[lorirocks]

Before you laugh at me, remember, I'm only 15!

I bought a cheap Squier Standard Strat. Bought it cheap so I could learn to work on my guitars. My first project was changing the pickguard. Now the tone/volume knobs are wobbly. OMG! I was cracking up so much after I was done. I laughed so hard I had tears running down my face. I didn't have any parts left over. I don't know what I did wrong.

I don't think I'm good at fixing things. I want to learn on this guitar so I can mod my new Squier '51 later. This Strat has rough fret edges too that I also want to fix but my confidence for fixing things is kinda low right now! LOL

I'm such a dork.

[WernHalen]

The fact that you say the knobs are wobbly indicates to me that you might have forgotten to tighten the lock nuts on the pods... ( I think ) You'll see, if you remove the knobs from the pods that there is a lock nut with a washer against the body of the guitar. You need to hold the pod in place while tightening the lock nut. Once you did this you can put back the knobs and everything should be ok.

(Hope this helps)

[Ultimate Garage Band]

That's certainly where I'd start; check the tightness of the nuts on the top side of the pickguard. Also, on some pickguard assemblies there's a tiny hole adjacent to the bigger hole where the pot shaft comes through. There can be a small bump of metal on the pot that actually goes into this small hole and that helps keep it in place. See if your old pickguard had the small holes and see if your new one does or not.

Dressing the end of the frets is a job for a file and some steel wool. Make sure you cover your pickups so the tiny metal shavings and fragments don't get stuck to the magnet poles in your pickups. If I were doing this for the first time, I'd use masking tape to cover the wood on either side of each fret around the edge of the fretboard.

[allthumbs]

"Dressing the end of the frets is a job for a file and some steel wool. Make sure you cover your pickups so the tiny metal shavings and fragments don't get stuck to the magnet poles in your pickups. If I were doing this for the first time, I'd use masking tape to cover the wood on either side of each fret around the edge of the fretboard."
__________________
Use at least 3 layers of tape as a saftey margin in case of file slips.

[Ultimate Garage Band]

Good point. I freehand it with the file, use the steel wool to knock down any remaining sharpies, and then use lemon oil to seal up the raw wood if I've exposed any. Well, that's with a rosewood or ebony fingerboard. Maple, assuming it's been sealed, is a bit trickier.

[lorirocks]

Thanks guys. Gonna try working on it later today. I'll let you know.

I didn't think anything could go wrong by just changing the pickguard. But I don't want to keep paying someone to work on my stuff for me. It's getting expensive.

[lorirocks]

It's fixed. Thanks guys. I just had to tighten the nuts.

Here it is! My first cosmetic mod:

[allthumbs]

Congrats. Cool pickguard.

[Ultimate Garage Band]

way cool!!

[Clancy]

Good on you for having a go at doing it yourself Lori. Very cool!

Clancy

[lorirocks]

Thanks everyone.

I'm laughing at myself cuz I thought the hexagonal thingys were just washers. I didn't know they were lock nuts.

[Guitarplayer_heavymetal]

spider-man pickgaurd?
i dont really like that,but nice work the knobs look kool,remember you see something now,theres always gonna be something better you'd like to put on your rig...

[WernHalen]

Gald you came right... Love the pick guard.

[lorirocks]

Thanks. I collect spider things. I have lots of spider jewelry. Just one of my weird things.

[bluesguy]

Very very cool pickguard. Wouldn't work for me but it still looks very cool. Awesome that you decided to just do it yourself. I don't have the nerve to try something like that.