well thought of, although in hindsight they are quite a bit better than most of the pens I use at home.

Our supply room stocks the rubberized variety.

[mudfinger]

Originally Posted by b3john

Wait... You're a lefty?

Can't be, that axe is strung right way 'round: Ginger's Mods

Yup, left-handed. it was never clear to me why right-handed guitar players would prefer to use their dominant hand to fiddle with just the 6 strings, and leave their weak hand to do all the complicated fretting and bending. Not that I'm complaining......I enjoy the advantage, and the cheaper guitars.

[mudfinger]

Originally Posted by cynic79

Funny, I've got about a dozen Skilcraft pens littering my office right now. I never knew they were so well thought of, although in hindsight they are quite a bit better than most of the pens I use at home.

Our supply room stocks the rubberized variety.

Those are great pens, too. I'm just a sucker for the vintage-style models. Still amazed that they're so cheap, being a government issue item. Should be, like, 200 bucks a piece!

[mudfinger]

It's always a good day when my fingertips are sore; takes several hours of playing to get that feeling.

Got me an even better amp now than my beloved vintage Deluxe Reverb, which is a bit surreal.

I also made a little progress on the build. Here's what the body looked like after a couple days of waiting for the linseed oil to dry:



And, a shot of it with a fresh application of oil:



This finish is great; it really has no thickness to it at all, certainly nothing like a lacquer finish. As black and shiny as it is, the grain is clearly visible when you look at it closely. I love it!

[mudfinger]

The body is just about done; I've been letting it dry at least 2 days between applications of oil, so a few more days, and that'll be that.

Meanwhile, I'll be busy with the next phase of the build, lacquering the neck. This came from ReRanch today:



According to ReRanch, the thing to do is give the neck a couple coats of lacquer, then as many coats of dye as needed to get the color right, then more lacquer to seal it all in. Still pondering that; we'll see.

[Hector Arcadius]

Originally Posted by mudfinger

Yup, left-handed. it was never clear to me why right-handed guitar players would prefer to use their dominant hand to fiddle with just the 6 strings, and leave their weak hand to do all the complicated fretting and bending. Not that I'm complaining......I enjoy the advantage, and the cheaper guitars.

Amen! I never got it as a right-handed person either.

And, a little trivia, Gary Moore being a lefty himself did exactly what you did.

[mudfinger]

Sorry for the delay in updates; too many irons in the fire. Spent most of today fiddling with my Zoom Q3, trying to nail down a proper recorded sound for my lovely new amp.

I did finally get done pondering the meaning of it all, and got a nice basecoat of lacquer on the neck:



One more coat of lacquer, then it'll be time to start up with the dye.

Not sure about the body; might put another application of ink and oil on before calling it done.

Hopefully, I'll be snagging a nice Duracraft drill press tomorrow.

[bilbarstow]

Mudfinger,

Awesome news on th progress. Too much tease on the neck - better pictures are demanded. Especially after you get tint on it.

Is the meaning of it all 42 ? Glad your pondering reached fruition.

Cool news on the Drill Press -definitely one specialty tool that I could not be without.

Looking forward for the next set of updates

[mudfinger]

Got me an old drill press for the right price today:







Good stuff, this thing will help me move forward with several projects.

I also got some more dye on the neck.

Before...


After...


It's gonna take several coats to get to the deep amber I have in mind.

[mudfinger]

Well, well, well. After completely cocking up the dye by trying to shoot the last coat on the neck when it was clearly too cold......I put in another order with ReRanch, and tried my best not to obsess over the whole debacle.

In retrospect, I wish I had taken some pics of this tragedy, if only for everyone's amusement, but I was too annoyed at the time to do anything but keep from launching the neck into the neighbor's backyard.

Nice and warm yesterday and today, so I slapped a coat of lacquer on the neck in the evening, followed by several coats of dye today. The color is lovely:



I'll let the dye dry overnight before putting a few more coats of lacquer on top. I'll be glad when this neck is done; it's been a very irksome reminder of why I dislike painting so intensely.

[mudfinger]

Originally Posted by dspelman

And here's where the whole thing goes in the toilet.

Just when I was nodding along with the whole voodoo river bottom thing on the body, you go and ruin the guitar by putting that crap on it? Uck.

Hey, you're in Long Beach? Wander down to Belmont Shore and try Boubouffe. Mediterranean. The service can be variable, and you'll probably want to go in the evening, but when they're on, they're *really* on. I had a beet salad with a fig dressing that was just stunning. The lamb chop, done medium, will make your tail wag. I was down there for Valentine's Day with my wife AND her sister (*wags his eyebrows*). Everything was awesome and the hostess was gorgeous. I tried to trade in the two sisters for her, but something broke down in the negotiations.

