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Post by feloniusb on May 12, 2009 19:39:20 GMT -5
Hey guys, nice to see some fellow HM strat lovers. I thought I was on my own and couldn't figure out why the world wasn't with my on my HM lust. Here's the old girl. the first few digits of the serial have been worn off so i'll see what I can do about figuring it out but it looks like it's somewhere between 88-90     Since these pics, the humbucker splitter switch fell off so i'm looking for a replacement if anyone knows of one. I'd love to get replacements for most of the screws etc and even another HM. There's none here in Oz, but i've been told HM strats go for 3 - $400 in the states. can anyone keep an eye out for me? I'd also love to get a case too. cheers for the pics folks. i'm in total lust over them all. especially love those maple fretboard ones! Steve |
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Post by heem6 on May 13, 2009 0:56:35 GMT -5
Hey Steve,
Cool looking HM! You should be able to find screws and a toggle switch at www.StewMac.com. Check under pickguard screws and there are several sizes. SM isn't cheap, but pretty much everything they sell is good quality. If you ever wanted to restore the bridge pickup, I've seen Super 3's on eBay for $40 - and they are fat and juicy good and love high gain. HM's can occasionally be found for $350, but it seems more common to find $400, and $500 for very clean and even $600 for minty conditions.
How long have you had her?
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Post by feloniusb on May 13, 2009 19:29:42 GMT -5
Hi Heem.
Thanks for the welcome. I bought the old girl around 93 or 94 second hand. The previous owner had carved 'I want pussy' out of gaffa tape on the back which you can faintly make out still. A sentiment I readily share but would've thought it was something you could reasonably assume, so why deface the guitar?
anyway, cheers for the links. I'd though the bridge pickup WAS proper?!?! I'll have a squizz for a super 3 on the 'bay. I wonder what mine is? Anyway, i'm currently on the hunt for a wrecked one or an unloved blonde.
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Post by nyeguitarist on May 13, 2009 21:00:28 GMT -5
Hey felon,
Cool hm you got there. I have a teal one with a maple fretboard, I love it.
If you are looking for another hm, try hunting on craigslist, they come up from time to time.
Im sure you know about ebay, they always have 1 or 2 on there. I need replacement for most of the screws on mine too, so let me know how that goes.
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Post by feloniusb on May 13, 2009 21:13:07 GMT -5
cheers, the maple ones look spectacular ... i'm harbouring a plan to purchase one but might have to stall until I buy a new amp kit ... been looking at building a plexi or jtm45.
I'll let you know about the screws. saw 6 on craigs list yesterday but was too late for the cheap ones.
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Post by nyeguitarist on May 13, 2009 21:17:09 GMT -5
Cool, Im kind of sad right now though. I took apart my hm to clean it, pickups, trem etc., and I found out the stringlock bolt for my g string is stripped out in the hex slot. I'm actually going to have to buy three of them, because the E and the A were rusted...
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Post by heem6 on May 13, 2009 21:26:10 GMT -5
Hey Steve,
My advice is take your time looking. There's always at least one or two on evilBay, but you know a lot of them saw some hard duty in the 80's!
You would be able to find a really, really sweet one for $500. I have one that Halo is painting the body for me, and I'm going to redo the neck and put on a maple board. Gloss black and maple. I dig that look, too.
NYE - sorry you have to replace those stringlocks. Have you checked WammiWorld - I think I saw them on his site. I've been buying little parts here and there for my Spyders, in case things wear out down the road.
One good thing to buy is bridge posts. The knife edges are actually on the bridge post on a Spyder. You can turn them a quarter turn if they get worn, but KahlerParts has them for $18 a pair, and that's a pretty cheap price on something that will likely wear out at some point. That's also a nice selling point for the Spyders, you can just buy new bridge posts instead of having to replace the whole Floyd when the knife edges go bad.
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Post by nyeguitarist on May 14, 2009 19:40:47 GMT -5
Thanks Heem, buying replacement parts is a good idea, especially if kahler were to go out of bussiness somewhere down the road.
