Some questions from a first-time build/mod

[SilvioDante]

I have seen some of the builds on this site and they are amazing. So when I decided to try it myself, where else would I go for advice. I will warn you, before this thing gets done, I am sure I will lose a lot of rep points and get on everyone's nerves...

I found this guitar cheap. Its a '04 Squier Bullet (obviously). It's a hardtail and routed on top just for the electronics. I am gonna do the original black and white Frankie with this. It is a trial. I have a Charvel I am gonna Bumble Bee if I pull this off.

I have been doing some research and have seen various ideas. Also keep in mind, I have NO artistic ability at all.

So, my first round of questions are:

1. Stripping it. I've seen sanding or chemical. I am afraid I will over sand in spots and kind of ruin the body. I have read that Fender paint and clear coat is hard to get off. Suggestions please?

2. Tape for the strips. What did you use and what is best to prevent the paint from bleeding?

3. Paint. I have seen on here that some use Krylon spray paint. What base? Which brings me to my next question...

4. Clear coat. For Frankies, did you clear coat it? If so, what did you use?

That's all for now. Thanks for ANY advice I can get.

[chefcraig]

I did a refurb on a Squier Strat a few years ago, and to tell ya the truth, it really wasn't worth the effort. I decided to go with a rode hard and put up wet, stressed appearance, sort of a variation on the Fender Rory Gallagher axe produced a couple of years ago. The problem is, and I must be somewhat frank here, Squier guitars are pretty much hunks of shit. A crap cake is a crap cake, no matter what flavor the icing. The pick ups were ghastly, yet when I replaced them with some upgrades, the guitar still sounded crummy, mainly because the wood used was so lame in the first place (when I stripped it, the guitar looked frighteningly similar to a chunk of plywood you'd find behind Home Depot in the garbage. More about that stripping later.). I actually wound up going back to the original pick ups, and had to use outboard effects to disguise the annoying hum/interference I'd get.

I sanded down the neck, taking off roughly 3/16s in order to make it playable. I then left the neck unfinished, as I like that baseball bat feel and I tend to grip the neck like one anyway. As for the stripping, I sanded rather than risk using chemicals. For the rough spots (about 70 % of the body), I used a belt sander with course gauge sheets. For the rest (the horns, near the cavities) I wet sanded using fine guage paper. The finish was a huge pain in the ass to remove, and took several evenings and weekends to accomplish. I then used regular wood stain rather than paint, leaving some of the guitar's original black in places to represent wear and tear.

All in all it was a fun learning project, and I'm fairly pleased with the results. I just wished I'd used a better guitar after all of that work.

[twonabomber]

back in the late 80's i stripped down a Lotus guitar, and it was a pain in the ass. same thing, Strat copy that looked like it was made of a few layers of plywood. i still have it, always think of redoing it but there is so much other crap that needs to be done around here.

after working on cars i think now i'd just knock the gloss off the existing finish instead of going all the way to bare wood, then paint over that.

[jhale667]

You can get painter's tape in varying widths at hardware and hobby stores for the stripes...

[SilvioDante]

Thanks guys....

Trust me, I know this isn't gonna a be a museum piece or anything when I am done. I got the body cheap. For my first project, just didn't seem to make sense to drop a bunch of money in a really nice body. I just might screw this up. As for the sound, I don't play out anymore, so sound on this one isn't important also....(yet)

Anyway, thanks again for the tips. I was thinking about just sanding down the gloss. And thanks for the tip on the paint. Just heard some stories on paint bleeding.

I'll be back (hopefully, if I get to the next step.)

[Hardrock69]

Good luck on your project!

[SilvioDante]

Almost done with this thing and I have two more questions:

1. In a bridge pickup the screws are closest to the bridge right?

2. I am doing a squire and the pickup has just two wires coming out of it. I bought the VEH fro
GFS and it has five. Any ideas? Anyone work with these pup's?

[ELVIS]

Here is a basic one humbucker one pot diagram...

[SilvioDante]

Here is a basic one humbucker one pot diagram...

