The reason it was so difficult to de-solder is because your solder tip need to be kept clean. It should look shiny, just like a healthy solder joint. Using some steel wool works well. Cool video, thanks for sharing!
The perfect guitar is nothing more than personal preference. Not only how it sounds , but feels, plays , holds tune. Its a very personal thing. I like all kinds of punk and metal from the 70’s onwards, but for me the invader is as crisp as youll get for that punchy pop punk tone 90’s to current
@@rodnyg7952 lol i can make it less poetic for you if you like. I’ve played others guitars and can’t get into that creativity zone. Everyone’s different
the second ground wire is for the shielding paint that is underneath the color coat. If you scratch the paint off in the cavity you'll see a black finish, which is the conductive graphite shielding paint. The shielding, along with copper or aluminum shielding on the underside of the pickguard encapsulates all the electronics to help block noise interference. Nothing to do with bridge plate(?) or whatever.
Tom Delonge is the reason we all want to build singular humbucker punk rock guitars. Edit: Guys I know there were many of guitars and guitarist before Tom Delonge that had one pickup, I'm just saying all together, he had the most influence on the newer generation to build a single humbucker punk rock guitar. Jack White also did it, and id say he's the best guitarist of today (my opinion) and he even had just one humbucker, but Tom Delonge, the not so great guitarist of today (again my opinion) has had people wanting his signature guitar for years, and if they can't get one they build one. Jared James Nichols also has just one pickup and he has two signature models, but I don't think they'll get as popular as a standard Stratocaster with with one Seymour Duncan Invader.
@@Andy-cz4xw that's right😂 BJA were like dummy single coils for looks, Tom just had the one humbucker and volume. I know Billie had or still has a telecaster with just one humbucker and one volume.
*How to make ultimate punk guitar:* 1. Buy a $30 - $100 Strat/Tele copy. (garage sales, flea markets, pawn shops, eBay...) 2. Relic it with a palm sander, a rasp or a grater. (If the guitar already looks beaten up, skip this step.) 3. Spill a can of cheap beer on it and let it dry. Then put a cigarette on the headstock, light it and let it burn out. (Again, if the guitar already reeks of booze and cigarettes, or you're a straight edge punk, skip this step.) 4. Cover the body in stickers. (Anarchist "A", "This machine kills fascists", "Good Night White Pride" and some band logos are recommended. Feel free to add whatever you want. You can also tape the headstock logo or cover it with another sticker.) 5. Take off all the knobs except the volume because you don't need them. Fill the whammy bar hole (if it's there) with a screw because you don't need it. 6. Don't change your strings unless they break. Buying strings feeds the system!
Thank you for the video! i work at guitar center and was gonn ahve the guitar tech do this for me but saved myself 50$ just got a 500k pot and a new output jack for 4$ on my discount went home after my shift got my crappy solder iron and went to town and got it working flawless!! now i got a slanted humbucker in a sea foam green body with my new MIM fender 50s soft v neck plays like a dream!
Lefty here (playing righty gits all my life). Good vid man. Looking to bring to life an OLD '88 HARMONY that's been with me since...'88. It's all wood now and decided to just go with a single HB. Probably an EMG. Guitar was originally 3 single coils. Glad you talked about the pot needing to be 500k because I had no idea. Definitely saving this vid. Continued success on your channel. Edit: I don't restring either.
The Invader pickups are awesome...I bought a set to upgrade an old Schecter and it is a metal machine now! One thing you have to watch with the Invaders is pickup height. They are extremely hot and they have those huge pole pieces, so you need to lower them more than normal.
I had this set up, I ended up putting 3 pre-wired hot rails back in the strat, picked up a Sawtooth HH strat, put the SD in it's bridge spot on that with a tone control and 3 way switch, and a Fleor hot neck humbucker in the neck. Soo much better to have more tonal variety without losing that Blink punk sound and playability.
I built mine today it’s surf green with a white pickguard and a black invader. It is a squier but it has the big 70s headstock. I couldn’t put it down after I finished it.
you influenced my decision to build one of my own, I just purchased the guitar and now I have ordered a pick guard and the pickup. Do I know anything about soldering? not the slightest.... but I cant wait to put this thing together!
this is a really fun video. I did a really similar build turning the one pickup avril lavigne signature squire into a punk rock monster. You had some additional struggles I didn't with the pickguard and having to block the bridge, but the end result is hella fun in both cases.
Im a lefty that can only play right handed LOL I shall do this with a Jazzmaster once I find a body. Though after YEARS of playing Epiphone Les Paul Juniors and Studios, I definitely will be using the Gotoh 510UB wraparound bridge. The Epiphone Thunderbird bass shape had a pivotal influence in my love for Jazzmasters when it comes to Squier
i swear to god i just randomly searched up best punk guitars out of curiosity and i SWEAR TO GOD my bandmate lent me a strat exactly like this about a month ago
Hey man just found your channel . I've actually got a canary yellow Tom DeLong strat..but I've only got the body left. During a move years ago it fell and the headstock broke right off. You know Tom DeLong strats don't have a tremelo bridge right ? Anyways brother I'm also in Ottawa in the east end near the Montfort hospital. If you want a proper bridge with no tremelo I can give you one. I actually just built a single humbucker guitar with only a volume last night out of this first Act guitar I found being thrown out a few years back. For being a cheap crappy guitar it actually plays like a dream . I also put in a Seymour Duncan invader in my build. Glad I found your channel!
