Squier CV Starcaster Trem Bar & WRHB Mod (pics /wall of text)

[charmonder]

I really wanted to do this mod stated in premier guitar and got lucky and found the same CV starcaster local for an unpassable price so now this:



First off, relax , the school stickers are already falling off as it is, definitely won't make it past next summer.


I can't comment on the routing procedure too much I had a friend do it for me and he did a very careful job for the routing, you don't need the entire pool, we left a stair step in the back of it, and in the end we did the suggestion of stringing up both e strings to visually confirm before making screw holes and it lines up perfectly:


(kinda hard to photo it on iphone without skewing it but the point is youd be surprised how perfectly straight you can get it drilling by hand!)

NOT MENTIONED IN THE PREMIER GUITAR ARTICLE:
1 This is how it will come out in the end, and
2 These are the washers you need.

Unsightly if you look it right in the butt like this but its actually 100% sturdy, no unwanted movement. I expect washers might need to be changed at some point(hopefully several years?) but I'm game I like the guitar enough, I used 2x each for the back screws and then you can use an exacto knife to cut one in half for the middle screws on the plate.



ELECTRONICS:
I went with the exact same porter WRHB as stated in the article, sounds wonderful! I highly recommend doing this. The stock squier pickups I remember are kinda boxy sounding, not at all a bad sound, kinda bluesy maybe beatlesy sounding, definitely suits for a good hollowbody tone but from what I gather its just not what the starcaster was supposed to sound like, so you might want to replace them with some kind of WRHB clone.

Lastly, I didn't like the gibson layout so I reorganized the controls:
* pickups going directly to the switch
* selector switch running horizontal
* all knobs "master"
* VR1 bass cut 250k (332 cap, shaves deep bass)
* VR2 volume: 500k (w/ a treble bleed)
* VR3 & VR4 tone: 500k and 250k pots in series to cap to ground... a useless feature, I had a strong suspicion I would get something out of raising the impedence to match the original starcaster but it seems to make no difference if you use 750k, 500k or 250k

It all works though and I don't think I'll ever bother mucking around in there ever again!

[my main man]

This is super cool. I didn’t think it was possible with the contouring but now I want one.

[Gordon]

Wouldn't it be better to have metal spacers? Or have a metal piece made, following the shape of the but of the trem? Or (better?), a piece of wood in the vein of a Vibramate, but cut in the center -like a gasket, if you will-, so you could either cut the front part or sand it to follow the curve of the guitar top, so there'd be no gap?

[timtam]

I would now add a roller TOM, in place of the high-friction TOM/AOM.

[parry]

Nice!

I added a JM trem to my reissue Modern Player Coronado. The body is contoured as well (maybe less so?), but didn't need washers. I flipped the heads of the two outside screws on the trem plate so the E strings don't rest on them, instead. Sits flat against the body, works just as smooth/beautifully as it ever did on any of my offsets.

[Embenny]

Oof, both of those are beauties.

I like the star stickers on the Squier, by the way. It just...works.

[Lost In Autumn]

I would now add a roller TOM, in place of the high-friction TOM/AOM.

a mosrite roller would better match the neck profile.

[charmonder]

thanks for the kind words and suggestions, I'll be thinking about upgrading the bridge and probably have good year or so to come up with a more elegant solution than the rubber washers.

this guitar is absolutely beautiful

I flipped the heads of the two outside screws on the trem plate so the E strings don't rest on them, instead.

thats brilliant , I have this issue on my jaguar, the screw head interrupts the high e, I'm going to do this ASAP

[geoman]

So how do these semi hollows sound with the vibratos installed??? Inquiring minds need to know!

[charmonder]

So how do these semi hollows sound with the vibratos installed??? Inquiring minds need to know!

happened to be recording at the moment...
https://vocaroo.com/149ZyW10jEMT
needed kind of a shrill tone today from the bridge pickup but the neck is much beefier



also I really love how the widerange humbucker goes with a fuzz factory
https://vocaroo.com/15Zp2HN9CqKt

[geoman]

Sounds good!!! How is it for clean neck tones with vibrato, like say Hank Marvin?? Looking to have hollow body BIG tone with a bolt on neck so you can change neck angles and bridge height. Maybe Jazzmaster neck pickup or gold foils.

[geoman]

How do you think it might sound with Jazzmaster pickups?? Possibly bigger, fuller but similar tone to a JM.

[charmonder]

How do you think it might sound with Jazzmaster pickups?? Possibly bigger, fuller but similar tone to a JM.

Probably yes, I wanted this guitar with the intention of not really sounding like a jazzmaster(which is already my main and backup), the hollowbodyness contributes something to the sound (especially the louder you get) but the WRHB is what is so very familiar of lee ranaldo's tone on later sonic youth records

[geoman]

Man I can't stop day dreaming about these big bodies with Jazz Vibratos. Do the rubber washers absorb some vibrations. A wood shim could help fill and transmit some of the vibes bake into the wood. Or hard plastic washers, just thinking. So many opportunities open up when you have a trem arm on a hollow body like these. The Black Coronado just looks too cool. How does it feel and play. Both of these need videos demos so we can get itchy and build one too. Thanks for posting your projects, keep them coming!!