Ah, thanks for the kind words.

A good guitar is balanced; the parts are in agreement with each other. Just as the maple neck complements the alder body, the nitrocellulose finish on the neck complements the oxidized finish on the body. Yin and Yang. Light and Shadow. Mercy and Judgement. Mojo and Juju.

A dear friend of mine once described the ritual practices of Voodoo priests, and made a remark that left an indelible impression on me. When attempting to summon good/beneficent spirits, a Witch Doctor will use corn meal to draw the sigils and signs; when summoning evil/malignant spirits, a Witch Doctor will use gunpowder to draw the sigils and signs.

Nitrocellulose is also known as "gun cotton"

[bilbarstow]

Mudfinger,

I'm likin' the dye look on the neck. Vintage-y enough without having to go through that whole relic-crap action.

I think that what you have to say about "balance" really defines this whole process that you are into - that the end result is just an instrument that has "IT" - that undefineable quality that looks, feels, plays, hell probably even smells just "right". Call it the Goldilocks effect for guitars.

But damn, man - just finish it and get to playin'. Your interested public awaits !

[randelli]

Do you have any ideas on a name? I can do a label for you - similar to this:

[mudfinger]

Originally Posted by bilbarstow

Mudfinger,

I'm likin' the dye look on the neck. Vintage-y enough without having to go through that whole relic-crap action.

I think that what you have to say about "balance" really defines this whole process that you are into - that the end result is just an instrument that has "IT" - that undefineable quality that looks, feels, plays, hell probably even smells just "right". Call it the Goldilocks effect for guitars.

But damn, man - just finish it and get to playin'. Your interested public awaits !

Believe me, I'm moving as fast as I can! The only working electric guitars I have access to are borrowed. I'm absolutely aching to play this guitar through the Rude Mood.

Once the lacquer is on and gets to curing, all I have left to do is wire up the pickguard, really. Putting it all together after the lacquer is hard won't take but an evening's worth of labor.

Balance. To my way of thinking, you're right; it's certainly one of the defining aspects of this build.

if all the elements of this guitar work together as intended, if/when it's truly balanced, something greater than the sum of the parts will emerge. The experience of playing this instrument after everything that's happened along the way so far is something that I'm confident I'll find very, very satisfying.

Neck is coming along nicely:

[mudfinger]

Originally Posted by randelli

Do you have any ideas on a name?

I need to make up my mind about that right away, actually.

I know a guy who has a legit-looking NOS 50s era decal set, and he's willing to give it to me. I'm prolly gonna go with that, being free, and in the general spirit of how this guitar came to be.

Another idea I like is buying a repro 60s decal set with the corporate logo in silver instead of gold, Mojocaster instead of Stratocaster, and "Lefty Phillips Special" instead of "Original Contoured Body"

I could even leave the headstock blank, but that would look off, wouldn't it? I know some might object to the borderline trademark infringement, as I usually do, myself. But, it's a vintage decal, and that's a whole lotta vibe to pass up on. Free. So, yeah...

[st.bede]

Originally Posted by mudfinger

I need to make up my mind about that right away, actually.

I know a guy who has a legit-looking NOS 50s era decal set, and he's willing to give it to me. I'm prolly gonna go with that, being free, and in the general spirit of how this guitar came to be.

Another idea I like is buying a repro 60s decal set with the corporate logo in silver instead of gold, Mojocaster instead of Stratocaster, and "Lefty Phillips Special" instead of "Original Contoured Body"

I could even leave the headstock blank, but that would look off, wouldn't it? I know some might object to the borderline trademark infringement, as I usually do, myself. But, it's a vintage decal, and that's a whole lotta vibe to pass up on. Free. So, yeah...

Go with what you think is aesthetically the best choice. I can not see any harm in the 50s decal. You are not going to try and pass it off as a 50s strat on ebay. And warmoth is official fender replacement parts, if I remember right. The cool thing is that no matter what you do it is going to be awesome. Peace

[randelli]

Maybe Flick can hook you up with a label?

Originally Posted by FLICKOFLASH

[mudfinger]

Originally Posted by st.bede

Go with what you think is aesthetically the best choice. I can not see any harm in the 50s decal. You are not going to try and pass it off as a 50s strat on ebay. And warmoth is official fender replacement parts, if I remember right. The cool thing is that no matter what you do it is going to be awesome. Peace

vintage decal is on the way, or nearly so.

