Stratocaster w/ Fernandes Sustainer Project

[Toopy14]

Not sure if anyone is interested, but I'm building a Stratocaster with a Fernandes Sustainer circuit board. I thought I would post my progress here. Hope it's okay to do so.

 

[Sustainerplayer]

Please do!

 

[Toopy14]

Please do!

A guitar built in your name...cool!

Okay, I certainly will then. Please let me know if you have any questions...this is a first for me.

 

[Toopy14]

Only 10 pics per post. Here's a couple more;

 

[Toopy14]

Here's the hopeful outcome;

 

[Jimmytwotimes]

That's cool man ! So I'm assuming you bought all the parts ( neck, body)? or did you actually start from scratch from a block of wood ?

 

[Toopy14]

...or did you actually start from scratch from a block of wood ?

Not quite, although I do have a colleague with a CNC machine, so I guess I could have started with a block of wood.

Here's the breakdown;

Alder Strat Body

Found a Luthier on Kijiji, a few hours away from me selling the body for a $100 CDN. I believe it was milled back in 2008 or even earlier, by a shop in California, to exact Fender specs. The wood had been drying for a couple years before that, so it's nice and dry and stable. Looks like it's made from two pieces of Alder. I figured it was the least expensive route (pardon the pun) to take, just in case I screw up...well, the route for the circuit board. It also didn't have any holes drilled in it to mount the bridge. I wanted a two point modern trem, w/ the pop-in arm, so it allowed me to install one. It was a bit tricky trying to determine where to drill the holes for the bushings, but as you can see in the picture, I used the two E strings to help me line it up. I also had to make some test holes in a piece of wood to determine the bushing diameter. I don't have a drill press, so I took my time, working my way up in drill bit sizes to make sure the holes were vertical. I used the inside of the bushings as a guide for the drill bit.

Fender American Special Neck (U.S.)

It's an American Special neck I bought on Reverb, with the large 70's style headstock, which I like. The grain and tint on it is really nice too. It has 22 frets instead of 21 and jumbo frets instead of medium jumbo, which I wanted, but now that I've had a chance to 'play' the two strings on it, I can't even tell the difference, It's a modern C profile, which I like as well. I may remove the 22nd fret, but that will require some repair work to hide part of the slot that would remain. I think I figured out a way to do it so you would never know. Not sure yet.


Fernandes FSK 401 Sustainer Kit

I bought it on Reverb for a really good price. It had never been installed.


Pickguard/Knobs/Trem. Cover

Standard Fender parts I bought from a guitar shop online.


Fender Ultra Bridge/Pop-in Arm./Claw/Jack/Springs/Screws etc.

Bought a whole pack with everything I need on Reverb.


S.D. Hot Rail Pickups.

Bought the bridge and middle pickup on Kijiji for about $100 CDN.


I'm going to assemble it all first, then I'll take it apart and paint it Inca Silver. Haven't decided if I'm going to use a lacquer finish or poly.

 

[Jimmytwotimes]

Looks great so far - thanks for sharing - will be excited to see the final product !
I often think of taking on a project like this - then I figure that it would take too much time for me to do and I would probably mess something up, given the very technical aspects of creating a playable instrument. Again - thanks for sharing all the info !

 

[Scented Meat]

Very cool, Tony. Looking forward to updates.

 

[Toopy14]

Well, I think I made it through the most stressful part. It took me about 4-5 hours of very slow, patient work.

 

[Toopy14]

A few more pics, including the end result...well, not the end, end!

 

[Geezerjohn]

Very interesting to watch your progress. Thanks for posting. And please do keep us in the loop until you cross the finish line.

 

[Muad'zin]

I've built 2 guitars with sustainers, one with a sustainiac, building another one right now, had another guitar built for me with a sustainer by a luthier, and another one modified by one to carry one as well. At least you've managed to avoid the biggest mistake, NEVER put the sustainer board underneath the pickguard. When you have to finetune the trimpots nothing spells pain in the ass more then having to remove the strings and pickguard EVERY SINGLE TIME!

 

[Toopy14]

At least you've managed to avoid the biggest mistake, NEVER put the sustainer board underneath the pickguard.

Never thought of that. I did see quite a few projects that put it under the pickguard, but I never really considered that as an option for me.

My biggest dilemma so far, was where to put the on/off switch, closer to the top or closer to the bottom. I chose to put it closer to the top. I hope it was the right decision, in terms of ease of access and comfort.

 

[Toopy14]

Very interesting to watch your progress. Thanks for posting. And please do keep us in the loop until you cross the finish line.

It was a bit nerve racking removing so much material, down to within 1/8" of the top surface. There's always the nightmare scenario of the router running away on you, like it did when I was making the templates, as you can see in the pics.

I had to make two MDF templates, one 1/8" thick and the other 1/2" thick, then start with them stacked, so the top bearing had enough surface to ride on. Then I used only the 1/8" template until I got as far as I could with the plunge router. Finally, I removed the 1/8" template and used the sides of the cavity to guide the bearing.

To reach the final depth, I had to pull the router bit out of the chuck a little, but not too much. One time I pulled the bit out a bit too far or didn't tighten the chuck enough and it didn't end well. A 12,000 RPM flying router bit can be quite hazardous. The small scar on the side of my face is a reminder of that. I had the router inverted in a router table and the bit started to chatter. Luckily I had a few milliseconds to realize what was about to happen and turned my head as the router bit grazed my cheek. I was just a kid then (early 40's), young and foolish!

 

[Muad'zin]

Never thought of that. I did see quite a few projects that put it under the pickguard, but I never really considered that as an option for me.

