This is a nice guitar as it is, it just needs a little “TLC”  While it’s on the bench the owner wants some nice new 54 spec pickups.  He also has some other ideas as to the final layout and wiring of tone controls so I’m not quite sure where were going with it yet.

In the meantime I had a good look at the setup and since it was about right there’s no point in disturbing the neck (to adjust the truss rod) so I’ll complete the fret dress with the neck attached.  I firmly believe in not messing around with neck joints unless you have too.

The frets are a little worn but still plenty of life left, a simple fret dress will sort that out.

Fret-dress complete, they weren’t that bad but it’ll improve the feel.

The owner also wants a bone nut so that’s another job while the strings are off.  The blanks I found are just about the right size, the only problem as with many Fender necks the bottom of the nut slot has the same radius as the fretboard.  I start by getting the rough shape with the nut in a vice then use adhesive backed glass-paper on the end of the neck to get the exact radius.  Next just gently shape the top and mark the string slots.  I’ll finish it off with the strings fitted to get the depth of the slots right.

I’ve included a small electrical mod I cam across recently, a resistor and capacitor in parallel across the live and output of the volume pot.  It ensures you retain the quality of tone when the volume is turned down rather than it all go a little dull.

Only a couple of minor things that might be nice, change the screws and jackplate for gold ones.  I need to have a chat with the owner and see if he wants the last few finishing touches.

A comment from the owner:

“Hi George, just a quick message to say thanks for the work on my Strat. The ‘mods’ you suggested have worked a treat. And sounds way more ‘Strat-ish’ now. Looks real good too-loving the gold stratchplate! I know where I’ll be sending my next project! Do you do spraying? I’m interested in a change of colour for my Jazzmaster-maybe to a nice Surf green.”

The answer is, of course, yes,  I can sort out a re-spary.