Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Tech => Topic started by: gwEm on December 16, 2008, 05:56:09 PM

Title: 'in trance' strat - how was the fingerboard extension done?
Post by: gwEm on December 16, 2008, 05:56:09 PM

i read an interview with uli who said he had his white strat modified to have two extra frets. i looked at pictures online, and it seems to have been done sometime between 1982 and 1983.

the extended fingerboard can clearly be seen in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5NUCAitIFY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5NUCAitIFY)

how do you think this was this done? a complete new fretboard, or some other way?

Title: Re: 'in trance' strat - how was the fingerboard extension done?
Post by: WezV on December 16, 2008, 06:31:21 PM

i can think of a few bodge ways of doing it but the only way i can think of keeping fret spacing accurate would be to replace the whole board

Title: Re: 'in trance' strat - how was the fingerboard extension done?
Post by: gwEm on December 16, 2008, 06:45:39 PM

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... thinking

thanks wez

Title: Re: 'in trance' strat - how was the fingerboard extension done?
Post by: FELINEGUITARS on December 17, 2008, 01:01:36 AM

Remove the existing fingerboard from about the 19th fret upwards, or in the case of a one piece neck rout into the fingerboard to make a flat platform.
Install a new piece of wood which is longer and cut the fret slots into it and replace frets
A bit of a bodge but was done plenty in the 1980s to old strats

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3cVLDQw4NQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3cVLDQw4NQ)

About 3 mins in you realise he taught Steve Vai all there is to know about plying in front of a fan

Title: Re: 'in trance' strat - how was the fingerboard extension done?
Post by: gwEm on December 17, 2008, 02:23:05 AM

nice video  :o

Quote from: FELINEGUITARS on December 17, 2008, 01:01:36 AM

Remove the existing fingerboard from about the 19th fret upwards, or in the case of a one piece neck rout into the fingerboard to make a flat platform.
Install a new piece of wood which is longer and cut the fret slots into it and replace frets
A bit of a bodge but was done plenty in the 1980s to old strats

does this kill tone/sustain/reliability or anything like that? (or even all of those...)

Title: Re: 'in trance' strat - how was the fingerboard extension done?
Post by: WezV on December 17, 2008, 07:13:28 AM

thats almost exactly the way i was thinking, and i dont think i ever even touched a guitar in the 80's ;) .... although it didnt occur to me last night to cut the fret slots after the wood was attached so that going to make it a bit more accurate than i was imagining

i suppose the only real issue would be grain matching, since both sections of fretboard are firmly glued to the neck blank it shouldnt sound too bad.  still think a full new fretboard would work better