I just want to say excellent job. You've inspired me to build one for myself. Only one little issue that I see is you should have put a treble bleed in. That will help you with the volume going up or down if you turn your volume really low you won't get any muck sound. At least that's what I'm going to do on mine but thank you so much. You did an excellent job. I really wanted to buy one of those guitars but watching your video I learned that I can own one for half the price. Thanks again I really enjoyed watching your video.
Hey, wouldn't it be cheaper to buy a pickguard that has no holes to make it yourself how you want? Im trying to do the same thing with my strat. Also, can you recommend me a pickup that's similar to the seymor duncan but cheaper?
Hey there. Just wondering where you got your Seymour Duncan invader pickup at. You said the pick guard costed ya around 70 wich was the price of the invader……I never seen those picks that cheap and I’m looking for one
Well I got an earlyish harley benton single cut no split pickups . I got a 45 quid pawn shop Squire affinity with an already cracked scratch plate stripped & ready block & paint .I'm looking for a single or double loaded pickguard as the rosewood neck has lovely grain any suggestions would be welcome
When you solder you want to clean the tip by adding solder to it and letting the flux in the solder clean it.. Once ti's shinny then add some solder to the tip and then add it to the wire .. then add solder... you need the solder on the tip to conduct the heat.. the longer it sits there melted the more the flux burns off and the more clogged up it gets so you want to figure out the timing ... Faster is better
You’re lucky the bridge cavity was already routed to fit the invader. If not you would have needed to make the single coil slot bigger, which is not fun.
Sounds pretty damn good! I received my Seymour Duncan Invader bridge p/u in the mail last week, also white with the black screws. In contrast to my black LTD EC-256 with white binding, it's gonna look sickkk. Can't wait to get it installed!
You did way more disassembly than you needed to. Since you have a new pickguard, pickup and potentiometer, all you had to do was lift the pickguard and desolder the wiring to the jack and the ground wire to the bridge and you are left with a fully assembled loaded PG. If you just took everything apart for fun then I get it... it IS fun. I want to do this also- cool video.
Initially we thought the DeLonge strat used the neck Invader, but apparently littleredguitars spoke to either Tom's guitar tech, or Tom's Fender rep (can't recall which but he did a video) and it's "confirmed" that he used the bridge invader. A bunch of other guitar players online apparently opened up their strats to find out and say it was the bridge as well 🤙 As per the ground wire, there's one that goes to the metal block in the back of the guitar, and one that grounds underneath the pickguard. This is common in Strat style guitars, I had just never opened one up before so it took me by surprise
I've been building "punk guitars" for years now and it coulr be really anything from a les paul to a telecaster, jazzmaster they all kinda work as long as there's a dual rectifier after !
Definitely a sleeper of a set up. I've got something pretty similar, the only difference is I have a toggle switch instead of a volume knob. About to build a second one with a volume knob.
@@anndynegative pretty much. It's basically just an on off switch for the pickup. The guitar is always at MAXIMUM OUTPUT for crucial chug which is awesome however with that said... The guitar is also always at maximum output.
@@anndynegative I'm not sure if they ever put out left handed versions but back when Fender put out the Hello Kittie guitars they also put out a plain version of it in their Bullet line. I was lucky enough to grab two of em at Guitar Center when they were on closeout for $100 each. Definitely a fun set up to learn how to do basics and create something ridiculous
@@xMikeyG I haven't seen one in lefty unfortunately, cause I would love to have a hello kitty guitar for the memes. That said there are a few kit builds that are around that price I might try out when companies start shipping to Canada again
It’s not a bad set up but there are better pickups then the invader it definitely isn’t bad by any means but it lacks a a bit it’s not as full as I would like. I think it would sound better if there was no puck guard and the pickup was screwed into the wood not floating on the plastic pick guard. I made one of these like 14 years ago, it was my main guitar that I used live and at practice it has thousands and thousands of hours on it but it definitely doesn’t cut it for recording. I have a les Paul with a dirty fingers now that is almost the perfect pickup.
I also have an LP with a Dirty Fingers and it's great. I find the Strat is more suited to my hands, but that's the beauty of it. If you have something that works for you, that's what's important!
It was a single coil HighWay One. However, the inside was routed for a Humbucker in the bridge when I got it. You'd have to take off the pickguard and check another Strat!
I'm not 100% sure, I would imagine they do. Best thing to do would be measure the neck pocket before you buy a neck to make sure they're the same size!
I'm pretty sure Bullet and Affinity body's don't fit fender necks. However if I'm not mistaken, the Squier SE boys and necks are build to the same dimensions as fender. Might wanna fact check that though. Hope this helps :D
just a tip for unsoldering things, first put a bit fresh solder on your soldering iron it helps heat up the old one and picks it up right after it melts.
@@anndynegative Awesome bro! I noticed it's in E Flat tuning as well, I don't know why but E Flat stuff just sounds so cool! Reminds me of Dookie and The Young & The Hopeless, since most of the songs on both those albums are half a step down 👌🏼
just got a 2002 Delonge strat for $99 ...looked like a beatup cheapie. everyone sees the wiring... but not the mini tub for 1 HB only. Orig was string thru Alder Hardtail... it's not the wiring.
Just the potentiometer (volume pot) because of the way it rolls off. The way I did it first would be correct for a right handed person which is how any of the wiring schematics from the Seymour Duncan website are laid out!
