Here, here!!!

I actually remember reading about how in the early days, Leo Fender would go out to clubs and such and talk to guitar players about the instruments he was building...find out what they liked and didn't like, etc.. Now a days of course it's all mass production and such (except for the Custom Shop of course) but there is one thing that still holds true...if people don't like it and it doesn't sell well, it get's discontinued.

I also completely agree with you on pictures of someone's stock guitars...if that were really what I wanted to look at, I could just as easily look in the catalogs...chances are the pics are better anyways! LOL!!! Seriously...someone buys a new guitar and takes a bad picture with a crappy point & shoot and then says "see...it's just like the one on page 27 of Musician's Friend...accept mine is white", LOL!!!! If the pictures are at least done with some degree of artistic flare, that's certainly different otherwise show me something interesting...something new...something I've never seen before!

I guess I don't really have anything against OEM...accept for the string T's, I haven't really changed anything on my '85 MIJ Squier yet and I probably won't change too much because with that specific guitar as I do actually like her just the way she is. More often than not though, I usually look at a new guitar (or at least "new to me") as a starting point. Not exactly a blank canvas per say but when I'm looking at a guitar I'm looking at the possibilities of what I can do with it and not simply what is just sitting there.

Looking through my archives, it doesn't appear that I really have any pictures of my '96 MIM Standard back from when she was new but here's a shot of her now...




Originally she had white cosmetics, I've changed the pickups (again a couple of times over the years), the nut most of the trem...in fact I think about the only things that are "original equipment" is the neck, body and tuning keys, LOL!!!

On the other hand, here's a project I did earlier this last year. This is what the body looked like when I brought it home...





And here's what she looks like now...




I think the body is a mid-80's import of some kind, the neck is from an '04 Indo and the bridge is MIM big block...she's truly my "International Strat"


Although not Fender, here's another I did this last year....this is the "before" shot...






And After...





On this one I would mention that I only have about $70 total in to her including the cost of purchase and all the materials used in the refinish and rebuild...I've recently had 2 different people offer me $400 for her


BTW...I already have two more Strat projects on the table for this next year...the Contemporary MIJ that I'm working on (no, I haven't ordered that compound neck yet) and another that I'm planning a rather special graphics job...no idea how well it's gonna sound or play, but it's gonna look really sweet when I'm done .


If a person is lucky enough to have the "perfect" guitar and it happens to come off the shelf, I guess there's nothing really wrong with that. But as with the OP, the instruments you see here are, as others have said, very much "labors of love". Each one is very personal and special to me because of all the time and sweat and work I've put in to them and each one is quite unique in it's own way....it's unlikely that you'll find another just exactly like any of these. There is a part of myself in each and every one of these guitars and...to me at least...each one of these instruments is VERY special.

I guess in the end some people are content with simply being "part of the crowd" but some of us need more and when we do put that kind of effort in to our instruments...both playing and "creating", it -is- something to be quite proud of.

Peace,
Jim

Thanks everyone for the kudos! Here are a couple more I took today with a better camera!

I think it looks great. I have been thinking of building one almost just like it.
I dig those those large head stocks.

I've always prefered the look of a maple neck on Olympic White and a white pickguard but if you prefer the esthetics of it now that's all that really matters'it's not like you're altering a vintage Strat.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

What got my shorts in a bunch was simply the comment "The finished version is just another bastard guitar". As a person who likes doing his own mod's and see's a guitar as something more than -only- what's available off the shelf, I thought that was a pretty bad slam to the OP, not to mention all the rest of us who have ever modded our instruments to our own liking...and obviously I take that quite personally.

It's one thing to politely say "I really don't care for it myself" or "not my cup of tea" but to take something that someone is clearly quiet proud of and call it a bastard guitar...sorry but that's really bad form and shows a great deal of ignorance as far as I'm concerned and it certainly deserves a fair degree of rebuttal. I don't care for every guitar I've ever seen posted on these forums either...and in most cases, I simply just close the browser window instead of being deliberately rude and insulting.

Ya'll know me...I just have a hard time letting something like that go without comment. Either way, I'm sorry if any of my posts in this thread have offended anyone here...and I'm sure the OP is more than capable of defending himself.

Peace,
Jim

I certainly am capable. I just have no desire to feed into the negativity of someone with a complex. Ive got better things to do with my time!


