Bagged another HM!

[stratznhatz]

Got another HM Strat off Ebay the other night. It was about 8 miles down the road and on a buy it now for £83!!!!

It's shall we say 'well used' with a few issues, it's missing a tone pot and the coil split switch is broken although it's still wired up and inside the cavity. The frets were well worn and I've started to dress them but it's bordering on a refret tbh. The body has a few dings, a particularly heavy one in the recess of the top horn.
The Spyder is missing it's fine tuners and locking nuts/clamps and bar but otherwise seems ok.

It's had a Seymour Duncan bucker fitted at some point, not sure which one, it looks a lot like an Invader but it was obviously fitted some years ago and I don't think they were about then?
If anyone can identify it I'd be really grateful!

Think I'll just get it up and working and leave the body warts n all for now, I like beat up guitars anyway!

In the meantime I'm just enjoying bringing this old girl back to life!

[strat80hm]

Nice catch, speaking of bargain !
A HM Strat down the road, hat s off !

I have the same actually, though complete and in better shape: so you plan to keep it as it is cosmetically? I m making a red pickguard on mine.

[strat80hm]

Some question pops up: how do you plan to fix the missing parts on the Spyder?

[stratznhatz]

Thanks! Dropped lucky on this one.

Yes, at present I just want to sort out the mechanics of the guitar, I may refinish the body at some point in the future.

That red pick guard would look cool on a black guitar, post some pics when you get it done!

Parts for the Spyder are still available at: www.wammiworld.com/p9525.php
Having said that, as an engineer by trade I may make the parts myself, it's all down to that time versus money thing lol!

[strat80hm]

Pickguard is under ways, having fun with it so far..




Thanks for reminding me Wammi World, i might use that.
Although i m wondering if i could find a way to adapt a more "traditionnal" tremolo bridge to that guitar, a la Jeff Beck.

As an engineer, have you ever considered replacing the Kahler with say a Wilkinson? or something WITHOUT these time-consuming tool-requiring locking saddle and nuts?
I m thinking Ebanol nut too maybe, since with the sans-clamps Kahler nut, the treble strings move up and down when bending.


Do you foresee this as any easily doable ?

[stratznhatz]

I've never considered swapping out a Floyd type trem as I tend to use them heavily and like the fact that they stay in tune far better than a vintage trem. Having said that, I came across this clip where a guy really abuses a Wilkinson non locking trem and the thing stays perfectly in tune! A lot of this seems to be down to the tuners fitted on this guitar which he explains in the vid. The trem part starts at about 3:15 if you want to jump straight to it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGpv2BYTdiE&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLF3DDDCC2DF8D896E

As for fitting a non locking trem to an HM, anything is possible! You'd probably have to add wood to the recess as a locking trem is considerably wider than the vintage types, you may even have to plug the front of the recess completely if the trem is designed to fit flush on top of the body. The post centres would almost certainly be different so would involve removing the existing post bushes, plugging the holes and re-drilling to suit the new trem post bushes at the correct centres. This is if you wish to use a vintage style two post trem.
If you wanted to fit a traditional Strat type trem, ie pivoting on 6 screws, these sit on top of the body as opposed to in a recess- which obviously the HM has- so would involve having to plug the recess at the front edge to bring it up level to the top of the body. This is all subject to double checking many other factors which may not become obvious until you delve into it a bit. If I were to attempt a swap, I'd go for two post type as it should be easier and probably better than a 6 screw type.
As for the locking nut, you can get some quick release lever types which would probably be an easier swap than trying to retro fit a traditional nut, would help with tuning stability and be easier to deal with in a live situation.

Like I said though, I've never tried anything like this so am just trying to run through the possible scenarios in my head so I wouldn't take any of this as gospel, just hope it may help give you some ideas!

[strat80hm]

Impressive tuning stability with the Wilkinson system indeed.
I actually have a 60s reissue with a floating vintage trem that i abuse a bit and have no tuning problem whatsoever either: i just regularly make sure there is graphite (from pencil) at the nut and bridge.

Thanks for the input regarding swapping the Spyder: i ve studied the situation a bit, and it doesnt seem to be an easy one, mostly because of the recess and size issue. I was expecting that someone may have built a "Classic Trem that fits the Floyd/Kahler poles", but it seems i m daydreaming here. Not sure i want to build that myself though.

Here are some pics of my black HM with the pickguard: i m not super happy with the shape, first attempt. i should have worked on it more, but i like the effect. It s a piece of wrapping wood found in a Home Depot trash bin that i cut out. I stained it using RIT clothe dye, and applied a dozen of layers of water based polish. It seems to work so far. Next i want to make the headstock look more traditionnal i guess.









How s your black HM doing?

Sorry for silence, was on tour, now back and about to work on this.

[stratznhatz]

That's lookin good my friend! Like the way it extends past the selector switch and divides the body in two, there are so many styles of this Tele style pickguard on Strats, some work and some don't but IMO you've got it just right.

My black HM is now up and running, ended up making up the parts at work but they were kind of made in a hurry so will probably either buy the parts or make a better job of my homegrown ones if I get the time.
Just got to make a bar for the trem at some point.
I removed the Duncan and put in the newly wax potted Super 3 that came from my other HM, sorted the wiring with a new tbx pot and a coil split switch, and dressed the frets. Will post some pics as soon as I get chance.
It plays and sounds well, although tbh I slightly prefer my teal single hum HM, it just plays and sounds a little better somehow.

Interesting to hear you've been on tour, hope it went well!
Could you share with us the name of your band, maybe links to some clips etc?