ThePearDream's Project Thread

[MattK]

I get the pastel thing and feel that way most of the time too. Just that the grain is so nice. One last try - 60s ash blonde with tort.

[ThePearDream]

I mean, I do still have this one around, so I'm not averse to the look. I really miss having some OTM to look at though.




And I already have two "blonde" Squiers.

[ThePearDream]

So, as seems like the need for electrical tape on the Kiyst pickups was because the screw holes in the flatwork were stripped out. Out of all the guitars I've had, that is not something that has ever happened to me. I don't know how somebody even does that. Anyway, I put some business card behind the holes, filled the holes with baking soda, and flooded them with CA glue, then a spritz of accelerator. Then I trimmed off the extra card and drilled for new holes. I was able to not only fill the holes, but to go down a screw size to some 4-40 screws, which I much prefer for Strat type pickups, over the normal 6-32 (which are waaay too big IMO). WIth 4-40, I can use countersunk screws and still have some pickguard between the screw and pickup holes, making for a much cleaner look.

I wired the pickups into my Orange Squier Mustang, using what I now call "New Standard Mustang Wiring" which I've posted a few times in this thread. I'll keep this one around until I get the vintage body back (still need to ship it) and put that one back together.



I had previously wired this one up with a 500k tone pot for the G&L pickups that were in here, but replaced that with a 250K for the Mustang pickups. I went ahead and re-used the big PIO cap out of the vintage Mustang, for this new tone pot.


Nice clean stainless steel screws all around, along with lowered switches.

[MattK]

That's a pretty thing and a nice wiring job as well!

[ThePearDream]

Thanks Matt!
----

Another day, another re-wire on an orange guitar. I had recently gotten this Ibanez on Reverb, so I could learn how to work on Floyd Rose vibratos. The pickups were super muffled though, so I knew there was something going on with the wiring. It started life as a non-pickguard model and was hacked up and converted to work with an Ibanez guard. The soldering job was really poorly done and it had cheap push/pull pots that were wired up without using the P/P function. Also, there was no ground wire going to the bridge. Whoever did the work didn't open up the wiring channels between the pickup routes, so it was hard to pull the pickguard off. So I ended up cutting the wiring to get the guard off, and decided to re-do the whole thing.

I went ahead and opened up the wiring channels. Since it was already a hack job, I just used the wood saw on my old Leatherman multi-tool, and cleaned up the cuts with a razor blade. I used two new Bourns Pro 500K pots, and re-used the switch and jack. The pickups are some cheap Dragon Fires, no clue what model, but they look like SuperD copies. I also gave the frets a proper level, crown, dress, and polish. The neck binding had lots of sanding scratches, with oil finish splattered on, so I scraped the binding to clean it up, and rolled the edges a little bit. It's strung up with 9-46 strings. The pickups sound normal now and I'm working on the setup.

[ThePearDream]

I put up some Ikea Mosslanda picture shelves, to store/display my pedals. It's looking a bit bare now, so I'll need to make some more I guess. I have graphics for about 18 pedals, finished and ready to UV print. And another dozen or so in the queue, including reboxing some of the ones I had done with stickers right before moving.

[ThePearDream]

Shuffling pickups around. I took the G&L S500 pickups that had been in the orange Mustang, and put them in my Jag-Stang. I decided to leave the lil Duncan in for now, and it seems to work better with the G&L pickups. I kept the rest of the wiring as-is, so phase switch for the neck, and a bass cut up top, and a 6-way Freeway toggle for the pickups. Had a little jam and really loved how it sounded.

[Shadoweclipse13]

That's awesome!! I like how they're different pickups, but somehow look like they're meant to be together

Also, with your Carl sticker, I couldn't help thinking of these:
I don't know no instructions to know how to rock
I wanna rock your body (til the break of dawn)

[CorporateDisguise]

That's awesome!! I like how they're different pickups, but somehow look like they're meant to be together

Also, with your Carl sticker, I couldn't help thinking of these:
I don't know no instructions to know how to rock
I wanna rock your body (til the break of dawn)

ATHF was a formative part of my teenage years. I haven’t thought about it in years. Those clips had me dying! I might have to rewatch it. I think i need some MC Pee Pants and Jiggle Billy in my life.

[ThePearDream]

That's awesome!! I like how they're different pickups, but somehow look like they're meant to be together

Also, with your Carl sticker, I couldn't help thinking of these:
I don't know no instructions to know how to rock
I wanna rock your body (til the break of dawn)

Yeah, so Carl's "solo" from the second clip was my ring tone for a few years.

Widdly-Widdly-Widdly-Widdly-Waah!

[Shadoweclipse13]

Also, with your Carl sticker, I couldn't help thinking of these:
I don't know no instructions to know how to rock
I wanna rock your body (til the break of dawn)

ATHF was a formative part of my teenage years. I haven’t thought about it in years. Those clips had me dying! I might have to rewatch it. I think i need some MC Pee Pants and Jiggle Billy in my life.

Me too! At least the show up until the movie. I kinda dropped off keeping up with it after that. The onion monster in their attic was my favorite episode. "Would you guys like some juice?"

And honestly, the Dr. Weird intro, and later the Mooninites were my favorite parts

Yeah, so Carl's "solo" from the second clip was my ring tone for a few years.

Widdly-Widdly-Widdly-Widdly-Waah!

Yes!!!

[ThePearDream]

I decided to put this old Strat shaped thing back together. I've been gassing for a hardtail Strat, but figured since I already had almost everything I needed for this thing, just to use it and deck the vibrato. That should be close enough to let me see if I'll want a proper hardtail.

I had robbed some parts from it, to use on my Orion prototype (neck, pickups, strap buttons). The body is from my first guitar - a 95 (or 94?) Samick Abilene. HNB had bought the Orion prototype, but didn't want the (Squier Affinity) neck, so it's been hanging out, and I thought I'd put it back on this body. It was the first neck I had done a fret level to. I've learned a lot about how to do fret crowning since then, so I redid it, along with a brand new bone nut.

The pickguard is 3-ply wbw from eyguitar. They have some without the pot holes drilled, so I was able to customize the locations I wanted. The pickups are the same Fender Tex-Mex set that I've used in a bunch of projects. I replaced the magnets again, this time with some A5, in a non-stagger configuration. Standard 5-way Strat switching, with a neck on mini switch. I put five springs on the 80s Fender Japan vibrato, and cranked down the screws in the back. I also took off all of the old stickers. The only parts I had to buy were the pickguard, covers, and knobs. I still need new strap buttons. Pretty pleased with how it sounds and feels to play. This plywood body has always been super resonant, and it feels kind of like "home".

[michel v]

I replaced the magnets

I'd love to know how you do that! The only time I tried it on a pickup with pole magnets, I broke the pickup

[ThePearDream]

I replaced the magnets

I'd love to know how you do that! The only time I tried it on a pickup with pole magnets, I broke the pickup

So, the Tex-Mex pickups have a one-piece plastic bobbin, instead of the old style fiber bobbin. The magnets don't make contact with the wire in these pickups. I've changed the magnets on this set 3-4 times now without an issue. I definitely wouldn't recommend doing it on a traditional style pickup. When the new magnets are in the right direction, they snap into place at the end of the old magnets and I just push the old one out, letting the new magnet take it's place.

[michel v]

Thanks for the info, that explains it! The one I broke was a traditional style fibre bobbin, and thus I snapped the wire while removing the magnets