@@anndynegative oh okay just wanted to make sure you knew about warmoth.com, or anyone else here for that matter.. that's where I get my pick guards from and it's super easy to select the route you want done, they have several to choose from etc. I live in the US though so shipping is normally not a hassle. Cool vid man!
If you do another Delonge build maybe you could find a local luthier or at least another luthier in Canada to do your pick guard. It may cost less but even if it costs the same as getting one from the company you did at least you're supporting a local builder in a small way and it may be quicker as well. Sick build brother 😎
I don't have a lot of experience with Squier over Fenders, tho I've seen lots of smaller touring bands playing squiers so I feel like they are reliable
You have to ground any passive pickup to the bridge... It's how you insert yourself into the ground circuit when you touch the strings... This is not just a strat thing and it's not an "extra" ground.
Grounds on tuneomatic style come up through the bottom of the bridge post hole to make contact with the metal so it isn't as obvious. It just looks like a wire coming out of a hole in the control cavity. Grounding in a guitar relies on the current flowing from your hand when you touch the bridge/strings and into the ground ultimately completing the circuit. Without connecting the bridge this can't happen which is why you were getting buzz especially on a high output pickup like the invader that is already prone to a bit of noise.
@@bfluker85 I got a question, when I'm not touching the strings and tuners there's a buzz that's not super loud but noticeable and it goes away almost entirely when I make any contact with the strings or hardware that's connected, is that a grounding issue or is that just typical?
@@daniels1293 It's grounding, but not an issue. If the buzz kept going when you were touching the strings there would be reason to look into it. If it bugs you it may be worth looking into a noise gate to quiet things up when you stop playing.
I recently installed one of these on my fender hh on the bridge, and I’m not sure the sound I’m getting is right. It gets really muddy fast when I add barely any gain and I have the pickups lowered pretty much all the way down so Idk if it’s just my amp or something went wrong during installation
Wd pickguards are a good way to go sometimes. Couldent find a pickguard for my fender duo sonic at all. They had every color i could ever, and never want haha. Pricey, but hey. Couldent find one anywhere else. But cool build man. Just built a yellow hardtail strat with an invader and a maple neck. Always loved these guitars. And yeah.. I got the signature seafoam too haha. Feel bad for the lefties though. Take care dude!
That's awesome! The yellow strats are pretty rad. The WD pickguard is great, just a bit of a pain as a Canadian. Next time I might just try to route the pickguard myself 🤙
Punk Guitars are Mosrite and Les Paul Junior. Johnny Thunders invented punk guitar w/ roots in Chuck Berry and Link Wray. And he played Les Paul junior. Stratocaster was hippies mith. And Les Paul gives you the sustain that double stop needs.
Anndy Negative and Johnny Thunders kick off who come on stage with pedals, overdrive and holy crap like this. Online Fingers and a saturated ampli. One Guitar don’t make you punk, noisy maybe
Why did you detach all the components from the pickguard, it's not like you needed it? You could've just removed the pickguard with everything attached and then stored it, or sold it on
Great video! Awesome tutorial! But I think the tittle should just be "i'm making a left handed Tom delonge signature". The "Best" punk guitar is a cheap one plugged directly to the amp. Going through all of that is quite the opposite. And also it's totally subjective, and literaly any guitar is punk. Great vid dude!
Thanks! Yea, I don't actually think this is the "ultimate punk guitar" but maybe more like MY ultimate punk guitar. Either way I agree that literally any guitar is a guitar for punk. Glad you enjoyed the video!
I think this a simple idea for a punk. Volume And one pickup and that’s all you need punk rock. Somethings that’ll do the job without problem. I have a strat copy that is has one pickup and volume and it sounded but sadly the neck is screwed up.
I'm also lefty I'm also gonna make an electric guitar, but there's only right handed guitar parts like the body and neck. So I'm just gonna flip it and I'm gonna do a relic finish on it with one humbucker it's an unbranded humbucker from my old guitar
@@anndynegative unfortunately I also can't find pickguard with one pickup hole, i would either just duct tape the other hole it would look really punk and grunge or just go with the traditional two humbucker.
Ah damn a fellow lefty high five! I put one of these together five years ago and it’s my main. I went through Warmoth for the body and neck and I had the pickup cavity done for a universal route.
Did he say "Tro-moe-low"??? Hahahahahahaha that was so funny ive never heard anyone say it thay way
I guess I'm weird haha
The reason it was so difficult to de-solder is because your solder tip need to be kept clean. It should look shiny, just like a healthy solder joint. Using some steel wool works well. Cool video, thanks for sharing!
Yea, my iron is OLD as heck. Probably time for an upgrade haha
also adding a touch of solder to the tip of the iron helps prime the old solder to move.
@@berzerkerben6310 thanks for the tips! (Get it?)
I grew up in the late '60 and '70, and I can tell you that the ultimate punk guitar is practically any guitar that can handle high distortion well
Agreed, literally any guitar will do
The perfect guitar is nothing more than personal preference. Not only how it sounds , but feels, plays , holds tune. Its a very personal thing. I like all kinds of punk and metal from the 70’s onwards, but for me the invader is as crisp as youll get for that punchy pop punk tone 90’s to current
@@unbr3akablonsoundcloud-tx6co sound like you're reading from a script
@@rodnyg7952 lol i can make it less poetic for you if you like. I’ve played others guitars and can’t get into that creativity zone. Everyone’s different
@@unbr3akablonsoundcloud-tx6co everyone's different, but we're all the same ...lol
“Well I’m a lefty” fucking same and it makes instrument shopping a pain
Tell me about it...
