Doing Things Wrong

All Together Now

All assembled and strung up with D'Addario round-wounds. The action fell into place with just a little adjusting. I set the intonation with a yardstick, which works better than you'd think. Add 3/16" for the E string, 0 for the G, and split the difference in between.

Apart from testing the wiring, I have not yet plugged it in. I'm going to let it settle under tension for a week or two.


This is the very first guitar I ever built, a hot-rodded version of the old Silvertone 1457. This guitar uses every passive wiring trick in the book. Four - count 'em - four lipstick pickups, wired in series. Six-way pickup selector, and two phase switches. The neck is from AllParts, I paid way too much for it. The finish is glittery acrylic lacquer from the auto parts store. The knobs are from Radio Shack - remember them?