Teh Kurdtz: modding the heck out of a Bullet Mustang.

Talk about modding or building your own guitar from scratch.
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AWSchmit
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Teh Kurdtz: modding the heck out of a Bullet Mustang.

Post by AWSchmit » Thu May 14, 2020 5:36 am

New project in the works...

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Last edited by AWSchmit on Thu Jun 25, 2020 8:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
I finally finish building a guitar, go to play it, and then remember, "oh yeah, that's right. I suck at playing... Why did I build another guitar again?"

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Re: Teh Kurdtz

Post by s_mcsleazy » Thu May 14, 2020 6:52 am

so is this build going to corner me in the corner of a guitar shop and start lecturing me on how no one would care about mustang's if it wasn't for kurt cobain?

joking really.
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'Are you trying to seduce me Mrs Robinson? Or do you just want me to solder a couple of resistors into your Muff?'

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Re: Teh Kurdtz

Post by Dieca » Thu May 14, 2020 2:12 pm

Love those flowers, whats the inspiration for them? And who made the decal for you?

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Re: Teh Kurdtz

Post by AWSchmit » Fri May 15, 2020 5:41 am

Dieca wrote:
Thu May 14, 2020 2:12 pm
Love those flowers, whats the inspiration for them? And who made the decal for you?
Thanks! The flowers were from a print I put on my first fully custom build where I used my own logo. So I've incorporated it into them ever since. I made the logos. I just bought transparent ink jet decal sheets and print on those. The way I get the gold is by painting them after they get a clear coat, then adding another decal on top to reestablish the outline. You can see the process a bit by looking at the middle "Smith" logo that didn't get covered because the paint was too messed up I knew I wouldn't use it anyway, so I didn't go through that step.

You end up with a kind of thick decal at the end of it, but it;s not bad if you barry it in the finish and sand it smooth later. It will be someone raised, but not bad. It's worth it to get the metallic in it.
I finally finish building a guitar, go to play it, and then remember, "oh yeah, that's right. I suck at playing... Why did I build another guitar again?"

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Re: Teh Kurdtz

Post by Dieca » Fri May 15, 2020 9:16 am

Very cool man, that's really interesting, have done plenty of finishing but not made my own decals before. Really dig the flowers, and I imagine they fit really nicely into the spot we're used to seeing the "offset contour body" decal. The mustang style speed lines on the lettering are cool too.

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Re: Teh Kurdtz

Post by AWSchmit » Thu May 28, 2020 6:09 am

So, I bought a Squire Bullet Mustang in surf green. So far I have bought a replacement ss guard, I added some pickups and a switch I already had. The bridge pickup is a rails pickup I got from ebay that has an Alnico 5 bar instead of ceramic like most rail style pickups. The neck pickup is an 80's Fernandes Strat pickup. The cover had yellowed quite a bit, which I thought would compliment the cream rail pickup and the off-white pickguard, but it did not. So I put it into a ziplock bag of peroxide in the sun for the few hours yesterday and it lighten right up and now matched perfectly.

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I will likely be swapping out the bridge... The stock one drives me nuts because of all of the directional changes and the extra friction point/s adds to the instabilities. I think I'm going to use a more modern version of a tele bridge and cut it down to fit the foot print of the existing bridge... I really hope the screw holes line up.

I also have a roasted Maple neck on order from Warmoth. Not sure how long it will take to receive though as they received a BUTT-TON of orders while they were closed for covid. But when I get it I plan to sell the stock neck.

AWS
I finally finish building a guitar, go to play it, and then remember, "oh yeah, that's right. I suck at playing... Why did I build another guitar again?"

