LPB Super-Stang? Why yes, I'll have twelve*

Talk about modding or building your own guitar from scratch.
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HarlowTheFish
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LPB Super-Stang? Why yes, I'll have twelve*

Post by HarlowTheFish » Fri Jun 18, 2021 6:24 pm

*eventually, one for every genre I play ;D

For now, this is #1:

Image

Alder body, roasted maple neck/fretboard (with a tiltback headstock, so no string trees)
25.5" scale length, JM/S/JM pickups, with a superswitch on the lower horn, volume, tone, and bass rolloff
AmPro bridge and AVRI trem

Needs pickups (the Brandonwound noiseless JM set with either a Dimarzio or Wilde noiseless S in the middle), tuners (Hipshot open-gear locking tuners, because they look sweet and feel great), and a nut (probably Graphtech to help with tuning).

Image

I've had the body since like February, but I got the neck from BestGuitarParts and they were super backordered, so it took almost 6 months to get the neck (feels incredible -- it's the sameish thickness on the back as my Vintera 'Stang, but with their asymmetric profile, so the meat is where I put my thumb a bit north of the center, and it's super slim on the treble side). Today I finally worked up the nerve to start drilling holes, and after some very scary moments, I managed to get every part I have on hand screwed down and this thing feels like an absolute unit: not heavy, probably around 7.5lbs-ish, but super dense, and (at least for now, without tuners or pickups) because I offset the bottom strap button, incredibly well-balanced.

Best part is, because the headstock is a tiny bit shorter than a regular Fender one and the bottom strap button doesn't poke out, being off to the bass side, it fits in the Fender short-scale case!

Image

Unless there's anything entirely unexpected that completely screws over my finances, I should be closing this one up for good about this time next month.

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marqueemoon
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Re: LPB Super-Stang? Why yes, I'll have twelve*

Post by marqueemoon » Fri Jun 18, 2021 6:34 pm

That’s pretty sweet. Kind of Deimel looking with the reverse headstock.

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HarlowTheFish
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Re: LPB Super-Stang? Why yes, I'll have twelve*

Post by HarlowTheFish » Fri Jun 18, 2021 6:48 pm

marqueemoon wrote:
Fri Jun 18, 2021 6:34 pm
That’s pretty sweet. Kind of Deimel looking with the reverse headstock.
Honestly, the saga that led to me wanting a JM, getting a Mustang, and planning this build started with seeing a Deimel, so that seems extremely appropriate.

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CROSS_guitars
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Re: LPB Super-Stang? Why yes, I'll have twelve*

Post by CROSS_guitars » Fri Jun 18, 2021 7:19 pm

This has got me thinking about building a full scale Cyclone with Jag tremolo. hmm.
Nice Colour!

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HarlowTheFish
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Re: LPB Super-Stang? Why yes, I'll have twelve*

Post by HarlowTheFish » Fri Jun 18, 2021 8:51 pm

CROSS_guitars wrote:
Fri Jun 18, 2021 7:19 pm
This has got me thinking about building a full scale Cyclone with Jag tremolo. hmm.
Nice Colour!
do it I dare you


Update after an hour of soldering: literally just need to drop in pickups, everything else is wired in electronics-wise.

And I only burnt to a literal crisp once! Pretty small bump to the fingers, it'll heal in a couple of days.

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HarlowTheFish
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Re: LPB Super-Stang? Why yes, I'll have twelve*

Post by HarlowTheFish » Mon Jun 28, 2021 8:31 am

Okay, got some Hipshots in and installed them -- but there was, quite literally, a catch:

The holes had shrunk a tiny bit since the neck was made and I had to enlarge them, but because I done fucked up and bought the cheapest 13/32" bit on Amazon, I had some nasty tearout around the tuner holes. It's fine, you can barely see them under the tuner mounts, but I guess I'm keeping the UMP plate on.

Pickups ordered too, the Brandonwound set for the neck and bridge, and a Wilde 280S for the middle. Should be here soonish, along with the nut (went with brass for now, but might swap to a Graphtech or PRS nut later if the trem gives me issues).

Couple weeks left, I think, then I'm all done.

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Re: LPB Super-Stang? Why yes, I'll have twelve*

Post by Flurko » Mon Jun 28, 2021 9:23 am

This is going to be really cool!
You didn't want to go with a mustang control plate?

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HarlowTheFish
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Re: LPB Super-Stang? Why yes, I'll have twelve*

Post by HarlowTheFish » Mon Jun 28, 2021 10:40 am

Flurko wrote:
Mon Jun 28, 2021 9:23 am
This is going to be really cool!
You didn't want to go with a mustang control plate?
Partly due to routing (the body doesn't have the little bit of wood at the top of the plate) and partly because the routing for the pickups is pretty generous. The guy who made the body and pickguard sent me a template, so if I feel like it, I can add a quick-connect ground and hot to the jack and swap pickguards with a bunch of different pickup options.

I think the plate would have been my first choice initially, but when I was doing some work on my Fender 'Stang I overlaid the control plate just to see how it would look, and it ends up looking a bit busy -- this turned out a lot more clean and high-performance looking, kinda like the JEMs that inspired it.

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Re: LPB Super-Stang? Why yes, I'll have twelve*

Post by jonnyrocket » Thu Jul 08, 2021 9:28 am

Let us know how you like the Brandonwound pickups when you try them!

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HarlowTheFish
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Re: LPB Super-Stang? Why yes, I'll have twelve*

Post by HarlowTheFish » Thu Jul 08, 2021 10:46 am

jonnyrocket wrote:
Thu Jul 08, 2021 9:28 am
Let us know how you like the Brandonwound pickups when you try them!
Will do! I got them in a couple days ago, so now I'm waiting for the Wilde L280S, mounting screws, and foam, then I can wire it up.

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Re: LPB Super-Stang? Why yes, I'll have twelve*

Post by HarlowTheFish » Tue Jul 13, 2021 10:30 pm

Okay, it's all wired* and strung up.

*no amp, so I can't check until I'm back home this weekend

No pics until probably Saturday or Sunday because I feel like it's bad vibes to be like "yay I finished the thing" without actually checking if it's all working, but from just unplugged noodling, it's sounding and feeling really good so far, and still needs a good bit of setup work. Gotta bring the nut down and (probably) redo the corners of the trem rout because it's pretty sticky back there, but for basically just hurriedly slapping the last bits on, I'm mighty impressed. Major props to BestGuitarParts for the neck, I got roasted maple with the carbon rods and trying to do neck bends is like trying to push over a big-ass tree -- just what I wanted, and pairs really well with the more airy harmonicky goodness of the JM trem/bridge setup.

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