Post One Hundred and One - Project T-40 - To Infinity & Beyond. . . . . .

Hi to all out there.

I thought that for the start of the next 100 posts, I would do
something a bit different.

Project T-40.

I have had the "victim" for several years but had it hiding in a
corner, as it wasn't quite what I thought it would be!

Long ish story but it goes something like this.

I already had this one - Maple neck.




Then one of the same period came up for sale, with a Rosewood
finger board - bit of a rarity, in T-40 Land!
So, with the images looking good, I decided to do the deal.
To be fair, I don't think the guy who was selling it knew much
about it, so no sour grapes there.

When it arrived, I could see that it had had a light coating of
hand brushed varnish!! Oh Dear! Disappointment!
Nothing major, no huge drips but it was quite obvious closer
up, as some of it was starting to peel off the neck.
I will say at this point, there was none on the board and none
on the face of the head - thank goodness!
So, not keen on playing it, as I had several others in prime
condition, it sat there.

A few weeks back, I plugged it in and played it.
Nice, very nice - even with the varnish on the neck.
Then, in a fit of madness, I thought I would not only restore
it but make it Better, Faster, Stronger. . . . "$6,000,000 Man!!"

So, I stripped it down, carefully bagging up the components and the
proceeded to sand the varnish off the neck, very carefully.
I am now down to a "flatted" original finish.









The body is in good condition and I don't think it will take much
to get the hand painted finish off.







You can just see some of the brush marks, just below the ferrules.



The pick-ups will be re-used but as I am going for wiring
modification, I will carefully remove all the circuit and store it
somewhere safe.
I think the scratch plate will also be put to one side, as I will
probably get a new one for the project.





As Chip Todd advocates cutting the red wire, to let the pick-ups
show their true light as a Humbucker, I shall include this feature.

I also love the Single Coil sound, so I am going to fit Push/Push pots,
in order to select coils and go to full Humbucker.
I am going to call this mod a "Toddification!"

Also thoughts of adding a Stereo feature.

Finally thought on the addition of a third, central pick-up but I'm
not entirely sure about this and may not see it through.
The reason for the thought? I have a T-45 and the position of the
pick-up is in a "Sweet Spot"

The centre of the nearest coil to the bridge on a T-45 is 80mm
from the edge of the bridge - a central one on the T-40 would
have the centre of the nearest coil at 90mm. Mmm?

The T-45 has a different circuit to the T-40, could something
like that be a benefit?



Mmmm, a lot to think about!

In the meantime, here is the patient!!



Back next time with more on Project T-40 and "other stuff"

Cheers. :)