[mudfinger]

Huh. It appears that MLP has eaten my most recent post.

It's raining today, just one more reason to be happy that I'm done shooting lacquer for the time being.

I figured you guys might appreciate this story: A local player and friend of mine came over unannounced, asking if I'd consider doing a bit of guitar repair.



After picking myself up off the floor, wiping the tears from eyes, and checking my pants to make sure I hadn't soiled myself while laughing my ass off, I told her that I'd consider it.

After due consideration...I decided that there's no way in hell I'm going to attempt a repair to this guitar. There's a perfectly good luthier's workshop within walking distance. She can take the damned thing there, and let them deal with it.

Besides, I have much more important things to do, like finish this freaking' Strat. At this point, it looks like yet more patience is in order. The body is done; after letting the oil cure, I spent a few hours polishing it with a cotton rag, and it's magnificent:



I wanted to spend some time with the body hanging from the strap, so I grabbed a pair of my bitchin' Ibanez strap buttons and went at 'em with some Scotchbrite to take off the shine. These buttons are scientifically engineered to enhance the holding properties of the legendary Grolsch straplock system.



Oh, and the neck, just lounging about, looking gorgeous:



Plenty of time to sort out the electronics while the lacquer cures. Too much time, in fact.

You know, I do have a propane torch, I bet that would speed up the curing process quite a bit.

[bilbarstow]

Originally Posted by mudfinger

Plenty of time to sort out the electronics while the lacquer cures. Too much time, in fact.

You know, I do have a propane torch, I bet that would speed up the curing process quite a bit.

Mud, you've been spending too much time talking to our friend "Kaboom" Randelli.

The rain is just the universe's way of telling you that you NEED to spend the time sortin' out the electronics. Last time you rushed things, you had to hit the "undo" button.

That neck break - man, you got the drill press, with the right jig, a couple of dowels and a headstock veneer and she'd of been back in bidness.

The magic strat is looking good, glad to hear that you are making some headway.

[mudfinger]

Originally Posted by bilbarstow

Mud, you've been spending too much time talking to our friend "Kaboom" Randelli.

The rain is just the universe's way of telling you that you NEED to spend the time sortin' out the electronics. Last time you rushed things, you had to hit the "undo" button.

That neck break - man, you got the drill press, with the right jig, a couple of dowels and a headstock veneer and she'd of been back in bidness.

The magic strat is looking good, glad to hear that you are making some headway.

I'm gonna start calling Randelli "Kaboom" now.

You may be right about the rain...spent some time yesterday meditating on the best way to proceed towards the end of the rig tuning process. Most of my efforts on the build so far have been focused on the more fundamental aspects of the guitar, namely the wood bits. Once the guitar is sorted out to the point that I can string it up and play it, tho...

The rig tuning process will begin in earnest. I have some decisions to make about the build that can only happen after the strings are on and I can really hear what this guitar sounds like.

I did think long and hard about fixing that guitar. I believe I could do it; I have plenty of big clamps, wood for cauls, good glue, and it's a clean break. I've seen enough pics of BCRGreg's magnificent work to understand the basic elements of the process. But...I don't have the foggiest clue how to touch up a polyurethane finish, and the owner seemed a bit attached to the notion of having the repair refinished. For various reasons, I want her to be happy...

In fact, just last week, I repaired a neck break on the heel of a spanish guitar that one of my son's buddies brought over. But, that one was easy; just needed a syringe full of glue in the crack, a big C clamp with a couple of oak cauls, and an overnight stay at the luxurious Casa De Lefty Guitar Resort.

Looking around my apartment right now, and counting both the mandolin and the Mojocaster, there are 11 fiddles lounging about on stands, in cases, or in parts.

I may be broke, but I gotta admit, my life is good.

[mudfinger]

Hope yall enjoyed the Vernal Equinox as much as I did, took some time to inflict more order on my luxurious abode. Basically, I moved the drill press into the kitchen until I can clear out more space in the big room. New computer on the way, as well.

Also, the decal came, and it is lovely. Very stout for a waterslide, at least compared to my memories of using similar decals on models when I was a kid. Went on easily, was easy to adjust into final position...I was expecting a bigger challenge using such an old piece, but it was easy-peasy.

I put some more lacquer on the headstock face, over the decals, as well. Two mist coats, then a full coat. One more should do it, I think.

Thought yall might enjoy some Fender headstock porn:













Just some random shots of headstocks that caught my eye for one reason or another.

