Funky Pickguard issue

[Frankenamp]

I found a Vinci (they sell strings) guitar model VX4 for about $25 plus shipping on fleabay:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/321117723686?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Reason being is if I fool around and bust something on it - I'm only out the 25 (plus shipping which was another 25 all the way from Fla.) As it was, once I wiped all the dust off it and Orange Glo'ed the fretboard, the thing looked almost new. Tightened up the strings and noticed the high E buzzed a bit, raised it up .040 no more buzz. Plugged it in and the thing made some sound, frets felt OK... went to flip the pickup switch (crunchcrunchbuzzcrunch)  adjust the volume & tone (crunch-scraaaaape-crunch) Oh My! Not good at all. Loosen strings again, remove screws, loosen strings a little more, then a lot more and finally slide the pickguard out from under the strings. The sandbox I was expecting did not materialize- insides were pristine, so I shot some cleaner in the pots and switch and worked them around a bit... and noticed some details. The pickups look cheap, the pots are fingernail size and the caps look... Chinese. Well, what can I expect- it's a Chinese strat copy and says 'made in China' on the neck plate right under 'Vinci Signature' no deception here.

I put everything back together, and tried it again- most of the crunchy scratch was gone. Still some on the 2 and 5 positions, but given the quality of the switch I cant expect much more. Still buzzes some. Put new strings on, and tuned it up again, and again and stretched Ernie Ball's regular 10's some more... and the thing actually played fairly well. I decided to get a second opinion. I took it to the local music shop- guy can't remember who was in his shop three days ago, but he knows his instruments.

I walk in the shop- he looks up from tweaking another customers real Strat and sez "give you 5$ for it", I said It'll have to be a couple more, but I only paid 25$ for it. "Ya gotta be kiddin" "yeah- really, online pawn shop in Florida, plus shipping which was about 2$ more than the sale price.) The Strat customer was curious to see what $25 would get for a guitar so they put his aside for a few and checked out the pawnshop special: surprisingly well set up- only a dip of a few thou in the neck around the 17-19th fret, otherwise straight. The neck adjustment is at the heel of the neck instead of under the nut headstock instead of the top. There is a notch in the pick guard to reach the nut which surprisingly did not need adjusting. The owner said that it compared favorably with anything around 200 new.

I asked if he had something a little hotter for the bridge PU and after convincing him that brand new Seymour Duncan's were a little rich for this guitar's blood, I bought a used Dimarzio stacked HB of uncertain vintage which should fit... and headed home for some fun.

Half a stick of hot glue later* and the stock bridge PU was out and the Dimarzio was in. I put things back and found immediately that the DM was not as hot as the stock PU's were. I metered the stock bridge (10.5K) and the series wired (per the website) humbucker was about 13.5K <?> I put it back in using the other half stick of hot glue holding it in place untill the D,G,B,&E strings were about 1/16" off the staggered pole pieces, and the E&A strings were about .2" off the poles. The PUP woke up a little bit becoming maybe a couple dB warmer than the middle (3/16"e to >1/4"E  and neck pickups (1/8 e to ~1/4E). I was expecting more, but then aren't most Strat single coils 5-6K?

The biggest hurdle to fooling more with this thing is the pick guard. It is almost like a Strat, but not quite. the hole pattern is off- 13 holes instead of 11. There are two screws instead of one on the low E side of the neck joint and it seems about a half inch wider all along the low E side. I want to try the Guitarnuts shielding tricks, put some man-sized 500+K pots, and some caps that work. The tone pots sound like you are moving from 2-5 instead of 1-10, barely any change. I found a couple pick guards that are almost but not quite right. Anyone have any ideas on where to locate one? The two below are almost but not quite (it may have come from the same factory that Washburn and Parker use for there Chinese stuff).

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WASHBURN-IMPORT-ELECTRIC-GUITAR-PICKGUARD-/220719107387?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item3363e24d3b

http://www.ebay.com/itm/290649155532?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

I'm open to suggestions, opinions, whatever. It's a toy to learn on, so there are no wrong answers (maybe some more right than others, but still not wrong)!

Thanks in advance.



*screw hole in the Dimarzio was larger than the screw, and the cover had come off. (happens with used stuff)

[jjasilli]

Pickguard suggestions:  1.  You may be able to go online & printout various pickguard templates for free.  Then you can see if they adequately match the Vinci pickguard.  2.  Trace the Vinci pickguard onto a paper template, but change specific holes & cutouts to your liking.  Send the template to a pickguard maker.  3.  Get a pickguard blank and make your own pickguard -- instructions & supplies at www.stewmac.com   and elsewhere on the web.

Pots:  It's possible the pots are audio taper with a compressed useful range.  Whatever, they should be replaced anyway. 

[Frankenamp]

Thanks JJ! I looked over the offerings at StewMac, Terrapin, and some others. I haven't seen anything exactly like the pickgaurd on this one- close but not that close. What does 500K pots gain over  250K pots besides less bleed off at the max position? The loaded pickguard is more than I paid for the whole guitar, but I can use it as a template if it fits. If it dosent- oh well.

[jjasilli]

What does 500K pots gain over 250K pots besides less bleed off at the max position?  Less voltage bleed off typically means more treble, because the treble portion of AC signal gets bled-off first.  So, 500K pots yield brighter tone than 250K pots.  Traditionally 250K is used with single coil PU (Fender); 500K pots for humbuckers (Gibson).  The reason is that humbuckers tend to have a darker tone so their surrounding circuit is brighter to compensate.  A 1M pot is brighter yet.  This is oversimplification, but gets the point across.

The loaded pickguard is more than I paid for the whole guitar  It's a personal choice on how to go about upgrading a inexpensive guitar.  Also it can be done in stage.

[Frankenamp]

Thanks JJ! I got the loaded pick guard, it seems ok, even had (small) 500k pots. I introduced Mssrs. Tin Foil & Scotch 77 to the pickguard & (HB) routs. Now that I have a template and a spare, I want to do some R&D... Is there a good source of info on what wire gauge and turns do to/with "tone"? My online searches have been search engine skewed towards sales pitches instead of research... Before I waste a vendors time and patience, Iwould like to have some more knowledge...

Anyone know anything about Jerry Sentell? He's a winder up in Sacto....almost my neck of the woods, and his prices are as good as I've seen for 'Merkin goods.