My Favorite Vintage P/U

[big_teee]

Left hand Paddy's
I'm a south paw as well but I play right handed
Right handed Scissors is what I struggle with

I never could master a right hand guitar.
I do use right hand scissors, however.
I tried mounting the strat bridge upside down the Jimi Stagger, and I liked it.
T

[Ward]

Very Nice.
Here's something Else You Could try.
A left tele with a right hand bridge stagger.
I like the treble farther from the bridge, and the bass closer to the bridge, at times.
How about you?
You could use a ready made right hand bridge plate that way.
That would give you another Project?
T

Thanks guys, like this below, I have a couple of strats with the bridge angle reversed, I much prefer the stock angle in both though, the bridge pickup in the Thineline sounds so good I'm thinking of taking out the 2 x P-90s in my solid alder Tele n going for the stock Tele bridge again but of course I'd need to make another of these thick bridge plates, they make a bit of difference in the tone I can tell you, I have an old Duncan pickup I can rewind to my spec, actually before I wound these pickups with the PE I had them done in Formvar n I reckon that's what I'd do the Duncan in if I decided to redo the other Tele.
Loath that everyone here is to post their "secret" specs n such, I don't give a hoot about that so I'll tell you I wind the mid and neck with a TPL of 200 for max twang and bite but the bridge only 100 to 120. I can't believe I said that.

[big_teee]

Ward, Could we coax you to tell more about how you make the tele bridge Plate.
Like how do you curl the back edge?
T

[Ward]

Ward, Could we coax you to tell more about how you make the tele bridge Plate.
Like how do you curl the back edge?
T

Sure mate, these things are a labor of love but if you have plenty of time and enjoy the fact that YOU made something instead of handing over your hard earned for something everyone else has and or you can actually improve upon it as well then I think it's well worth it. It is a lot of work though and like anything else, you do get quicker and better at it the more you do it. So this is how you get the curve for the back bit, you simple have to put in the elbow grease and cut out your piece with whatever you've got which in my case in a hack saw which is fitting seeing as I'm such a hack, I actually cut the top bit out with an angle grinder, some kind of metal drop saw would be the go of course but I don't have one so I guess there has to be more build satisfaction at the end when you put in the muscle to do it all with hand tools.
The hole for the pickup is not actually the hardest part IMO, it's all the hack saw work that takes the effort. The hole is marked out with a scriber of some sort and then with the drill press and a 1/4'' bit I drill holes all the way around the hole making sure you don't drill too close to the hole edge, maybe 1/16'' and the holes need to be real close to each other, again maybe 1/16''. Once all the way around I screw the plate to a piece of ply wood through the countersunk mounting holes with the plate hanging over the edge of the wood, clamp the wood to the drill press table so I can use a metal blade in a jig saw to cut between the holes so the middle section falls out. From there it's just a case of filing, you need a flat file, a half round 1/2'' wide file and a round file about 3/8'' wide. Fine grade is best although a course flat one to strat off with is useful then go to the fine. Filing out the hole isn't really that hard, put the plate in the vice, grab a stool of the correct height and off you go. You need to be careful on the curvy ends not to hack it out of shape.
Once again we have to drill holes in a straight line, just with the wood tops it's quite an art to do the 6 holes for the saddle adjuster screws but even if you don't get it exact it's not a big deal where they are.
If you like I can post progress pics of the next Tele bridge build, might even start that today as it's now winter over here n there's nothing like a good 1/2 hours hack sawing to warm a fellow up.
In the pics you can see the rotten bits of square tubing that I have in the shed, I used the heavier of the two for the Tele bridge coz more steel is never enough. So you don't need to bend the rear side, it's already done for you.
Just a safety tip if I may, when hack sawing I always were leather protective gloves these days, I don't know how many vices I've punched with my fist as a result of the hack saw blade breaking, so with the gloves on you never break a blade again LOL but if you do it's not so painful.
Cheers. Nic.

[big_teee]

Ward, what is the dimensions of the box channel, before you start?
I may have to give that a try, if I get energetic and a sharp hack saw.
Maybe could adapt a power tool to some of it.
Thanks,
B_T

[Ward]

Ward, what is the dimensions of the box channel, before you start?
I may have to give that a try, if I get energetic and a sharp hack saw.
Maybe could adapt a power tool to some of it.
Thanks,
B_T

Width is 100 mil but if I was to buy some of this I would get at least 10mil wider so I could make the bridge deep enough to use strat bent steel saddles, as it is with the 100mil you don't have enough room and have to use those mongrel barrel saddles. If I was to go to a steel place I reckon while I was there I'd get them to cut me a piece or two n save the hack sawing and yes, do use a new 24 tooth blade, get 3 in case you punch the vice brfff.
Right now I've got the new plate cut out and drilled a few holes, next is to do the pickup hole, I'll post pics later. I remember you have a small drill press, you're gonna need it. If you do go ahead and build one plan it out first with whatever saddles you're gonna use, remember, measure twice, cut once. You can make it as long as you want, of course you'll have to make a custom pickguard to fit.

[Ward]

blare

[rjb]

I never could master a right hand guitar.

