SE project almost done.

[Riverdrifter]

Here’s what it looked like at quitting time today. The wiring is not complete yet.

I notched the pickguard and the neck pocket for truss rod access.

2000 Squier CAE SE body.
2022 Fender Robert Cray Strat neck.
Fender big block tremolo bridge.
Stratosphere Alnico V 6k neck pickup.
Stratosphere Alnico V 6k middle pickup.
Suhr Thornbucker II (Alnico 2) 9.3k bridge pickup.
Mojotone CTS vintage taper 250k pots.
Sprauge .022uf 100v cap.
Oak Grigsby 5 way switch.
Switchcraft #11 jack.
Schaller S-locks straplocks.
Simplified controls - master volume & tone.

 

[Robb]

La creme de la creme ! Excellent job.

 

[Riverdrifter]

T

La creme de la creme ! Excellent job.

Thanks! I’m really excited to get it finished. Hopefully I can make time this weekend to do that.

A couple of notes.

The Squier SE neck was about 1/6” wider than the Fender neck. The Squier neck was so tight, it wouldn’t easily come out with the screws removed. The mounting holes were an exact match though.

A Switchcraft #11 jack does not fit easily into the Squier body. The leg is about 3 times longer than the import jack. Also I had to ream the jack plate hole to fit, the Switchcraft jack is a bigger diameter than the import one.

 

[fadetoz]

Nice build!!! The Cray necks are so nice and always seem to have really nice Rosewood FBs.

 

[Riverdrifter]

Nice build!!! The Cray necks are so nice and always seem to have really nice Rosewood FBs.

Thanks!

Yes definitely. I picked this one out of 6 necks for the darkest wood and straightest grain.

I love the profile, it fits my hand great. It’s more of a thicker C shape, and the fretboard is more curved than the SE neck. My SE neck felt more like some Ibanez necks I’ve played. It was thin and wide, with a pretty flat radius. Of course the frets were smaller too.

I just have the E strings on now, for neck alignment, but I can already tell how the notes ring out. You can nail that BB King vibrato that just goes on and on on the high E, and the low E just resonates the whole guitar.

 

[fadetoz]

The Cray is a little beefier neck but not out of my comfort zone at all. My Robert Cray guitar is one of my all time favorite Strats.

 

[Riverdrifter]

Well this is getting expensive.

So I absolutely love the Suhr Thornbucker II. These have not been out long and there’s not many reviews of them yet. It is definitely exactly what I wanted for this guitar in the bridge. It’s thick, fat, and creamy. No spikes in the highs, plenty of smooth growl in the mids, and lots of beefy low end.

The Chinese Alnico V humbucker I previously had in the bridge was too bright for me. It was not thick sounding, and lacked that smooth growl.

Now that I have the Suhr in the bridge, I’m no longer digging the Chinese Alnico V single coils in the neck and mid. I was okay with them before, but now they sound too bright, thin, and out of place with the Suhr.

I ordered neck and mid Fender Yosemite single coils. There seem to be a lot of love for them, and most people say they sound pretty fat. The inductance is also a lot closer to the Suhr, so hopefully they balance well.

I also ordered a Pure Tone jack because I’m not happy with all the futzing on the Switchcraft to get it to fit nicely in the Squier body.

 

[Riverdrifter]

Okay, got the new parts in.

The Pure Tone PTT1 jack fits so much nicer than the Switchcraft #11, and is about as solid as a jack can be.

The Yosemite pickups are awesome! Just exactly what I was hoping for. They sound fantastic and blend great with the Thornbucker 2. I think this project might be done, maybe. 😀

 

[Riverdrifter]

I switched out the saddle height screws from 10mm to 8 mm. They are now just about the perfect height.

 

[dbrian66]

Nice project!

 

[Shaytan]

Cool one! Always fun to see what extravaganza the fellow ST members pull out next. I think I also get your feels towards the Stratosphere single coils, incredibly enough, I don't quite dig these Chinese Alnicos folks drop into Squiers, in fact, I much prefer some of the stock ceramics many are quick to throw out! They seem to pair much better with humbuckers, you can tame them quite a lot and get a more pleasant sound out of those by lowering them... not that any of this is going to be a problem for you, with such top notch Yosemites on their way.

 

[Riverdrifter]

Cool one! Always fun to see what extravaganza the fellow ST members pull out next. I think I also get your feels towards the Stratosphere single coils, incredibly enough, I don't quite dig these Chinese Alnicos folks drop into Squiers, in fact, I much prefer some of the stock ceramics many are quick to throw out! They seem to pair much better with humbuckers, you can tame them quite a lot and get a more pleasant sound out of those by lowering them... not that any of this is going to be a problem for you, with such top notch Yosemites on their way.

I agree. I think a lot of people who are going for a more traditional Strat sound would probably be okay with the Chinese Alnico 5 pickups, but I wanted something different. Also I want to point out that the Fender pickups I installed are so much higher build quality than the Stratosphere pickups. When I was taking the Chinese pickups out, I barely bumped one of the wires and it came unsoldered from the base. The wire is so fine, and the solder joint was pretty crappy.

It’s pretty amazing how big of a sound difference there is also.

 

[Riverdrifter]

Here it is. Complete for now.