The Great F-100 Rebuild of 2011- Moving along

[sickbutnottired]

Background
I have owned (most of) an F-100 for over 20 years; it was my first real guitar. I think it is a 1981, but don't really know. In college I took it apart to make a repair; the three way switch went bad, I think. Anyway I procrastinated, didn't get the guitar fixed before a gig, took my Les Paul, and the F-100 didn't get fixed for a couple years—and a couple of moves. In the process I lost the control plate and knobs.

About 10 years ago, I was like, you know what? I miss that G&L? So I got it out, found the parts and went to work. I built my own control plate, and monkeyed around with electronics. I was in a grouchy 'every guitar and amp have 1 great sound' phase so I didn't attempt to put the guitar back together the way it was.

The Goal:
Well, I want to spruce the old axe up a bit. And am going to restore the electronics to a configuration closer to the stock configuration. Mini-toggles and lights and bells all over the place. I joke, but I love this guitar, and don't mean any disrespect to the design. I am now in a 'If you don't want the effect, don't flip the switch' phase. If I had to sweat back down to one instrument, this would be it. Hands down.

The Auspiciousness rears it's ugly head on Evil Bay -
So Saturday night I couldn't sleep, and found a 1980 control plate on ebay, it had a 'buy it now' price of approximately $145. I was like, no one will pay that, I'll watch this and jump in at the last min and get for a hundred bucks. Wrong. My max bid was 169.83, and it sold for more than that. I think 171.xx.

So I am only sorta disappointed (ie I am glad i didn't spend 169 + shipping on the control plate), I have already mostly re-manufactured a new control plate, this guitar is just for me to play and enjoy—It has sentimental value and lot's of riffs left in it, but I am not trying to 'restore' it Per Se. So for $30 my friend will chrome the one I made, and I am off. But to say I was SHOCKED would not be to strong. I have walked a way from deals in the past couple of months to buy whole, nice F-100s that ended up selling for $800/$850. So the control plate is worth $180 delivered? Really?

So if any of you are the cat that bought the control plate on ebay on Sunday 11/18, I would love to know what you are doing with it. The same as type project as me? It is possible that I am not the only jacka$$ that took a beautiful guitar apart and lost the pieces?

Also, I think the seller is parting a guitar out. Literally, it looks like they took an f-100 apart and is selling it. He has a neck, a body, control plate, neck plate. I didn't see the bridge. That seems crazy to me, but the guitar market is in shambles? I suppose there is some other explanation.

I am going to chronicle the project on this thread, and seek advice as I go.

[Madcity Fats]

If it's any consolation, I saw the listing for that control plate and it was a far cry from factory stock. IIRC, both mini toggles had been replaced and while I can't guess what it was wired to do, I can tell you it wasn't what Leo had in mind when he built the first one. $145 might not be a terrible price for a stock-wired plate with all the electronics, but for whatever that was, I dunno. Then again, it sounds like you've got other mods in mind, so maybe that wouldn't have mattered so much.

But you'd be surprised what's out there in parts drawers all across the country. Hang in there, be patient, and another one will come along.

And yes, I've seen some G&L part-outs lately that have made me cringe. I mean, if the neck is busted or the body's been hacked all to pieces, I see offering the parts individually as something of a service to the project-addicted among us. But a loaded, fully functional, ol' style SB-2 body listed separately from the neck with links referring one to the other? What the hell is the matter with some people?!

I'm a big fan of the F-100 and always love to see a G&L instrument made whole again, so best of luck and keep us posted!

[blargfromouterspace]

I was looking for parts on the ebay yesterday too and came across a single resistor from a '52 tele that had a price of $175 on it! For one resistor! Surely nobody with half a brain would pay that. It's literally a 2 cent component. Crazy.

[sickbutnottired]

Thanks for checking in on my little Project Madcity and Blarg!

Madcity, great eye on the mini-toggles. You are 100% right. I didn't care that much about the electronics, I have most of them! And old electronics have the great disadvantage of being well, old.

On the control plate. I am going to keep shopping for one, but I am going to go ahead with my project using the one I am building.

