Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
At The Back => Time Out => Topic started by: hunter on September 03, 2006, 04:49:10 AM
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My first electric guitar, a Goldstar Strat from Tokai that I bought used in the mid eighties, got once lost in a music community place where I left it for a few weeks (someone borrowed it it seems).
Well the funny thing is that I got it back now, around 6 years after I had seen it last time, was pretty much same condition as i left it.
Scrubbed the ugly red finish off yesterday, oiled and waxed the body and reassembled everything nicely. Now it stays in tune!!
Was a bit disappointed that the body wasn't one piece, but can someone who knows woods confirm whether this is alder or ash?
Thanks a lot!
P.S.: Yes, she will definitely be BKPed, but don't know which ones yet ...
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I'm no expert, my guitars still have most of ther paint still on, but I think it's alder. *waits for someone to say no you idiot, it's ash!* :)
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I can't tell you about the wood but don't be too disappointed about it being more than one piece. Both of my Strats are made the same way. As for Pickups-well that will start a debate in which I look forward to taking part.
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Definately alder, its redder and has less prominent grain than Ash.
It doesnt really matter that the body isnt 1 peice, very few guitars in this world have 1 peice bodies. At least its one peice in the middle which means that the bridge and neck pocket are not mounted on a join, not that that really makes any difference but it does feel like it is a slightly better way to do things.
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The guitar looks great like that! I should know, I did something similar to mine, but left black edges 8)
I was going to say ash but as you'd oiled it.. but Wez knows better than me, he knows his woods :wink:
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Definately alder, its redder and has less prominent grain than Ash. .
Thanks man, Hmm, the redness only came when I applied the oil though....
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An oiled peice of ash will still generally be more yellow/creamy, obviously each peice is different but i would still guess alder.
The colour of ash can be similar to your guitar, but the grain really looks like alder to me. Ash has a very deep, coarse grain that needs porefilling before finishing
swampash:
http://www.ratcliffe.co.za/articles/bodywoods/swampash.jpg
alder:
http://www.ratcliffe.co.za/articles/bodywoods/alder.jpg
The picture is swamp ash but that looks the same as normal ash anyway, its only weight that seperates the two types of wood.
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I suspect it is alder or a far eastern variant of alder
The heavy grain pattern at the bottom does look a bit like ash - whereas Alder is usually pretty uniform and boring. But it may just be the way the wood is cut.
Dont be upset that it is more than one piece - some trees such as alder do not grow big enough to get lots of planks big enough for a one piece body
Most Fenders were 2 or 3 piece bodies
Show us the back and the endgrain too and it might give more away
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Thanks a lot, I can see that well.
OK so Pickups:
I'd like to do some Pink Floyd, Red hot chili as well as Rock, maybe à la Blackmore. Most important is Gilmour's tone though, especially the in-between ones.
Any recos?
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Allright Feline, more pics as requested.
Would you say the guitar is worth investing in Pickups and maybe potis and stuff or should I rather ask you to build me a custom strat :)
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Looks similar to my strat copy (Which I've also stripped and oiled the body on :D), when I asked what it could be I think it was told alder aswell.
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What did you all use to strip the paint off? I'm wanting to re-fin my strat and the paint/top coat appears to be seriously thick, am not sure whether to go the chemical route or spend the next few months attempting to sand it all off. I'd consider burning it off but am severely cack-handed and liable to destroy the guitar, myself and probably my house.
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Go the chemical route like I did. Make sure you do it outside, and wear some good gloves.
Also don't trust the instructions. Mine said 10 minutes waiting, and I started to scrub like an idiot until I realised that the paint almost falls off by itself after 30-40 mins.
Sanding? Don't even think about it, you'll destroy the body and your own hands:)
Using heat I wouldn't as it might burn the wood which is bad for looks and resonance/tone...
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Go the chemical route like I did. Make sure you do it outside, and wear some good gloves.
Also don't trust the instructions. Mine said 10 minutes waiting, and I started to scrub like an idiot until I realised that the paint almost falls off by itself after 30-40 mins.
