DeadRanchHands
Joined: Apr 15, 2008
Posts: 1281
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Posted on Jan 11 2011 03:52 PM
I recently bought the body and pickups from an old Harmony H802. The body was only $30, and the pickups $30 each. I picked up a reproduction Silvertone surfacemount vibrato, and I'm going to attempt to use an old Squire neck on it plus a floating bridge. I'll have to make a pickguard for it too. Wish me luck!
— http://www.reverbnation.com/thedeadranchhands
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZEW74mHjQk
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JakeDobner
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 12159
Seattle
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Posted on Jan 11 2011 04:37 PM
Make sure you put the bridge back on so it works with the Squier neck, presumably a 25.5" scale length. You can't go wrong with the pickups harmony used! Really great stuff.
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DeadRanchHands
Joined: Apr 15, 2008
Posts: 1281
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Posted on Jan 11 2011 04:50 PM
JakeDobner
Make sure you put the bridge back on so it works with the Squier neck, presumably a 25.5" scale length. You can't go wrong with the pickups harmony used! Really great stuff.
Yes, I'm not sure what the original scale was, but I'm using a floating bridge specifically so that I can adjust it to wherever it needs to be.
— http://www.reverbnation.com/thedeadranchhands
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZEW74mHjQk
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JakeDobner
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 12159
Seattle
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Posted on Jan 11 2011 05:05 PM
Ah! Didn't notice that. 24 3/4" was the original scale, according to the Internet.
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DeadRanchHands
Joined: Apr 15, 2008
Posts: 1281
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Posted on Jan 11 2011 05:18 PM
JakeDobner
Ah! Didn't notice that. 24 3/4" was the original scale, according to the Internet.
Thanks! Actually I'd prefer a shorter scale guitar. If I ever pick up a short scale neck maybe I'll swap it out.
— http://www.reverbnation.com/thedeadranchhands
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZEW74mHjQk
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CrispyGoodness
Joined: Apr 06, 2009
Posts: 565
North Cackalacky
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Posted on Jan 12 2011 05:50 PM
You can't go wrong with the pickups harmony used!
I hate to be a buzzkill, but on those guitars, those silver pickups are a major weak point, being both weak-sounding, and more prone to picking up the sound of your guitar pick bumping into them than the strings. Later models have Strat-like pickups that sound MUCHO better. Maybe you could get 'em rewound...
--Crispy
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JakeDobner
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 12159
Seattle
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Posted on Jan 12 2011 06:28 PM
That is too bad, I've never played one of those models. I was just presuming they were as excellent as all of the pickups I've played on Harmony guitars, which are mainly the nicer models.
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DeadRanchHands
Joined: Apr 15, 2008
Posts: 1281
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Posted on Jan 12 2011 06:35 PM
CrispyGoodness
You can't go wrong with the pickups harmony used!
I hate to be a buzzkill, but on those guitars, those silver pickups are a major weak point, being both weak-sounding, and more prone to picking up the sound of your guitar pick bumping into them than the strings. Later models have Strat-like pickups that sound MUCHO better. Maybe you could get 'em rewound...
--Crispy
I'm not a huge fan of strat pickups. The reason I got the old pickups is because I'm looking for something that sounds different. Weak output isn't a problem for me. If they're so microphonic that they're picking up all kinds of extraneous stuff, that could be a problem. We shall see.
I got them in the mail today. They're about the size of P90s, but inside the case they're much smaller, like regular single coils, but with screw pole pieces. The case is not soldered to the base. Supposedly they measure at about 5.5K.
— http://www.reverbnation.com/thedeadranchhands
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZEW74mHjQk
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DeadRanchHands
Joined: Apr 15, 2008
Posts: 1281
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Posted on Jan 18 2011 11:59 PM
I finally got the body - it's even thinner than it looks in the pic, about half the thickness of my Tele, and made of plywood. Great! Paired with the Strat neck (painted black) it looks exactly like a Guitar Hero controller. 
— http://www.reverbnation.com/thedeadranchhands
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZEW74mHjQk
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DeadRanchHands
Joined: Apr 15, 2008
Posts: 1281
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Posted on Feb 16 2011 07:25 AM
Finally got it together:
It actually sounds pretty good. The tuning stability is only so-so- I think the culprit is the unstable neck/body connection, as they are mismatched. It's very easy to do "neck bend" vibrato. I'm going to see if I can rectify that.
The neck is sloppily painted, as you can see, but oh well. I think it works.
— http://www.reverbnation.com/thedeadranchhands
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZEW74mHjQk
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