Post by musogreg on Jun 13, 2018 0:48:02 GMT -5
One of the beautiful things about the Stratocaster is that there is so much you can do without killing the character of the original guitar.
Current (June 2018) specs are:
• Fender 2 point System 1 tremolo,
• Roland GK3 midi kit
• EMG DG20 pickups with mid boost
• Boss FDR-1 effects fitted onboard
• relocated 5 way switch
• Master Volume and Tone controls
• Mid boost
• locking tuners
• neck realigned to body by 3 degrees (so headstock is further back)
• Strat style body outline re-shaped for comfort and upper fret access
• Body weight relieved
• Top outline ‘German carved’ and top reshaped
Once upon a time there was a piece of wood… rumoured to be Ash. But not Ash as we know it, Scotty! It was heavy! Even so the purchased body was used to learn the dark art of building an electric guitar.
Did I mention it was heavy? So a small amount of shaping and carving was called for. This was done to reduce weight and arrive at a satisfactory weight… err shape… err whatever!
I do like the Fender System 1 tremolos a lot, and I had a spare... so that can replace the original. And… I had just built my first neck from scratch so this was the obvious recipient!
It was still heavy! I need a router ! I’ve never used one before but it can’t be too hard surely!?
This guitar was originally made around 1998. Later, this body became my "mule" ie if I wanted to try something that required modification to a body, this was the guitar that go modded. Pickguard holes don't line up! No problem – drill more! Trying a new tremolo that needs some routing! No problem – rout away! This guitar has had too many pup changes, control set up changes and wiring mods to recall!
So around 2012 I had the urge for another midi guitar. Hmmmm… I already have a MIM Roland Ready and also one with an external midi kit, so this one had to be the internal kit. That means more routing which means… yep! less weight! And it had to use one of my favourite pickup sets ie the Langcaster low impedance pups with built in overdrive.
I've never had an orange guitar, so maybe... yes! And some more body shapping…
This iteration of "The Mule" became Orange Terror Mk1
As I needed to make a new pickguard I should probably try some changes? The bridge pickup is a bit ‘spiky’ so let’s try the pickup slanted the ‘wrong’ way like a Mosrite.
I always thought the pick up selector switch was at the 'wrong' angle... fixed.
I like a master volume and tone but in a slightly different location to ‘standard’... fixed!
I find leds that are in places that I can't see them without flipping the guitar up are useless... fixed!
The pickguard is too hard to take off to change wiring set up or to swap pups, etc but if I rout a little more out of the way... fixed!
At this point it wasn't meant to be reliced. The guy in the paint store said the clear coat would work fine with the Orange acrylic. Wrong!!! It turned the orange acrylic into plasticine. So it was sanded off.
I had re-shaped my neck a few times and I was pretty happy with it, but… I wanted an angle headstock. When I saw the Bunker ‘stress free’ Sustainium neck I thought (yep!) “why not try that”.
The chrome pickguard was actually my template (it was a large enough piece of acrylic that I found laying around) but I never got around to replacing it.
The 'video' buttons are the up/down controls for the midi - all the switches in Orange Terror Mk1 are on the mini pickguard/control plate are for the midi.
I got the location of the midi plug wrong… that needs to be changed! Fixed!
Bunker ‘sustainium’ neck
Headstock at 12 degree angle
Orange Terror Mk3 June 2018
Current (June 2018) specs are:
• Fender 2 point System 1 tremolo,
• Roland GK3 midi kit
• EMG DG20 pickups with mid boost
• Boss FDR-1 effects fitted onboard
• relocated 5 way switch
• Master Volume and Tone controls
• Mid boost
• locking tuners
• neck realigned to body by 3 degrees (so headstock is further back)
• Strat style body outline re-shaped for comfort and upper fret access
• Body weight relieved
• Top outline ‘German carved’ and top reshaped
Once upon a time there was a piece of wood… rumoured to be Ash. But not Ash as we know it, Scotty! It was heavy! Even so the purchased body was used to learn the dark art of building an electric guitar.
Did I mention it was heavy? So a small amount of shaping and carving was called for. This was done to reduce weight and arrive at a satisfactory weight… err shape… err whatever!
I do like the Fender System 1 tremolos a lot, and I had a spare... so that can replace the original. And… I had just built my first neck from scratch so this was the obvious recipient!
It was still heavy! I need a router ! I’ve never used one before but it can’t be too hard surely!?
This guitar was originally made around 1998. Later, this body became my "mule" ie if I wanted to try something that required modification to a body, this was the guitar that go modded. Pickguard holes don't line up! No problem – drill more! Trying a new tremolo that needs some routing! No problem – rout away! This guitar has had too many pup changes, control set up changes and wiring mods to recall!
So around 2012 I had the urge for another midi guitar. Hmmmm… I already have a MIM Roland Ready and also one with an external midi kit, so this one had to be the internal kit. That means more routing which means… yep! less weight! And it had to use one of my favourite pickup sets ie the Langcaster low impedance pups with built in overdrive.
I've never had an orange guitar, so maybe... yes! And some more body shapping…
This iteration of "The Mule" became Orange Terror Mk1
As I needed to make a new pickguard I should probably try some changes? The bridge pickup is a bit ‘spiky’ so let’s try the pickup slanted the ‘wrong’ way like a Mosrite.
I always thought the pick up selector switch was at the 'wrong' angle... fixed.
I like a master volume and tone but in a slightly different location to ‘standard’... fixed!
I find leds that are in places that I can't see them without flipping the guitar up are useless... fixed!
The pickguard is too hard to take off to change wiring set up or to swap pups, etc but if I rout a little more out of the way... fixed!
At this point it wasn't meant to be reliced. The guy in the paint store said the clear coat would work fine with the Orange acrylic. Wrong!!! It turned the orange acrylic into plasticine. So it was sanded off.
I had re-shaped my neck a few times and I was pretty happy with it, but… I wanted an angle headstock. When I saw the Bunker ‘stress free’ Sustainium neck I thought (yep!) “why not try that”.
The chrome pickguard was actually my template (it was a large enough piece of acrylic that I found laying around) but I never got around to replacing it.
The 'video' buttons are the up/down controls for the midi - all the switches in Orange Terror Mk1 are on the mini pickguard/control plate are for the midi.
I got the location of the midi plug wrong… that needs to be changed! Fixed!
Bunker ‘sustainium’ neck
Headstock at 12 degree angle
Orange Terror Mk3 June 2018