Hey everyone!

I got really impatient waiting for the new pickups to drop to a good price so I just got the old pickups and painted the covers black. I really just wanted to string it up and set up all the action.

Once I get the new pickups in and get that all wired up then I can say this strat is complete. Where it stands now this is version 0.9. I may add a few more coats of gloss later on to give it some super shine and protection. I've decided that I'll be using this guitar a lot for shows and I want it to last as long as it possibly again.

Surprisingly the guitar was very easy to set up. Most guitar players know how their guitars work and they are all very similar. I've set up the strat to have super low action. The string height is 2mm at the nut and 3mm at fret 12. It's stringed up with D'Addario EXL120+. These strings differ as most strings usually come with 9-42 and then 10-46. I like both but I wanted something in between so thankfully such a thing exists. 9.5-44!

The small nut width makes for easier thumb-over-neck chording and overall rhythm play. At the same time, the super low action and jumbo frets make lead an easier task too.

When I get the new pickups, I think you all deserve a sound test so when they arrive, I'll put up a recording shortly after.

Enjoy the pics!















PS. To any SH members who live in Australia in the Sydney area. My brother and I are starting a new society at UNSW called The Jam. We'll be aiming to gather people who all have a passion for music and instruments. We also aim to gather musicians in one place so it is easier for people to form bands. We'll also be offering cheap lessons and instrument services. We've already got 3 teachers on board: one for guitar, one for music theory and one for keyboards. It will take about 6 months to get prepared and then the club should be open by this time next year.

Looks good, Waffledino. Good enough to take for a test drive. Now you just need that Marshall amp stack and you'll be all set!

Nice done
You can be proud of your work and maybe tweet this to mami

I've got some questions because i've found shop wich can paint me this pattern on my guitar but it's a motorbike custom shop and i need to remove all electronics, neck, ... before they can work on it.
I'm little bit frightened to do it myself but is it difficult to remove this ?

Wow, Mind Blown! That is Swweeeet i want one!! Looking at the pictures really get me pumped up to do it myself .

babaloued wrote:Nice done
You can be proud of your work and maybe tweet this to mami

I've got some questions because i've found shop wich can paint me this pattern on my guitar but it's a motorbike custom shop and i need to remove all electronics, neck, ... before they can work on it.
I'm little bit frightened to do it myself but is it difficult to remove this ?

Hey Baba!
The motorbike custom shop should be perfect for getting your guitar painted. I think you should get the guitar all prepped up so you can just give it to them, ready to paint. If you're unsure of how to dismantle your guitar I can walk you through it, you can PM me. It's not very complicated and I think it's a good experience about learning how your guitar was built.

EDIT: I tweeted it to Mami's Twitter. I'm not very familiar with it so I'm not sure if it's actually her or just a manager who runs her page. But either way if I get a reply from her, I may actually fanboy out like crazy (and I've never fanboyed over anyone!)

bronzefish wrote:Wow, Mind Blown! That is Swweeeet i want one!! Looking at the pictures really get me pumped up to do it myself .

Yaaaaaaay! It makes me really glad to hear that people are now inspired to paint their guitars! I'm sure everyone know's the feeling of falling in love with their guitar and after you put so much effort into making a new one, it's that same feeling all over again. When you get started with doing your guitar, let me know! .clap. .

Oh, she definitely runs her own Twitter. Just one look at all the randomness and you can tell it's her. Each member's Twitter really shows their personalities.

@WaffleDino: I will tweet her picture of your guitar too And i'll PM you about who to dismantle electronics later. It seems like i need to have soldering iron and i have cover to record beforehands

babaloued wrote:@WaffleDino: I will tweet her picture of your guitar too And i'll PM you about who to dismantle electronics later. It seems like i need to have soldering iron and i have cover to record beforehands

Haha thanks! Hopefully she sees the guitar and makes some awesome announcement about it or something.

I think the perfect finishing touch to this is to have Mami sign my headstock or maybe the back cover plate. It would be like "Mami certified" haha

Wow awesome work!!
otsukaresama~

What an awesome journey!!! For some reason I was both sad and happy at the end, sad because it was so much fun reading about it and happy because, you know, you now have Mami's strat!
On the 18th of January, it was really hot, I was trying to remember where I was that day, then I remembered........the Big Day Out I think I almost died, I counted at least 7 people that passed out within the first 15 minutes of the Chili Peppers set

Anyway, congratulations! I look forward to working with you at the end of this year with my Tomo jazz as well as learning as much as I can from you

Much like everyone else, I'd also like to congratulate you on your hard work, and thank you for the detailed explanations you've put up!

Well done on the stencil work... Whenever I try to use stencils, the paint always ends up going everywhere .whistle.

