Chat about Equipment Info
 #172811  by strumminsix
 
Hey, nice looking guitar. We have a for sale section and don't forget to announce that you're the builder.
Blackdog liked this
 #172814  by kentuckykind
 
Blackdog, is that your build? Very nice job on replicating the 72 Alligator!

One thing you might want to consider is removing the "Original Contour Body" sticker from the headstock. Jerry's guitar was missing this.

Where did you get the tailpiece? When I built mine, I wanted to do the same but was reluctant to purchase one without seeing it first. I ended up going with the latest style tailpiece.

Again, great job! Cheers!
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 #172821  by Blackdog
 
Thanks. I thought about removing the "original contour body" but it would have had to be sanded off making it very difficult to make the finish even again. There's a couple other things that keep it from being a 100% visual replica. But as a player and a builder, I lean more towards functionality. For instance the full sized Schaller tuning pegs on Alligator hit one another while tuning, so I used mini Schaller machines. And the ground wire on the oustide of the body is just a bad idea all around. It can be pulled loose too easily. But Jerry's was originally grounded to the tremolo spring unit. Mine is grounded to the bridge post inside the body.

I feel funny calling this a "build" as I bought the unfinished body that was made on a CNC and bought the neck from Stewart Macdonald. I nornally build everything for my archtops. However, I made all the brass parts (tailpiece, jack underplate and string nut) myself out of blank brass stock. The tailpiece is bonded together at the seams to keep it from separating. Which is the problem Jerry had with his. Plus it is tightened down with an impact driver, so it's not going anywhere. I also made the Walnut pickgaurd patch from a piece I planed and sanded down. I cross laminated multuple layers of veneer to make the maple tremolo cover. There was actually a lot of little extras that had to be handmade, so I guess it seems appropriate to say "build". I even tinted the body to match the color of the neck, but didn't over yellow as some have done because of the filters that are used on some of the pics of Alligator.

My main focus was getting the electronics correct. I personally only know of one other replica that has Alinco III pickups in it, as were the guitar's original pickups used on the Europe '72 tour. By zooming in on pics from that tour at different angles, you can see that the G poles are shorter than the D poles on the pickups. That indicates the '54 - '55 Fender stagger. You'll also notice the pickgaurd is 1 ply. At the beginning of the summer tour '72, the guitar is pictured with the Alligator sticker on a 3 ply pickgaurd. And considering the final pickups in Alligator are said to be Alnico V 's, this could very well have been the time the pickups were changed. I've always thought that the guitar sounded different on the summer tour that year. I honestly feel it lost it's luster. But that is why those first 2 years of Strats sounded so good. Lastly, wiring the Alembic Stratoblaster directly to the jack, instead of using the on/off switch, trim pot and accompanying resistor changes the output by 3db and makes it period accurate to the prototype blaster that was in Alligator.
kentuckykind, Jon S., Chocol8 and 2 others liked this