i have a black japanese strat with a washburn tremolo etc that I want to strip down and rebuild the wiring. I think im going to go with a cream pickguard and two lace alumitone chrome humbuckers rather than three single coils. anyone have any long term experience with these? ive played them and love the sound and the look, but id like to hear from the more experienced of you out there

[img][389:500]http://www.harmony-central.com/ProductImages/Large/000022941.jpg[/img]

ill probably go with cream pickguard and silver chrome pickups though. regardless of color

also, the body has apparently been drilled so that this tremolo can fit on it, it is longer than a standard bridge andtheres the oval region that appears to be factory cutaway under the top edge. if I put a standard bridge on it, how much of a pain will it be to patch any holes? im sure painting/lacquering will be a pain so are there alternative cosmetic things to do to fill those holes at the back end?

oh man.


If there's a giant cavity for a tremolo already routed, you're fucked. Whatever trem fits that cutout, you're pretty much gonna have to use. All the wood you would've bolted a simple bridge into is now gone. So that's your bridge, pretty much. Hope it's in decent shape. You *could* patch the whole shit up once it's stripped, but it will be difficult, it will have some gaps no matter how careful you are, it won't be as stable as you need it to be to hold the string tension, and it'll kinda kill the sustain a little. A bolt-on bridge transfers a lot of virbation into the body via the mounting screws, and it handles all the torque, so bolting onto a wood patch will be kinda shitty. Use the trem that fits it, or find another body, pretty much. The wierd black tremelo will become part of the guitar's charm, or something like that.

Assuming the guitar came with 3 singles, you probably don't have 2 hum slots routed @ neck and bridge. Sometimes they did do that so 1 route plan would work for all pickup configs, but not often. If not, then you're gonna have to route out the 2 slots wider to fit those lace's, but that's relatively easy.

Those pickups, I don't know them but I'm intrigued. Make sure you route the p/u cavities deep enough to back them away from the strings far enough, should you need to. The wiring will be easy as hell, the way it's pictured.

http://gallery.me.com/henson#100250/photo1239981442629


keep trying to upload this image, but cant . just click the link. i think its routed for a standard bridge actually and this one is just mounted on top of the body. not sure though

Hmmm... it's hard to say. Is that the actual guitar? Because it has a humbucker in the bridge slot now.

The oval-shaped route you see peeking out from the side of it near the front edge looks like the standard fender term route, to me. So if you were really lucky, and so desired, maybe there's a chance you could put a fender trem back on it. But at this point, I'm not sure why. That looks like a solid trem, so if it's gonna have one (and it will), then why not a unique black one to go with your unique pickups?


ie, do you really want / need to replace it, and why?

What I did with my Jap-built Strat, was simply have the trem blocked. Essentially, you find (or cut) a piece of wood, to shove into the back cavity like a shim, and it holds the thing in-place.

Here's a link:
http://www.fretnotguitarrepair.com/blocktremolo.htm

So, installing a decent trem that fits into that hole seems like the easiest, most-logical, and most-effective solution if you want a fixed bridge. Worked well for me. I don't have tuning problems, pretty much ever.

Plus, if you decide at some point to be a whammy master, you can always un-block it and go to town!

at this point its aesthetic. i hate that tremolo and i hate the empty spot peeking out...im also not crazy about black on black

Nothing's impossible. You could certainly strip everything down, fill in gaps, re-drill for a new bolt-on, route cavities if needed, refinish, and rebuild it.

but

That is a LOT of work, speaking as someone who's done it. That finish ain't coming off without a fight. The wood beneath it isn't going to be beautiful - probably poplar or alder - so you'll probably want a solid color again anyway. Your paint job won't be as flat and smooth as the factory, much less your finish job. Won't be as durable either. UV-cured poly-based finishes are bullet-proof, and you don't have the equipment to do that, I wouldn't guess.


None of these things are reasons to NOT do it, but you should know everything going in. Same project done with a guitar body you already like (good bridge, good color) but maybe routing for new pickups... easy. That's a weekend. All the above? At least a month. Just know what you're getting into, sha-know?

As long as you are using a pickguard you can just do a "swimming pool" rout and be fine.

I don't know much about the Alumitone's but I REALLY want a Lindy Fralin either Unbucker or Humbucker in the bridge of my Strat. With coil splitting.

Also, I LOVE this guy's site:http://www.guitar-mod.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=PSA

He's got a lot's of shit. I think I'm going to use one of his PRS-style harnesses for the next build I do. (for one of the guy's I play with). All that coil splitting with only two knobs and a three way toggle is perfect.

Yeah, at that point I'd just buy a new body from USACG or Warmoth from their "Gallery" sections...you can get a Strat body for less than 150.

I got my hands on a jap strat too, an 80's model, all black, with humbuckers. Haven't seen it yet, it's waiting for me in Madison next time I visit. I may replace the pickups and pots-n-knobs for functionality's sake, but really that's it. Stripping and sanding is a BITCH.

yeah im really only worried about the bridge. ill be replacing the pickguard and pickups which will be around $220 and the bridge will be $30-50 or so and Ill fancy it up a little more...this is just for fun, I just really dont like the looks of the guitar, but it was a gift, so Im trying to make it more appealing

i guess i could also just get a stock body and keep the neck, which is really worn in nicely

that factory in japan did amazing work.

http://www.me.com/ro/henson/Galleries/100250/photo1240279717561/web.jpg

this is what is underneath, i felt pretty certain that bridge was just laid on top and it was, just two additional holes drilled into the top. i could cover those up if i went with a traditional strat bridge and from the looks of the body, there is room to hold two humbuckers or to go with the traditional three single coil look

I have an early nineties FujiGen SQUIER strat that sounds and plays waaaaay better than my late 90s non-FujiGen Jap strat, and it's technically worth half the price.

Are you talking about this picture, Pat? Your link up there is broken.

[img][375:500]http://gallery.me.com/henson/100250/photo1240279717561/web.jpg[/img]

Pardon my ignorance but if that thing had a trem on it, shouldn't it be routed all the way through?

At any rate, you probably know this but Warmoth has a pretty good thing going with regards to configuring your own pickguard to cover that mess up.

I can't make heads or tails of that route. If the strings aren't through the body, then it could just be a top-route, yeah, but, is there enough room for the trem to be floored? And where are the tension springs? There should be 2, coming from the backside of the trem down low...

Look up "Kahler flat mount tremolo"

So the japanese were using Kahlers? That's my confusion... I'm picturing a strat trem in there, and it's wonky.

I'm not sure exactly what they were using but it looks to be the closest, rout wise to what Patrick has there on his guitar.

Yeah I guess so. My old japanese snot-yellow tele used a non-fender bridge, come to think of it, and gotoh tuners. I had forgotten that. I still have the pickups that came out of it. I wonder if they were any good?

my tremolo was a washburn wonderbar mounted on the top without tension springs or any blocking mechanism. im pretty sure this guitar had a standard strat bridge at one point and this was added after market, and yes the strings are through the top

and i guess i could just put it back on after i replace the pickguard and pickups, i was just going to try and put a standard strat bridge or some variation, but those two holes in the back need to be covered

Whammy bar