I must admit, I have little knowledge of how guitars work, but still, it was awesome being able to read your journey... the final product looks excellent as well!!

ShinsukeIto wrote:Much like everyone else, I'd also like to congratulate you on your hard work, and thank you for the detailed explanations you've put up!

Well done on the stencil work... Whenever I try to use stencils, the paint always ends up going everywhere .whistle.

I must admit, I have little knowledge of how guitars work, but still, it was awesome being able to read your journey... the final product looks excellent as well!!

For my future guitars, I actually want to refrain from using stencils made from paper. An issue I had while painting with paper stencils is that the paint would act as an unwanted adhesive. I had parts of the stencil stuck to the guitar and peeling it off was quite a nasty job, not all of it came off cleanly either. So I think with stencils it's better to use a material which won't soak up the paint.

I FINALLY managed to get one of the pickups ordered and on the way, the other two, I'm still in contact with my dealer and just waiting for stock to arrive at his store.

I've just read through this entire thread and have to say: You did an awesome job on this.

I've always wanted to do a custom paint job on a guitar, but really had no idea where to begin. It's quite insightful reading through all of this.

SourChicken wrote:I've just read through this entire thread and have to say: You did an awesome job on this.

I've always wanted to do a custom paint job on a guitar, but really had no idea where to begin. It's quite insightful reading through all of this.

Thanks! I know many people who want to custom paint their guitars and the information was always out there, it's just that it wasn't nicely presented I guess. Many guides assumed you knew everything, for example having an air compressor for the spray gun (I honestly had no idea until the sales rep asked if I had one)
While it may be general knowledge to some people, I knew that obviously not everyone would understand them.

In the end I managed to grab bits and pieces from everywhere and mashed them up into my own guide which is pretty much what this thread is. I've still kept it quite simplified but I've noted that I'll be glad to go into depth with any questions people have so all in all, I'm glad that this has been an insightful experience for you and everyone else. .chesttap.

One another note, all the pickups have been ordered and they will arrive hopefully within two weeks. With the pickups being the final purchase for the guitar, I can now make a full parts and prices list along with the full specifications of the guitar. I'd also like to point out that although this is Mami inspired, this is my own guitar and there are certain things which I specified so I could have my own customised and personalised guitar.

Final Parts:

• Stratocaster body. $50.00
  
• 1L Septone paint stripper. $20.00
  
• Duct tape. $4.00
  
• Wet & Dry sandpaper x2. $2.60 ($1.30 each)
  
• Air Spray Gun. $35.00
  
• 125mL pot of Grey primer. $5.00
  
• 125mL pot of Black paint. $5.00
  
• 1L Mineral Turpentine. $4.90
  
• 3-ply BWB pickguard. $7.00
  
• Black pickup covers and knobs. $3.50
  
• Electronics. $15.00
  
• 5 colours of paint at $4.00 each. $20.00
  
• Black and white paint at $7.00 each. $14.00
  
• 3 paintbrush set. $5.00
  
• Custom made Fender licensed neck. $200.00
  
• Gotoh tuners. $50.00
  
• DiMarzio The Cruiser. Bridge. $80.00
  
• DiMarzio Virtual Solo. Middle. $80.00
  
• DiMarzio Air Norton S. Neck. $80.00
  

Final costs:
$681.00

Specs:
Neck Type: 1pc Canadian Hardrock Maple
Body: Alder
Fretboard: Maple w/black dot inlay
Frets: 6100 Jumbo
Bridge: Fender Vintage Tremolo
Neck Pickup: DiMarzio Air Norton S
Middle PIckup: DiMarzio Virtual Solo
Bridge Pickup: DiMarzio The Cruiser

Neck Specs:
Scale: 648mm/25.5"
Width at nut: 40.6mm
Width at last fret: 56mm
Thickness at 1st: 19mm
Thickness at 12th: 21mm
Radius: 237.5mm/9.5"

Superb job. I just don't have the skill/patience to do what you have done! ^ ^

Are you doing a video demo once all the pickups are installed?

Hey everyone. I've just installed the pickups and quickly recorded some quick demos.
However you should note that this was super late at night and I couldn't use the big amp so instead, it's being run through a 15 watt Marshall.

Not playing anything in particular.






A proper test will come one day!

u should make me one

it looks amazing .clap.

Very cool! Hope to see a SCANDAL cover soon hehe

The guitar sounded nice! Great Job!

Nice thanks :D Wanna do this to my guitar

Nice work.

fantastic work mate! You are braver and more motivated than I am! haha

I've just read through this entire thread

Awesome job

congratulations

can you please make a video tutorial how to make a guitar like mami's and i'll follow it step by step >,< i'm envy in your guitar huhu it's so cool !

Congratulations for your project, looks really nice

Also you should get the "Mami certification" !