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Hot Rod Strat

- Rated: 7 ↑
Oct 8, 2008 9:39 a.m. built4speed:

I thought I'd post this here for a laugh. I was wanting a beater guitar to leave in the living room to noodle with when I can't go to the basement to practice or even just to be able to play some music for my son; something that I didn't care about getting knocked around. After some debate, I decided to revamp my first guitar, a Cort strat copy that I recently got back from my brother. My modus operandi was "the cheaper the better", as it's just a beater, and I've already spent enough $$ on guitars this year. Since this would be my first ever attempt at wiring a guitar together, coupled with the fact that I've been intrigued by the Setzer Hot Rods and their barebones wiring as of late, I decided to keep it simple and go for hot rod wiring. Taking it one step further, I decided to go with just one pickup, in the neck position, making it cheaper, even easier to wire together, and a bit unique, as I don't see many solid-bodies out there with a single pickup at the neck. I also usually prefer the neck pickup to the bridge on most of my guitars, so this would suit my tone tastes as well. Since I've never had a guitar with a mini-humbucker before, I decided that's what I'd install into this plank.

All this meant custom pickguard, so I decided to have some fun with it. After some brainstorming, I decided to run with the hot rod theme and put a racing stripe and some funky hot rod lettering on the guard, to go with the chrome pup and knob.

So, here's the results. I'm not entirely sure the pickguard suits the sunburst of the guitar, but who cares. It looks not too bad for a living room decoration. It's simple and functional, ready to rock; built for speed I guess you could say :) Total cost: $32 in parts and a few late nights. It's not my best work for a pickguard, but I didn't want to bust my ass working on a beater. I finished it late last night, so I didn't have a chance to put the pickup through the paces, but I was able to strum a few chords through my amp and verify my wiring job worked. I thought it would be good for a morning chuckle around here, so enjoy (or not).
- Rated: 53 ↑
Oct 8, 2008 10:38 a.m. Ratrod:

I like your thinking. It's cool.

The only thing I would have done different is move the pickup to the bridge and the (knuckle busting) volume knob a bit further back.

Did you block the trem as well?
- Rated: 13 ↑
Oct 8, 2008 10:44 a.m. Catdaddy1967:

Looks good to me! I bet it sounds great as well!
- Rated: 6 ↑
Oct 8, 2008 10:48 a.m. Brandon02:

Looks cool. I like that pickguard.
- Rated: 6 ↑
Oct 8, 2008 10:49 a.m. Brandon02:

This post has been deleted
- Rated: 41 ↑
Oct 8, 2008 11:57 a.m. dubkitty:

I like it. perhaps a little judicious sanding around the edges? and it'd really look nice with the headstock stained/oversprayed to match the brown in the sunburst.
- Rated: 7 ↑
Oct 8, 2008 12:04 p.m. built4speed:

Thanks guys. The knob placement was actually quite arbitrary; I put the knob down, adjusted it til it looked right and drilled the hole. I didn't really give much thought to placement vs. bruised knuckles/fingers, so time will tell on that. As a bonus though, it's at a very convenient location for quick volume swells. I don't even have to move my hand off the bridge.

As I said, I really didn't get a chance to get a feel for the tone from the pickup, as I had the volume down pretty low. I'm looking forward to putting it through it's paces tonight. It's obviously going to be a bit limited in its capabilities, but it'll do.

Now I just want to pick up one of the Danelectro Honeytone amps to run it through and it'll be ready to take up space in our living room.
- Rated: 7 ↑
Oct 8, 2008 12:15 p.m. built4speed:

dubkitty, do mean sand around the edges of the body? I kinda like the idea of spraying the headstock, it stands out like a sore thumb at the moment. Maybe something to do on the weekend.
- Rated: 102 ↑
Oct 8, 2008 2:46 p.m. Setzer:

I kind of like it but would have left off the stripes. They just don't go with anything on the guitar. They look like they follow the outside strings but don't center the pickup or the bridge...looks off or odd to me. I see to many graphics anyway being in the sign bus so I get sick of 'em quickly I guess. I like the Burns style Wild dog knob. Nice job on the guard for a quicky! It's not easy is it?

Here is what I did to my 60's Duo Sonic when I was searching for a stock vintage pickup for it:

I made a clear plexi guard for it and installed the pickup without a cover in the neck postion.

I use my MS-2 Mini Marshall all the time setting on the couch noodlin' around while watching TV or taking a break from work.
- Rated: 41 ↑
Oct 8, 2008 2:49 p.m. dubkitty:

no, i meant around the edges of the guard to even it out a tad.
- Rated: 7 ↑
Oct 8, 2008 3:19 p.m. built4speed:

Thanks Setzer, I know what you mean about the stripes, I noticed the centering problem as soon as I strung it up. I threw the design together by drawing over a pic of a standalone pickguard, so it didn't really take into account the rest of the guitar. I was concerned with how well it would tie into the body when all was said and done, but I liked the design enough on it's own to go ahead with it anyway. My attitude throughout was "that's good enough". I'm usually more of a stickler for details and spend a lot more time on getting the details right, (especially sanding the edges, dubkitty, I thought that's maybe what you meant) but in this case I just wanted to bang something out without spending too much time on it. I sanded the edges but didn't work too hard at getting it perfect (obviously). It's definitely not easy. This is my third guard now, and it's definitely more work doing a strat guard like this, even without being a stickler about it. The guard for my 5129 was a breeze in comparison.

I'll have to check out those pics when I get home Setzer. They're being blocked at work right now, unfortunately.
- Rated: 19 ↑
Oct 8, 2008 9:16 p.m. The Shetland:

my beater project looks 100 times worse than that! I will post some pics once it's done, but you've done well.

I think a different finish and that pickguard would be hot, maybe a silver or even just black.

i stripped off all the poly and went down to the wood for my project and after a few differnt stains and coats I think it should'nt be too hard if you want to get into that sort of modding...it just takes time and patience...Setzer, i can't imagine how much time you must have spent on the shop honing your skills, because all your work is great! I'm almost embarassed to show the stuff I've been working on...but i will and you may have a good laugh...

anyway, good job built4speed!
- Rated: 102 ↑
Oct 8, 2008 10:53 p.m. Setzer:

Hey Shet thanks but as many as I have gotten to look halfway decent there where just as many that where reduced to scrap. Along with burnt finger tips from soldering.
- Rated: 3 ↑
Oct 9, 2008 1:42 a.m. awfurby:

I actually think you're on the right track with that - I like the stripe, the pickup size and placement. Maybe the volume knob is a little large but the style seems right. The only thing I don't like at all is the Cort headstock.

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