Manchester Guitar Tech
This concludes the article started at Recreating the Everyday Electronics Delta Electric Guitar (Part 1). Finishing the guitar I simply sprayed the neck using my Clear Satin nitrocellulose lacquer. I sprayed a sealer coat then de-nibbed using fine sandpaper before spraying a couple more coats. I “designed” a logo for the headstock, laserprinted it on …
Almost 50 years ago. in 1974, I was a guitar obsessed teenager who loved to make things. A popular hobbyist magazine, “Everyday Electronics” ran an article on making an electric guitar in its October issue. The magazine included plans and instructions on how to make just about everything (PDF available here). How could I resist? …
Below I’ll show how to achieve a Candy Apple Red finish on a Stratocaster body. Candy Apple Red is based on the old custom car technique of spraying clear lacquer over a metallic base coat, and was Fenders only truly “custom” colour, all the others being repurposed car finishes. I have itemised the process in …
At this time of year when guitars tend to be bought as presents I get asked if it’s necessary to have it set up, or it’s suggested that as it’s a new guitar it shouldn’t need very much doing. Unless the buyer is extraordinarily fortunate, the answer is always “yes” and a new guitar can …
In the mid-70s, some Gibson semi-acoustics such as the ES-335 and ES-347 were fitted with coil splitting switches, which shorted out one coil of each pickup to provide a single coil sound. I think this was a nod to fashion as thanks to disco and in particular Nile Rogers, the Fender Stratocaster sound was all …
The La Cabronita is complete. Well, almost. I’m sending it back to Italy without a pickguard as the owner is undecided whether it should have one. Here are a few shots of the guitar for Daniele with different colour pickguards. The 3-ply one was supplied my Guitar Mill and I made the singly-ply ‘guards.
Fit the string guide String the guitar. Place the string guide over the b and e strings and find a suitable place for its placement on the headstock. Drill a small pilot hole and then screw the string guide down. Cut the nut slots You should lower the nut slots until there is just …
Attaching the neck to the body At this point you can attach the neck to the body using the four large screws. Use the neck plate to act as a large washer for the screw heads. Tighten the screws firmly. Fitting the tuners If you are using alternative tuners, like our Gotohs you will …
Shaping the headstock Because the Telecaster headstock shape is a trademark of Fender Musical Instruments Corp. (FMIC) then all modern kits come with a blank or “paddle” headstock from which you can cut your own design. Any similarity to a Fender Telecaster headstock on this page is purely coincidental! The first job is to decide …
The Squier Vista Series Jagmaster is one of my favourite guitars. The Squier Vista series was made in Japan to very high standards and comprised around 4 models. If you are going to do this remember that rosewood dust can be an irritant so wear a dust mask when sanding and cutting it. This Jagmaster …