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Re: Teh Kurdtz

Post by AWSchmit » Thu Jun 25, 2020 8:09 am

I bought, modified, and installed a new bridge which started off life as a modern style tele bridge:
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Here how it looks installed... I love it.
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Amazingly, the screw holes lined up perfectly but the cut out on the pickguard was just a smidge to narrow, so I have to open it up left to right, just a bit, but otherwise it was a perfect fit and solution to the problem I had with the stock bridge. I also replaced the stock 250K pots with some 500Ks and put in a Switchcraft jack. Now I'm just waiting on the new neck from Warmoth, do the finishing it requires, stall a nut and setup, and I will be done.
I finally finish building a guitar, go to play it, and then remember, "oh yeah, that's right. I suck at playing... Why did I build another guitar again?"

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Re: Teh Kurdtz: modding the heck out of a Bullet Mustang.

Post by 61fury » Sun Jun 28, 2020 1:25 pm

Nice job with that bridge, glad it worked out for you. Do you have pics of the headstock?

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Re: Teh Kurdtz: modding the heck out of a Bullet Mustang.

Post by s_mcsleazy » Sun Jun 28, 2020 2:05 pm

kinda reminds me of one of my bullet mustangs
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Re: Teh Kurdtz: modding the heck out of a Bullet Mustang.

Post by AWSchmit » Mon Jun 29, 2020 5:51 am

61fury wrote:
Sun Jun 28, 2020 1:25 pm
Nice job with that bridge, glad it worked out for you. Do you have pics of the headstock?
Not specifically of mine, but it looks like every other stock Bullet Squire:
Image
Mine has the small Mustang logo instead of the large style that was shown in the stock photo on MF.
I finally finish building a guitar, go to play it, and then remember, "oh yeah, that's right. I suck at playing... Why did I build another guitar again?"

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Re: Teh Kurdtz: modding the heck out of a Bullet Mustang.

Post by AWSchmit » Wed Jul 22, 2020 6:03 am

Got my neck from Warmoth yesterday!

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The pictures above make the neck seem a little lighter than it really is. But this one shows the true color pretty well.

Image
I finally finish building a guitar, go to play it, and then remember, "oh yeah, that's right. I suck at playing... Why did I build another guitar again?"

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Re: Teh Kurdtz: modding the heck out of a Bullet Mustang.

Post by guitalias » Wed Jul 22, 2020 6:23 am

Is it a direct fit in the SB Mustang neck pocket? Or do you have to adjust the size of the neck pocket?

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Re: Teh Kurdtz: modding the heck out of a Bullet Mustang.

Post by AWSchmit » Wed Jul 22, 2020 6:37 am

guitalias wrote:
Wed Jul 22, 2020 6:23 am
Is it a direct fit in the SB Mustang neck pocket? Or do you have to adjust the size of the neck pocket?
Haven't tested it yet. Might require some adjustment. But that's ok... I'll try to remember to report back once I have tested it.
I finally finish building a guitar, go to play it, and then remember, "oh yeah, that's right. I suck at playing... Why did I build another guitar again?"

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Re: Teh Kurdtz: modding the heck out of a Bullet Mustang.

Post by guitalias » Wed Jul 22, 2020 12:41 pm

AWSchmit wrote:
Wed Jul 22, 2020 6:37 am
guitalias wrote:
Wed Jul 22, 2020 6:23 am
Is it a direct fit in the SB Mustang neck pocket? Or do you have to adjust the size of the neck pocket?
Haven't tested it yet. Might require some adjustment. But that's ok... I'll try to remember to report back once I have tested it.
Cool. I'm curious to see if you'll need to router more out from the neck pocket or fill/pack out/shim the neck pocket.

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Re: Teh Kurdtz: modding the heck out of a Bullet Mustang.

Post by AWSchmit » Wed Jul 29, 2020 11:55 am

Decal applied, lacquer applied to the face of the headstock, and first coat of oil applied to the fretboard...

Image

In hindsight, had I known my particular neck would have came out this dark, I would have ordered cream dots but that's ok. The black ones will work just fine.
I finally finish building a guitar, go to play it, and then remember, "oh yeah, that's right. I suck at playing... Why did I build another guitar again?"

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