Sanding? Don't even think about it, you'll destroy the body and your own hands:)
Using heat I wouldn't as it might burn the wood which is bad for looks and resonance/tone...
Nice one! 8)
Can you use any paint stripper on poly or will I need a specific brand?
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Really thick poly usually needs to be either heat stripped or scr@ped off - most chemical strippers just don't work on it. If you can find a strong enough chemical stripper to use though, go for it.
I'm planning on getting some one piece swamp ash and mahogany bodies made for the '54 Fender Esquire, '57 Fender Strat and '59 Les Paul replicas I'm building for myself, but no way would I try and get one piece Alder for any of those guitars, it's just too much effort to try and track down as it's so scarce.
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I used a big heat gun with a cabinet scr@per, it worked great but I burnt the back a bit because I wasnt paying enough attention :lol:
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I used a big heat gun with a cabinet scr@per, it worked great but I burnt the back a bit because I wasnt paying enough attention :lol:
:lol:
tbh, I'm more worried about losing the skin on the back of my hands than anything else! :lol:
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Guys I need help.
Just recorded with the Tokai via its stock pickups through the tonelab to a Floyd backing track.
Damn I would say oin the recording this is close!!!
However it's awfully noisy with these Singles ...
Should I still get bare knuckles and if yes, which?
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TBH I wouldnt bother if you like the stock singles, doubt I'm gonna get any for my strat copy as the stock ones arent that bad really.. now, post that recording :P
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Single coils are notorious for picking up unwanted noise, for a start its worth paying attention to where you are sitting whilst playing. You need to be well away from any flourescent lighting, computer monitors, tv's, speakers etc. Get yourself as far away from all of these as possible, if the noise is still there, try gradually rotating and see if the noise subsides. Other than this it is well worth re-screening the cavitys of your guitar as described here:http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/shield3.php
There's also some cool ideas for wiring on that site, i've not tried them yet but the options at least look interesting! :)
I'd try all that before fitting new pickups.
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sorry was too big had to put on my server as it didn't let me here ...
now here we go ...
http://www.klangforschungszentrum.de/temp/comfort_tokai.mp3
close, hm?
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Ahaa! 2 Of my favourite guitar solo's ever! I'm not gay, like, but I would have Dave Gilmour's babies*! :oops:
Well, in exchange for that white strat, anyway.
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Other than this it is well worth re-screening the cavitys of your guitar as described here:http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/shield3.php
Good stuff. Any differences between copper and aluminium foil?
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That sounds really nice, I'd leave those pickups in!
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Other than this it is well worth re-screening the cavitys of your guitar as described here:http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/shield3.php
Good stuff. Any differences between copper and aluminium foil?
Copper is generally regarded as more effective as it's more conductive than aluminium. :)
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Thats Alder alright and whilst a plainer wood grainwise compared to Ash (did i say boring :oops: ) its a classic great sounding wood - enjoy!!
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Whilst this threads still popular.. is my guitar alder aswell as it looks similar in colour and grain
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/tomr61/Picture005.jpg
Thats it after a 2 "coats" of gun stock oil
[/thread hijack] :P
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Looks to be alder or similar
Certainly not ash
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thats not ash, it's alder..
That guitar sounds pretty damn good on that recording I wouldnt change a thing on it.. i'd just keep it the way it is.. and admire it for what it has to offer.
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That guitar sounds pretty damn good on that recording I wouldnt change a thing on it.. i'd just keep it the way it is.. and admire it for what it has to offer.
Hmm, it's difficult, just wondering if it couldn't sound even better.
Maybe I'll go and replace pots/switches with better ones and shield the guitar as per previous recommendation and then see whether there's any desire left to change.
By the way, it has the stock Tokais in middle and neck but I replaced the bridge with a DiMarzio HS2 in the early 90s, actually this gives a pretty versatile tonal spectrum.
BKP don't do any humbucker-single-coils, do they?
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BKP don't do h/b Strat type singles coil but I think I am right in saying they do h/b size P90's.