Same here lol
Im left handed but play right handed
@@liamfolan607 traitor 😄
Yeaa its like thattt, i gave up and i just buy right handed ones and hold them upside down
the second ground wire is for the shielding paint that is underneath the color coat. If you scratch the paint off in the cavity you'll see a black finish, which is the conductive graphite shielding paint. The shielding, along with copper or aluminum shielding on the underside of the pickguard encapsulates all the electronics to help block noise interference. Nothing to do with bridge plate(?) or whatever.
Tom Delonge is the reason we all want to build singular humbucker punk rock guitars.
Edit: Guys I know there were many of guitars and guitarist before Tom Delonge that had one pickup, I'm just saying all together, he had the most influence on the newer generation to build a single humbucker punk rock guitar. Jack White also did it, and id say he's the best guitarist of today (my opinion) and he even had just one humbucker, but Tom Delonge, the not so great guitarist of today (again my opinion) has had people wanting his signature guitar for years, and if they can't get one they build one. Jared James Nichols also has just one pickup and he has two signature models, but I don't think they'll get as popular as a standard Stratocaster with with one Seymour Duncan Invader.
Christopher Tibbetts and Billie Joe Armstrong! Be blocked off the single coils on his blue strat! He only had a JB with the angled pickgaurd
@@Andy-cz4xw that's right😂 BJA were like dummy single coils for looks, Tom just had the one humbucker and volume. I know Billie had or still has a telecaster with just one humbucker and one volume.
Christopher Tibbetts yes he does in fact! He used it in 2000, and so forth after warning was released😉
Not billy gibbons??!
Eddie Van Halen why I wanted to I just happen to play in a punk band lmao
I demand you get more credit for your videos. You deserve to be a great well known UA-camr
I will accept your demand 🤣
*How to make ultimate punk guitar:*
1. Buy a $30 - $100 Strat/Tele copy. (garage sales, flea markets, pawn shops, eBay...)
2. Relic it with a palm sander, a rasp or a grater.
(If the guitar already looks beaten up, skip this step.)
3. Spill a can of cheap beer on it and let it dry. Then put a cigarette on the headstock, light it and let it burn out.
(Again, if the guitar already reeks of booze and cigarettes, or you're a straight edge punk, skip this step.)
4. Cover the body in stickers. (Anarchist "A", "This machine kills fascists", "Good Night White Pride" and some band logos are recommended. Feel free to add whatever you want.
You can also tape the headstock logo or cover it with another sticker.)
5. Take off all the knobs except the volume because you don't need them. Fill the whammy bar hole (if it's there) with a screw because you don't need it.
6. Don't change your strings unless they break. Buying strings feeds the system!
🤣
@@anndynegative The old-fashioned way😆
I havnet changed my strings since july. Its january now and they still didnt break
@@TheMrMars 😂
Thank you for the video! i work at guitar center and was gonn ahve the guitar tech do this for me but saved myself 50$ just got a 500k pot and a new output jack for 4$ on my discount went home after my shift got my crappy solder iron and went to town and got it working flawless!! now i got a slanted humbucker in a sea foam green body with my new MIM fender 50s soft v neck plays like a dream!
Amazing! I'm stoked you were able to make it work for you and I hope it's the most fun guitar you have to play!!!
I am lefty guitarist, and you don't know how important work you do for lefties man. Just keep goin!
Stoked to help out in some small way
Lefty here (playing righty gits all my life). Good vid man. Looking to bring to life an OLD '88 HARMONY that's been with me since...'88. It's all wood now and decided to just go with a single HB. Probably an EMG. Guitar was originally 3 single coils. Glad you talked about the pot needing to be 500k because I had no idea. Definitely saving this vid. Continued success on your channel.
Edit: I don't restring either.
The Invader pickups are awesome...I bought a set to upgrade an old Schecter and it is a metal machine now! One thing you have to watch with the Invaders is pickup height. They are extremely hot and they have those huge pole pieces, so you need to lower them more than normal.
The Strat with an Invader is great for metal too. Karl Sanders from Nile used one for years.
I had no idea, that's awesome!
Awesome video my friend! And well done. Would love to change the pickups on one of my guitars, but I fear ruining it and screwing up.
Thanks dude! I know what you mean, but it's really not that difficult once you just sit down and do it, the learning curve is not very steep!
I had this set up, I ended up putting 3 pre-wired hot rails back in the strat, picked up a Sawtooth HH strat, put the SD in it's bridge spot on that with a tone control and 3 way switch, and a Fleor hot neck humbucker in the neck. Soo much better to have more tonal variety without losing that Blink punk sound and playability.
Dont think I've ever heard an invader sound this good
Thanks! I honestly love it for pop punk/punk rock
@@anndynegative what amp youusing in the video?
@Luke Taylor Amplitude 4 using the stock free amp. I did a video on how to get this exact sound
Buy the signature one and just go Hendrix mode, makes it even more punk
That's what teenage Anndy would've done for sure
Lol... hendrix mode makes more punk? go to sleep kid.
