NGD Not a Partscaster

[sidewinder]

This is the 80s MIJ Fernandes I found to cure my "better than my Squier" Strat GAS.







It's got holes in the headstock, a Floyd, and a strange pickguard. But I really like it. I think the most important part is, it sounds great.

Was surprised (huh duh it's an 80s superstrat) to find that the neck radius wasn't a comfy old 9.5, more like a 12 which I'm not used to on this kind of guitar. The slappy hammer ons and pull offs don't feel quite the same but its very easy to play and Im kind of getting used to it. It's heavy. The pickups aren't active, they just have plastic covers.

Floyd's been blocked with a big chunk of wood, so that's good.

Possible mods:
Actually thinking about spending some money on it. The 1-ply thick plastic pickguard really takes away from it, but it's an 8-hole with a larger bridge cut for the FRT so I won't have any luck finding a drop in replacement on the cheap. A pearl pickguard would look killer on the blue.

I'd like to plug the holes in the headstock for the locking nut, they don't have to look 100% accurate but just want them to blend into the blue a bit more. Clearly theres a string tree missing for the third hole.

I have a JB trembucker I'm inclined to throw into the bridge, though the stock pickups sound quite good, I can live with them.

If I keep it long term, I want to replace the Floyd with a big ol' vintage trem block. Schaller makes a Floyd spaced (74mm post to post) vintage trem that is a direct drop in, but that would cost me a serious $200+, so I'll see if I plan on keeping it for more than a month, at this stage, yeah.

[AiRdAd]

Gosh - that's a lovely looking guitar!!! well done!!!

[Molly]

Thought it was a Levinson before I read it properly. Very nice. Congrats!

[Bg]

yeah its missing the locking nut and the hold down bar - thats what the holes are for

[sidewinder]

yeah its missing the locking nut and the hold down bar - thats what the holes are for

Eh, yeah he sent the locking nut with the guitar, though from my understanding it doesnt do anything or isn't required since the floyd isn't floating?

I should just put it on anyways... more gold hardware is always better.

[Aquila Rossa]

EMG pups? A lot of Guitars of this era had EMG look-a-likes and sometimes a boost circuit because the Chavel Model 6 etc was so popular. Could slap a HSS set in there and it could be really sweet. Maybe some really Stratty single coils. However I tend to give pups a chance before I think about replacing them. Adjust height and check wiring and jack etc - just in case the pups turn out to be cool.

Check the pots, switches and jack to see if they are high quality or not. Replace them is cheap enough and can make a big difference. Nothing sucks like a jack that crackles every time you bump it, or pots that are tight or scratchy.

Would not worry about the trem unless you want a reliable fully floating set up and plan on giving it heaps (and spending heaps). Making sure the nut is all good and the trem should be fine considering it is blocked. Maybe could do without a locking nut too. Just put locking tuners on it and tuning will be stable unless you want to Satch on it in fully floating mode. The string retainer bar would be good to sort out, although strings can bind on them if to much down pressure is applied. Floyds are such a pain in the ass. Even the Gotoh 1996 was a pain to set up and change strings etc.

Main thing that always concerns me when i buy a used guitar is fret wear. If it needs work, it costs a lot. Getting a good price on a gat that needs no fret work is a bonus.

[Molly]

Main thing that always concerns me when i buy a used guitar is fret wear. If it needs work, it costs a lot. Getting a good price on a gat that needs no fret work is a bonus.

Ain't that the truth.

[willow13]

Nice..I will buy the gold floyd off you if you want to ditch it

[sirvill]

Thats fucking awesome, I love it!

[sidewinder]

Nice..I will buy the gold floyd off you if you want to ditch it

Sweet, you'll be the first to know if I do.

[sidewinder]

Check the pots, switches and jack to see if they are high quality or not. Replace them is cheap enough and can make a big difference. Nothing sucks like a jack that crackles every time you bump it, or pots that are tight or scratchy.

How do I know if the pots are high quality? (the jack is silky smooth and locks in pretty solid so I reckon thats fine)

Would not worry about the trem unless you want a reliable fully floating set up and plan on giving it heaps (and spending heaps). Making sure the nut is all good and the trem should be fine considering it is blocked. Maybe could do without a locking nut too. Just put locking tuners on it and tuning will be stable unless you want to Satch on it in fully floating mode. The string retainer bar would be good to sort out, although strings can bind on them if to much down pressure is applied. Floyds are such a pain in the ass. Even the Gotoh 1996 was a pain to set up and change strings etc.

Main thing that always concerns me when i buy a used guitar is fret wear. If it needs work, it costs a lot. Getting a good price on a gat that needs no fret work is a bonus.

Good point, but I don't want floating anything. I want it blocked, if I replaced the floyd it would be to have a huge brass block in the vintage trem that I'd block anyway.

I reckon I scored then cause the frets are just fine

[NippleWrestler]

Super cool guitar man. You can score some awesome bargains on great MIJ guitars that nobody knows anything about.

Some thoughts:

Any metal fabrication shop could make you a trem block for about $40, it's pretty minimal in terms of machining.

If your pots work they're fine, give em a clean with contact cleaner and you're all set and inspect the wiring for any dull solder spots. Resoldering a joint is much less hassle than getting a new pot and I'm pretty sure that after building 9 guitars and rewiring about 30, expensive pots sound identical to cheap pots but just last longer. However, a Switchcraft jack is a no brainer for $4. Put one in as a matter of principal.

Have a look at Gotoh Floyd trems. They're awesome and common on the used market (on ebay).

[Bg]

never had an issue with my floyds, once setup properly

[Aquila Rossa]

never had an issue with my floyds, once setup properly

Set up right and they can be stable apart from going out of tune palm muting or double stop bends etc. But the mission to get there sucks. Tune, adjust clamp to make trem flush, retune, readjust clamp over and over, etc, etc. Then fine tune a dozen times once locked down. Once it is finally there it stays there if strings are stretched and no problems with the FR's hardware, but yuck. What you gotta do to be able to wang on the whammy bar

p.s. this last one I set up was a particularly bad one to do. it was set up for very heavy strings and dropped tuning, so lots of adjusting to do.

[AiRdAd]

never had an issue with my floyds, once setup properly

Set up right and they can be stable apart from going out of tune palm muting or double stop bends etc. But the mission to get there sucks. Tune, adjust clamp to make trem flush, retune, readjust clamp over and over, etc, etc. Then fine tune a dozen times once locked down. Once it is finally there it stays there if strings are stretched and no problems with the FR's hardware, but yuck. What you gotta do to be able to wang on the whammy bar

I'd take a setting up a floyd rose over a guitar with bigsby any day!!! they are truely annoying to do!