ShortScale.org

I am very happy with all of them, but not compelled to have a Strat. (I was about a year ago, apparently—you should see my pile-o-Telecasters.)

Cooterfinger handily fixed the two painted ones. Either one could have been sunbursts, but I hadn't perfected my painting technique yet. Luckily I pulled my shit together in time for the Maverick. I am eagerly waiting for a package from Curtis Novak to arrive.

Besides, the Antigua was originally an Antigua. Don't fight the power of Antigua. That's some fierce mojo juju.

You can see more photos on my friend Flickr. The piano is a nice touch, eh? Free 1908 ebony finish on Craigslist. I can't play it but I noodle out melodies that I can't figure out on guitar.

I only see one of each color. How can that be obsessive?
Now, more than 2 of each color would be obsessive. (One to play and one backup.)

That Antigua turned out great btw.

I would love to know more about how you did the antigua finish.

The antigua is from nitro rattle cans like always. I guess I better write down where I got them before I forget. It's light gray and sage used for furniture, topped with tinted clear.

<3 antigua

Not at all. Thats a fine collection of Strats you have! Congrats!

Thanks, guys. I am never quite sure if I nailed it or not.

This weekend I finally worked on my Coronados, which I hadn't reassembled after painting. After six years of owning one, I finally forced myself to draw the wiring diagram. It may be common knowledge now that they have been reissued, but if you Google it like I have (for years) you'll see that shit ain't out there. This may be it for a while.

My first one was parted out several years ago and I managed to buy all the parts. It had the harness, but I couldn't get it to work and there were no diagrams to use for reference. At first I bought a TV Jones harness and wired it like a Gibson, with the pickups going directly to the outer loops on the toggle switch, and then to the pots. When I got the Wildwood, I was able to see how they are supposed to be wired. Does it really matter? Probably not. Nobody has ever been all that fond of this model, and they are getting parted out like VW Beetles.

The neck (yellow) goes to the volume pot, and is jumped (white) to the tone. Bridge (long yellow) goes to the tone, and is jumped (white) to the volume. Each volume travels up to the toggle, and then the output travels back to the jack. The fat gray wires contain a yellow shielded wire with a bare copper ground, and then each of those get routed through spring-like coils that get soldered to the pots as ground and for a semi rigid frame. On some of the coils there is a wrap of masking tape to hold it all together. It's a very sturdy frame, but the wires go twice as far as they need to.

I had started dragging the guts through the body and couldn't get the pots out through the holes. After trying a few times I gave up and pulled the guts back out to see what was wrong. For whatever reason, the harness is an inch too short to reach the jack. The easiest fix is to splice wires up at the toggle. The rest of it fits the body holes perfectly.

For the drawing I shortened the long wires to fit it on a page. I also brightened up the blue and green wires. In person they all look almost black. Since I couldn't draw white wires cleanly, I made them a light minty color. The steel coils hold everything in a goal post shape, which is easy to move through the body. I use fishing line to pull them through the body, and use the bridge pickup hole and sound hole to maneuver with a long screwdriver and fingers, like a monkey.