I do that. Not very ergonomic
@@danialm8122 in case you didn't know, hendrix was pretty punk lol.
@@danialm8122 lol bro there are no rules in punk so actually doing this would be punk as hell
I built mine today it’s surf green with a white pickguard and a black invader. It is a squier but it has the big 70s headstock. I couldn’t put it down after I finished it.
That sound so amazing! I bet the big size head stock looks awesome. Nothing wrong with a squier 🤙
you influenced my decision to build one of my own, I just purchased the guitar and now I have ordered a pick guard and the pickup. Do I know anything about soldering? not the slightest.... but I cant wait to put this thing together!
Clearly you can do this with basic soldering knowledge considering I managed to put this guitar together haha. Good luck!!!
this is a really fun video. I did a really similar build turning the one pickup avril lavigne signature squire into a punk rock monster.
You had some additional struggles I didn't with the pickguard and having to block the bridge, but the end result is hella fun in both cases.
That's awesome! As long as you had fun making it and it's fun to play, that's all that matters
You didn't need a spare input jack. You need a better soldering iron. Never try to save money on tools. Good tools won't let you down.
Im a lefty that can only play right handed LOL
I shall do this with a Jazzmaster once I find a body. Though after YEARS of playing Epiphone Les Paul Juniors and Studios, I definitely will be using the Gotoh 510UB wraparound bridge. The Epiphone Thunderbird bass shape had a pivotal influence in my love for Jazzmasters when it comes to Squier
All amazing guitars, no doubt
i swear to god i just randomly searched up best punk guitars out of curiosity and i SWEAR TO GOD my bandmate lent me a strat exactly like this about a month ago
Checks out, they made a lot of them. Really any guitar will work, I'm just fond of this one!
Good job mate!!! I know how frustrating it is to be modifying a guitar, and you’ve nailed it!
Thanks dude! Learned a lot. Glad you dig the video!
Hey man just found your channel . I've actually got a canary yellow Tom DeLong strat..but I've only got the body left. During a move years ago it fell and the headstock broke right off. You know Tom DeLong strats don't have a tremelo bridge right ? Anyways brother I'm also in Ottawa in the east end near the Montfort hospital. If you want a proper bridge with no tremelo I can give you one. I actually just built a single humbucker guitar with only a volume last night out of this first Act guitar I found being thrown out a few years back. For being a cheap crappy guitar it actually plays like a dream . I also put in a Seymour Duncan invader in my build. Glad I found your channel!
Yo that's so sick! Pumped to meet ya, hopefully we can interface at some point.. stoked that you're here!
Salute from a fellow one pickup guitar owner :)
Why did you need to completely disassemble the original pickguard? All you had to remove was the output wires and the ground
I'm aware of that now. This was my first real full build and I most certainly made mistakes
@@anndynegative still a cool AF guitar.
I just want to say excellent job. You've inspired me to build one for myself. Only one little issue that I see is you should have put a treble bleed in. That will help you with the volume going up or down if you turn your volume really low you won't get any muck sound. At least that's what I'm going to do on mine but thank you so much. You did an excellent job. I really wanted to buy one of those guitars but watching your video I learned that I can own one for half the price. Thanks again I really enjoyed watching your video.
Hey, wouldn't it be cheaper to buy a pickguard that has no holes to make it yourself how you want? Im trying to do the same thing with my strat. Also, can you recommend me a pickup that's similar to the seymor duncan but cheaper?
Hey there. Just wondering where you got your Seymour Duncan invader pickup at. You said the pick guard costed ya around 70 wich was the price of the invader……I never seen those picks that cheap and I’m looking for one
I was able to get it discounted at a local music store. There's always the possibility of finding one used too!
Tom delonge would be proud!!! It's amazing how good it turned out.
🔥
Thank you! It's hands down my favorite guitar to play
Well I got an earlyish harley benton single cut no split pickups . I got a 45 quid pawn shop Squire affinity with an already cracked scratch plate stripped & ready block & paint .I'm looking for a single or double loaded pickguard as the rosewood neck has lovely grain any suggestions would be welcome
Check out Warmoth.com they make all kinds of custom pieces and I believe they ship worldwide
When you solder you want to clean the tip by adding solder to it and letting the flux in the solder clean it.. Once ti's shinny then add some solder to the tip and then add it to the wire .. then add solder... you need the solder on the tip to conduct the heat.. the longer it sits there melted the more the flux burns off and the more clogged up it gets so you want to figure out the timing ... Faster is better
What if I dont replace potentiometer ?
It will still work, but you will lose a lot of the ton because the pot isn't passing as much voltage
You’re lucky the bridge cavity was already routed to fit the invader. If not you would have needed to make the single coil slot bigger, which is not fun.
I see throughout the web about using a resistor and capacitor as well, where you aware of that? Are they needed?
Sounds pretty damn good! I received my Seymour Duncan Invader bridge p/u in the mail last week, also white with the black screws. In contrast to my black LTD EC-256 with white binding, it's gonna look sickkk. Can't wait to get it installed!
I didn't get the point of removing everything from the old pickguard as long you have the new one?
There wasn't one, honestly
@@anndynegative 🤣🤣🤣👌
You did way more disassembly than you needed to. Since you have a new pickguard, pickup and potentiometer, all you had to do was lift the pickguard and desolder the wiring to the jack and the ground wire to the bridge and you are left with a fully assembled loaded PG. If you just took everything apart for fun then I get it... it IS fun.
