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Partscaster complete (now with video)


Travis

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While my Esquire project is on hold until the body is routed and receives its final shaping & prep for finish, I went to work on my other project this weekend. 

It started life as a pink Carvin Bolt. I got a purple mirrored pick guard for it and put in a double cream Duncan custom shop Brobucker. It remained that way for years. Was incredibly snappy and responsive, but I never liked the Carvin neck. Wide, flat and thin, not what I wanted at all. Sold the neck, tuners and pickup a while back and let it sit for a few months.   

So....  I put together some plans including a FAT AllParts maple/maple strat head neck, had Josh wind me a lime green Mongoose. Converted the neck plate to ferrules and while we were at it, thought to myself, “what the hell: let’s shave down the back and make it a contoured neck joint. Who cares if the paint is sanded off?  It’s an 80’s relic project...

Rounded the fret ends, rolled the fretboard edges and applied several coats of TruOil on the neck; used a scotch brite pad to bring it down to a super smooth satin feel. Installed the tuners and contoured the heel yesterday.  Found a pink tone knob in my brother’s parts drawer that I swiped because “your volume is your tone”...  😉

Today I installed the pickup, a graphite nut (mostly...) and strung it up. Plugged it in to make sure everything worked and got a feel for what final adjustments needed to be done.

As it stands, will need to file down the nut a little bit before I glue it in. Cut the slots deeper for the high E and maybe B strings. Set the intonation and pickup height and it should be complete and ready to rawk...

 

 

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21 minutes ago, Dutchman said:

Pink and blonde! I really like that neck! 

Thanks!  It feels great so far. Vast improvement over the previous neck. 

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Love it, pink neon the headstock to match the body. One of those guitar body sticker places can probably get you pretty darned close if you don't want to paint.

 

Add a Charvel or Jackson logo and increase the value! 😉

 

I'm KIDDING, good grief. I would never put a logo on there that doesn't belong. Mostly...

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26 minutes ago, Drew816 said:

Love it, pink neon the headstock to match the body. One of those guitar body sticker places can probably get you pretty darned close if you don't want to paint.

 

Add a Charvel or Jackson logo and increase the value! 😉

 

I'm KIDDING, good grief. I would never put a logo on there that doesn't belong. Mostly...

I was thinking about having a logo made for it. Something “custom” but non-serious. 

Unfortunately, “Scharter” is already taken...  

I’ll have to think on it...

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48 minutes ago, DaveL said:

Travis.  Are you using anything in particular to roll/clean up the fret edges?    

I used a few different files to round off the fret ends so they were less sharp. 

for the fretboard edges, I researched a few different methods people have used to “round” them and give them a more worn in feel. What I ended up doing was taking a small screwdriver and using the shaft of it to press the wood down a little bit, taking a few passes back and forth between the frets. Then the flat head to get closer to the frets themselves, being careful not to bump up against the fret too aggressively.  Held the screwdriver like a pencil between my thumb and index finger for getting close to the frets 

Didn’t want to use a razor blade to shave them down. I literally just compressed the wood like it would’ve become over time. It’s a light roll but makes a huge difference in the feel. The raw neck had a very distinct edge on the fretboard which I didn’t much care for. 

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6 hours ago, Travis said:

for the fretboard edges, I researched a few different methods people have used to “round” them and give them a more worn in feel. What I ended up doing was taking a small screwdriver and using the shaft of it to press the wood down a little bit, taking a few passes back and forth between the frets. Then the flat head to get closer to the frets themselves, being careful not to bump up against the fret too aggressively.  Held the screwdriver like a pencil between my thumb and index finger for getting close to the frets 

Next time, before the frets go on, try grabbing some PVC pipe, cut it to board length, then cut it in half dead center all the way down its length so you have two half circular pipes. Use adhesive sandpaper, apply to the inside, and roll the board edges with it. Start with a 180 and finish it off with 300, 600 and 800.

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2 hours ago, it's me HHB said:

I played those necks for 15 years! Still have 2 active and one on the shelf. Finished w tru oil. So awesome wish there was a 22 fret

AllParts does have 22 fret Strat head necks in maple/maple with jumbo frets. I thought about grabbing one of those. But it’s not in the FAT profile which I wanted more than the extra fret...

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On 10/13/2020 at 12:09 PM, Travis said:

AllParts does have 22 fret Strat head necks in maple/maple with jumbo frets. I thought about grabbing one of those. But it’s not in the FAT profile which I wanted more than the extra fret...

Yeah the FAT is the selling point on these for me

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That kicks all sorts of ass! I esp like the purple mirror guard.

A few months ago I replaced the relic MJT alder body on my partscaster w/ a super light weight paulownia wood Eden sparkle body. Its my best sounding guitar (DiMarzio Super Distortion-S bridge pup, Suhr middle & neck pups, Callaham bridge). The neck is Warmoth 16" radius thin but not too thin, jumbo SS frets.

 

 

Strat before after.jpg

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On 10/12/2020 at 3:33 PM, Travis said:

I was thinking about having a logo made for it. Something “custom” but non-serious. 

Unfortunately, “Scharter” is already taken...  

I’ll have to think on it...

Damn right it is! funny I was considering changing the Sharter to a single hum just today, Ed and all

luv to Kiz

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19 hours ago, Brooks said:

That kicks all sorts of ass! I esp like the purple mirror guard.

A few months ago I replaced the relic MJT alder body on my partscaster w/ a super light weight paulownia wood Eden sparkle body. Its my best sounding guitar (DiMarzio Super Distortion-S bridge pup, Suhr middle & neck pups, Callaham bridge). The neck is Warmoth 16" radius thin but not too thin, jumbo SS frets.

 

 

Strat before after.jpg

I love to see that Paulownia is getting some traction.  I remember when I first stumbled on a Brad Paisley telecaster at Atomic Music I thought it was so light it had to be a fluke.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Finally got a chance to spend some time with this. Got the nut filed down, action set and ripped off a quick 30 second wank via the shitty iPad mic. Overall, I think this project turned out really well. 

coming up next will be the finishing of my Esquire project. Just gotta drill the holes for the bridge and finish the body then I can start slapping her together. 

 

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  • Travis changed the title to Partscaster complete (now with video)

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