Whats on your work bench?

[BatUtilityBelt]

I will but was planning on putting these stock P100s in either an old AD-2300 or ...

I just consulted my AD-2300 and it approves your idea there!

[tobijohn]

I will but was planning on putting these stock P100s in either an old AD-2300 or ...

I just consulted my AD-2300 and it approves your idea there!
AD-2300 Profile.jpg

Yours is identical to the one I was cosidering

[redman]

I finally finished my SX Strat yesterday here's what all Ive done since I bought it, new Fender Tex-Mex pups CTS full sized pots, Switchcraft 5-way switch, rewired with Gravitt wire, Tusq XL nut and last IMO an awesome pickguard and trem spring cover. She sounds and plays great as with the Fender pups and the fact it was built with Alder and Maple same as Fender it is that true Strat tone and I love how it turned out. I have toyed with replacing the Trem or at least the block, so any recommendations on a replacement?

Here's a few pictures

[Partscaster]

I have toyed with replacing the Trem or at least the block, so any recommendations on a replacement?

Fender mexi "Vintage style" bridges that are 2-1/16th string spacing at bridge are fairly inexpensive and come with large pot-metal block.
And bent fender stamped saddles.

I dont know if SX strat will mean you have to enlarge the block cavity. I know on my SX Hawk p90 guitars I had to rout out block cavity to give full block ample swing room.

I like best 2-7/32 string spacing which is true vintage distance, not 2-1/16 "vintage style". Both mex versions sell cheap..
On Amazon for about 30$. Not like the Fender US bridges that are about 100+$.

The 2-7/32 ( or also called 2-3/16) bridge string spacing works best for me if I have a narrow-ish nut like 42mm max. If I go higher, like 43mm or more, I get string roll off on E and e strings. They get too close to neck edge, on up the neck. 2-1/16th is more common with import/mex and more allows for 43mm or wider nuts.

getting the right trem arm thread can become more harder than it needs to be. They often dont tell you which thread is right. Or they'll say 10/32 imperial thread size "will fit",...when 5mm for mexi might fit more precisely. Fender has too many loss ends with this topic, IMO.

[mozz]

You said about routing the cavity but you need to be sure the body is thick enough or the block will stick out the back.

[Partscaster]

You said about routing the cavity but you need to be sure the body is thick enough or the block will stick out the back.

Thats a good point. I never use tremolo spring cover plates so it hasnt been a problem I've noticed.
The hawks were 1-3/4 to boot. I think i moded up a lefty Squier Affinity where the new block may have been proud. It didnt bother me as I again didnt use a back cover plate. I sold it as I couldnt stand the high jack and control knobs locations.

[redman]

I've never been a big user of a tremolo just never cared much for them and this one like all the others I've had 1st thing I did was to block them. I thought I might put a decent one in this SX especially if I decide to sell it.

[jtcnj]

Indio Tele get Bootstrap Extra Crispy pickup set.
Kept the same strings to compare with stock.
Like them a lot.

[Rollin Hand]

FINALLY!

I cut and sanded...and sanded...and sanded...into shape (sorta) a back cover for my PartsKramer, aka Project Sustained Effort!

Yeah, I botched it a bit on the corner closest to the trem route. But with the copper tape on the back, hopefully the guitar will be a bit quieter in high gain (most of what I play involves gain) scenarios.

[redman]

I haven't done a set-up on my bass since before I moved into my apartment 5 years ago so I did a set-up on it this evening and took a few pictures. Now truth is I have after 5 years moved my work bench from my kitchen table to a 48" folding table for my bench and a little wooden table for a laptop
Anyway here's my bass and my new work space.

1/2 OF MY BENCH AND MY BASS

THIS IS THE OTHER 1/2

THE LAPTOP TABLE

[Rollin Hand]

Well, I thought I was in for a long period of grinding down pickup ears...

The pickup slots on my Watson Wolfgang copy have room for triangular ears on the pickups.

Buuuut, the ears on my Warman zebra pickups are square.

I was thinking about dragging out my B&D Wizard to grind down the ears, but then I looked at the baseplates. They are brass, and not very thick. So I dragged out my pliers, and....

Easy peasy! I sanded down the edges so I don't cut myself, and hopefully they will fit perfectly.

This took me a grand total of 2 minutes.

[jtcnj]

My beater bass. Yamaha RBX260.
Got it cheap. $35. cheap.
After cleaning it up, new strings, some setup and repair work (I had the pots on hand -stock pulls from past hasty upgrades) -and finding it has Dimarzio pickups - it is a good sounding and playing bass.

It's the only bass I have ever played, so there's that.

But the tuners really suck - low ratio and not smooth. Keep going flat to sharp, sharp to flat, trying to nudge it into tune.
Oddity - the stock tuner bushings are threaded on the inside (last pic).

Enter - Musiclily Pro tuners. Huge improvement for under $20.

[tobijohn]

Enter - Musiclily Pro tuners. Huge improvement for under $20.

I haven't tried their tuners but so far, everything else that I've ordered from them has been decent to really good quality. I'm about to order a bunch of brass shaft pots that look like the higher end Alphas that come in the Agile AL/AD-3xxx series guitars as well as toggle switchws and input jacks...

[mozz]

Are you ordering direct from their website, Amazon, Ali or elsewhere? The direct prices are crazy low, if you buy 5 pieces the prices are cut in half. Shipping wasn't too bad either.