I want to do this also- cool video.
You're absolutely right! I learned a lot making this guitar...you should give it a go!
were did you find the black bridge and aduio jack and bridge? fender dosnt sell them apparently. im doing a similar build but on a capri orange strat
They aren't black IRL they're silver. You can definitely get black ones from third party sellers tho. Check out Warmoth among others
@@anndynegative cool thanks ill definitely look in to that.
1 humbucker 1 volume knob strats are not just pop-punk, but extremely 80s Hair Metal.
You're absolutely right!
Anyone know what’s that thing he’s pointing at 11:45 called?
It's a screw that attaches the ground wire to the guitar body
I have also built one of these ”from scratch” and it took me A WHILE to figure out that I needed to switch out the volume pot from 250k to 500k..
It's an honest mistake that we've all made!
I have a squire strat that I painted red splatter on and im currently thinking about converting it into a baritone it currently has a single emg 81
is it bridge invader? because delonge used neck invader in bridge position, so im still hesitating
and is it possible to explain more about the extra ground wire? how is it supposed to work?
Initially we thought the DeLonge strat used the neck Invader, but apparently littleredguitars spoke to either Tom's guitar tech, or Tom's Fender rep (can't recall which but he did a video) and it's "confirmed" that he used the bridge invader. A bunch of other guitar players online apparently opened up their strats to find out and say it was the bridge as well 🤙
As per the ground wire, there's one that goes to the metal block in the back of the guitar, and one that grounds underneath the pickguard. This is common in Strat style guitars, I had just never opened one up before so it took me by surprise
@@anndynegative wow thanks for quick reply
Charlie's Maiden Covers I love littleredguitars he’s the guy I went to before I bought an invader
You did a great job! I'm sure the pick guard feels worth it now and finishing the whole thing was satisfying lol
Honestly my favourite guitar to play
building your own guitar is very much in the spirit of the diy punk rock ethos
I've been building "punk guitars" for years now and it coulr be really anything from a les paul to a telecaster, jazzmaster they all kinda work as long as there's a dual rectifier after !
Man dual recs just sound so friggin good... especially paired with an orange 🤯
Definitely a sleeper of a set up. I've got something pretty similar, the only difference is I have a toggle switch instead of a volume knob. About to build a second one with a volume knob.
That's pretty interesting, is the switch set up as a kill switch?
@@anndynegative pretty much. It's basically just an on off switch for the pickup. The guitar is always at MAXIMUM OUTPUT for crucial chug which is awesome however with that said... The guitar is also always at maximum output.
@@xMikeyG that's amazing! Some day I'd like to build one that just has a pickup straight to an output...then the only thing to mute would be a tuner!
@@anndynegative I'm not sure if they ever put out left handed versions but back when Fender put out the Hello Kittie guitars they also put out a plain version of it in their Bullet line. I was lucky enough to grab two of em at Guitar Center when they were on closeout for $100 each. Definitely a fun set up to learn how to do basics and create something ridiculous
@@xMikeyG I haven't seen one in lefty unfortunately, cause I would love to have a hello kitty guitar for the memes. That said there are a few kit builds that are around that price I might try out when companies start shipping to Canada again
You just saved me time, money and a whole lot of headaches. THANK YOU!
Glad to help!
I couldn't help but wonder, does this guitar have a shield? The cavity is painted, so I couldn't tell.
Yes, it is shielded!
@@anndynegative Sweet, good to know, thanks!
It’s not a bad set up but there are better pickups then the invader it definitely isn’t bad by any means but it lacks a a bit it’s not as full as I would like. I think it would sound better if there was no puck guard and the pickup was screwed into the wood not floating on the plastic pick guard. I made one of these like 14 years ago, it was my main guitar that I used live and at practice it has thousands and thousands of hours on it but it definitely doesn’t cut it for recording. I have a les Paul with a dirty fingers now that is almost the perfect pickup.
I also have an LP with a Dirty Fingers and it's great. I find the Strat is more suited to my hands, but that's the beauty of it. If you have something that works for you, that's what's important!
Was this a single coil or fat Strat before you took it apart? (Will a humbucker fit in a single coil Strat bridge?)
It was a single coil HighWay One. However, the inside was routed for a Humbucker in the bridge when I got it. You'd have to take off the pickguard and check another Strat!
Being someone who used to own a Tom Delonge guitar, you did an EPIC JOB Bro!!!! Kick ass Man!!!!!
Do you know if a Squier Strat body will fit a fender neck? Is there a certain level of Squier body that I need? (Bullet, Affinity, regular)
I'm not 100% sure, I would imagine they do. Best thing to do would be measure the neck pocket before you buy a neck to make sure they're the same size!
I'm pretty sure Bullet and Affinity body's don't fit fender necks. However if I'm not mistaken, the Squier SE boys and necks are build to the same dimensions as fender. Might wanna fact check that though. Hope this helps :D
Is this good for pop punk this pickup ? What’s best pickup for pop punk
This is great for pop punk, but honestly any humbucker will do
How did you mount that 2nd grounding wire?
just a tip for unsoldering things, first put a bit fresh solder on your soldering iron it helps heat up the old one and picks it up right after it melts.
Thanks! I'm awful at soldering, but am still a lot better than I used to be
One question ? Hope someone will answer . Is it necessary to use different wires than the ones that come stock on a output jack ? Just wondering .
