The body was unfinished Swamp Ash vintage specs (more prominent belly and elbow cuts) from Warmoth. (I recently picked up a small portable table saw that can be a scroll saw for up to 1.5” thick wood, so I’ll be able to make my own sandwiched bodies - Strats are 1.75” thick). I did the final sanding and finished it with nitrocellulose. I routed out the jack cavity as was done on Jerry’s to use it as a battery compartment. I bought the brass pieces and aged them. The control plate had to be modified a bit, as did the pickguard and the wood portion of the bridge. I restored the bridge, routed for the bridge and mounted the bridge height inserts in the body. I fabricated a wooden backplate without the usual six holes, like on Jerry’s. All cavities shielded with copper tape.
The neck is Fender. I leveled and crowned the frets. Found 1970’s Schaller tuners and brass scalloped nut. Modified and aged Footman’s Loop for EADG strings. Installed brass inserts to mount neck with machine screws (my improvement).
I’m painting the inside of the pickup covers with shielding paint and will be grounding each like in Jerry’s, so the strings don’t need to be grounded. I built a Blaster circuit which I haven’t decided to install as always on, like Jerry’s, or allow for on/off with a push/pull pot. Also like the original, I’ll be wiring the neck tone pot to also control bridge tone.
The Alligator and Harley Davidson sticker came from eBay. I didn’t like the Policeman’s Helper sticker that came with them, so I found a pic on line and made my own. Same with the Keep On Truckin’ sticker. I found the old Ratheon knobs on eBay or Reverb. Also vintage strap buttons and string tree.
For the cherry on top, I found a faux Alligator hard shell case for it.
Bill, tgo
