Swinger project

Addam · Post by **Addam** » Sun Jul 22, 2012 10:08 am

In between waiting for paint to arrive for George's Bratocaster project I started a little project of my own.

It's gonna be a Swinger with a mid-mounted 1970s DiMarzio humbucker.

Jimmy Page can be seen playing a modified Swinger (with a humbucker in the middle position) on the front of a Led Zeppelin live 8-track

I've got a Jagmaster neck, I'm planning on hacking the headstock to suit.
I think it's a little bit too small, what do you think?
Almost right...?

h8mtv · Post by **h8mtv** » Sun Jul 22, 2012 1:23 pm

It does look a bit small. The big Fender headstock looks so good that personally I'd leave it the original shape. You are not going for a reproduction. My .02pf.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Sun Jul 22, 2012 1:33 pm

do it.

metalhead384 · Post by **metalhead384** » Sun Jul 22, 2012 5:33 pm

do it, i think itll look and sound great when your done, the body is already lookin good

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Sun Jul 22, 2012 6:00 pm

it looks good.

I always though the starcaster headstock would look cool on a swinger.

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Sun Jul 22, 2012 7:01 pm

Do it! Swinger ain't a Swinger without a pointy headstock.
The original "Starcaster by Fender" Strat headstock was pointy, I wish I'd picked one up.

Also - has anyone actually got a picture of this legendary Zeppelin 8-track?

DasBeef · Post by **DasBeef** » Sun Jul 22, 2012 8:01 pm

Get another neck to chop up?

DGNR8 · Post by **DGNR8** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 2:01 am

Cut it, glue another piece of maple on it, and cut it again. Voila. It sounds iffy, but necks use glue.

Addam · Post by **Addam** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 8:13 pm

DGNR8 wrote:Cut it, glue another piece of maple on it, and cut it again. Voila. It sounds iffy, but necks use glue.

I thought about doing that, but I don't actually have any suitable maple knocking around.
The headstock is pretty wide, so I don't think it's too far off being right anyway.
Maybe someone with a real Swinger could take a couple of pics and measurements?

Addam · Post by **Addam** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 8:15 pm

String through holes drilled and a little paint shot.

BTW, it's NOT BLOODY ORANGE!
Fucking flash!

George · Post by **George** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 9:41 pm

Is that the same as paint as the Brat? If so, fucking stoked about it. It looks great with the orangey hue but the more shots I see of it the more confused I get by it. Grass is greener?

Addam · Post by **Addam** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 9:55 pm

George wrote:Is that the same as paint as the Brat? If so, fucking stoked about it. It looks great with the orangey hue but the more shots I see of it the more confused I get by it. Grass is greener?

Yeah, same paint.
I'm struggling to get a decent likeness in any pics.

George · Post by **George** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 10:03 pm

For other readers, here are some other pics to show how the different colours this paint shows up....

Seems to go from a pink hue, to orange, to flat our rich red. MAGIC PAINT!

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 8:16 am

AddamInsane wrote:
DGNR8 wrote:Cut it, glue another piece of maple on it, and cut it again. Voila. It sounds iffy, but necks use glue.
I thought about doing that, but I don't actually have any suitable maple knocking around.
The headstock is pretty wide, so I don't think it's too far off being right anyway.
Maybe someone with a real Swinger could take a couple of pics and measurements?

I thought cooterfinger did templates from my tracings? Sorry I didn't see this last night.

[edit] Only the body template is posted. Given the original was cut down from, what, Musicmaster? 22.75" necks I don't think extra wood should be needed.

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 8:34 am

Big pics, so no img tags
http://bestnetworx.com/uploader/files/371/IMG_3777.JPG
http://bestnetworx.com/uploader/files/371/IMG_3775.JPG

cooter · Post by **cooter** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 10:40 am

Actually, Nicks tracing didn't line up well with the mini strat headstock so I had to scale this pic
to fit.

xrleroyx · Post by **xrleroyx** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 2:34 pm

I've never seen one of these. That's really cool. Good luck on your endeavor. What pickups go in those?

Addam · Post by **Addam** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 3:47 pm

A real swinger would have a musicmaster (mustang, duosonic bronco too)
Mine will get a strat pickup in the neck and an old dimarzio in the middle

xrleroyx · Post by **xrleroyx** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 4:12 pm

AddamInsane wrote:A real swinger would have a musicmaster (mustang, duosonic bronco too)
Mine will get a strat pickup in the neck and an old dimarzio in the middle

Humbucker? I think it'd look ridiculously cool with a cream superdistortion.

Addam · Post by **Addam** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 6:01 pm

Humbucker, yes,
Cream, yes (well discoloured to brown now)
But not Superdistortion.
It's got a DCR of 8.11k and was already fitted to my Bronco when it's previous owner bought it in 1978.
I made a new pickguard for the Bronco to put it back to stock.

Swinger project

Do I hack my headstock?

Swinger project