Nah, all wires are pretty much the same
@@anndynegative thanks for replying! I was just wondering since you changed the jack and not used the same wires
What are the riffs at the end in the mix? Are they original riffs written by you? Because they’re fucking awesome 🔥🔥
Yea, that's a tune I threw together for this video. Glad you dig it!!!
@@anndynegative Awesome bro! I noticed it's in E Flat tuning as well, I don't know why but E Flat stuff just sounds so cool! Reminds me of Dookie and The Young & The Hopeless, since most of the songs on both those albums are half a step down 👌🏼
just got a 2002 Delonge strat for $99
...looked like a beatup cheapie.
everyone sees the wiring... but not the mini tub for 1 HB only. Orig was string thru Alder Hardtail... it's not the wiring.
wait does the pickup come with the extra ground wire or what
No, it was already in the guitar
Anndy Negative ok thank you
Has anyone every told you that you look like Jim Carrey? The few things I could think about while watching. Also, nice mods.
Haha no, but honestly I love Jim Carrey...and we are both Canadian so... I'll take it!
So when you showed the wiring process were you wiring it backwards? Im trying to use this as an instructional video and i dont wanna do it backwards.
Just the potentiometer (volume pot) because of the way it rolls off. The way I did it first would be correct for a right handed person which is how any of the wiring schematics from the Seymour Duncan website are laid out!
@@anndynegative thanks
@Anndy Negative are you unable to order from Warmoth where you are from?
I haven't tried ordering anything, but I feel like the shipping cost to Canada would have been similar to what I ended up paying
@@anndynegative oh okay just wanted to make sure you knew about warmoth.com, or anyone else here for that matter.. that's where I get my pick guards from and it's super easy to select the route you want done, they have several to choose from etc. I live in the US though so shipping is normally not a hassle. Cool vid man!
@@Phantom042690 yea, I've know about Warmoth forever! I've never ordered from them, but will totally try them out for a video sometime! Thanks
Dude what amp/settings did you use for the demo? The tone is killer🤘
Thanks! I did a video where I go over how to get this tone for free, it's up on my channel!
@@anndynegative Thanks!
Cool Video!
I taped quarters together and place behind my bridge block...works fine....hardtail !!!!
If it ain't broke!
Man! I'm just a lefty like you. It's really hard to find a guitar for us haha! Nice guitar build btw!
Thank you so much!!! Always a pleasure to meet a fellow lefty :)
How much did you pay for the invader pickup? In Canadian
135$. I bought it from a local music shop
Anndy Negative ok thanks man
Awesome guitar!! Try using copper tape inside the guitar and in the pickguard to reduce noise interference. Greetings from Mexico!
Great advice! Greetings from Canada :)
Great content, thanks dude!
If you do another Delonge build maybe you could find a local luthier or at least another luthier in Canada to do your pick guard. It may cost less but even if it costs the same as getting one from the company you did at least you're supporting a local builder in a small way and it may be quicker as well. Sick build brother 😎
Yea, I learned a lot of lessons here...still it's basically the only guitar I play at this point so it all worked out
New to your channel. Great looking guitar. That pickup sounds really good. What amp - or amp plugin - were you using?
Welcome! I did a video going over this tone called "free punk guitar tone" you can check out. I've also got more tone videos on the way!
@@anndynegative cheers fella. I'll go check out that video and the rest of your channel. Keep on keepin' on 🤘
Builds a punk guitar, plays some solo's. Mind is blown. Dig the seafoam green!
I'm a simple man, I builds a guitar, I plays a guitar!
Thats one lovely strat, Anndy. Cheers for the vid.
Glad you dig it!
What’s the song from the mix you used ??
It's just a random thing I wrote to sound roughly blink-ish
@@anndynegative ah it’s cool tho I love it I literally have watched the video over and over just to hear the mix 🤣
@@Bubbles2k08 amazing hahaha
I'm not sure why you did do much work with the original pick guard. You should desoldered the claw...and output Jack.
I was totally learning while I was building
@@anndynegative Okay...cheers mate.
In that photo at the end are you using a wireless transmitter or am I just not seeing the cable ? Thank you.
I was just plugged in with a regular cable
@@anndynegative Would you ever invest in a wireless system ?
I actually use the Line 6 G30 when I play live and it's pretty decent
@@anndynegative oh nice I have that same one.
Dude that’s mix was sick as fuck
Thanks! 🤙
Toss in a all black jack to top it off. Then will be all blacked out ! Cool
Damnit, why didn't I think of that?!?
Anndy Negative - you can still do it man! And a all black bridge
I got the invaders recommended for a project Epiphone,sounds awesome. Billy joe Armstrong uses it
That's awesome! How did the project guitar turn out???
At 11:47 what's the purpose for the black wire under the one with the screw for
Edit: I found out
How do you add it tho 🤷♂️
@@johnperedo8464 to the back of the volume pot
Gibby DeLaRosa would the ground go from underneath the bridge at the back, to the pot??
@@johnperedo8464 does your strat have a tremolo system like the one in the video or is it a hardtail
@@sploosh0627 it has the tremolo system
Didn't Tom use a neck invader?
