D'OH!!!

Bosephus[/quote]

Hi BosephusG: Jay did name that figure for you in a post earlier on this thread - but I have a feeling that since you've asked nicely he may be pursuaded to break it down for you. You may not know it, but he's the man for that job!

Cheers - C

PS And I'm not mocking either. Some may find it instructional...[/quote]

i've done this... Well, not entirely, but I did choose the parts, and a very experienced friend put it together for me.

The thing is, don't rush on choosing the parts. Take your time. sometimes you get really great necks and sometimes you get crappy bodies. knock the wood. hear how it sounds. Decide what you want in terms of weight. If it's ash, think of the finish.

I chose my body and neck from a stash of allparts and WD parts that my friend keeps in stock for his shop. Basically a 3.2lbs body and a qtrsawn AA flame maple neck. The neck was a little thicker than I'd have liked it, but I got used to it. The neck joint of the body and neck is extremely tight especially after painting/finishing in nitro. This strat sustains superbly. the whole guitar is about 7.5lbs, which is heaver than what I expected, but overall it's quite ok. the weight comes from the electronics and hardware.

I put John Mayer's Big Dippers in there. Awesome stuff!

I think building your own Start is an awesome idea, you get what you want and you know its unique...I'm onto my second project, made the mistake of buying a "2005 Fender Standard Stratocaster" turns out it must be a made in mexico job, nice body but the bridge holes are the wrong spread for my strat replacement bridge.I guess making sure everything is the right size before you buy is very important, I have bought some nice genuine fender stuff from the ebay store "stratosphere"
a couple of other links you migh find helpful:

http://www.grguitars.com/

http://www.callahamguitars.com/

http://www.reranch.com/

Obviously there are plenty of guitar sites around, good luck with your project...lets see some photo's when your done...

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Regards

bluesdog88

That sets a train of thought running in my mind. We should talk about that some time...

Cheers - C

The neck is the most dangerous part to buy and I know . It looked nice on the pic but after installing it some frets are worn and no work can fix it. I need to re fret it as it is a nice neck so be careful. Also I learnt after I did file some frets a waste of time the sound of the filed frets was horrible compared to the unfiled frets. A good neck will make or destroy your dream guitar. And always get a working truss rod too. A message from Vinny Pop.

Hahahahahahhaahha Ceri and Big Jay talking about the inconscionable wood in a strat body. I loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee big heavy solid strat bodies the ones that make your balls hang to the floor and your back heave in pain......and here we go YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS the tone and sustain is awesomeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee its true believe Vinny Pop.

Actually, it was a completely different train of thought I was away on!

(Though I've been watching the discussion on the other thread right now, and I understand why you're mind takes the above turn at this particular moment in the day... Regarding which thread, isn't it weird that nobody's wondered how I know the Turin Shroud belonged to Pontius Pilate...?)

No, what I was contemplating was a building thread involving three or four different necks, made to identical specs but from timbers of significantly differing hardnesses. Maple and mahogany would obviously be two, but we'd need to see if we could find much harder woods too, to make things more interesting. Boxwood is very hard - and hard to find, too - and the pear I have seasoning is shockingly hard and heavy.

I wonder if a gentleman with research skills would be interested in seeing if there's some sort of index to be found of average densities for different timbers? (Not a trick question: I don't know the answer.) And I wonder whether that gentleman would also be able to source blanks of the appropriate size for neck making (700 x 90 x 35 mm, please)? And I wonder what the cost ratios between different timbers would be?

Then we could make some necks and run some vaguely "scientific" tests to check 'em for tone and sustain. And see if we thought it was worth the cost.

Dunno who such a gentleman would be, mind you; with the right research abilities and an interest in timber - tone - cost ratios. Just thinking out loud...

Cheers - C

sounds like a winter project. My brother has been talking about getting a Carveright unit for his shop. It's basically mini CNC machine you can run from a home computer. If he does, i know where I can get a program to make a fender spec neck. it would allow for as close to exact replication of dimensions as you can get. It's a big IF though whether he gets itor not.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Hi Twelvebar: now that's mighty interesting!

I don't know anything about that machine - got any links you could post?

I believe that cvilleira has a copy-carver, from his father-in-law's workshop, I vaguely remember. I don't think he ever posted a picture but my understanding was it's an "analog" type machine, a bit like I've seen in pictures from the Gibson factory, I presume.

Deeply fascinated in that stuff if you or anyone has knowledge to share! Shave away my ignorance a touch, why not?

Cheers - C

http://www.carvewright.com/cms/machine

nice toy. i couldn't justify the cost, but my bro would use it for work, then I would wear it out with hobby stuff!!

_________________
I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Ha! I like your mind...

What an amazing machine. Goodbye woodworking skills - hello aftermarket parts business!

Maximum width of work: 14.5 inches. Wide enough for guitar bodies! Now: what's the weirdest, most complicated shape we can dream up...?

Thanks for that - very interesting!

Cheers - C

Guys say they can do fender necks, but for more complicated necks, or those with different angles on head stocks they need don't fit. So can't do a one piece Les Paul neck.

I think I would probably pump out a dozen or so Strat and Tele bodies and necks, just to play with.

_________________
I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.