[b]Of Partscasters and the Quest for Tonal Ratitude[/b] [i]OR[/i] [b]This is Caitlyn[/b]
Caitlyn was my first custom guitar in the post-recession world. I worked for three years to make sure the job was going to stick before I went nuts with anything. Buying my Gibson was enough of a gamble at the time.
Caitlyn began her life as a sickly green Squier Bullet that I picked up for $99 on a whim. Something to play again. Sounded pretty bad, played pretty poorly, everything you’d expect from a plywood body and a barely sanded, unfinished neck.
For my birthday in 2017, I did a complete rebuild. The only factory parts left are the body/finish and the trem claw. From head to toe, parts include:
-Schaller locking tuners -Fender MIM maple neck -pick guard, pickups, and wiring out of a Fender American Special Strat; 2x Texas Special pickups, 1x Fender Atomic humbucker -black jack plate, fabricated in US -black steel knobs, fabricated in US -Super Vee BladeRunner bridge, made in Colorado -Planet Waves locking strap buttons
The end result is a guitar that no one believes began its life as the cheapest Squier model on the market. I’ve received numerous...comments I guess, on how well she plays. The string action is low and tight, and even with NYXLs on the sound isn’t too bright. If anything, I’d complain that the Fender Atomic is underwhelming, but in fairness, my basis for comparison is the Fender Blacktop Jaguar, and those humbuckers scream.
As a future upgrade, if the body can be routed to accommodate it, I’d like to wire the humbucker on 500k pots and see if that helps. I can’t imagine the 250k ohm pots are doing it any favors.