Thanks to everyone for the kind words! I am extremely happy with the finished product and it could not have been done without the feedback from the wonderful contributing members here. I can only hope that I can be as helpful to others here in the future as you all have been to me. So, again, thank YOU!

Thanks...that bass is certainly my best work to date. I was originally going to just strip it and maybe do a light oiling or natural stain but unfortunately the body just had too many flaws to really "cover up". I figured something like this you can't really go wrong with basic black and it's done in acrylic lacquer. The hardest part really was doing that damned Yamaha logo! LOL!!! Took me two freakin' weeks just to figure out how to do that logo...doing a black logo on a white body (or natural wood such as a headstock) is easy...doing white on a black body? That was tricky.

I also wasn't really sure about the neck either...originally it had been painted (both from the factory and later refinishes) and I thought about doing that but I -really- like the look of natural wood on a guitar neck. In this case though the wood is figured in a bit of a strange way...it's kind of hard to describe but I can why it was used on a bass with a painted neck. I went with the natural anyways and a number of people have said they really like the look of the wood so I dunno....

Anyways, she still needs a few finishing touch's...the tuning keys are pretty rough but I do want to stick with the keys that have the Yamaha logo...and those are a little expensive and kind of hard to find. I may replace the bridge with a "BadA@@ II" one of these days as well...I've already measured them out and they're a perfect fit. The current bridge does actually work fine but there is some bluing in the chrome from the fire it had been through...I kinda got a thing about nice shiney chrome, LOL!!! I'd love to swap the pickups out for something like Bartaloni's but the Yamaha pups are a rather odd size...apparently something made for this specific line of basses. The currant pickups do sound very good, but I wouldn't mind going active on this puppy to get a little more low end. She's also got a small scuff on the bottom from having put it on a guitar stand just a little too soon. It's not a real big deal as I can always buff it out later, but on an otherwise nearly perfect finish, it's REALLY annoying, LOL!

Err...yea...like I said, very proud of my work .

Anyways, again thanks for the kind words and the understanding.

Peace,
Jim

Interesting read. The comments about the "bastard guitar" got me to thinking. I've had strats and modded them. I've had others that I have kept bone stock. Last year I got myself a custom shop - had it built completely to my specs: 57 body shape and internal routing, 8-hole three ply guard, modern C-shape 1/4 sawn maple neck with 22 frets, staggered vintage tuners, Gilmour pickup set, nitro body and neck, switching to enable all three pickups on at one, and so on. Anyway, I guess the point is that although this might be considered a "bastard guitar" (it's really a wild combination of both modern and vintage appointments), I certainly don't think of it as such. I think the OP's vision for his instrument is cool, and the uniqueness of our guitars - be they completely stock having been broken in with our own hands, or modified beyond recognition - is what makes them our own.

There's something about the nature of the OP's syntax which suggests to me that he's more than a 'tad' younger than we. I've pretty much expressed the same opinion you have with respect to the tenor of the remarks. In the matter of a 'less said the better' philosophy, I totally agree.

Your project is a really lovely result. I expect that you are anticipating, as are many, the outcome of Ceri's.

Hope the coming year smiles on you and yours, Jim.

Doc

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"Another day in paradise!"

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Nice effort. It appears that you were giving a nod to DG's 57RI. What's most important is that they dimed your specs and you are pleased with it. It doesn't always happen.

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"Another day in paradise!"

Bastard guitars are more fun. The great thing about Fender guitars, banjos, and .45 automatic pistols is that you can build just what you want. It's an American thing. Being a purist about something like a Fender guitar is goofy. It's a hot rod to begin with.

I have to agree with Jim too on the bastard quote Although I must say, I like the word better than 'Partscaster'.

"Bastardcaster" now theres a ring to it huh?

'Bastard' takes on a different meaning in this part of the world.

I had a worker of mine call in and try to pull a 'sickie' this morning on New Years Day. I told her to go see a doctor, and bring me a med. cert as proof. I got off the phone- looked at my watch and it was 6am. I looked out the window, and thought to myself "maybe I was a bastard for doing that" then I thought "it is a public holiday afterall".
I thought I was a bastard. But I called her bluff, and she was just hungover and wanted the day off. It paid off

So a 'bastard' I am not, well not today anyway I would like to build a 'bastardcaster' oneday, I think it's something any fender enthusiast should do.

And if anyone has a 'bastardcaster', be proud of it and never listen to what anyone else says, they are just envious that they havent done it themselves If I had one, hell I would form a club and stick it to all the bastard haters

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