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Post by heem6 on May 14, 2009 21:52:35 GMT -5
You're welcome. Kahler is not making any new parts for these bridges as far as I know. I'm pretty sure they're just selling old stock that's still laying around. It could well be that when it's gone - it's gone!
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Post by feloniusb on May 14, 2009 23:54:07 GMT -5
I got really lucky and bought one on eBay with a missing saddle piece. But there was enough there to refurbish mine. I'm gonna buy more saddles and a spareset of posts
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Post by nickwellings on May 15, 2009 9:32:50 GMT -5
Hello feloniusb. Welcome to the board!
Yes, it's a good idea to have spare psots, if the HM is your number 1 guitar. They dow ear out, but to be honest mine's still going strong. The only downside I find is the hex holes in the posts, are very shallow and tiny and can strip easily. Aside from that, easily the most stable trem I know.
The splitter switch is a standard ON/ON DPDT switch, which you can buy at any electrical place, like RadioShack in the USA or Maplin in the UK. Do not know about Oz.
Re; scrws that's a bit more tricky. I'd suggest you at least keep the pickup mounting screws that go into the body for the single coils. They are hard to find replacemtns or equivalents. Everything else is a bit easier. I can see some of yours are rusty. Have you tried the old "soak 'em in WD40" trick?
I found that if you do that (soak em overnight, give them a light scrub with cotton buds and a dry and polish with newspaper) they can lok a lot better. Rust goes, but they might be a bit discoloured, i.e. lighter in colour. I have done a lot of screws that way, and you might have to repeat the steps of soak, scrub and dry a few times, but as a stop-gap measure it's good.
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Post by halo71 on May 16, 2009 6:42:56 GMT -5
Hey felon....welcome to the forum! Great looking HM ya got there!
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Post by feloniusb on May 17, 2009 18:51:55 GMT -5
thx for the welcome guys. Nick: I grabbed a standard on-on from tandy (your radio shack?) but i couldn't find anything with a switch handle with a flat blade like the one in the photo. if someone on this forum has one or can get one the same, i'd gladly pay you on tuesday for the price of a burger today! - wimpy-isms aside, i'd happily reimburse you for costs and troubles.
good idea on washing and brishing the screws. next string change i'm gonna take it apart and clean everything down.
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Post by nickwellings on May 18, 2009 17:47:46 GMT -5
Tandy would be a place called Maplin, in England. :¬D As yer in Oz it is harder to suggest how to get flat head ones. Wha worked for me was Ebay. There is a company that trades under about 5 different names. They do the really common electrical components most people need. I got about 10 On/Ons with flat/spade heads from them. HOWEVER, quality is pretty poor. A large number of them broke or seized up. But when they worked, they worked fine. Then I found a site in Germany, that sells kits to make EFX pedals. They have the switches for really damn cheap, with the spade head. I think technically they are called "flat dolly" switches. Trouble is finding a black one, and if you're really worries about it, a 1988 MIJ one! Here is an ebay link from the seller like the one I got mine from. cgi.ebay.co.uk/12-SPDT-ON-ON-FLAT-Shaft-Car-Boat-Toggle-Switches-F102_W0QQitemZ270316703174QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Guitar_Accessories?hash=item270316703174&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1683|66%3A4|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A200Guess you could always paint the shaft black with some Hammerite or metal paint...  Re: screws and s**t, I found an old toothbrush works well, + kitchen/aper towel. Toobrush for just general loosening, and then you can kind of twiddle the paper towel in say, the cross head holes. You'll notice that the screw looks lighter where any rust was. Like I say, just keep trying I think. I used to spray a whole load of WD40 so that the parts were literally as submerged as possible. The only drawback of WD is that if you don't clean the residue off REALLY well, it eentually begins to attract and retain skin, dust, hair, whatever...and you end up with v. manky hardware, espeically on the FLoyd or Spyder. Lots of gunge can accumulate...  Other guys recommend a thing, teflon based oil to clean, but it won't kill heavy rust. |
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Post by nickwellings on May 18, 2009 17:54:58 GMT -5
Meant to say: if you really get stuck I can send you some switches.
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