My plan is to have this guitar in playing condition by my birthday, so things are about to speed up; only a few days left. Got places to go, people to see. Loading the pickguard is my next adventure, stay tuned!

[mudfinger]

Time to get loaded!

Now that all the wood bits are squared away, at least until the lacquer on the neck cures a bit more, it's time to load up the pickguard. Credit where credit is due, Leo was a brilliant engineer above all else, and the idea of putting all the electronics into a subassembly that can easily be removed as a unit for maintenance, repair, or replacement...sheer genius, perhaps an even cooler idea than the bolt-on neck.

More on all that later. The first order of business today was getting the right screws to fit the pickups to the guard. A quick trip down to the local hardware store was all that was needed to get my hands on these stainless steel beauties:



As many sharp edges as Strats have between the bridge and various screws, just waiting to tear off little morsels of flesh while you play, I've always liked the idea of using countersunk screws, something I first saw on one of SRV's guitars.

Just takes a bit of time with a small hand drill and a countersink bit:





Abracadabrahalakhazam...and, presto! Six less little metal teeth for the Infernal Machine to gnaw on my fingers:



I took it as a matter of divine intervention when I was unable to find a single spring anywhere in the hardware store to use on the pickup mounts. Indeed, after returning home, I rooted around in my toolbox/partsbin/workbench, and found just enough surgical tubing to do the trick:



I cut the tubing down to 5/8" length at first, but that was simply too long, so I went for 1/2", which is prolly still too long, but I'll save the final trimming for some time after I've settled on pickup heights.



I included this shot just because it reminded me of how cool, simple, and systematic Leo's sense of how to do really was. This was a guy who looked at over 400 years of guitar-building traditions, and said to himself, "Self, I can do better than all of those fools!" And, he may well have been right.



'Nother post, coming right up!

[mudfinger]

Now that the guard was programmed to receive, I decided to take one last look at the the pickups before the install. These are genuine Fender pickups, courtesy of my generous MLP brother, St. Bede.



I think it's very interesting that these pickup bobbins are configured in pretty much the same way that Seth Lover configured his bobbins. Leo's original design made it a matter of luck to adjust a magnet's proximity to the strings, for example; with these bobbins, I could easily replace the magnets at will, as they are insulated from the coil by the bobbin. Just goes to show how things work in the world of production guitars; it it isn't nailed down, someone will steal it...

At any rate, once the guard was prepped and ready for the pups, it only took a few moments to get 'em loaded. I didn't mess with the switch screws; just used the stock roundhead screws, as I don't remember those giving me any grief back in the day. I can always switch to countersunk screws for the switch if it becomes an issue.



Pickguard ain't loaded unless it has pots. Thanks to Roman's generosity, I have some. CTS, even. Not only did he hook me up with the good stuff, he even went so far as to humor my interest in trying a 500k volume pot. I play fingerstyle, so high-frequency response is important to me, and even with a Strat, my tone controls on the guitar, pedals and amp, are usually set to maximum. It'll be interesting to see if a 500k pot lets enough treble through for me to back off on the amp settings. The 500k pot is on the right in the pic below. Thanks, bud.



I did have to fiddle around a bit with which washers and nuts to put where...I like my knobs low to the deck, with very little clearance between the pick and the guard. I ended up making a trip into my infamous "Box of WTF?!?" for some spare nuts. Ultimately, I went with a flat washer, nut, and lockwasher beneath the guard, and just a nut on top. I could totally go for even a bit LESS clearance between the knobs and the guard, but that's an engineering challenge I'm not interested in...yet.

Here's the loaded pickguard, viewed from the business end:



Once everything was attached, I took some time to admire the whole assembly from a fabricator's perspective. In all honesty, it took more time to write these posts than it took me to install all of the parts in the guard. That's the kind of efficiency that Leo was after, and he sure got it right. So, I was standing at the workbench, admiring the guard, and thinking to myself, "Self, this pickguard is a thing of beauty, what we need is a good pic." Sure enough, when I went to snap a picture of it, for whatever reason, my camera's flash didn't go off. Spooky. Perfect:



At this point, I'm golden; this guitar WILL be playable by April 1, and I'm currently way ahead of the lacquer. All kidding aside, a bit more alchemy may well be in order to get that neck cured in time. Slow, steady heat is how its done.

Might get around to soldering tonight, might hold off until Tuesday. Same difference in terms of overall progress...

As this build nears the finale, my sense of gratitude to all the guys who donated parts, time, and effort to ensure my success is really starting to swell. I'll thank 'em all properly after the dust settles, but there is no way this guitar would be anywhere near as cool as it already is without all the brotherly love that has gone into making it happen. Much obliged.

