+1

I totally agree! I've put a couple of strats together now and just love the process. Research, Planning, Drawing up ridiculous wiring diagrams then putting it alll together is a truly rewarding experience. Just be carefull as you may contract G.B.H (Guitar Building Hysteria)! Its a bit like have G.A.S but more expensive (specialist tools, as Ceri mentions above, can be costly) I'm a long term sufferer but find I can get my fix though following build threads like yours! So thankyou for sharing!

Enjoy and good luck!

Andy

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Pending Greatness

OK so the partscaster is together and looking pretty sharp. One last thing remains...wiring

I have poor soldering skills at best, but that is not the issue I need any help with. I need to know the best place to ground the wiring setup...I have seen pu's grounded to the tremolo plate that's screwed to the body...is this the only/best option?

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CREDO ELVEM IPSUM ETAIM VIVERE

Hello!

I always ground the trem claw.



And if the body has cavity sheilding.....



If your not confident soldering, my one tip would be to (where possible) make sure that you have a good mechainical connection between your components and the wire first. By this I mean make sure that before you solder you attach the wire to the pot lug (for example) so its secure. Then apply the solder.

Hope this helps

Good luck

Andy

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Pending Greatness

I think I am going to need some wire. What gage is guitar wiring?

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CREDO ELVEM IPSUM ETAIM VIVERE

22 gauge

Andy

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Pending Greatness

Here's a fine example of a partscaster:



The "Ratocaster" is a Tele/Strat hybrid guitar custom-made by Alan Ratcliffe.

Unlike the "Nashville" Strat and Tele models from Fender, this is a little different: instead of a Tele with a Strat middle pickup or a Strat with a Tele neck pickup - this is a Strat with a Tele bridge and bridge pickup. The reason for this unusual combo is this.

Alan loves the Strat neck and middle pickup tones, but the Tele has an edge with the bridge pickup - it's more percussive, punchier and doesn't have as much tendency to being shrill when used by itself.

The original "ashtray" bridge of a Tele adds a very "acoustic" quality to the voice of the guitar, it's thinner and lighter and the pickup being mounted from the steel baseplate is one of the factors behind the Tele bridge pickup sound.

Alan's "Hotrod Your Electric Guitar" hotrod book is surely a good reference for building a great-sounding axe with your own specifications.

For more info, visit Alan's homepage:

http://alanratcliffe.com/index.shtml

So the partscaster is coming along well...in fact it's just about done. I am waiting on white pickup covers to come in to change out the grungey ones on it now.

I did have a couple issues with screw heads breaking off while putting them into the neck for the string tree and the machine heads. I did put it together on a budget so I guess even the screws were budget screws. Hey through I've got and ash body, maple necked strat for under $300 CDN in it sounds killer. Very classic which was what I was going for.

I will post some pictures once all the cosmetic stuff is perfect.

The biggest problem right now that I still have to trouble shoot is a wierd effect on the B string where it dies fast and buzzes a bit...but it's only when the string is played open. Is it likely a problem in the nut with the string catching?

Thanks for all the help so far folks.

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CREDO ELVEM IPSUM ETAIM VIVERE

I only have one bad thing to say about parts-o-casters.

They're addictive.

Since I did my first one a few years ago, I've been a guitar-tinkering fool. I've done three more since then, and have also discovered that I lack the ability to buy a guitar and leave it in a completely stock configuration.

It may have reached the level of an official disorder by now, but it's a lot of fun [/img]

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Strat+Tweed=Tone

The beauty is, I'm able to select the body in the color I want, choose both the neck specs and lumber composition, use whatever pickups suit me at the moment, wire it up to any conceivable configuration, and fit it with the bridge and hardware of my choice. And it was *somewhat gratifying* to have a Fender exec from Scottsdale examine one of my "parts-o-casters" while visting a guitar shop in Tucson last February and pronounce it one of the best-playing Stratocasters he'd ever strummed (I freely give my personal luthier full credit for the set-up and final tweaking though).

Indeed......these are very addictive!

Arjay

I have To agree. Every factory guitar I've bought since I rebuilt my first Strat has seemed rather dull (and there were a few real nice one's) My not-so-nashville Tele is the first ground up build. Now I find myself looking at new guitars only as a platform for My next build.



I think My next build will be called Fender TeleCastrator!!!
The unwitting donor arrives next week.

Not that I mind this turning into a partscaster lovefest, but can anyone help with my B string problem.?

Great looking guitars by the way folks, keep the pics coming!

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CREDO ELVEM IPSUM ETAIM VIVERE

Hi nicholsoni: you likely hit the nail on the head regarding the string slot. Have a good look and see if it is cut very narrow and close to the string. Also, make sure that the string is leaving the "breaking point" cleanly - the front edge of the slot. That needs to be at least at a right-angle, and preferably tilting downwards a little in the direction of the tuners. Potentially the nut file just put a tiny downwards slant onto the leading edge in the other direction, so there is a small curve towards the first fret. That can be enough to choke the string.

For nut slots that are nearly but not quite right Nikininja has a nice technique of just running some dental floss to and fro through the slot to clean it up and remove any burrs and such. Sometimes that's all that is required.

More to be said on nut slots, but see if that helps first.

Good luck - C

PS Looking at the "Ratocaster" chromeface posted - nice! Anyone know what that topwood is? I haven't found it yet on the linked website...

And to idahored: very pretty natural finish flame top Tele. Congrats!