Mongrelcaster Project

For something versatile or offbeat, reimagining a classic could be the way to go

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A friend of mine already owns a fine selection of classic models, so he decided to put some of the parts he has collected back into use and create something entirely different. An ash Guitarbuild body finished in metallic copper caught his eye because it reminded him of the bronze-dipped Strat Robbie Robertson used for The Last Waltz. A roasted maple Musikraft S-type neck was also acquired, complete with an aged finish and a set of vintage style Kluson tuners.

For the electronics, a 1950s P-90, Seymour Duncan Lipstick and a vintage Japanese Tiesco Gold Foil pickup were earmarked for the bridge, middle and neck positions respectively, while a pre-CBS vibrato block was matched with a modern plate and set of steel saddles, and a three-ply white pickguard was sourced along with a set of Tele knobs. The most unusual twist comes from Six String Supplies in its 10-Way Stratocaster Wiring Harness, complete with 250k CTS potentiometers, paper-in-oil tone capacitors and a Freeway 5B5-01 pickup selector switch.

One In The Hole

I decided to fit the P-90 first and started by covering the pickguard in masking tape. I marked a centre line from the bridge to the neck and established the line where the P-90 pole screws would coincide with the middle of the stock bridge pickup. I placed a P-90 routing template over the pickguard and used it to draw the outline of the opening for the pickup cover. Routing pickguards can be a messy business, so I used my jeweller’s saw to cut away most of the plastic, staying about 2mm inside the marked line.

With the pickguard placed onto a couple of spacers, I aligned the P-90 router template and clamped everything down firmly. Using a bearing guided router bit in a palm router, I finished cutting the P-90 opening to size. When the pickguard was mounted on the body, I was able to mark the areas where wood needed to be removed for the P-90 pickup.