Squier '51 Projects

Those are nothing less than amazing.

Oh

My!!

:!:

Great mods guys! 8)

Dan

I'm curious about the head stock decals? How did you make them? A vinyl decal thing for your printer?

I designed my decals in Photoshop and printed them on inkjet decal paper. However, I used a laser printer as I had trouble getting deep black on the inkjet with this paper. You can buy laser decal paper but it's much more expensive; I've had no trouble using inkjet paper with the laser printer. Inkjet decal paper is expensive enough, but you can buy single sheets on ebay for a couple bucks. Anyway, the basic process is: print, clear coat, soak in water, apply, clear coat again.

Did you actually change just the fretboard or the whole neck of the Belair?

I used a Mighty-Mite replacement neck for "import" Telecasters. I am 99.5% sure that much Mighty Mite gear is made by Cort out of Indonesia - same factory where the '51s are born.

Where did you get the concentric pot?

Hmmm ... maybe Stew-Mac? WD? Guitarpartsresources? Don't remember; some online shop. I'm sure it was the least expensive I could find.

Do the dice do anything?

LOL; they cover up holes in the pickguard! With the previous pickups I had wired up some mini switches for series/parallel and phase/out-of-phase switching. (Routed a space under the pickguard to fit them.) But with these simpler pickups and wiring scheme I needed to either replace the pickguard, leave in the now-unconnected switches, or just cover up the holes. Fuzzy dice would have been better for the vintage car theme, but more difficult to attach. ;)

remind me what you used to age the neck -- the whiteness on mine bug me and IIRC, you had good luck with something I hadn't thought of. I'm actually thinking of putting gloss on all of mine.

Dark brown Kiwi shoe polish. But if I did it again, I'd get a Preval sprayer and mix up some amber shellac and get it done that way.

Cheers!

I'm curious about the head stock decals? How did you make them? A vinyl decal thing for your printer?

I designed my decals in Photoshop and printed them on inkjet decal paper. However, I used a laser printer as I had trouble getting deep black on the inkjet with this paper. You can buy laser decal paper but it's much more expensive; I've had no trouble using inkjet paper with the laser printer. Inkjet decal paper is expensive enough, but you can buy single sheets on ebay for a couple bucks. Anyway, the basic process is: print, clear coat, soak in water, apply, clear coat again.

Did you actually change just the fretboard or the whole neck of the Belair?

I used a Mighty-Mite replacement neck for "import" Telecasters. I am 99.5% sure that much Mighty Mite gear is made by Cort out of Indonesia - same factory where the '51s are born.

Where did you get the concentric pot?

Hmmm ... maybe Stew-Mac? WD? Guitarpartsresources? Don't remember; some online shop. I'm sure it was the least expensive I could find.

Do the dice do anything?

LOL; they cover up holes in the pickguard! With the previous pickups I had wired up some mini switches for series/parallel and phase/out-of-phase switching. (Routed a space under the pickguard to fit them.) But with these simpler pickups and wiring scheme I needed to either replace the pickguard, leave in the now-unconnected switches, or just cover up the holes. Fuzzy dice would have been better for the vintage car theme, but more difficult to attach. ;)

remind me what you used to age the neck -- the whiteness on mine bug me and IIRC, you had good luck with something I hadn't thought of. I'm actually thinking of putting gloss on all of mine.

Dark brown Kiwi shoe polish. But if I did it again, I'd get a Preval sprayer and mix up some amber shellac and get it done that way.

Cheers!

Thanks for the answers. I was recently looking for a concentric for 51 projects in the Stew-Mac catalog and didn't find one. Must keep looking. Otherwise, I'm going to add a 3-pos mini-toggle with cap and resistor to get some tone settings. Have you used a Preval sprayer? Came close to ordering one last week, but couldn't come up with a good reason ... now I might.

Thanks for the reply ... man those are impressive pieces of work. I have a bargain basement guitar that might be calling for some refinishing. I was thinking it might be cool to personalize it, but it's not a 51 so that is for another thread. :D

I love what folks are doing to their 51's :D As far as mine, I just painted the pick guard and gave it a good setup. Also changed the strings to EB power slinky's (.11's). Its got a very cool, funky sound. Reminds me of something that Hound Dog Taylor would have played. 8)

Greg,Slej, those are some very cool projects. Squier should have a website that folks could post their 51 projects to :idea:

I went and locked the original thread down at 51 pages.

I went and locked the original thread down at 51 pages.

Good man!

Very nice mods there, Slej.

One day I really hope I will be able to perform a basic setup myself...

Thanks for the answers. I was recently looking for a concentric for 51 projects in the Stew-Mac catalog and didn't find one. Must keep looking. Otherwise, I'm going to add a 3-pos mini-toggle with cap and resistor to get some tone settings. Have you used a Preval sprayer? Came close to ordering one last week, but couldn't come up with a good reason ... now I might.

Haven't used a Preval myself, but they seem pretty painless. Good for small projects if you can't find what you need in an aerosol can, though the replacement cartridges can get expensive if you use it frequently; an air brush set might make more sense then.

You're right that Stew Mac doesn't seem to carry the dual concentric pots. I checked out a few places online and it may have been Warmoth where I bought it.

One day I really hope I will be able to perform a basic setup myself...

If you can change the nylon strings on your classical guitar, you can do anything! :D

Very nice mods there, Slej.

One day I really hope I will be able to perform a basic setup myself...

You can do it!! You just need a few basic tools, and a good tuner. Just start slowly, If you get stuck we are here for you. :D

I went and locked the original thread down at 51 pages.

Good man!

I also made it a sticky. I thought that this post deserved no less :wink:

Where did you get the concentric pot?

Hmmm ... maybe Stew-Mac? WD? Guitarpartsresources? Don't remember; some online shop. I'm sure it was the least expensive I could find.

Hey! I found 'em. Had to fly into SFO (San Fran) on biz this morning, and there's a place call Torres Engineering in San Mateo -- about 7 or 8 miles south of the airport. They have great stock on Allparts -- even soapbar (P90) mounting screws, which are tough to find! On line at torresguitars.com. I didn't get a chance to check it, but Rudy's Music Stop in NYC has a great parts shop too. On line at http://www.rudysmusic.com .

Greg, what made you decide to make all those modifications?