Parts bin build - "SuperStratbird"

[Reedt2000]

I was thinking late ‘80s or early ‘90s Yamaha.

Or Alvarez, something like that

 

[Reedt2000]

This ESP LTD MH model looks pretty close

 

[JIO]

Cool project

I don't think the body is ibanez. It looks like the carved top version of the Jackson Dinky, but I couldn't find an example with the SSH configuration. There were a bunch of similar designs in the 90s from a MIJ and MIK brands. Things like this Vester for example:
View attachment 5420958

It looks a lot like that other than the three inset knobs.

 

[JIO]

This ESP LTD MH model looks pretty close

View attachment 5421024

That's similar, but I think the Vester you posted is pretty close to the same body-shape... just possibly a different model. They are all "Super-Strat" designs.

 

[JIO]

Something like this... It needs a rubber washer to fill gaps.

...cool pic huh?

 

[JIO]

realistic?

... or romantic?

 

[JIO]

Pic from another tb thread, but a similar hs by a more recent version of Silvertone. 'Fender style' as it needs a string-tree.

 

[JIO]

Waiting on gold Gibson pg screws which are due today and I need to wire it up. That and a few more cosmetic details to sort but otherwise it's close to being done. Weighs in at a very comfy 7lbs/7oz and balances well.

 

[JIO]

I still need to bevel the pg edges -

 

[Flying B]

That tr cover is pretty cool!

 

[Reedt2000]

Looks cool

I like the pickup placement, looks kinda 60s jazz, maybe even a touch further from the bridge than that. How's it sound?

 

[JIO]

Looks cool

I like the pickup placement, looks kinda 60s jazz, maybe even a touch further from the bridge than that. How's it sound?

From 12th fret, 9-3/4" > N / 12-7/8" > B ... Jazz bass 10-3/4" > N / 14-3/8" > B ... so both pu's more toward the neck but similar spacing between the two. Just picked those positions to take advantage of the routs that were already there.

With only two wires left to connect, I ran out of solder. So, I planned on driving to the electronics store in an old mall I've gone to for years on the Peninsula to buy some and when I looked up the address - it had recently closed! I couldn't believe it! It was totally old-school and had been there forever. A wall of tubes behind the counter, everything you would need electronics-wise. In fact, last time I was there I remarked to the guy working the counter that I really appreciated the place, especially with Radio Shack not being around. He probably knew they were going out of biz then but didn't have the heart to tell me.

So there was another "electronics store" in that vicinity so I drove there. It was in a vacant industrial park w/no cars around. Nothing close to being like the store that had closed, and nothing like Radio Shack. It looked like a 'front' - like it was posing as an actual store with nafarious biz going on in the back room. Dead quiet, only a woman doing something at a desk behind the counter. I found a bin with solder and grabbed 3 tubes, marked $3.45 @ "discounted". Pretty cheap - just what I needed. I set them on the counter and she pointed at a print-out that stated you had to buy at least $50 worth of stuff to purchase anything at the counter. !!! what??? ~ "I'm sorry sir..." One hr of my life wasted.

So like everything now it seems - ordered some 'on-line' and it'll be here on Monday. That's the long version answering your question.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

He probably knew they were going out of biz then

He might well not have known the grim reaper had him on the short list, which seems a likely reason for such a place to close, sadly.

Newark, Mouser, Digikey are the primary ones I look to, though for some stuff the remaining quasi-surplus (less so now, more Asian-import not-surplus) like Jameco are worth a look, and there are the music-specific electronics folks as well.

 

[JIO]

He might well not have known the grim reaper had him on the short list, which seems a likely reason for such a place to close, sadly.

Newark, Mouser, Digikey are the primary ones I look to, though for some stuff the remaining quasi-surplus (less so now, more Asian-import not-surplus) like Jameco are worth a look, and there are the music-specific electronics folks as well.

Hah! - the $50 minimum place was Jameco!

 

[Flying B]

I set them on the counter and she pointed at a print-out that stated you had to buy at least $50 worth of stuff to purchase anything at the counter.

I had a similar experience recently. I went to get some blum drawer runners at the only place in my home town that stocks Blum. Told the guy what I wanted, he pointed to a sign saying you can't order stuff at the counter only online. So he watched me try and find the items on their website on my phone, which I couldn't. "Can you tell me if you've got it in stock at least?" "Nope not unless you order it". Walked out and ordered it online for next day delivery, they will never get my business again!

 

[JIO]

I had a similar experience recently. I went to get some blum drawer runners at the only place in my home town that stocks Blum. Told the guy what I wanted, he pointed to a sign saying you can't order stuff at the counter only online. So he watched me try and find the items on their website on my phone, which I couldn't. "Can you tell me if you've got it in stock at least?" "Nope not unless you order it". Walked out and ordered it online for next day delivery, they will never get my business again!

Yah - I follow the same rule; treat a customer like that and lose that customer.

 

[JIO]

Finally got it wired correctly - all & all it sounds pretty darn good. The bridge pu is the 'hottest' setting and for me the one I like the best. Both pu's together also sounds good, ala Jazz bass-like set-up with that mid-scoop going on. The neck pu on it's own needs more volume comparatively but is also is very useable. Tone control discrepancies are pronounced with an acceptable roll-off to "bass" - not too muddy.

So far, so good.

 

[Kenan]

Rad bass! What accounts for the low output of the neck pickup? That seems counterintuitive if the pickups are the same. Any way to raise it closer to the strings?

 

[TerribleTim68]

I'm late to the party, but cool build. My vote is that it's an ESP/LTD of some sort, possible the Horizon series, possibly something else. But those carves look like ESP/LTD to me.

 

[JIO]

Rad bass! What accounts for the low output of the neck pickup? That seems counterintuitive if the pickups are the same. Any way to raise it closer to the strings?

Thanks! Same pu's but each has a different output - they are after all 50+yr old pu's. Poles are as close as I could get them. I could reverse them but I like the bridge pu where it is. It's not bad and using volume gets it to where you want it. I generally gravitate to the bridge or a more central pu position anyway so for me the neck pu is more like a spice to add to the bridge pu, which sounds really good.