My biggest dilemma so far, was where to put the on/off switch, closer to the top or closer to the bottom. I chose to put it closer to the top. I hope it was the right decision, in terms of ease of access and comfort.

Or you could just label them. That's what Matt Bellamy does with his sustainer equipped guitars. What I do nowadays is put the output jack to the side, like with a Telecaster, then use the space that now becomes available because you no longer use the traditional Stratocaster jack mount for the sustainer board. That way you can align the switches horizontally instead of vertically. Mind you, you can only do that if you build the body from scratch.

It was a bit nerve racking removing so much material, down to within 1/8" of the top surface. There's always the nightmare scenario of the router running away on you, like it did when I was making the templates, as you can see in the pics.

I had to make two MDF templates, one 1/8" thick and the other 1/2" thick, then start with them stacked, so the top bearing had enough surface to ride on. Then I used only the 1/8" template until I got as far as I could with the plunge router. Finally, I removed the 1/8" template and used the sides of the cavity to guide the bearing.

I just use one template. Once the router can go no further I just use the cavity. I do use an additional template to rout some space around the cavity for the cover plate. I like it to be recessed into the body.

To reach the final depth, I had to pull the router bit out of the chuck a little, but not too much. One time I pulled the bit out a bit too far or didn't tighten the chuck enough and it didn't end well. A 12,000 RPM flying router bit can be quite hazardous. The small scar on the side of my face is a reminder of that. I had the router inverted in a router table and the bit started to chatter. Luckily I had a few milliseconds to realize what was about to happen and turned my head as the router bit grazed my cheek. I was just a kid then (early 40's), young and foolish!

I had that happen to me too once. Damn thing came lose and hit my leg. Or better said my pants. I hardly felt anything. Maybe I was lucky enough that it somehow had lost most of its velocity. I do count myself lucky in that regard.

 

[Toopy14]

I do use an additional template to rout some space around the cavity for the cover plate. I like it to be recessed into the body.

I'm going to do that as well. Just waiting to get some pickguard material so I can get the exact thickness of the plastic...not easy to come by in my town and doesn't seem to be any easier to come by in Canada!

I had that happen to me too once. Damn thing came lose and hit my leg. Or better said my pants. I hardly felt anything. Maybe I was lucky enough that it somehow had lost most of its velocity. I do count myself lucky in that regard.

I pretty much did what Tom Arnold did, in True Lies, after it happened. I remember feeling my face and thinking, phew, nothing happened...until I lifted a flap of skin on my face. I just put it back down, patted it in place and kept working!

 

[Toopy14]

If anyone installs a Fernandes sustainer board and you need connector parts, either because their missing or break, I found out what connectors they use on the board. My kit didn't come with the 3 crimp-on connectors, shown in the diagram, which are used to wire the pickups to the board. I bought my kit on Reverb and it looked new and un-used, everything else was included, so I'm not sure if they are even included.



I ordered some yesterday from Digi-key and they arrived today. I tested one of them and they fit perfectly in the housing. I also ordered spare sockets and connectors, in case one breaks. The parts are made by JST Sales America and are all very inexpensive.

Here's a partial list;

Socket Contact Tin 22-28 AWG Crimp Stamped
https://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/jst-sales-america-inc/SXH-001T-P0.6/455-1135-1-ND/527370

4 Positions Header Connector 0.098" (2.50mm) Through Hole Tin
https://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/jst-sales-america-inc/B4B-XH-A(LF)(SN)/455-2249-ND/1651047

4 Position Rectangular Housing Connector Receptacle Natural 0.098" (2.50mm)
https://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/jst-sales-america-inc/XHP-4/455-2267-ND/683353

The headers and receptacles used on the board are 4 pin, 3 pin and 2 pin. The other sizes are listed at the bottom of the links I posted.

 

[Muad'zin]

Well, they should have been included if it was a new set. So maybe it was a used sustainer after all?

Ah, the famous Sustainer instruction diagram. So very, very useful when you're trying to hook it up in a Telecaster with 3 way switching, as the instruction diagrams are only for 5 way Stratocaster or a Les Paul toggle switch. You wanna do 3 way Telecaster? You're screwed. Man, did I spend ages trying to figure it out. Sustainiac is a lot better in that regard. You order from them, it's like ordering from the Seinfeld Soup Na zi. That guy wants to know everything on how you're going to hook it up. Probably to cover his a s s in case his customers f*** it up. But on the plus side you will get good instructions.

Personal Sustainer horrorstory: Got me a 2nd hand kit from Ebay once, installed it into a guitar and damaged the agc trimpot. Tried to desolder it and it came lose ripping the traces off of the pcb. It was impossible to resolder a replacement. Much cursing and nasty words followed. In the end I solved it by using a multimeter to see to which components the trimpot connected and soldering wired directly to those. It didn't look pretty, but it got the job done, so I'm proud of that.

By now I've done so many Sustainer installations that my local luthier consults me if he has to do one.

 

[Toopy14]

Well, they should have been included if it was a new set. So maybe it was a used sustainer after all?

The box may have been opened, but it doesn't look like it was ever installed, could have been though. The battery was still in the plastic wrap and the little bag of screws was unopened. Hopefully it works, I did plug a battery in and the LED came on when I inserted a plug into the jack. Not absolute proof it's fully functional, but it has a heartbeat!

Sounds like you're well versed on sustainer installs and Seinfeld! I definitely know who to talk to if I have issues.

I'm still debating whether or not I oriented the board correctly ie. on/off switch on top or bottom, for ease of use and reach. My rationale for putting it on top, was that the other switch wouldn't be in the way when went to toggle the on/off switch. Then, on the other hand, I wonder now if it's easier to reach for the on/off switch if it was lower and closer to the control knobs. Thoughts?