My Poor Strat

[stjo]

FINALLY!!

After years of mystery, I've figured out what I own. I didn't know I had a HM Strat made in Japan.

Fooled me!

Serial E848669 (at least it appears to be an 8 after the E, couldn't be a 6 or 9 or 0 or 3). It's been a while since I took off the neck. I didn't know then to look for a number. I know now.

As you can see, I haven't taken the greatest care of her. She has rust and a few dings, as well as some scratches on the back. The fretboard looks like an old familiar faded pair of jeans.

I bought this guitar "new" in '89 from a Guitar Center in SF, CA. The guy saw me coming and I suspect made a modification to it once I decided to buy. He could see I was green, and anxious. It's my first and only electric guitar and it's time to restore it.

I've found a place finally to acquire necessary replacement parts that have corroded or become stripped.

www.kahlerparts.com/X_pages/X_2720_Spyder.htm

My biggest worry as of late is the Fulcrum Claw. One screw hole has become so worn, it will not hold the screw unless tightened nearly flush. It pops out once 3 springs tense on it if not screwed in nearly full. Advice about this would be greatly appreciated as would any other suggestions.

I play it often despite its condition. I suspect I could use new PUs in addition to other needed parts. The 5-way switch has only 2 settings left. 2 saddles have rust as well do most screws throughout. The clutch for the whammy bar may need replacing as it doesn't make the bar stick in place. A couple screws have stripped heads.

;D

All in all, I love it. I've had a couple offers for it but I'll never sell her. Only, I will put in a couple bills to refresh her sounds. I must confess; after browsing photos here of members' guitars, I'm almost embarrassed to show mine.

What the hell, right?

[nickwellings]

Hiya stjo!

That is one played guitar. Awesome to see.

Your claw problem, I had the same thing. Fixing it is very easy. What I did is get some matchsticks, cut the heads off then split them as neatly as you can with an Xacto or scalpel blade or razor blae. Split into half works well, lengthwise, but it helps to save any pieces that went a bit off centre and turned into "wedges" as you can force these in later.

You'll need a syrine too preferably or a glue pot with a fine-ish nozzle.

Get some Elmer's glue, titebond or woodglue. Over here we call it PVA glue. Suck it up using your syringe or pour it into the hole. Pour a lot in so it i s overflowing. Then get you matchstick bits and shove them into the hole. Get some thinner slivers and shove them in between the matchstick bits. You are aiming to load up the hole with as much new wood as possible.

Wipe away and excess glue with a damp-ish rag.

Then let it all set.

Trim the bits poking out with a snub nose plier or blade or wire or nail clippers. You'll have a nice new bit of wood to drill into.

I have pictures of me doing this on my HM somewhere. Here you go:











In fact I have done this on two HMs. The basswood strips very easily.

[heem6]

Nice old HM. Shows that it's been played and loved.

Nick is the man!

On the bridge my suggestion would be to take it all apart and soak in 3-in-1 oil or Marvel Mystery Oil. Then brush off any rust that remains and blot off excess oil with a cloth. The finish on the tops of the fine tuners always rubs off, and the easiest way to fix is a permanent magic marker. However, I think you could tape off the "stems" and paint the tops with Rustoleum Black for a more permanent and better looking solution.

Thanks for the story behind your guitar! Pretty cool stuff!

[stjo]

Jul 20, 2009 12:00:09 GMT -5 nickwellings said:

That is one played guitar. Awesome to see.

Your claw problem, I had the same thing. Fixing it is very easy. What I did is get some matchsticks, cut the heads off then split them as neatly as you can with an Xacto or scalpel blade or razor blade. Split into half works well, lengthwise, but it helps to save any pieces that went a bit off centre and turned into "wedges" as you can force these in later.

Get some Elmer's glue, titebond or woodglue. Suck it up using your syringe or pour it into the hole. Pour a lot in so it i s overflowing. Then get you matchstick bits and shove them into the hole. Get some thinner slivers and shove them in between the matchstick bits. You are aiming to load up the hole with as much new wood as possible.

Wipe away excess glue with a damp-ish rag.

Then let it all set.

Trim the bits poking out with a snub nose plier or blade or wire or nail clippers. You'll have a nice new bit of wood to drill into.

Many appreciation and much thanks! I kinda figured I'd have to re-drill. A guy at Fender suggested a dowel for the hole. Same procedure except instead of many bits, it would be one bit. I guess both matches and dowels are made of similar woods, light, balsa-like. Do you think any heavier woods would work better, longer? Maybe Oak, or Madrone?

heem6 said:

Posted by heem6 on Today at 2:29pm Nice old HM. Shows that it's been played and loved.

On the bridge my suggestion would be to take it all apart and soak in 3-in-1 oil or Marvel Mystery Oil. Then brush off any rust that remains and blot off excess oil with a cloth. The finish on the tops of the fine tuners always rubs off, and the easiest way to fix is a permanent magic marker. However, I think you could tape off the "stems" and paint the tops with Rustoleum Black for a more permanent and better looking solution.

Thanks for the story behind your guitar! Pretty cool stuff!

Thanks, heem6.
Regarding the tuning posts, I'm not so worried about the wear as I am about the rusting of the saddles and PUs. I kinda like the contrasting colors against the black. I will soak the bridge and do the cleaning as soon as my new strings wear out.

There's more to the purchase story:
After I decided she was the right guitar for me, the salesman took it upstairs and didn't return for several minutes. I asked another guy what he was doing and he said that he was "getting the numbers off it". Records, huh? I think he switched something. Maybe put an inferior neck on or switched the Floyd-Rose for the Kahler, I can't be sure cause I was young and slightly distracted.
Well, caveat emptor, right? I paid nearly $400 for it then and 2 weeks later it went on sale for nearly $100 less. They coulda told me.
The salesman wasn't even going to throw in a case despite my having purchased the guitar and a Crate 60w amp. I had to convince him he should throw in a case. Well, he did so, reluctantly. He went back upstairs and came down with a Fender Hardshell. It was bent at the snaps. I have since unbent it but it never closes properly.
The other salseman behind the counter must have felt some sympathy for me as he gave me several packs of new strings and demonstrated how to change them.
The lesson I learned that day was: ask for more and demand it cost less.

I'll keep updating my progress as well as the ID number beneath the neck. I'm just so pleased that I found this board. Even if Heavy Metal is not my favorite style to play or even listen to, I do enjoy some of it and I do own a HM Strat.

I belong!!!

[heem6]

Interesting Story. Some salesmen are just jerks! THat's no surprise, huh? I remember seeing a guy walk into a guitar store and they had a Charvel Frankenstein there. The guy didn't know much about guitars, it was obvious. He strummed it a few times, the clerk told him the new Fenders were coming out for like $25,000, this was the last Charvel Frankie in town. The guy asked if it came with a case, the salesguy said yes and he paid full MSRP = $2,400. No haggling. Then I went to a music store across town and saw another one exact same model for $1,700. You just know that guy was telling everyone who saw it "it was the last one in town!"

Looking at your guitar, that looks like the original neck, same logo, skunk stripe and everything. Also, the Kahler was the original bridge on these, so you're fine there as well.

Welcome to the forum and feel more than free to contribute to this page, or The Lounge (which is sadly neglected around here) or any of the other boards.