Pick Guard and set up Jay Turser

Got a pretty looking Jay Turser Strat for a set up and new pickguard.  The original one seemed to be delaminating.  It looked like it should drop right on, but of course, it did not.

 

 

 

I could not determine that till I got the strings off, and the original pickguard out of the way.  The fingerboard has an end lip the pickguard slides under, and the new pickguard would not fit under the fingerboard without adjusting the neck pocket area on the pickguard.  I placed the new one over the original one, and made my marks with a sharpie to the area I needed to remove.  The new pickguard is Perloid and I thought I'd better not use any power tools to avoid the risk of catching the material on fire.  I settled for a hand file, and little by little, I shaved away the material down to my sharpie line.  The pocket had to be deeper and wider to fit under the fingerboard.  It took about 1/2 hour to shave her down.  When I got to the point where it would clear the fingerboard lip, I lightly straightened my file lines nice and even.  It was time to transfer the pickups and controls over to the new pickguard.  I unscrewed and unbolted the hardware and one by one, started to install the components onto the new pickguard.  I got the three pickups in and the switch before I discovered the holes for the volume and tone pots were too small.  Back Paddle!  I got an old big towel to cover the guitar body, and using a round file, began to enlarge the holes.  After cleaning up any dust, I mounted the three controls, cleaned up some wiring issues left by some hack before me, I layed the new pickguard into place.  Several screw holes did not line up, but enough so I could determine the pickguard would lay in the proper orientation to the body.  I screwed down the screws that did line up with the original holes, and using a pointed awl, made little holes for the rest of the screws.  Done with the pickguard install, it was time to restring it.  I first tightened up the nuts holding the tuners on the headstock, put the new strings on, and began to check for adjustments to be made.  The neck did not need a truss rod adjustment and I turned my attention to the string saddles.  I adjusted the saddles to conform with the radius of the fingerboard, then began to lower the saddles till the string just started to buzz.  I brought the height up till the buzz was gone, and move on to the next string.  After the string height was good, I checked the intonation.  I did not need to adjust any strings for intonation.  I played each string on all frets and checked for dead spots or buzzing and adjusted.  When the string action was where I wanted it, I adjusted the three pickups in height and balance.  It turned out pretty nice if I say so myself!  The customer was pleased with everything and invited me to come hear him play this weekend!  I just might go hear Earl!

 

 

 

 

Fix'n the Shoddy

I've had a customer in a young man, in his twenties, bringing me his guitars to fix and set up for the last couple years.  Always nice when I guy (or gal) is a repeat customer.  This guy is a stickler for tone.  He knows what he hears and strives to get it.  Good taste for a young guy, not that I didn't simply adore the Fender Stratocaster as well as most of the rest of the Fender family.  He called last month and asked if he could bring over his Wah pedal.  He found a broken wire under the bottom cover, and could I find the place to hook it back, and could he watch?  I said sure, but I have stuff on the grill and would tend them both. 
   It was the black wire going to the 9 V battery holder.  The ground side of the battery connector.  I scanned the circuit board for solder points near the red or positive connection point.  It could have been one of several to choose from.  Goal: find solder point going to ground.  With one probe of the continuity test clipped to the frame of the output jack, I began to probe the many solder points near my red wire point.  Close, but a few points to the Starboard, I found the point.  I trimmed the black wire clean, stripped it back, tinned the end, and by then, had to find the solder point all over again!
I heated up the point and drove my black wire home.  I checked my food on the grill, and we tested it.  It Wah'd, just as he wanted.  He tipped me $ 5.00 when he found out it was my birthday.
The shoddy part of that Wah was, the battery connector should be secured tight to the circuit board, so that the solder connections are not compromised.  I advised him to be aware of the fragility of the shoddy.