lightweight..
i'm convinced that that's where HALF the mojo is.....
 
 
 
and the reasons why the wood is lightweight to begin with..
if the gods and stars align, the wood fibers will align.
 
then all is right in the universe.
 

Alright, making pickups.....this is getting even better, Spacey. I am eager to see how you magnetize them. Do you buy the basic components to the pickups cut to shape, or are you making the plates from scratch?

Completed the Alnico 5's.
Used 42 AWG PE.
(took readings this morning so they have cooled and are at room temp.)
Used 8500 winds for bridge- 6.42k
8400 for middle- 6.25
8300 for neck- 6.15
 
Grey bottom and wrapped.

Potted. ( don't do unless you know about the hazards)

Out of the wax. Readings will be higher- I got a 7.1+ on the bridge while hot.

 
A plastic pup cover can still be used.
 
I'll be building three more for this build.
It's said that the A5's are good for "warmer" woods and A2's are good for "brighter" woods.
I'll find out how true that is for me.
 
A tip;
 
Since many of the Strats have plastic bobbins it's easy to make a major upgrade and much cheaper
than purchasing new pups.
Get Alnico's and replace the steel ones- you can tell if yours have the cheap steel ones because there will be two magnet bars glued to the bottom of the pups.
 
There are two different rod diameters used, .187 and .195 - easy enough to measure and get the right Alnico ones that are @ $2.00 ea. So for about $12.00 per pup you can make a major tone change to the guitar. That sure beats $200.00 for a new set (3).
They are also offered in different lengths. One may be able to use one length and set as preferred it doesn't hurt if some extend out the bottom if there is room in cavity when pup height is determined.
 
The coil wire doesn't contact the magnets/rods with a plastic bobbin so it's hard to damage the pup changing the rods...but I know that some could.
Mojotone is where I like to get pup parts.
Yes you'll need two magnets as they don't arrive charged.
 
So for the price of about one pickup all three can be upgraded. I know many members here talk about making upgrades to their lower end models...this is the first one I'd do. This and knowing how important adjusting them is, is the place to start IMO.
 
Time for more coffee. Hope you enjoyed.
 
 
 

spaceyThere are two different rod diameters used, .187 and .195 - easy enough to measure and get the right Alnico ones that are @ $2.00 ea. So for about $12.00 per pup you can make a major tone change to the guitar. That sure beats $200.00 for a new set (3).
They are also offered in different lengths. One may be able to use one length and set as preferred it doesn't hurt if some extend out the bottom if there is room in cavity when pup height is determined.
 
The coil wire doesn't contact the magnets/rods with a plastic bobbin so it's hard to damage the pup changing the rods...but I know that some could.
Mojotone is where I like to get pup parts.
Yes you'll need two magnets as they don't arrive charged.
 

Based on some recommendations, I've used a guy on ebay (who's cheaper and sells magnetized stuff) to get different magnets for a PU I wasn't happy with:
 
http://stores.ebay.com/Addiction-FX-Guitar-and-Sound
 
Not sure whether Mojotone has any advantages or not.

Craig- it's fun. I have a great time making them. Especially when I hook them up to the meter and get a reading! Glad some are enjoying the trip.
 
Drew it's sure great now that we have options to get parts. I wish it would have been that way when I was young.
 
Bat...nothing wrong with that. I turned 59 in May...I'm not in hurry about much of anything anymore.
 
 
 

spacey
Drew it's sure great now that we have options to get parts. I wish it would have been that way when I was young. 

Right. You could buy whatever the local guys had or you had to travel a long distance (if it was available at all).
 
The only downside is now we can spend hours and hours looking who has what (and for how much) and sometimes there are 50 different examples of every last little thing. I can't tell you how much time I've spent on stupid things like HB mounting rings. 

Once again - amazing. Thank you so much for sharing that stuff!

Rain- you're welcome and thank you.
 
Well I can't say that I enjoy doing finish work...and now I'm on hold for about 30 days waiting for
the nitro to dry enough to fine sand and polish.
 
I made the mistake of applying the decal after the sand and sealer coat and then sprayed the amber tint. It wasn't chrome anymore! So had to refinish the front of head and take another go. Won't be doing that again.
Since it's a fretboard that is finished the I spray over the frets too. Nitro doesn't like metal so it won't be that hard to remove when it's time. As the decal they now do not look like the polished chrome that they were lol.
 
FWIW here is how it looks before I hang them up and wait...
 

 
Note: I can use this design because I don't sell guitars and this one is for me....besides, I own many Fenders and they don't make them like this.
 
 

Mike,
It's only on one side of the blade. It's about 1/8" thick so it rides nicely on the fretboard when set depth is reached.
 
Holding the saw 90 to fretboard, not tipping the saw at the edge and not slipping out of the slot are controls not to mess up. Having the shallow fret slot to start with helps but one sure doesn't want to slip out. Slow and deliberate cuts with the right tool and it will work.
I cut from each edge of fretboard to center- when the depth is reached across the board the saw depth guide glides across the board.
After all the cuts are made it's very easy to look down each edge and see if all slots are same depth.
 
It's the first neck I've done that required no fill work at the fret ends.
Since the wood preparation was correct and the frets are pressed in it made leveling go easy with very little metal removed. 
 
Now that I believe I've found an excellent method for this type of installation I can move on to others such as bound fretboards.  
 
 
 

it looks awesome.
 
what do you use to take the finish off the frets, just a rub down with some steel wool?
 

yea, i've seen older lacquered neck jobs, where the lacquer goes all the way up the sides of the frets.....
which i would think, over time, would chip and become grime grabbers.....
 

Michael, you have got me started down this road. I took your suggestion on starting small. I have been wanting a Fender Strat again, for a while. I wanted some different tonal textures...so I was looking for single coil pickups and a maple neck, to offset all the rosewood/ humbucker tones I already had. I wanted to find something that I could learn to tweak, by experimenting on it myself.

I ended up finding a MIM Squier Strat at a pawn shop for less than $100. I went for this one because it has a full size Fender neck and body. Most info that I could find on the '91-'93 MIM suggested that many of them where made with left over necks and bodies from the California plant. I think this one has those traits, though I have not had a chance to take the pick guard or back plate off yet.

My plan is to star replacing all of the electronics, pickups, bridge and tuners...maybe even the nut, should I get ambitious. It seems like it is going to be a good platform to mod.

I've always been interested in building instruments, my friend built a start once... This is looking sweet, spacey!
 

Thank you davdud101.
 
LOL Leadfoot!  I know how you feel...99.9% of the threads posted in the CH I don't understand (nor want to) and make my head spin. I'm experienced though so for years only attempt to read .10% of them and I know it's getting less...but my head doesn't spin much and know that there are only a few that I post the info for so it's all good! Very little cerebral collateral damage being done either way.
 
I still find the music doom and gloom threads very funny though.
 

Mike the black wrapped is a tape commonly used on pickups.
The white is string wrapped- black dyed potting wax was also used.
The copper is the wire coil exposed.
I did pot all three sets. They are all nice and tight wraps so wax is really just added protection.
The white and red bobbins I purchased from a new supplier - notice the bevel magnets difference from the other two sets.
 
None of the variations really matter. Most of the time they're covered with plastic covers.
The Tele bridge was exposed -white or black twine wrap or tape would be seen depending on what they were doing at the time.