Thanks, but I went just by this (the GFS diagram said it can be wired by a Duncan diagram) and i hear humming and the volume knob works, but when I tap the pickup I can not hear the tapping.

[Diamondjimi]

Thanks, but I went just by this (the GFS diagram said it can be wired by a Duncan diagram) and i hear humming and the volume knob works, but when I tap the pickup I can not hear the tapping.

Try this dude...

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=color_codes

[SunisinuS]

I did a refurb on a Squier Strat a few years ago, and to tell ya the truth, it really wasn't worth the effort. I decided to go with a rode hard and put up wet, stressed appearance, sort of a variation on the Fender Rory Gallagher axe produced a couple of years ago. The problem is, and I must be somewhat frank here, Squier guitars are pretty much hunks of shit. A crap cake is a crap cake, no matter what flavor the icing. The pick ups were ghastly, yet when I replaced them with some upgrades, the guitar still sounded crummy, mainly because the wood used was so lame in the first place (when I stripped it, the guitar looked frighteningly similar to a chunk of plywood you'd find behind Home Depot in the garbage. More about that stripping later.). I actually wound up going back to the original pick ups, and had to use outboard effects to disguise the annoying hum/interference I'd get.

I sanded down the neck, taking off roughly 3/16s in order to make it playable. I then left the neck unfinished, as I like that baseball bat feel and I tend to grip the neck like one anyway. As for the stripping, I sanded rather than risk using chemicals. For the rough spots (about 70 % of the body), I used a belt sander with course gauge sheets. For the rest (the horns, near the cavities) I wet sanded using fine guage paper. The finish was a huge pain in the ass to remove, and took several evenings and weekends to accomplish. I then used regular wood stain rather than paint, leaving some of the guitar's original black in places to represent wear and tear.

All in all it was a fun learning project, and I'm fairly pleased with the results. I just wished I'd used a better guitar after all of that work.

Picture?

I would like espcially to see the spots left as "wear and tear".

The idea that the neck is naked is intriguing....never thought of that.

Thanks!

[jhale667]

Almost done with this thing and I have two more questions:

1. In a bridge pickup the screws are closest to the bridge right?

2. I am doing a squire and the pickup has just two wires coming out of it. I bought the VEH fro
GFS and it has five. Any ideas? Anyone work with these pup's?

1. Yes, generally screw coils closest to bridge in that position.

2. The Squier's two-conductor and the GFS is four. Hum but no output sounds like you've got one of the ground wires reversed? Go by the GFS color codes for hot and ground, but you should be able to find whatever configuration you're looking for at the Duncan link Jimi posted.

[Nitro Express]

Almost done with this thing and I have two more questions:

1. In a bridge pickup the screws are closest to the bridge right?

2. I am doing a squire and the pickup has just two wires coming out of it. I bought the VEH fro
GFS and it has five. Any ideas? Anyone work with these pup's?

The wiring of a humbucker is pretty simple. You have one coil wound clockwise and another coil wound counter clockwise. Each coil has two wires. One set of wires is connected to each other and the other two wires are connected to the amplifier (there usually are some volume and tone controls between the two). This is your standard old school PAF humbucker.

Then somebody got the bright idea to not connect the two coils and run all four leads out in the pigtail. This allows the pickup to be wired up in various phase combinations. Some guitars have phase switches on them that allow the pickup to be ran in several in phase, out of phase or single coil combinations.

The fifth wire would be the shielding ground on the pigtail lead. You would usually ground this out on the volume knob case. This is another added feature to help cut the hum and noise out of the signal chain.

[Nitro Express]

Even if you don't have a wiring chart you can figure out a pickup just using an ohms meter. A single coil will give you a lower ohms reading than two coils. So you can isolate your coils with the readings and know which is which. If I remember right Dimarzio and Seymour Duncan have different colored wires in their schematics. So you need the specific chart for the brand of pickup you have.

[SilvioDante]

I am about to pack this thing up and send it back. I get a little noise out of it now, but hardly enough. I have my gain and volume turned up but barely a sound. I tap the screws and the poles and I hear the tapping now, but just doesn't seem hot enough.

Thanks.