The Finished Article

Well, I've played everything I can think of over the past few days in an attempt to see how versatile the guitar is, and there's not much it doesn't like. The Apache pickups are the lowest output of all the Bare Knuckle range, yet they're more than capable of handling everything I could throw at it. With the Rivera's pre-amp cranked and the master volume up as loud as I can handle indoors, they can even cope with a scooped metal sound(!). Great stuff all-round, the clarity between strings is what really strikes me about these pickups - and the clean sounds (to me) totally define what a Strat should sound like. Anyway, enough about the pickups, suffice to say they were money very well spent.

The guitar as a whole plays and feels great. The combination of sperzel tuners, graphtech nut and saddles, five trem springs and a nearly-flush claw means the guitar stays in tune great, and has (compared to some Strats I've played) impressive sustain. Although the guitar has been in a playable state from day one, it now feels 'finished'. The only possible upgrade I can see in the future is maybe to replace the neck with a Warmoth compound radius model, but it would cost so much I don't think it would be worthwhile.

Has it replaced the Wolfgang as my main electric? Absolutely, and I'd never have thought I'd say that. It seems stupid to have an ex-collectors Wolfgang sat in the cupboard, but there's nothing it can do that this Strat can't. And having made all of the upgrades myself, I've got a great sense of 'ownership' about Frank....definitely a keeper. Here's a complete list of the upgrades I made:

Fender 50s Reissue Strat: £280
Graphtech nut: £5
Extra trem springs: £5
Schaller strap buttons: £5
Callaham trem block: £50
Parchment scratchplate: £6
Callaham aluminium shield: £18
Sperzel locking tuners: £53
Graphtech Ferraglide saddles: £39
Bare Knuckle Apache pickups: £165

Total Cost: £626

Obviously I'm biased, but that's pretty impressive. For a guitar that's had everything except the body and neck woods upgraded, and which sounds as good as Frank does, I'm pretty amazed it cost that little. I'd happily put it up against some of the 'relic' and custom shop Strats I've played (which easily cost three times that amount) and it'll be a close match for sustain, tuning stability, and above all tone.

So that's it....he's done. I'll post some sound clips as soon as I can. It's been great fun over the past two months, and I've learnt alot about guitar setup and maintenance.....Anyone want to buy a Peavey Wolfgang?

Bare Knuckle Pickups

The final upgrade was to install a set of Bare Knuckle Pickups. I went with the Apache set, with vintage stagger and reverse-wound-reverse-polarity, in parchment white. They cost £165. Big thanks to my bro who helped me with the soldering, it wasn't as easy as I'd expected! A few days ago I phoned BKP and spoke to Tim who runs the company and winds each pickup by hand. Top service, excellent advice, and delivered to my door less than 24 hours after I'd ordered them.

Amazingly the installation worked first time. It took a while, but they all work and there's no crackling etc, so I'm guessing the job's done! I've only given them a quick try out through my Rivera, but initial impressions are that they sound great. Really good tone throughout, and noticable seperation between strings. Are they the best pickups in the world? I don't know, as I haven't tried all the others, but I will say I'm very impressed with these. I can see why they've got the reputation and rave reviews surrounding them.

So that's it, Frank's done. I'll post another entry in a few days when I've played some more and can make a reasonable evaluation....

Saddle Up

The day after Frank's first gig the Graphtech Ferraglide saddles finally arrived - again claiming to be "the single most important upgrade for your guitar"(!). The saddles are stainless steel but have a graphite-like insert over which the string rests. They cost £39. Like the Graphtech nut I installed, the inserts are self lubricating to help stabalise tuning and reduce string breakage. The combination of Sperzel tuners, Graphtech nut and saddles, and flush bridge mean this guitar stays in tune better than any other I've played. The pictures below show the before and after with the original saddles and the new Ferraglides. Only the pickups left to change now.....

Name That Tuner

This is the only upgrade to the guitar that I haven't fitted myself, purely because I didn't have the drill bits needed. The new tuning pegs are Sperzel locking tuners, in the Satin Chrome finish, and cost £43. Because the tuning posts are staggered in height (getting progressively lower from low E to high E) I could remove the string tree while keeping the same string angle over the nut. In operation the tuners are great - I could literally restring all six strings and get to pitch within two minutes.

Lessons In Tone Control

Having not soldered anything since my last effort at making a radio in school (over 15 years ago) I decided to take on my biggest modification yet - made possible by the ever-thoughtful-girlfriend buying me a soldering iron for my birthday(!).

I performed a common Strat mod which is to move the 2nd tone control from the middle pickup to the bridge pickup, and leave the middle pickup 'wide-open'. To my surprise the mod worked perfectly, and I can now tame the overly-bright sounding bridge pickup. Technically, this modification didn't cost me anything. The pictures below show which wire was moved to where, and an 'after' shot.