Spondylitis Association of America Forums General Discussion Off-Topic Forum Rebuilding my Strat

Sarah, You got me wondering what year my LP was made, and while surfing the internet, I found the formula for determining the year, day, production number from the 8 digit serial numbers stamped on the back of post 1977 Gibsons. Here's what I found out:

Gibson Serial Numbers, 1977 to present.
All models, 8 digit number impressed in back top of peghead in the following format:
YY (1st and 5th digit) = year
DDD (digits 2-4) = day of the year,
001=Jan 1st, 365=Dec 31st.
NNN (digits 6-8) = rank of instrument for that day.
Example: 80012005 = 5th instrument made in Kalamazoo
on the first day of 1982.

Mine reads 92758573, meaning it was made on the 275th day of 1998, and was production number 573. Pretty interesting, huh?

I'm sorry to hear your hubby cannot play anymore - that sucks. On days when I feel particularly sore, I play the Ibanez - That WizardII neck is only 1.1 inches thick at it's thickest point, and that is including the fretboard. He might find a really thin neck like that and still be able to play. Has he been to a music store in a while? You might try to get him to the local guitar store, and see if it gets him "in the mood". I know I get all giddy in a guitar store like a kid in a candy store (or a woman in a diamond store.. he he)

Take care,

Rob

Another thought, Sarah, I don't know if it's feasible, financially, but you could pick up an Ibanez with one of those wizardII necks in a lower-end model for about 500-750 bucks, or a used one even cheaper. That sure would look good under that Christmas tree! The WizardII is 21mm and the original Wizard neck is 19mm - very thin, super easy playability.

OOH! I'm sooo excited! Today is the day I get my check from disability, and I get to order my new parts for my old strat! I'm getting new pickups, a Seymour Duncan TH-11 'Custom Custom Trembucker in Black, and two SD vintage strat reissue single-coils w/black p/u covers, along with all new electronics: new matched 250K pots (CTS, of course - they're the best), a Hovland .22ur paper-in-oil capacitor for the tone roll-off, all the wire in vintage 'cloth wrapped' insulation, new switches, jack, and jack-plate, and some beautiful abalone-capped dome knobs to replace those crummy fender-style knobs strats usually sport. It's gonna cost me a bundle, but I got a reprieve on my debt pay-back this month, plus I'm getting a big SSD check, because the folks at SSD determined that they've been underpaying me all year! Who-hoo! I know this sounds like gibberish to most of you, but you guitarists will understand that I'm about to turn a guitar that already played and sounded great into a 'lean, mean, rock-n-roll machine'... he he... I'm giddy with anticipation!!! Just a few more hours til my SSD check is deposited into my account... I'm tempted to stay up late and order all that stuff the minute it hits my account... (I have online access to my accounts, and my SSD check is automatically deposited in the early morning hours of the second wednesday of the month. WOOT! I'm happier than a lawyer in a 5 car pile-up!

Here's a pic of the knobs I'm going to use - the black ones on the end are the ones I'm getting:

And here's a pic of the TH-11 SD pickup for the bridge position:


And here's the neck pickup, vintage flat-pole for strat:


And finally the center pickup which is the same as above, but reverse-wound/reverse polarity (RWRP), which has a hum-cancelling effect in the 2nd and 4th position on the strat's 5-way switch:


Once I get the pickguard wired up, I'll post a picture of how it looks - it's gonna be sweet! All black except the abalone on the tops of those volume/tone knobs.

I'm also ready to start spraying sand/sealer nitro on my neck tomorrow, which is the first step of painting my baby! I simply cannot wait!!!

<sigh> God grant me the serenity, etc. etc...

Rob

Rob! Oh Rob! Calm down there before you go into a full blown tizzy. You're worse than a kid at Christmas, that still believes there is a santa.
I am happy for you, but don't go getting into some trance that makes you unfit to work on it when it comes, you know, where you just sit and look at it, afraid to touch it.

Not to worry, Johnnie - I am very serious minded about this project. Yesterday I put the first sealing coats on the neck, and today I've got some grain-filling to do on the body. You'd be surprised how good the neck looks after just two sealing coats of that nitro laquer! Now I understand why they use this stuff on guitars - it's a breeze to apply (although it's pretty flammable and I've got to wear a respirator) but it already looks amazing. It produces such a glass like finish, after only 2 coats - I can only imagine what it's gonna look like with 10 or 12 coats. It really will look a foot deep. I got all the parts ordered, too, and everything is on it's way but one pickup (which is back-ordered for 3 or 4 days) and one switch, which is going to ship today. You needn't worry about me getting worked into a tizzy - I'm very level-headed and patient. When working with these long-drying materials, you have to excercise a huge amount of patience and do it just a little bit at a time. The hardest part was the prep work, which I've already done. Today I start putting the 'neck amber' color on the neck, and start the 'grain filling' on the body. It's good that it can only be done in little increments, since I can't stand for hours at a time. After the neck coloring, which will take another 2 days, I'll start putting the final laquer coats on it, which will take another 3 days to apply and then another week to dry, then I'll be ready to apply the headstock decals and then clear coat them, which will take another 3 or 4 days. I'll have some more pics to share in about a week and a half. Stay tuned, guitar fans!

Rob

Rob, you don't have to be a guitar fan to share your excitement for this project. Your enthusiasm literally flies off the page! Don't let anyone dampen it. It's great!

Thanks for sharing your passion with all of us.
I can't wait to see the next step.


Spenser23

Thanks, Spenser!

Rob

Now Rob, you heard me, calm down. You know I was extremely serious with that post and just was waiting for the reply I got through you from him Go, get wild, and do your thing, but don't get hasty and mess something up.

Rob, although musical instruments are not my calling, I like to see someone take pride and do something to the best of their ability.A job worth doing is a job worth doing right.
Thumbs up.

Thanks, Mike! My thoughts exactly. I decided to wait an extra day before putting the color on the neck, because the 'experts' say wait 24 to 48 hours for the sealing coats to set up, and I decided to 'err on the side of caution' and wait the full 48. It's interesting, after I had sanded the neck down, the stains on the back from years of play apparently disappeared, but once I sprayed the nitro laquer on, they came RIGHT back! I'm glad, to tell you the truth - I was kinda sad to see those stains disappear. I used to show them off to other players, kind of like a badge of honor... :p They gave the guitar character, and showed just how much I had played it over the years (which was a LOT!) I read that it's pretty common, since the finish is oil-permeable, and stains from the oil in your hands can make their way to the wood after a number of years. I've done a lot of reading on the subject, and most people agree that it's better to leave the stains, as they authenticate the age of the guitar and give it 'personality', though they can be removed with wood bleach if you really want to get rid of them. Stay tuned for more photos!

Rob