[bilbarstow]

Nice progress Mudfinger !

Your spooky photo makes it a little hard to tell - seems like your knobs and Sw tip are aged parchment, while the pup covers are white-white. And is the pickguard white, or aged ? Not criticizing at all, but for me, I like to see the pup covers match the aged condition of the knobs and sw tip (just to provide the illusion of being the same "vintage").

I see that you are using only the Control area shielding on the pickguard. Are you planning to do a shielding job on the cavities ?

I ask because I'm about to do some "improvements" to my strat, and was planning to go with full PG shield and copper in the cavities, and I would like to hear your take on that.

The Headstock looks perfect. Man, this is gonna be a sweet machine !

[randelli]

I have quite a bit of copper foil if you want some

[bilbarstow]

Originally Posted by randelli

I have quite a bit of copper foil if you want some

Thanks for the offer ! I've already got my supplies, just waiting on SWMBO to hit the road again so that I get to have my project time. Man, have I got projects backed up.

We can't all be Masters of our own Destiny, like Mudfinger !

[mudfinger]

Originally Posted by bilbarstow

Nice progress Mudfinger !

Your spooky photo makes it a little hard to tell - seems like your knobs and Sw tip are aged parchment, while the pup covers are white-white. And is the pickguard white, or aged ? Not criticizing at all, but for me, I like to see the pup covers match the aged condition of the knobs and sw tip (just to provide the illusion of being the same "vintage").

I see that you are using only the Control area shielding on the pickguard. Are you planning to do a shielding job on the cavities ?

I ask because I'm about to do some "improvements" to my strat, and was planning to go with full PG shield and copper in the cavities, and I would like to hear your take on that.

The Headstock looks perfect. Man, this is gonna be a sweet machine !

Switch tip, knobs, and tremolo arm tip are all "Mint", which I would describe as "white, with a very slight green tint". The pickguard was probably plain-old white when new, but I think it sat around in Roman's shop for a while, bathed in smoke, so it's not quite so white now. The pickup covers are plain-old white, and in like-new condition.

I'm normally very obsessive about guitar hardware, myself, and don't generally like mixing up so many subtle shades; one of the reasons I always remove the truss rod cover on Gibsons is because the engraved white lettering on the cover looks irksome right next to the gold script between the tuners. No, I'm not kidding, I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about that kinda stuff.

To my surprise, I'm totally digging the motley look of the plastic bits, perhaps because it's a visible reminder of all the good vibes and generosity that made this build happen.

If I were buying parts, and going for a vintage look, I'd go with parchment over mint, if that's of any use to ya; otherwise, just buy plain-old white, and let it age naturally, which it will do.

My plan for the electronics is to proceed with a series of experiments on various parts of the circuit; the first order of business in that regard is deciding whether I prefer a 250k or 500k pot for the volume control. The two tone controls aren't even going to be hooked up until I've got that question sorted.

There's a few things like that I wanna play with before committing to a final version of the circuit, and shielding is one of those things. If you're not in a rush, I should be able to post some relevant information for you tomorrow. The long and short of it is, I don't think its necessary or desireable to clad the entire cavity with foil.

Headstock really did come out nice, huh? It was funny, after it was on, and I saw how lovely it looked, all of my moral qualms about using it just faded away. Saint was right; it fits the aesthetic of the guitar, as a celebration of Leo's evil genius, the generosity of my friends and MLP brothers, and the mysteries of Mojo.

[mudfinger]

Couldn't help myself. Just had to see how all the colors worked together. I was very sparing with lacquer on the neck heel, and it still slides smoothly in from above.

I think this'll do nicely:



Most of my evening was spent contemplating my options in terms of cable routing on the pickguard. My bridge pickup pocket has a little groove along the front edge, but even with the groove, bundling all the pickup wires together didn't leave enough clearance, so I went with this configuration:



Hot leads to the switch, ground leads to wherever I want, which is what kicked off the contemplation.

Here's another shot of the wiring harness; I don't know if those screws on the bottom of the pickup are stock or not, but I'm leavin' em in for now, and with the wires split into two bundles, it's very neat and has plenty of clearance within the guitar body:





The pickguard just drops right into place. I'm still meditating on how to do the grounding scheme; 5 wires on the volume pot seems a bit excessive and fussy, especially considering how many times this pickguard is going to get pulled as I sort out exactly how I want the circuit to work. A separate, common ground near the volume pot is the way my mind is headed.

I'll have some pics and a post up later today regarding pickup cavity shielding on Strats.