The three bodies are now waiting for hardware and final adjustments. The stratesque body was all but finalized today, and if I don’t look too close, I’m very happy with it. It is a prototype – the first one I make of this kind – and my first attempt at spraying a solid color and has quite a few mistakes on it. A fun detail is that I have been able to re-use modified original Strat parts for pickguard, spring cover and output jack. The picture shows a Strat neck mounted as well, but I will probably use a different neck later...
Learn MoreI am at the point where I am assembling the electronics of the two hollow-bodies. The wenge top guitar will have a 5-position lever switch and the maple top guitar will have a 6-position rotary switch. I came up with the above schematic for the 6-position switch, giving me the following selections: neck neck with treble cut (adjustable through hidden pot) neck + bridge parallel neck + bridge parallel out of phase bridge with treble cut bridge The journey here has passed through several steps over the past couple of weeks. Here, the alder solidbody is hanging to dry with the wenge top. I had to order new binding for the maple top, so it was a little delayed. After binding, it too was oiled. Here is a detail of the grounding of the bridges: And a detail shot of the recessed bridge plates: I have verified correct alignment and action of the three necks on each of the bodies. And shielded control cavities: Now I’m waiting for new bridges before final assembly. I still haven’t finished and fretted the new maple/carbon fiber neck, so there is some work remaining there as...
Learn MoreIn case you haven’t actually visited the Strandberg Guitarworks site in a while, you will have missed the huge banner announcing that we are exhibiting at Fuzz Guitar Show in Gothenburg May 8-9. This is the largest guitar centered trade show in the nordic countries and attracts attention from all over the world. The 2009 show had nearly 100 exhibitors but this year is the first for Strandberg Guitarworks. We will be exhibiting the four EGS guitar prototypes and new hardware. If you are planning on visiting, you can also look out for special offers on EGS bridges and an announcement or two! I hope to see you...
Learn MoreI have been doing the final routing jobs on the three bodies. Here, I am creating the recesses for the individual bridges/tuners. I create the radius by adjusting the depth of the recesses, although it is possible to flat-mount the tuners as well, with or without a recess. Next, the pickup cavities were routed with a template router bit. Since the Alumitones have sharp corners, I then used a Dremel to adjust the corners. I make it a point to create routing templates for everything I do – fancy or crude. Here, are the control cavity cover and recess templates. The recess has been routed. I stuck two pieces of plastic on the other template using double-sided tape and shaped them roughly on my Robosander, and then finished them by hand. Meanwhile, I have been sanding the alder body and finished the routing of it as well. Next is...
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