A Schecter Guitar Project

Started masking off and polishing the frets. Trying not to make too much of a mess. Cave Man like being messy though!

So far I polished the first fret - wooweee that thing is as slick as can be now!

This camera & photography is not the best or detailed. It will have to do.

Schecter 11.JPG
 
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Received the Grover 18:1 Locking Tuners. I want to see if I can replace the smoke chrome tuner knobs off the original ones to better match the guitar's hardware. Why not?!

Schecter 12.JPG
 
I decided to set it up for D Drop C Tuning. I will put an 11/54 set of strings on it but add a 56 string to replace the 54

The new tuners are installed -exact fit. The new strings will go on soon.
 
I restrung it and things were not working out. Then I noticed that the bridges saddles were made to be different heights. The two tallest are for the middle strings, then they taper off to the outer strings being the smallest. I assumed they were all the same height and would need shims to alter them. It's working out nicely now. Got that all squared away and restrung it -moving on to the setup process. Yay!
 
Cave Man said:
I restrung it and things were not working out. Then I noticed that the bridges saddles were made to be different heights. The two tallest are for the middle strings, then they taper off to the outer strings being the smallest. I assumed they were all the same height and would need shims to alter them. It's working out nicely now. Got that all squared away and restrung it -moving on to the setup process. Yay!
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lol Fingerboard radius will get you if don't know it's there. :)
 
I ordered a killswitch and will install that soon. I'm also thinking I'll route out the body a little so a D tuner can be installed.

That's a great thing about "beater" guitars, you can drill holes and route them with no guilt whatsoever!

Also put a set of Mammoth Slinky Strings on it (12/64 with a wound G string) Love it!
 
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Lastly, I completely gutted the wiring out of the guitar. The pickups, pots, switch, and jack are out.

It will be rewired with a

Schecter Brimstone Bridge Pickup​

and a CTS 500K-ohm volume pot. Also a kill switch. No tone, no neck pickup.

I'm having fun with it.
 
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Cave Man said:
Also put a set of Mammoth Slinky Strings on it (12/64 with a wound G string) Love it!
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Take a close look at how those big strings are sitting in the nut slots. You want them to bottom out in the slot. If they’re sitting up on the edges of the slot, you’ll need to file the slots.
 
Rex said:
Take a close look at how those big strings are sitting in the nut slots. You want them to bottom out in the slot. If they’re sitting up on the edges of the slot, you’ll need to file the slots.
Click to expand...

I'll just run with it. See how it goes. Thanks for the heads up! 🤘
 
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Cave Man said:
Here is a before picture of the dry and grimy ebony fretboard. Hard to see in the picture but the frets are not nicked, or scratched, and no flat spots - they are just dull & grimy. Next I'll clean the fretboard with some Dunlop Cleaner & Prep Solution. I'll clean the frets lightly with 0000 steel wool.



View attachment 81625

The guitar's bridge has been disassembled for cleaning. I'll let these soak in WD40 overnight. Except for the shim plate/finger plate - those are probably not going back on.

View attachment 81626
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you absolutely do not need the pieces of tin.
 
They both negatively impact the transference of string energy. I've taken these pieces of countless FR trems have had no issues or returns. The "fingers" only provide function if you have no string tension. Not worth the functionality in trade for the loss of connectivity. The other piece, well think about it- a shim that comes stock on a new product that has yet to be installed in a guitar? A factory shim on a product that has been manufactured since the 80s? There is no rhyme or reason. It's the "but this goes to 11" logic.
 
skunc said:
They both negatively impact the transference of string energy. I've taken these pieces of countless FR trems have had no issues or returns. The "fingers" only provide function if you have no string tension. Not worth the functionality in trade for the loss of connectivity. The other piece, well think about it- a shim that comes stock on a new product that has yet to be installed in a guitar? A factory shim on a product that has been manufactured since the 80s? There is no rhyme or reason. It's the "but this goes to 11" logic.
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If it works for you, go for it. But the "fingers" are a good thing. There's a lot of leverage on those long screws, and they can rattle if the guitar gets bumped.

Depending on the guitar, you might be able to do away with the shim. Then you could just take it out and store it somewhere in case you want to resell it. But you can leave it in, too. Then you don't have to remember where you stored it. :)
 
So, I gutted the entire guitar. I guess this will be round two. I ordered black chrome Gotoh Locking Tuners for it. I have another guitar like this(different finish, active electronics) I'll use the chrome lockers on.

Waiting on parts and supplies...

DSCF8386.JPGDSCF8387.JPGDSCF8388.JPG
 
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