Guitar Work

I was going to paint the back of the house on Saturday but it was so windy and with an Oak tree next door dropping leaves and catkins everywhere I decided that would be a bad idea.  So home alone as everyone else was out I heard a thud through the letter box.  My new Wilkinson bridge for my Tele had arrived.  I toyed with putting one of these on when I built it and saw one for only £17 so thought I'd have a go.  Here it is completed.  Any difference?  Well maybe a slightly more springy sound and little more sustain due to the brass saddles - maybe...   Whatever I like the look and the ingenious compensated brass barrels make the intonation as near spot on as you can get without the strat like bridge pieces versions.

Not to blow my own trumpet and I could never have done this is someone had been in the room but I "eyed" in the saddles with reference to the six piece unit I'd removed.  String up and tune up and then check the intonation... honestly spot on on the four outer strings and only had to adjust the G & D one by a millimetre or so.  I felt like a genius!  Like I said if I'd tried that to impress someone witnessing it it would have failed big style!

Then to my "Nunostrat", this build started in 1981 with my Dad and I when I was still at school.  About 10 years ago I revamped the electrics with new Swineshead pickups (sadly no longer available), they have wooden bobbins that closely match the stain on the ash body.  There are coil taps on the tone controls on both pickups, I went with the tone control to be different from most commercial makers but to me more sensible, you switch the coil tap and adjust the tone more than the vol - well I do when I play coil taps anyway.

I thought I'd give it a fret dress, here it is being worked on.

And then afterwards basking in the sun.

 

Enjoyable days work... now to watch Canadian F1 qualifying and England rugby against Argentina.