[tobijohn]

Are you ordering direct from their website, Amazon, Ali or elsewhere? The direct prices are crazy low, if you buy 5 pieces the prices are cut in half. Shipping wasn't too bad either.

I was going to use Amazon but thanks for the tip, I'll check out their direct website...

[tobijohn]

...The direct prices are crazy low, if you buy 5 pieces the prices are cut in half. Shipping wasn't too bad either.

FYI: I checked just one of the items I'll be ordering (pack of 4 house brand brass shaft A500K pots) and they're $7.40 on the Musiclilly site and $10.50 on Amazon.

HOWEVER, they're migrating to a new site and for the time being, you can only order from Amazon or eBay...

[mozz]

Yes I saw that migration notice. I wish they had assorted strat pickguards. I looked at strat necks and if you order 5 with shipping it comes out to $46 a piece, not bad.

[jtcnj]

While shopping for the bass tuners, I grabbed stainless saddles for the Indio Tele.
They came with extra / longer screws too.
It was due for a string change anyway.

I don't know if it made much difference as the pickups are still new to me and I am still fiddling with the heights.
Really happy with the sound of this guitar.
The fretboard has some nice grain pattern to it too.

I've been playing mostly single coils the last month or so, and getting back to some surf tunes.

[honyock]

Just picked up a Silver Stripe Peavey Bandit 112 on the cheap. Needs a couple pots with broken shafts replaced, but even after than it was 1/2 as much as the cheapest for sale I've found.

Need to figure out who sells the tiny shaft pots and some knobs to match.

It sounds huge and yet weighs next to nothing. Just sold my Basic 112 Peavey bass amp of a similar vintage for twice what I paid.

2nd decent Shopgoodwill auction I've won thanks to the local pickup only clause.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

[tobijohn]

FYI: I checked just one of the items I'll be ordering (pack of 4 house brand brass shaft A500K pots) and they're $7.40 on the Musiclilly site and $10.50 on Amazon.

HOWEVER, they're migrating to a new site and for the time being, you can only order from Amazon or eBay...

FYI: I checked the pricing on eBay and the items i was going to order are all actually more expensive than Amazon. I don't know,, I would have thought the opposite. For example, those same A500K pots are $13.40 on eBay.

[bc rich]

Just picked up a Silver Stripe Peavey Bandit 112 on the cheap. Needs a couple pots with broken shafts replaced, but even after than it was 1/2 as much as the cheapest for sale I've found.

Need to figure out who sells the tiny shaft pots and some knobs to match.

It sounds huge and yet weighs next to nothing. Just sold my Basic 112 Peavey bass amp of a similar vintage for twice what I paid.

2nd decent Shopgoodwill auction I've won thanks to the local pickup only clause.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

Scored a few Peavey Bandits from Goodwill pickup only , a friend still gigs with one of them .
Some parts used by Peavey's could be common , here is a link to a recent amp parts post.
viewtopic.php?p=40092#p40092

[honyock]

Just picked up a Silver Stripe Peavey Bandit 112 on the cheap. Needs a couple pots with broken shafts replaced, but even after than it was 1/2 as much as the cheapest for sale I've found.

Need to figure out who sells the tiny shaft pots and some knobs to match.

It sounds huge and yet weighs next to nothing. Just sold my Basic 112 Peavey bass amp of a similar vintage for twice what I paid.

2nd decent Shopgoodwill auction I've won thanks to the local pickup only clause.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

Scored a few Peavey Bandits from Goodwill pickup only , a friend still gigs with one of them .
Some parts used by Peavey's could be common , here is a link to a recent amp parts post.
viewtopic.php?p=40092#p40092

Cool, thanks

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

[honyock]

Just picked up a Silver Stripe Peavey Bandit 112 on the cheap. Needs a couple pots with broken shafts replaced, but even after than it was 1/2 as much as the cheapest for sale I've found.

Need to figure out who sells the tiny shaft pots and some knobs to match.

It sounds huge and yet weighs next to nothing. Just sold my Basic 112 Peavey bass amp of a similar vintage for twice what I paid.

2nd decent Shopgoodwill auction I've won thanks to the local pickup only clause.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

Scored a few Peavey Bandits from Goodwill pickup only , a friend still gigs with one of them .
Some parts used by Peavey's could be common , here is a link to a recent amp parts post.
viewtopic.php?p=40092#p40092

I found a place selling the OE pots, but at $10/ea, I think I will make a regular 16mm pot work with some leads added on for the broken ones. I can probably source all 3 I need for like $5 off eBay or Amazon.

https://britishaudio.com/collections/pe ... r-71190515

The whole set is like $100...I'll use this to know what pot is for what thing

https://www.tubeampdoctor.com/en/pot-se ... bandit-112

image.png (6.01 KiB) Viewed 1725 times

[Partscaster]

Just completed a full fret level on a strat neck. It went fast cause didnt need to go too far down to get level. probably 2+ hrs total.
Even crown process went quick.

[tobijohn]

Just completed a full fret level on a strat neck. It went fast cause didnt need to go too far down to get level. probably 2+ hrs total.
Even crown process went quick.

After I've finally had a belly full of pickup swaps (and I'm pretty sure that is coming soon as there are several semi-hollows on the horizon), that's the next thing I'm going to tackle. I even bought a few beaters to practice on...