So here are a few pictures of the guitar, right now.



Hey, it still looks alright! (Flash covers for quite a few 'sins', as well.)



How do all of you people take great pictures of guitars?

and here is where the action will be:



So this is not a restore, but a rebuild. The next step is to finish the control plate so I can get it chromed. Couple things, I am moving the gain knob back south. I am constantly turning myself down; oh the horror of it. I wish I would have taken a picture of the v2 control plate. (It looks remarkable like the one that is on there, only it currently has no holes.) I have to take a decision on how to attach it to the guitar. There are a couple options. I could use the existing screw holes. They are shot, and I would have to go to the bigger fender size screw, but not a big deal. Or, I could drill and dowel the current holes, and drill holes for the new plate somewhere totally different. I would do that, of course, hoping that eventually I locate the genuine article. NOt that big a deal, but if you have thoughts hit me with them!

Here are the parts i have left. I am going to buy new pot's and jacks, um jack. I think the 3 way is bad, which is what started this whole saga 15 years ago. But I think I will just reuse the mini's. I bet I haven't flipped them 1000 times. Especially the splitter, maybe like 100. And I kinda like the retro look.



Here we go..

[Madcity Fats]

Appreciate the pics, sbnt. Ah, the coveted hog/ebony combo. If I read the serial number correctly, it's quite possibly a first year example. Beautiful fretboard on that guitar. I'm a big fan of the macassar ebony G&L often used in the early years. Good luck with the next steps.

[ant_riv]

Nice rebuild!
I love the color of the body and the neck.

Whatever you decide, I'm sure that guitar is going to look great and sound fantastic!

I saw that auction and I think what happened was the guy stole the body for something like $104xx, won the neck, and then realized without the control plate he would be in trouble and was forced to buy at any price.

I'm in the processing of trying to rebuild a Cavalier. I think it will be a looonnnggggggggg time before I see Cavalier parts available! (All I have is the neck and tuners.)

I owned a Cavalier once, and put a 3rd pup in the middle, way back when. Wish I could find that one again!

[Thumbs]

Check out my marketplace ad for a control plate. Cool project!

Thumbs

[sickbutnottired]

Quick update, on the big project.

I found a control plate! Thanks Thumbs (Wayne)! I'll get it chromed up over the next couple of weeks. I have found the electronics easily enough. So that only leaves knobs and screws!

Does anyone know what size screws G&L used on these? I kinda remember they were really small, like 3's or something. I have no idea about length, but not as important.

I think I'll post a marketplace add for knobs. After the control plate, you never know! I guess I'll just find some telestyle knobs as a back up...

Am I missing anything? Let me know!

[Madcity Fats]

Knobs can be tough to come by, but I've seen them on eBay before, so patience is key. They'll show up eventually.

Pretty sure the screws used to hold the control plate on are just standard pickguard screws. Can't recall the size offhand, but if you buy something intended for the average Fender, they'll do the trick and no one will be the wiser.

[sickbutnottired]

Knobs can be tough to come by, but I've seen them on eBay before, so patience is key. They'll show up eventually.

Pretty sure the screws used to hold the control plate on are just standard pickguard screws. Can't recall the size offhand, but if you buy something intended for the average Fender, they'll do the trick and no one will be the wiser.

Those are 4's and they are cheap and easy to get. I still kinda think they where smaller than that. But finding tiny oval heads is very challenging so...

[blargfromouterspace]

Good to see it's coming along nicely Jeremy. I'm amazed at the detail you are going to on this one. Kudos!!! I really like the look of that grimy old control plate....

How do all of you people take great pictures of guitars?

I take mine outside to get the lighting right. If not outside you can usually open the blinds/curtains and let the sunlight light your guitar up. Just practice really, and I'm certainly no expert, but light works for me.

[sirmyghin]

natural light and no flash helps.

Hanging a blanket or something off to a slight angle from where you are shoot can help the guitar not reflect the room, as the black will be the reflection and it is uniform dark.

[f100blaster]

Looking good at that f-100. Still messing with this one to that right tone.

