C18Q1 Partscaster Build - FINISHED

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  • FlametopFlametop Frets: 52
    edited January 2018
    And another! Courtesy of @rexter ;
    Ice Blue Metallic, 2 piece alder body.

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  • PVO_DavePVO_Dave Frets: 2364
    Flametop said:

    Pickups arrived today courtesy of @TheGuitarWeasel ;;;;;
    Set of Oil City Route 66s
    My favourite Strat pickups, enjoy. Build is looking great so far :) 
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  • PVO_Dave said:
    Flametop said:

    Pickups arrived today courtesy of @TheGuitarWeasel ;;;;;
    Set of Oil City Route 66s
    My favourite Strat pickups, enjoy. Build is looking great so far :) 
    If they sound half as good as the demo I found I'll be chuffed :)
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  • FlametopFlametop Frets: 52
    edited January 2018
    On a roll with this whole picture thing now! Scratchplate and back cover arrived this morning. Payday tomorrow, so bridge and tuners will be on order tonight. Going to nip to Maplins for a soldering iron tomorrow as well. How difficult can soldering be???





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  • rexterrexter Frets: 369
    tFB Trader
    Flametop said:
    On a roll with this whole picture thing now! Scratchplate and back cover arrived this morning. Payday tomorrow, so bridge and tuners will be on order tonight. Going to nip to Maplins for a soldering iron tomorrow as well. How difficult can soldering be???





    Cool! Soldering isn't difficult. BUT.... absolutely get good solder. I wouldn't bother with lead free as I've had terrible experiences with it. Not sure what Maplins have, but I normally order some good quality 60/40 online. Also, keep your soldering iron tip as clean as you can otherwise it'll quickly become useless! After you solder each part, tin the tip with solder then wipe it on a wet sponge. You can get the nifty little little soldering iron holders that have a sponge pad too for this. 
    Custom colours, vintage restorations, high end guitar finishing
    www.rexterguitars.co.uk
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  • stainystainy Frets: 2
    Lidl have got some soldering stations in at the moment £8.99 I think.got one last weekend,heat controllable.good enough for hobby work...

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  • thermionicthermionic Frets: 9498
    Maplins sell a more expensive Pb-free solder (it has a higher proportion of silver). I’ve built a couple of pedals and an amp with this stuff - worth the extra £.
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  • Thanks for the info all. Will look into the Lidl iron and silver solder.
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  • FlametopFlametop Frets: 52
    edited January 2018
    Some more stuff arrived this morning   
    I've had a very happy afternoon teaching myself to solder with YouTube and an excellent video by Northwest Guitars. Not the neatest job in the world (my bit not @TheGuitarWeasel 's bit!) but I'll take it as a first attempt.


    I've not cut off any body parts or set myself on fire, so a successful day.







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  • rexterrexter Frets: 369
    tFB Trader
    VERY nice parts Neil, it's going to be a pretty amazing strat! Necks in on Tuesday/Wednesday BTW 
    Custom colours, vintage restorations, high end guitar finishing
    www.rexterguitars.co.uk
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  • rexter said:
    VERY nice parts Neil, it's going to be a pretty amazing strat! Necks in on Tuesday/Wednesday BTW 
    Yay! :) I'm actually most excited about seeing if my soldering was any good! Can't wait to get this all together now.

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  • FlametopFlametop Frets: 52
    edited February 2018
    Had this update from @rexter this morning. Should be with me by the end of next week. Looks stunning. I lurve a blue guitar!



    Looks like a busy weekend for me next weekend.

    Any particular order than things need to go together? Other than strings on last
    :)
    I'm thinking:

    Tuners installed.
    Bridge installed.
    Pickguard holes drilled.
    Pickguard on.
    Jack plug soldered and fitted.
    String up.
    Set up.
    Play Sultans of Swing all day :)
     
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  • poopotpoopot Frets: 9098
    Tuners, bridge (loosely fitted), two e strings on, jiggle neck and bridge to get geometry bang on... then fit scratchplate...

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  • rexterrexter Frets: 369
    tFB Trader
    poopot said:
    Tuners, bridge (loosely fitted), two e strings on, jiggle neck and bridge to get geometry bang on... then fit scratchplate...

    Yup! I would shield the cavities though Neil. I know there's some debate on this but unshielded strats are noisy. Better to do it while it's all in pieces anyway!
    Custom colours, vintage restorations, high end guitar finishing
    www.rexterguitars.co.uk
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  • FlametopFlametop Frets: 52
    edited February 2018
    rexter said:
    poopot said:
    Tuners, bridge (loosely fitted), two e strings on, jiggle neck and bridge to get geometry bang on... then fit scratchplate...

    Yup! I would shield the cavities though Neil. I know there's some debate on this but unshielded strats are noisy. Better to do it while it's all in pieces anyway!
    Hmm. I might install the nut as well. 

    How do you know if the geometry is bang on?
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  • poopotpoopot Frets: 9098
    Flametop said:
    rexter said:
    poopot said:
    Tuners, bridge (loosely fitted), two e strings on, jiggle neck and bridge to get geometry bang on... then fit scratchplate...

    Yup! I would shield the cavities though Neil. I know there's some debate on this but unshielded strats are noisy. Better to do it while it's all in pieces anyway!
    Hmm. I might install the nut as well. 

    How do you know if the geometry is bang on?
    Make sure the bridge is square with the end of the neck and neck pocket, make sure the two E strings run correctly along the edge of the fretboard, make sure the scale length is right, make sure the neck is not sitting to high or too low...

    once you have all that, drop the scratchplate in and make sure it fits correctly before drilling the holes...

    Have a look at my build thread:
    http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/121124/c18q1-swampy-strat-finished-with-pics/p1

    And also austrian johns:
    http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/115816/c18q1-1956-stratocaster/p1

    Should give you you an idea of possible “issues”

    loving the the colour of your strat btw!...
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  • Ah, yep. Saw those issues when I read the threads. The colour is glorious :)

    Thanks for that @poopot , useful information. 

    Just for absolute clarity, bolt the neck on tight, bridge on loosely, fit the 2 E strings, measure up the geometry, check string height?


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  • poopotpoopot Frets: 9098
    Flametop said:
    Ah, yep. Saw those issues when I read the threads. The colour is glorious :)

    Thanks for that @poopot , useful information. 

    Just for absolute clarity, bolt the neck on tight, bridge on loosely, fit the 2 E strings, measure up the geometry, check string height?


    bolt it all loosely together then jiggle it all about till its perfect... then tighten neck and bridge.
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  • FlametopFlametop Frets: 52
    edited February 2018
    It's arrived!!! And it looks fantastic. Great work Mr @rexter ;;;

    So I started to take a mock up pic then realised I haven't ordered a jack plate. Doh! I reckon I could have done this about 30 quid cheaper on postage if I knew what the hell I was doing.



    Apologies fort he crap lighting which really doesn't do it any justice at all.

    No neck wiggle at all so that's one variable out of the equation. 

    Starting to wish I'd ordered a pearlescent pick guard.

    Sit down with a roll of copper tape tonight I think.
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    Don’t cut your fingers on the edges of the tape.
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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