Partscaster Update

[velorush]

Back in 2017(!) I posted a question on the Ask The Experts forum: "What Color for S-Type Partscaster" and really enjoyed the discussion and all of the different ideas.  What I just realized is I never concluded the thread and now it's archived.  Here's the update if anyone's interested:

I started looking for parts and ran across this on Reverb: 

That was an American Special body, a Fender '57 reissue neck, the Gilmour Strat pickup set and a Callaham bridge.  Other than the neck, that was about what I'd throw together anyway.  Shipped from AZ in one of the newer TSA-approved Fender cases. 

The '57 neck was an absolute breeze to sell (too thin for my old hands), so I picked up a Fender-licensed AllParts fatty in maple and played that for few months.

Going back to the original thread, I needed color.   The body was originally black but had been stripped back to that clear stuff Fender coats them in before the poly goes on.  I naively went to the PPG paint store one town over, gave him my historically correct code for Sherwood green and asked for a pint of lacquer.  Dude looked at me like I had three heads.  "First" he says, "we haven't sold lacquer in years.  Second, I don't recognize this paint code."  Apparently, in the thirty years since I've painted a car lacquer has become pariah.  Poly is the way to go!

Stewed on that for a really long time, gave up and bought some rattle cans at Lowe's and laid on some color.  It was hideous!  The finish was great but the color turned out to be a John Deere green - popular with the locals, but not my thing.  Around that time I found Oxford Guitar Supply.  Lots of great colors and, though pricey, nitrocellulose lacquers available in cans (ReRanch had only rattle cans - why is it hazardous to ship paint in a can but not the same paint in a pressurized rattle can?).  Sherwood green (over desert sand for primer) it is. 

I had purchased a cheap HVLP spray gun on Amazon and after a bit I was doing a decent enough job.  

[velorush]

Some might notice the different routing pattern.  Inspired by @cmatthes' excellent examples, I set out to try my hand.  

The Filtertron guide came from TV Jones.  With a little two-sided tape and a sharp bit, I ended up with this:

Prototyping:

 

The pickguard (and a single-ply, eight screw white pickguard) came from Terrapin Guitars.  TV Jones Classic Neck, Classic Bridge and Classic+ Bridge wired with a five-way that gives me Neck+Bridge in the "3" position.  The first tone control is the normal low-pass tone; the second tone control is one of Leo's high-pass PTB (bass rolloff) controls.

After a month I was able to start buffing, respraying the burn-throughs with an airbrush and more buffing.  Finally got it together (Iteration 1):

That was fun, but I was watching Tom Bukovac (Uncle Larry) and he was waxing on about the benefits of rosewood with Strats - I've never owned a rosewood Strat, so I ordered a similar neck in rosewood.  But the single-ply pickguard couldn't go with rosewood, so, Iteration 2:

And that's where it is today.  The bridge/middle combination is quite quacky, bridge/neck has nice cluck as one would expect from a couple of humbuckers.  I have yet to get the neck/middle to work satisfactorily.  It gets really dark - the bass rolloff helps, but there is probably some adjustment to do to get it really right.

No Hamer content, but I hope this interesting. 

[DaveL]

Looks very cool...   great work on the body,   color and finish looks great!     

 

   BTW: just discovered Oxford myself (trying the vintage formula clear for my necks).    

[gorch]

Very nice iterations. Great job. I like it. The Jone‘s fit very nice.

[cmatthes]

Looks great! 
 

I’ve got a couple in the works…time, money…all I need!

[Dave Scepter]

Great job and thanks for the link to Oxford Guitar Supply... exactly what I was looking for 👍

[cmatthes]

6 hours ago, cmatthes said:

Looks great! 
 

I’ve got a couple in the works…time, money…all I need!

 

[velorush]

The sparkly one is absolutely killer.  Is the other one black or blue?  This monitor isn't that great for colors.

What I have determined is this process could be hazardous to your wallet.  It doesn't cost that much to build them, but now I want to build one in every combination imaginable.

Anyone remember the short-lived Starfield guitars Ibanez put out in the 90's?  A friend with a shop in Paducah carried them (and Hamer and PRS).  The initial order included a mahogany bodied Starfield with single coils - haunts me to this day.  Years later I was blown away by a PRS KL380.  Combining the two, I'm thinking, mahogany body and three P-90s.  I've gone so far as to watch a few mahogany bodies on Reverb.

[cmatthes]

3 hours ago, velorush said:

The sparkly one is absolutely killer.  Is the other one black or blue?  This monitor isn't that great for colors.

What I have determined is this process could be hazardous to your wallet.  It doesn't cost that much to build them, but now I want to build one in every combination imaginable.

The pink metalflake one is a Stike special - super lightweight (well below 4lbs) Musikraft Mahogany body, and a big-assed Musikraft 70s style maple/dark rosewood neck.  The usual TV Jones SuperTrons and a SuperVee BladeRunner round that one out.

The other one is actually finished in “Real Teal Pearl”, but it’s definitely pretty dark in the pictures - it’s much more vivid in person.  Another sub-4lb Musikraft body, but this one is Alder.  Stike shot the Musikraft neck for me on this one too - it’s their ‘65 profile neck carve, which is comfy, but not as meaty as the other one.  SuperTrons and a SuperVee BladeRunner picked for this one, but I have a Floyd Rose Rail Tail that might edge out the SV on this build, not sure! 

[Cboss]

How do the supertron and classic differ?

[cmatthes]

2 hours ago, Cboss said:

How do the supertron and classic differ?

SuperTrons are a bit higher output and have those stainless steel blades instead of polepieces/screw poles.  Very smooth and clear, in my opinion, and closer to classic PAF territory - great clear clean tones, with a little more “chime” maybe.  
 

I’ve had Classics in a different solidbody, and it’s still a great pickup, just doesn’t seem to break up as nicely to me.  Almost more of a Tele neck pickup sound to my ears, if that makes sense.  I’ve got one in a semi hollow Tele 12 string, after talking to Tom himself who recommended that pickup when I described what I was looking for tone wise and explained the body wood and construction, and his recommendation was PERFECT.  Chime City or Jangle Town…all day long!

 

I opted for a trio of Classic Plus TVs in my Shishkov DC - probably a better fit in that guitar for what I usually play. 

 

This is a very handy general guide: