Dub's Wacky Project Guitars Thread--we're baaaaaack

[dubkitty]

i would do more Electromatic Jets if i didn’t have other guitars with the pickups that would fit them…i already have hot and cold running P-90s, Firebird pickups, and Guild mini-hums and am sorted for Filtertrons and Dynasonics. i suppose i could do one with HiLoTrons but i’m not into them despite loving the Jesus and Mary Chain. i really like the light weight and mostly-hollow construction but they’re not suited for everything. i wouldn’t want to do the amount of woodworking necessary to put PAF-sized humbuckers in one. i guess three Jets is enough.

[dubkitty]

i ordered a set of Spertzl locking mini tuners for the Tele neck. people on the Gretsch Pages were potty for Spertzl tuners because Brian Setzer used them and i’ve never seen them in real life. one more brand of tuners tried. i also got a Mad Cat-style speckled yellow/brown tortoise pickguard. i wanted a fire stripe guard like the Oriole, but apparently that material is near-unobtanium and this coordinates with the Sherwood Green better. once the body is available i’ll only need a control plate drilled for a toggle switch, a modern Tele bridge, the pickups and electronics, and a jack plate that mounts outside like god intended. fuck that jammed-into-the-hole business. oh, and strap buttons…i can use the ones from the batch of Epiphone Bonamassa 335 parts.

[dubkitty]

i decided to change things up a bit and polished the whole front of the Galaxiemaster body with Meguiars’ Ultimate. it’s visibly better than the untouched back, but still not fantastic. given the amount of improvement from one pass i’m hoping going over the whole thing twice will give me a pretty decent result. probably do a pass with the Turtle Wax compound after because it cuts less and presumably polishes more. if i really, really cared i’d sand it before polishing, but i’m afraid it would require more sanding than i’m willing to do to get a really smooth surface when i have multiple guitars with factory finishes with serious orange-peeling, e.g. the Double Jet and M-75. i feel good because polishing the whole thing out twice is a day’s work, maybe two if i give myself breaks. if i can get this sorted and the rest of the fingerboard sanded that’ll be a huge leap forward that would give me a husk that just needs to be populated once i do the mods necessary for the Hofner neck to work. once the neck’s on it’s a long, complicated process of filling in the blanks.

in other news i found and ordered a used 2025 Fender Player II Stratocaster in British Racing Green with a rosewood fingerboard for $529, best price i’ve seen by $120. it’ll get the CS 69 Strat pickups i already ordered and a Stellartone Tonestyler tone switch. i could have gotten under $500 if i was willing to take an Aquamarine one with finish damage and a factory-second serial number, but i wanted green and in good shape. so that’s a huge part of the Want List on its way to being done. when i get the Telecaster body that’ll leap ahead because the pickups are less than $300 and the hardware is cheap as chips. i even have a neck plate waiting.

if i can squeeze in any other guitar stuff this weekend it’ll be painting the Jetstar bits. i’m hopeful that one more round will, if not get everything marvelous, at least get it good enough that i can declare victory and withdraw. here’s hoping.

i need to get the living room and coffee table cleaned up better before i do the wood work on the Double Jet. still waiting on the Firebird pickups for the M-77T, and the Bigsby pickups for the Supro aren’t supposed to be ready for another month.