What To Do With My Strat Parts Caster?

[Charvel1975]

So I have a parts caster and wondering what to do with it? I attached a pic. It's a Squier Strat body (I got it off a friend that put it together), he said they didn't know what kind of wood the body is made of though I will say it's extremely light! He said it may be Basswood? Anyway, the neck I had bought off Ebay from TNT Custom Guitars: http://www.guitarpartsonline.com/Jackson-Style_c121.htm Jackson Style Maple Neck & fretboard, 22 Fret, Floyd Rose Nut and 6 inline Black Grover tuning machines. Then the bridge I had bought off Ebay is a Made In Mexico Fender tremolo but I had the tremolo setup on the guitar so it wouldn't move at all cause I really don't use trems so he put a total of 4 trem springs so it wouldn't move. The mirrored pickguard I got off Ebay and as well as the single Seymour Duncan TB-4 JB Trembucker, wired it to an Alpha push/pull volume pot.

I haven't really used this guitar in a while because, for one, it just doesn't stay in tune, not gelling with it and it just doesn't sound right... If you look at my other thread https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?337888-Pickup-Swaps-In-3-Guitars I'm looking to go from active EMG's to passive pickup's in my Charvel model 5fx. What I just thought of was having the SD TB-4 taken out of the parts caster and put it in the bridge of my Charvel along with maybe a Seymour Duncan Cool Rails ir or a Little 59 jr for the slant single coil neck position.

 

[Charvel1975]

Re: What To Do With My Strat Parts Caster?

Bump

 

[chadd]

Re: What To Do With My Strat Parts Caster?

That seems like the perfect destination for one of the EMGs and low value pots.

 

[wevard]

Re: What To Do With My Strat Parts Caster?

It seems you really want to go passive with your Charvel, so the TB4 will likely be a good fit for it.
Regarding the partscaster, I’d still spend some time trying to figure out why it doesn’t stay in tune. You say it has a floyd rose nut, but in the picture it doesn’t seem to be locked, which I guess it’s from not having fine tuners at the bridge. Maybe this is the main issue with this guitar and it will never be right until that nut issue is addressed.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: What To Do With My Strat Parts Caster?

^ I blocked the Floyd on a Jackson, tried leaving the nut unlocked, and it was horrible. Either put a regular Stray neck on it, retrofit that neck with a regular nut, or lick the nut and put a fine tuner bridge on it.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: What To Do With My Strat Parts Caster?

^ I blocked the Floyd on a Jackson, tried leaving the nut unlocked, and it was horrible. Either put a regular Stray neck on it, retrofit that neck with a regular nut, or lick the nut and put a fine tuner bridge on it.

Yeah, the Floyd nut isn’t designed to let the string slide back and forth in the slot like a regular nut is.
I tried the same thing with my 7 string and experienced the same as you. It just doesn’t work that way.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: What To Do With My Strat Parts Caster?

Block the floyd and keep clamping the strings in the nut. Your guitar will stay in tune for months at a time.

 

[The_Junior]

Re: What To Do With My Strat Parts Caster?

I would think about buying a floyd rose 'fastloader' tremolo from GFS for the partscaster. They come stock with a brass sustain block. Since you plan to not use the tremolo, you can block it and you would have the convenience of not having to contend with locking saddles and have your fine tuners available to use once you lock down the floyd nut.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: What To Do With My Strat Parts Caster?

I would think about buying a floyd rose 'fastloader' tremolo from GFS for the partscaster. They come stock with a brass sustain block. Since you plan to not use the tremolo, you can block it and you would have the convenience of not having to contend with locking saddles and have your fine tuners available to use once you lock down the floyd nut.

How well does that stay in tune if you keep it unblocked? The non clamping saddles sounds like a good thing provided there aren’t tuning issues.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: What To Do With My Strat Parts Caster?

The fact that you can never change string brand is kinda an issue with those speedloaders.

 

[The_Junior]

Re: What To Do With My Strat Parts Caster?

How well does that stay in tune if you keep it unblocked? The non clamping saddles sounds like a good thing provided there aren’t tuning issues.

Well, I imagine if you set it up to use a tremolo that it wouldn't be as good as a double locking unit. It might work fine with subtle flutters. dive bombing on the other hand I can see the strings binding where they load in where there would be locking studs. I only suggested a fastloader unit because the OP doesn't intend to use the tremolo. and the fine tuners on the floyd can adjust any changes in pitch after locking the nut and otherwise.

The fact that you can never change string brand is kinda an issue with those speedloaders.

How do you figure? once the trem is blocked, I can't see anyone needing to go any further steps than setting up a hardtail guitar in a string change scenario.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: What To Do With My Strat Parts Caster?

I'm picky about the strings I like to play. With a speedloader you get only whatever limited selection of strings they provide.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: What To Do With My Strat Parts Caster?

Is it the same Speedloader that took the proprietary pre-stretched strings? Nobody bought them back in the day, so who the hell would buy one now?

 

[The_Junior]

Re: What To Do With My Strat Parts Caster?

Is it the same Speedloader that took the proprietary pre-stretched strings? Nobody bought them back in the day, so who the hell would buy one now?

They don't use special strings. The difference is it has no locking saddles. You load your strings through a hollow tube where on a standard Floyd rose would have the locking studs. A complete tremolo with locking nut for under $50.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: What To Do With My Strat Parts Caster?

They don't use special strings. The difference is it has no locking saddles. You load your strings through a hollow tube where on a standard Floyd rose would have the locking studs. A complete tremolo with locking nut for under $50.

The Floyd Rose speedloader system requires the use of special strings. A quick google would seem to indicate that these strings are no longer even made, so the bridges are just useless hunks of metal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Rose_SpeedLoader

 

[Mincer]

Re: What To Do With My Strat Parts Caster?

Wow, reading about the SpeedLoader, it has a lot in common with Steinberger bridges, in that it needs special strings. Steinbergers use a double ball system, which are happily still made. You can use regular strings, too. But the double ball system makes string changes much faster. It is actually a great system that hasn't really caught on.

 

[The_Junior]

Re: What To Do With My Strat Parts Caster?

Dudes, I mentioned nothing about any 'speed loader'


https://www.guitarfetish.com/Floyd-Rose-Fastloader-locking-Tremolo-System_p_260.html

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: What To Do With My Strat Parts Caster?

Oh. That's totally different, and not something I've ever heard of before. No experience with it. You can see the confusion between 'speed loader' and 'fast loader' though.