Oh yeah, that resistor was stock out of the 52 Telecaster, so you're a collector or sell to collectors it has to be stock. And I've seen some articles on tubes and resistors talking about the inferiority of newer parts. So who do you believe?

[blargfromouterspace]

Oh yeah, that resistor was stock out of the 52 Telecaster, so you're a collector or sell to collectors it has to be stock. And I've seen some articles on tubes and resistors talking about the inferiority of newer parts. So who do you believe?

Tubes, sure, they were once used in highly sophisticated military computers where a failure would have been potentially life threatening to entire populations so there are indeed higher spec tubes out there that would be better than the modern equivalent.

But resistors? I did the maths and you can buy 8750 resistors for the price of that one for the '52 tele. There's no way a single resistor from the '50s would outlast 8750 modern resistors. Still, the collectors market isn't the place to go for a bargain.

[sickbutnottired]

Looking good at that f-100. Still messing with this one to that right tone.

Oh yeah, that resistor was stock out of the 52 Telecaster, so you're a collector or sell to collectors it has to be stock. And I've seen some articles on tubes and resistors talking about the inferiority of newer parts. So who do you believe?

The f100 can be a little bit of a finicky beast, and enough different that it takes a little to get it dialed in.

On parts, I agree with Blarg. Some older tubes are way better. But as a straight player, not a collector, it is more important to me to have pretty good ones, and some spares. Some guys on here have talked about hitting the used market for broken down equip. and buying it and scavenging the tubes. It's a good idea, but I don't really want to take the time right now.

Resistors? Leave the old stuff to the collectors. An Ohm is an ohm is an ohm. Pot's? Same story. I use CTS, but that is just out of habit, and they are not expensive.

[Liam77]

Hey mate, there is a control plate on ebay at the moment. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to put the link on here... its not my auction so I hope its okay:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/1980s-G-L-F-100- ... 3cb37e1089

[sickbutnottired]

I haven't posted on hear for a while. James, AKA Madcity Fats sent me a link to some f-100 knobs. A little bit 'vintaged', but good enough for the girls I go with! So i bought em, Thanks a lot James!

So now I have all the pieces, the next step is to get the control plate chromed.

Craig, I can't figure out how to move this thread to the projects forum. If you want to move to it, that is sure fine with me.

cheers all, jeremy

[Miles Smiles]

Sorry didn't discover that thread earlier. Here's a picture of the original plate:



This and more pictures are here and also at full size (multiple clicks):

http://i.wuell.net/gallery/view_album.p ... =G-L-F-100

I've also more pictures of the electronic part, I think they are good enough for a rebuild. But I would have to put them on the server, if there's a need of it.

[Madcity Fats]

I haven't posted on hear for a while. James, AKA Madcity Fats sent me a link to some f-100 knobs. A little bit 'vintaged', but good enough for the girls I go with! So i bought em, Thanks a lot James!

Glad that worked out. As an F-100 fan, spare parts always seem to jump out at me. I saw those and it sent my Spidey sense a-tingling. Had to come here and do a quick search to figure out who it was that was looking for them.

So now I have all the pieces, the next step is to get the control plate chromed.

Ya know ... you might check with whomever is going to re-chrome the control plate to see if they could also do the knobs. The knobs are plastic, mind you, and as I understand it, chrome-plating plastic and metal are two very different processes, but it's possible you could kill two birds with one stone here. If they have the means to do it, I can't imagine it would be too much extra cost. Just throwing it out there.

Can't wait to see the completed restoration!

[sickbutnottired]

MadCity, Thanks again for the tip on the knobs. That is a great idea to ask the plate shop about the knobs. I am going in on Friday with control plate in hand.

Kinda interesting, the plate I have has never been finished. So i could do anything with it. But chrome it is since I am in the mood to get this fiddle back close to factory spec.

Miles, Very nice specimen there. I think I am going to be OK with the wiring, because they have the schematics posted on this site. I will surely keep your picture offer in my back pocket, I really appreciate it. I guess now that I am thinking of it, if it's not to much trouble it might be cool to see anyway.

I should have more updates after talking to plate guy Friday. Cheers, jg