Don't feel bad.
I'm right-handed, and I never mastered right hand guitar, either.
-rb

[gripweed]

That's kind of what I figured.
We may have to do a thread on Magnets some day.
We could all photo all the different Mags we have and Post pictures.
I Have a lot of different kinds, and types.
I know you guys probably do To.
T

I, for one, would like that very much!

[Stratz]

Thanks guys, like this below, I have a couple of strats with the bridge angle reversed, I much prefer the stock angle in both

Really beautiful work Ward. Very nice!

I'm a lefty and played righty Strats flipped over for ages and never really heard much of a difference with the bridge pickup angle. The reverse headstock on the other hand definitely changes the sound of the bass strings.

I eventually swapped all of my right handed body's for lefty's but kept the right handed necks because I had all of them cut down to a compound radius with huge frets installed.

Heres a pic of most of the lefty's along with my test Strat.
I remove 3 screws, unplug the bridge ground and slide the loaded pick guard out in less than 60 seconds

[Ward]

Really beautiful work Ward. Very nice!

I'm a lefty and played righty Strats flipped over for ages and never really heard much of a difference with the bridge pickup angle. The reverse headstock on the other hand definitely changes the sound of the bass strings.

I eventually swapped all of my right handed body's for lefty's but kept the right handed necks because I had all of them cut down to a compound radius with huge frets installed.

Heres a pic of most of the lefty's along with my test Strat.
I remove 3 screws, unplug the bridge ground and slide the loaded pick guard out in less than 60 seconds

[ATTACH=CONFIG]18859[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]18860[/ATTACH]

Thanks Stratz, great to see another lefty here n I love to see more strats, the guitar you have to play, funny how those mongrel righties keep quiet when there's a lefty or two around. I could never get into the righty necks, something funny with my wrist, something used to click when I'd turn the tuners and it would really hurt so that was that, also I feel somewhat aggrieved living in a righty world and so if it's at all possible I'll have nothing to do with anything that's right handed if I can get it in lefty and even then if not I try to make it myself. Being lefty has forced me to be creative in ways I'd never have gone near if I was a righty.
Here's some more porn for the lefties. This has the bridge I made the other day. For anyone who's ever played a Tele you might appreciate that I've moved the volume pot a little away from the switch so now I can actually get a finger in there to hit the lever, the knob hides the old hole. Also the neck has micro tilt so I can adjust the strat bent steel saddles right up for no palm gouging and adjust the tilt of the neck accordingly.

[big_teee]

Really beautiful work Ward. Very nice!

I'm a lefty and played righty Strats flipped over for ages and never really heard much of a difference with the bridge pickup angle. The reverse headstock on the other hand definitely changes the sound of the bass strings.

I eventually swapped all of my right handed body's for lefty's but kept the right handed necks because I had all of them cut down to a compound radius with huge frets installed.

Heres a pic of most of the lefty's along with my test Strat.
I remove 3 screws, unplug the bridge ground and slide the loaded pick guard out in less than 60 seconds

[ATTACH=CONFIG]18859[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]18860[/ATTACH]

Hey Stratz:
Anyway We could get more pictures of the top of the test guitar body Minus the Pick Guard?
Neat test Ax.
I like the way you removed the other tone control and added the jack to the pick guard.
T

[Stratz]

Hey Stratz:
Anyway We could get more pictures of the top of the test guitar body Minus the Pick Guard?
Neat test Ax.
I like the way you removed the other tone control and added the jack to the pick guard.
T

No problem Terry. I (obviously) installed the jack in the pick guard so there would be one less connection to deal with. Plus the master tone is a nice feature.
The pick guards are trimmed to slide in as well.

I have three pick guards for the guitar. S/S/S, H/S/S, and H/S/H.
The guitar does have a more acoustic sound to it because of the routing but it still works great. It's kind of like getting used to using different studio monitors.

While the tone may not be true to how the pickups will sound when installed in a normal guitar I can certainly get a very good idea of the qualities of the pickups. It actually works very well.

I was just looking at the numbers on the back of the pickups in the attached picture. Keep in mind that I do sell some pickups but I also give a lot of pickups away and each new year starts over with #001 with an F, E, or P suffix (Formvar, Enamel or Poly). It looks like those were #005 F, #00? and #174 F all from 2012.
I just looked at my 2012 log book. The last winds were Strat single coil #202 and Humbucker #72.

I have a shelf half full of pickups in my shop but I keep on making them anyhow.
Maybe I'll have a tag sale

Please ignore the 1/2 lb of solder on the back of the volume pot. It's probably been soldered on about 20 times. Still works nice and smooth too.

If you want to get really creative you can do it right like in the picture of the blue test Strat

Rob.

[big_teee]

This is a good place to discuss that Illusive Neck Pickup tone that seems to have gotten popular all of a sudden.
I like a low wind, similar to the Duncan Seth Lover and Pearly Gates.
I like to keep them in the 7-7.3k range like the S.L, & P.G.
Nickel base plates, A2 Mags, shimmed up tight, and single build wire.
What do you like?
T

[Ward]

Here's a set of strat woodys, I have no idea what this wood is, I was gonna use rosewood to match the board but thought this stuff looked better. The guitar colour I call Peach Chiffon.