Strings

Strings are on. I need to tweak the fret ends and finish tuning the nut but it feels. I am amazed that it is not brighter. It has a bit of darkness to the sound that was unexpected. I will know more tonight when I fire up the Mark IV. The mini humbucker turned out nice the alnico 8 offsets the cover on the HB. It has a real growl to it and cleans up perfectly, I think I can live with only one pickup. It is raining here so the lighting is bad.




More grainy shots... need sunlight.

HOD work

Recessing the tuners... by hand. I am not sure this was the best idea I ever had. It turned out well enough. (better than the control plate)


A look at the end result.


One blurry and one better look at them from the back




I tightened up the radius on the humbucker route and the front of the TOM recess. The 3/8" was too big... I know you are wondering why I epoxied the posts in. I made the holes just big enough to slip the posts in without aa hammer. I was worried about splitting the Ziricote if the studs were pressed in.





Starting on the new control plate. The last one curled up on me... this one is glued to some rock stable maple. I used epoxy so I did not introduce any water. Nice and straight.


Installing the magnets.



Installing the washers in the plate



And one day later. Warped. It never ends with this guitar... jeez.

More HOD work...

So I didn't use my vacation as wisely as I had hoped. The cracks have been filled and sanded clean... I am waiting on the tuners. Should be here this week.

Nut is installed, frets dressed. I had to adjust the bridge recess to allow for more adjustment of the bridge placement. (not fun)

Wired up the Mini HB last night but I am thinking about making new blades for it... came out really nice 43awg 10.66K with a nasty full size Alnico8 in it. Pretty sure it will be beastly (it sounded well enough last night at low volume).

I had to redo the control plate. It bowed and contorted like a circus act. I ended up sanding the Ziricote free of the Sapele backing and gluing it to a much more stable piece of Maple. I will thickness sand it this week if I have time.

Getting close.

Destroyer tuning

I managed to get this one up and close to running while hiding from family over the holidays. Strings, fret-job, nut, pickups, and wiring all done. Wound the pickups for this one a while ago and was glad to finally hear them. They are aggressive but have a very smooth response, no unpredictable squeaks or squawks.
Second guitar I have used these ALLPARTS locking tuners on and I am thrilled at how they work. Cheap, tight, nice ratio, and light which solves a major issue I had with most locking tuners, and they come in silver, black, gold. If you are interested in them PM me and I will let you know what I can sell them for.
I guess next up is taking it apart and painting.





Another quick front shot and a look at the back.

Diablo madness

Finished up the dry build last night. I have some slight back bow in the neck buit the trussrod is double action and takes it out easily (1/8 turn). The fret job turned out great. The cheap diamond fret file really made the job a lot easier. I think the neck need to be thinned a bit and that might help with the back bow. It doesn't flex at all right now and feels a little stiff (heck they always do when you start)





I am going to wire it up tonight and give it a nice test run then I guess I will take it apart and get ready for finishing.

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