Hi,
What is meant by the term "loaded pickguard"?
Also, I have been searching for my Strat and have been told by some guitar playing friends that I should purchase a neck and body seperately, for example maybe find a Fender body with a loaded pickguard (thus why my question in the first place) and then maybe seek out a vintage Fender neck and that way I can have more of a custom guitar, is this a good way to buy a guitar and if so, is it something that would need the apprasial of a luthier when it comes to putting it together?
Thanks in advance.

Loaded means: Pickups and electronics already installed.

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Dean, Epiphone and Fender guitars

You'd need a luthier to construct it for you if you're not sure what you're doing, yes.

It depends on whether or not you're sure about what you want. Check out the specs on some of the Strats on this site, and see if there are any that have the features you're looking for (and that fit within your budget). If you have something specific in mind, and none of the guitars Fender produce meet your requirements, then you could do as your friends suggest.

Just be sure you have an idea of exactly what it is you want out of the guitar (such as what kind of music you'll be playing, how much you want to spend, etc) before you make any firm decisions, or spend any money.

Hope this helps.

It's drunk.


Nah not really, the more sensible answer above this post is correct

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No no and no

Well, as Plymouth said, all "loaded" means is that the pickups, switch and controls are already on the pickguard and wired...all you really have to do is solder the ground wire to the springs claw and the output wire to the jack.

As far as "building your own", this is just my own opinion as always but personally I think it really depends on your level of experience. Building your own is a great way to get a -very- personal instrument and many of us here on these forums do build and/or modify out own instruments. However, it's not as simple as just slapping a decent neck on a decent body and putting in a decent set of pickups. If you are relatively new to guitars, then I would actually advice against it and here's why...

Ok...if you look through these forums you'll see that there are a lot of concerns about buying "fake" instruments (most of which are fairly legitimate) so here's the thing about parts...it's just as easy to get poor parts as it is to get a poor guitar. In the case of a loaded pickguard for example, if you -know- that pickguard is loaded with a specific set of pickups that you -know- sound decent and will fit your playing style, there's no problem however if you're looking at something like an Ebay auction and you just see something along the lines of "loaded pickguard for Strat" and it doesn't really say anything about what kind of pickups are used, chances are they are pretty cheap, poor sounding pickups. There's a lot of folks out there who will buy something like a Squier Bullet or Affinity (or even an MIM)...or something cheaper even, who will swap out pickups and pickguards and such then sell the old ones on Ebay...and those pickups were typically upgraded for a very good reason (because they sounded bad to begin with!). The same thing is really true of bodies and especially necks. What's more is that if you don't have a lot of experience with guitar necks and such, even if you find a genuine "vintage" neck or something, there's absolutely no guarantee that you're actually going to like it. Guitar necks and certainly Fender necks comes in different shapes and such and they all have a very different "feel" to them...some people for example love those old "hard V" shapes (ala the Clapton signature series)...I can't stand them myself. It's not that there's anything "wrong" with them, I just don't like that neck shape shape...at all...I prefer the "modern C" shape more than anything myself. If you don't have a fair amount of experience though, then chances are you're probably not really going to know what you actually like in that regard.

Beyond that there's also issues such as hardware and setups. If you -know- what you're doing, this isn't really a problem but for a person with no experience at all (and I would guess you don't have much experience otherwise you wouldn't be asking) there can be some serious issues...for example, things like a vintage MIM bridge won't fit on a vintage American body...they use very different spacing (metric versus standard). Once you get all of the "right" hardware, the guitar will still need to be set up...and to me this isn't like "tweaking out" a guitar that's already been setup at a factory. In other words you can have have all of the absolutely perfect parts but if they are assembled and setup poorly by an inexperienced individual, you're still going to end up with a guitar that plays and sounds like crap (if it's even playable at all).

Now honestly here...if you've been playing for a good many years and you -know- what you like and you -know- what to look for, then certainly...go for it. Building your own guitar (even a partscaster) is, in my always and ever so humble opinion, a very rewarding experience and you get the exact instrument that -you- want for the effort. I've been building and modding my own instruments for a good many years now and I love doing that kind of stuff nearly as much as I love playing. That said however, most folks don't just "jump right in and build their own". Most of us who do building have been doing it for a good many years and most of us started out doing simple basic mods on existing guitars. In my own case, I made -A LOT- of mistakes on the first couple of guitars that I modded...a lot of trial and error. My very first mod waaaaayyyy back in the mid-80's was to replace the cheap covered tuners on my old Memphis LP copy with decent sealed tuners...and man did I do a hack job opening up those peg holes! LOL!!! Even with my '96 MIM...if I could turn back time, I would absolutely prevent myself from putting that LSR roller nut on the thing! On the other hand, we learn by doing...because I did that on my '96, I now know NOT to do it on the '03 I just bought....I'm perfectly happy with that stock nut .

Think of it this way...most people don't run out and try to build their own custom car (even a kit car) from scratch right away. Usually most folks will first learn how to drive, then they will learn how to do their own oil changes and tune ups, then they'll usually work their way up to slight more advanced repairs such as replacing an alternator or fuel pump, etc.. Then after some time and experience they'll start doing things like replacing manifolds, rebuilding heads, boring out their own cylinders and then they'll start looking at building their own blocks. Guitars really are the same way...it's a process...a skill. We learn a little bit at a time, often in "baby steps" until our skills and our abilities get to a point that we are able to do more.

With that, I would also add and strongly emphasize that it's usually best to get your "learning mistakes" out on a lesser quality instrument. If you screw up on something like even a brand new Squier Affinity (which really aren't bad guitars for what they are), it's not like you hacked a genuine vintage 60's or 70's neck trying to get it to fit on the wrong body! I'm sure that a good many of us on these forums have seen guitars where someone tried to modify something and just really didn't know what they were doing (there seems to be a preponderance of people using HAMMERS on their guitars around here lately) and while I won't speak for others, I know it brings a tear to my eye every time I see something like this. Seriously, it's always best to learn these things on an inexpensive instrument so that if and when you screw something up (and if you're just learning, chances are you -will- screw something up...we all do), it's not really that big of a deal.

So my advice to you is to go out and get yourself something like a decent lower to mid-level Strat...something like a decent Made in Mexico Standard or even something from the Squier line and start with doing your own mods...swap pickups, maybe put your own color pickguard on, if it's an older MIM look at getting a good steel trem block and installing that yourself, learn how to do you own setups...learn how and why a guitar, and especially a Strat works and after you have more experience with this kind of thing, then look at building your own from parts (or even scratch).

One quick note on that...again if you don't have much experience, should you decide to buy "used", do your homework BEFORE you buy! The time to ask "Is this Strat real?" is BEFORE you've paid for it, not after! There is a lot of information here on these forums on this so use the search function so you'll know what to look for.

Alrighty, these are, as always, just my own personal opinions and should only be taken as such.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes!
Jim

That's what I thought. Four twenty-two ounce beers and four double shots of patrone at one show.

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Fender 50th Anniversary Strat
Fender Road Worn '50s Strat
Fender Highway One (HSS) Strat (D standard tuning)
Fender '72 Tele Deluxe
Fender Hot Rod DeVille 212

Just look around there are plenty of place to buy load guards even some shops sell them. I made about 15 loaded pick guards in the last year or so to be sold from under glass as a dealer item. They where made by me!

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson