I did the exact same thing to my guitar. Bought an SS SE 2nd hand for $550, which is a ridiculous steal considering how amazing of a guitar it is. I have much more expensive guitars but this thing is a standout just as is. However I also did all of the same upgrades as you and it's still special, but just in a different way. For those thinking about this, the only thing that has made a tonal difference is the blaster. The brass doesn't add much and I'm not sure it changed the tone or resonance in any noticeable way. The string retainers is just for looks and does nothing. The brass nut is cool, but is a total waste of time and money if the nut on your guitar is fitted nice. You don't need to do any of that to make your guitar better or nicer or whatever. However I would suggest that a blaster go on every strat style guitar. It's a really great option to have that makes by far the biggest difference. I found one online for $80 shipped. I think all in on this project including the guitar was like $1000
@terrymcgaha3560Ай бұрын
Tone wise, I agree that the brass did nothing. But as far as sustain goes, I feel it carries not longer, but fuller till it fades. If that makes sense. The string retainer does nothing to my ears for tone, but when set, I did make it so the string tension off the nut was equal as close as 1 solid bar could make it. This was tested by adding 5lbs of weight to the top of the string at past the nut and checking the movement of the string with a dial indicator. It probably does nothing but I had the time and means to do it so why not.🤣 I will say though, I have 3 silver sky SE guitars and this one plays, feels, and sounds noticeably different to the other 2.
@tims6824Ай бұрын
@@terrymcgaha3560 That's interesting, Terry. So you're saying beyond the blaster that the biggest thing you're noticing is sustain as a result of the brass "chain" so to speak? The fact that you can easily compare between your stock SS SEs is compelling. Either way, the SS is a great instrument as stock, but this adds a fun vibe to it. I love this thing
@cotter48072 ай бұрын
Just picked up a storm grey se a couple days ago I was thinking about doing the mods to the headstock. Thanks for the video👍🏼
@terrymcgaha35602 ай бұрын
Thanks for watching!!!
@MrMusicM677 ай бұрын
This is amazing. Thans for sharing. Cant wait to hear a demo
@terrymcgaha35607 ай бұрын
Well I spent the morning and made a sound demo. And then deleted the audio🤣. Hopefully next weekend.
@sedoyotec8 күн бұрын
Hey, I thought about doing the same thing!
@TheToneGeek6 ай бұрын
Great looking build!
@terrymcgaha35606 ай бұрын
Thank you and thanks for doing what you do.
@terrymcgaha35607 ай бұрын
Waldotronics E-11. Modern version of an old Blaster.
@fadiinspace7 ай бұрын
Very interesting choices What about a sound demo
@terrymcgaha35607 ай бұрын
Soon……
@Enderman2511jmg2 ай бұрын
Can you make a video about how to install a brass nut? Where did you buy it??? I wanna do this to my SS!!!
@terrymcgaha35602 ай бұрын
I can do that one day. But the quick rundown is I took a piece of brass and cut it down to close sizes to the original nut. I used round stock since that is what I had available at the time. I used a small knee mill to cut it down, a belt sander to form the radius, measured the string slots and used a nut file set to cut them in. Tools used, but files, belt sander, standard medium file, milling machine. After it was finished I used 400, 800, 1200, then a buffing wheel to polish it. I am a machinist by trade so I have all the fancy tools available to me. The brass nut is within .002” to the original so no separate setup on the guitar was needed when switching them.
@Enderman2511jmg2 ай бұрын
@@terrymcgaha3560 oh sweet thanks for the reply. I definitely don’t have those tools, but I’d love to try it out!
@bredluvr69254 ай бұрын
how much did it cost all together?? i want to do this SO BAD!!!! the tone is INCREDIBLE !!!!!
@terrymcgaha35604 ай бұрын
Other than the cost of the guitar, the parts were probably around $300. The blocking and brass nut I did myself, along with all the labor, etc.
@bredluvr69253 ай бұрын
can you make me a brass nut??? I’ll pay ofc
@tims6824Ай бұрын
@@terrymcgaha3560 Here was my cost breakdown. - Brass block ~$100 - Brass saddles ~$100 - Blaster ~$80 - Brass nut ~$70 (installed) - String retainer $7 So around $350 plus I paid $40 for a setup. Beats spending $5000 on a Dead Spec, unless you have that kind of money in which case I would say, buy the thing that may hold some value
@kriscristobal43126 ай бұрын
how did you put the string tree on??
@terrymcgaha35606 ай бұрын
I put masking tape on the spot, measured, marked the hole location, pilot drilled the holes, then screwed it down.
@kriscristobal43126 ай бұрын
link for the brass nut???? @@terrymcgaha3560
@tbone24513 ай бұрын
Some mods just aren’t necessary.
@terrymcgaha35603 ай бұрын
Exactly. That’s why I’m not going to mess with painting it a different color.
@user-bw2fn6yt1m6 ай бұрын
You can not fix stupod ………… they play the best from the box
@terrymcgaha35606 ай бұрын
They are great. Fender should be ashamed I can get that quality of a s type guitar for the price they are. And that’s why I have a couple of them.
@ionlarry-uz3yl6 ай бұрын
stupid* and yeah coming from “user-2whahdymahsndhdndh” no one cares
@ionlarry-uz3yl6 ай бұрын
oh and the way he built this is exactly how it comes out of the box if you get a dead spec but I’m sure you already know that