Modding a Starla

[justmund]

Sorry mate couldn't see the stickers very well. Yes the bridge ground wire can vary, it's only a ground (I've forgotten to connect it before and it hasn't made that much difference) and doesn't need much in terms of diameter.

I'd still try measuring the resistances (just plug a cable in and measure at the end) and also resistances with the coil tap engaged, then post the results.

The issue points to the bridge pickup because everything else is common.

Can you explain more about the issue with the volume pot?

 

[dsiew]

Sorry about the stickers, they're not very ... visible but as mentioned the pickups are in the right spots.

Here are the requested readings:

Neck: 6.87 (3.45 with coil tap)
Middle: 3.46 (1.72 with coil tap)
Bridge: 6.89 (3.46 with coil tap)

As for the volume pot, I was just noting that the back of the pot was messy where the braided wires are connected. I also feared I had fried it as I needed some heat to connect the bridge ground wire when I first reassembled the pickguard.

 

[justmund]

Well those figures look fine to me, pretty much as expected.

Anyone else got any clues as to why the bridge pickup is lacking in output? Generally the bridge pickup will need to be set a few mm higher than the neck, and the main difference should be tone (a lot more treble, less bass) but no significant volume difference.

I've had cases where the neck will be flush with the pickup ring and the bridge sitting a good 5mm proud of the ring. How do yours look?

 

[dsiew]

Last setting was 4-5mm for the neck and 8mm on the bridge. Maybe it just needs fresh solder joints?

 

[justmund]

Last setting was 4-5mm for the neck and 8mm on the bridge. Maybe it just needs fresh solder joints?

You wouldn't think so because you're seeing the full resistance of each pickup. I had a dry solder join today on my Mira, was the big blob that connects the ground of all the shielding to the volume pot. I was having issues though, I only had one coil of the neck pickup. Your values indicate your taps are working fine.

Are you pickup distance measurements from the string or protruding from the ring?

 

[dsiew]

Oops. They're measurements from the pickguard to the top of the pickup cover (not pole pieces).

 

[justmund]

Oh yeah, no ring

Seems OK to me, can you balance them at all by lowering neck pickup and raising the bridge one?

 

[dsiew]

The pickguard will need to be reinstalled. It's been disconnected for a few days now.

 

[dsiew]

So I've conceded and ordered some replacement parts. ETA 2-3 weeks.

In the meantime, I'm wanting to get a replacement Starla pickguard since the one I have has yellowed considerably.

I've traced the guard and scanned it. I'm in the process of tracing it out in Illustrator so I have it in a vector format. Has anyone had experience in creating a template file (PDF etc) for pickguards? Any tips on making it accurate for reproduction?