I believe that's been debunked
@@anndynegative I'm about to do the same, good to know!
big question. do hardtail squier strats keep the tuning decent or not? (compared to fender)
I don't have a lot of experience with Squier over Fenders, tho I've seen lots of smaller touring bands playing squiers so I feel like they are reliable
You have to ground any passive pickup to the bridge... It's how you insert yourself into the ground circuit when you touch the strings... This is not just a strat thing and it's not an "extra" ground.
Good to know. I've never seen it on any other guitars I've worked on so I thought it was just a Strat thing
Grounds on tuneomatic style come up through the bottom of the bridge post hole to make contact with the metal so it isn't as obvious. It just looks like a wire coming out of a hole in the control cavity. Grounding in a guitar relies on the current flowing from your hand when you touch the bridge/strings and into the ground ultimately completing the circuit. Without connecting the bridge this can't happen which is why you were getting buzz especially on a high output pickup like the invader that is already prone to a bit of noise.
Rad, thanks for letting me know!
@@bfluker85 I got a question, when I'm not touching the strings and tuners there's a buzz that's not super loud but noticeable and it goes away almost entirely when I make any contact with the strings or hardware that's connected, is that a grounding issue or is that just typical?
@@daniels1293 It's grounding, but not an issue. If the buzz kept going when you were touching the strings there would be reason to look into it. If it bugs you it may be worth looking into a noise gate to quiet things up when you stop playing.
I recently installed one of these on my fender hh on the bridge, and I’m not sure the sound I’m getting is right. It gets really muddy fast when I add barely any gain and I have the pickups lowered pretty much all the way down so Idk if it’s just my amp or something went wrong during installation
The pickup might be wired out of phase. I haven't ever found this to be a muddy pickup
Anndy Negative thanks appreciate the reply!
Wd pickguards are a good way to go sometimes. Couldent find a pickguard for my fender duo sonic at all. They had every color i could ever, and never want haha. Pricey, but hey. Couldent find one anywhere else. But cool build man. Just built a yellow hardtail strat with an invader and a maple neck. Always loved these guitars. And yeah.. I got the signature seafoam too haha. Feel bad for the lefties though. Take care dude!
That's awesome! The yellow strats are pretty rad. The WD pickguard is great, just a bit of a pain as a Canadian. Next time I might just try to route the pickguard myself 🤙
Punk Guitars are Mosrite and Les Paul Junior. Johnny Thunders invented punk guitar w/ roots in Chuck Berry and Link Wray. And he played Les Paul junior. Stratocaster was hippies mith. And Les Paul gives you the sustain that double stop needs.
Really any guitar that makes noise is a punk guitar, but these are totally some classic guitars for sure. I covered them all in a recent video 🤙
Anndy Negative and Johnny Thunders kick off who come on stage with pedals, overdrive and holy crap like this. Online Fingers and a saturated ampli. One Guitar don’t make you punk, noisy maybe
Why did you detach all the components from the pickguard, it's not like you needed it? You could've just removed the pickguard with everything attached and then stored it, or sold it on
I'm far from a professional 🤣
Unscrewing everything on the original pickguard before removing it was an unnecessary step.
Possibly. I made a lot of mistakes building this guitar, but I got there in the end!
I keep thinking... but why....
Great video! Awesome tutorial! But I think the tittle should just be "i'm making a left handed Tom delonge signature". The "Best" punk guitar is a cheap one plugged directly to the amp. Going through all of that is quite the opposite. And also it's totally subjective, and literaly any guitar is punk. Great vid dude!
Thanks! Yea, I don't actually think this is the "ultimate punk guitar" but maybe more like MY ultimate punk guitar. Either way I agree that literally any guitar is a guitar for punk. Glad you enjoyed the video!
I just built one as well. My invader is in another guitar, so I used a Duncan Custom instead. Good job!!!
I've heard good things about those customs...as long as you like it that's all that matters
my friend has a Tom DeLonge strat, and I can't even try it because I'm lefthanded :(( I've also wanted one for time
I know the struggle
Bruh moment
I did the same just could not get a pick guard so a paisted a couple stickers and it still looks cool and plays super well
Ain't nothing wrong with slapping a couple stickers on it 🤙
I think this a simple idea for a punk. Volume And one pickup and that’s all you need punk rock. Somethings that’ll do the job without problem. I have a strat copy that is has one pickup and volume and it sounded but sadly the neck is screwed up.
That's a bummer, hopefully you can get it fixed!
I'm also lefty I'm also gonna make an electric guitar, but there's only right handed guitar parts like the body and neck. So I'm just gonna flip it and I'm gonna do a relic finish on it with one humbucker it's an unbranded humbucker from my old guitar
Sounds punk rock as hell!
@@anndynegative unfortunately I also can't find pickguard with one pickup hole, i would either just duct tape the other hole it would look really punk and grunge or just go with the traditional two humbucker.
@@anndynegative I've done it it's finished, not perfect but it's playable
@@deviser5530 that's all that really matters
Would you consider making a lefty version of his Gibson 335
That's a good idea! I've done it in the past with an epiphone es335 and it was pretty rad.
Dude you never put copper shielding on the guitar, hat thing is going to buzz to buggery even with the humbucker
It literally doesn't buzz at all
You could play the lefty upside down like hendrix and Tim armstrong
Absolutely! That's how I started, but it's kind of a pain cause of where the knobs are, and it's always a little tricky to intonate properly
Ah damn a fellow lefty high five! I put one of these together five years ago and it’s my main. I went through Warmoth for the body and neck and I had the pickup cavity done for a universal route.