Unorthodox Mustang build

Talk about modding or building your own guitar from scratch.
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Logrinn
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Unorthodox Mustang build

Post by Logrinn » Wed Nov 15, 2017 10:56 am

I recently got most of the parts for a Mustang and are now in the process of assembling it.
The neck and body are from Warmoth. The neck is made of roasted flame maple with an ebony fretboard and the body is made of roasted swamp ash with a quilt maple top. So not your typical vintage type Mustang. Sorry about that ...

Anyway ...

I got some work done this weekend and I'd thought I'd share some pictures with you.

The body, here with the black pearl pickguard with Creamery pickups. And the control plate. Just laid out but to give me an idea of what the finished result will look like:

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On the back you can see the roasted swamp ash with a transparent amber finish. Yep, that's right, this is amber on RSA:

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The first thing I got done was putting the Gotoh staggered locking tuners on the neck.

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These Gotoh's press firmly into the tuner holes drilled for Schaller. No need for any tools except a wrench to tighten the nut. And of course a screwdriver for the screws. But no sanding or drilling - they fit just like a glove.

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Logrinn
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Re: Unorthodox Mustang build

Post by Logrinn » Wed Nov 15, 2017 11:01 am

The bridge I've chosen is from ABM. I'm not a big fan of the wider string spacing found on the Toronade bridge and this bridge allows me to actually adjust the smaller bridge saddles sideways making the string spacing more narrow, which I like.

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German quality with extra height adjustment screws and springs supplied. Two allen wrenches and also six string ferrules. Which was a good thing because that's something I forgot to order from Warmoth this time.

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View from the back where the string holes are visible if you want to use it as a top loaded bridge. It does both string through and top loaded. Very nice.

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And here one can see the small screw that locks the small brass saddle insert. This - the brass saddle insert - can be moved sideways. Perfect!

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NICQ
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Re: Unorthodox Mustang build

Post by NICQ » Wed Nov 15, 2017 11:47 am

The body is gorgeous! :?
Very cool choice for bridge too!

I personally would've gone for a white PG but your's will look more extraordinary

Great build - can't wait to see what it'll look like when it's finished :)

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Logrinn
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Re: Unorthodox Mustang build

Post by Logrinn » Wed Nov 15, 2017 11:57 am

Thanks NICQ,

Yes, I'm quite anxious to have it finished myself. Perhaps this weekend ...

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Logrinn
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Re: Unorthodox Mustang build

Post by Logrinn » Wed Nov 15, 2017 11:59 am

Time to put in those string ferrules.
Let's bring out some tools ...

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With the paint round the edge of the hole the ferrules will be hard to get in. So those grinding thingamabobs comes in handy. The hole closest have already some paint removed.

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All holes sanded. Here you can actually see how thin the finish is that Warmoth uses. Small thin flakes of paint can be seen in the holes.

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Looking good.

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All in. A light tapping with my rubber hammer with a small piece of wood in between did the trick.

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Logrinn
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Re: Unorthodox Mustang build

Post by Logrinn » Wed Nov 15, 2017 12:00 pm

Some more stuff I was able to do was getting the strap holders in place.

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First some measuring and marking. X marks the spot!

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Hole drilled and countersunk.

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Hmm, I'm going to need some felt washer here.

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Repeat on the back.

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Looks good.

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Logrinn
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Re: Unorthodox Mustang build

Post by Logrinn » Wed Nov 15, 2017 12:03 pm

I thought I'd continue with some wiring info.
I had this Idea about a very simple wiring for this 2-pickup guitar: a toggle, a volume and the output jack. That's it.

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And my original reasoning was that I'd put the toggle closest to the bridge (in what's normally the hole for the volume) followed by the volume (in what's normally the tone) ending with the normal output jack.

But then I got the idea that maybe I could do some fancy switching with two push-push pots, but in the end decided against it.

So the first option it is.

Which means I had to enlarge the first hole in the control plate to make room for the toogle switch. I marked what I had to file away and then went to work.

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The volume had the opposite problem; the hole in the control plate was much to big for the threaded "neck". So I had to do some constructive tinkering to get it to fit more snugly.

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Not the knob I'll be using but now everything fits and looks as it should.

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HNB
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Re: Unorthodox Mustang build

Post by HNB » Wed Nov 15, 2017 12:26 pm

Great work! Excellent looking guitar. :D
Christopher
Lilith Guitars

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Logrinn
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Re: Unorthodox Mustang build

Post by Logrinn » Wed Nov 15, 2017 12:59 pm

Thanks very much, HNB.

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Logrinn
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Re: Unorthodox Mustang build

Post by Logrinn » Wed Nov 15, 2017 1:02 pm

More on the wiring for the Mustang.
I too got those Pure Tone jacks and was really looking forward to using them. They seemed like such a smart idea.
But like another member on the Unofficial Warmoth Forum I too had the same problem with them!

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The plug doesn't connect as well with the jack as one would hope and the plug is prone to come out pretty easily.
But insted of bending the contacts as that member did, I had another approach. I saw that the contacts for the ground part didn't line up as well as it could either, so I went to work on the top of the jack with a file. To make the whole thing slightly shorter ...

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And after that the plug made much better contact - as can be seen here even though the picture is a little out of focus:

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So now the jack works like it should. A snug and tight fit.

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FightingPlankton
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Re: Unorthodox Mustang build

Post by FightingPlankton » Wed Nov 15, 2017 1:03 pm

awesome build!
just one question... why countersink the hole for the strap buttons? the screw head never reaches the wood. making a counter sink seems to me to just create less wood for the screw threads to grab onto.
What is acoustic? Oh, you means a grandpa's guitars? A grandpa's guitars? That's for pussies and grandpas. I think you know it.

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Logrinn
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Re: Unorthodox Mustang build

Post by Logrinn » Wed Nov 15, 2017 1:32 pm

Thanks, FightingPlankton!

I countersink the holes because the screws going in are slightly bigger than the holes that are drilled (obviously) and can because of this rip the finish. If one is unlucky it could tear a chunk of paint off, sometimes bigger than the strap button covering the damage. When the hole is countersunk it's actually just removed the outer part of the finish so that the threads of the screw doesn't get purchase on the finish, but in the wood. The countersinking might look like it's a "lot of wood" removed but it's actually very shallow and there's still plenty of wood for the screw to bite into.

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Re: Unorthodox Mustang build

Post by MechaBulletBill » Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:11 pm

I don't like felt washers (look silly imo especially white ones) but I saw you can get leather ones and I'm more on board with that.

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Gordon
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Re: Unorthodox Mustang build

Post by Gordon » Wed Nov 15, 2017 4:30 pm

Following this, as I too have a (slightly less) unorthodox Mustang build coming up... I actually emailed The Creamery about it yesterday. :D
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kdanie
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Re: Unorthodox Mustang build

Post by kdanie » Wed Nov 15, 2017 4:41 pm

Screw vintage... I love it!!

ken
Life is an adventure, not something to be suffered through. Don't like your life? FIX it!

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