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Post subject: Custom Build Strat Project
Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 10:03 am
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I've always dreamed of building my own guitar. I had originally wanted to build an acoustic, but the price of the tools alone was not practical for me. After purchasing my first MIM Strat I made the usual upgrades (pickguard, pickups, etc). This left me with a white back plate and pickguard with the original pickups and new pots and a selector switch I had bought so I could wire it up. I got looking around on the web and found a great site for Mighty Mite licensed Fender replacement parts. So, after some haggling with the wife, I went ahead and purchased a Northern Ash Red Sparkle body (nice metallic paint with a touch of gold flake) and a 22 fret maple neck. Stew-Mac was my next stop for the hardware. I decided to go for the gold... screws and all. Gotoh tuners and trem, jack plate, neck plate, strap buttons, and even the string tree. I figure the plain white pickguard with white knobs and pup covers will tone it down a bit... didn't want to go overboard (LOL)! I'll definitely post some pics when she's done. Rock On!


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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:50 am
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Location: Washington
Congrats, the bug has bit you. I love building them. With the exception of my 50th anniversary I build all of my own. And yes you can get carried away like my last one.
Which believe it or not started off as a simple body swap for my Powerhouse strat.
http://www.fender.com/community/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4990
If you need any help, PM me and I will be glad to help



.»º©º« Bent »º©º«.


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Post subject:
Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:45 pm
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Thanks for the encouragement. And I'll definitely take you up on that offer for help... I'm sure I'll be needing it along the way! This will be my first and I really want to nail this one. While I've got you on the subject... I would like to put the Fender logo on the headstock. Would you recommend a waterslide or a self-adhesive?


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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:16 pm
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that is kind of dependant of two things. what your looking for and skill level.

If the neck is unfinished, then Waterslide. If you plant on putting one more clear coat down then Waterslide as well.

If your not planing to add to or change in any way the finish of the guitar, I guess your best bet then would be the vinyl style. Chime in anyone that has more info on the subject . But to the best of my knowledge that would be it. Still learning about finishes and finishing myself.


.»º©º« Bent »º©º«.


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Post subject: Update on my Strat project
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 2:56 pm
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Hey Bent, just wanted to give you a shout out. My Stat is now complete and overall I'm more impressed than I thought I'd be. I do have a question for you though. I used both a MightyMite neck and body. The neck is positioned nice and flush to the pickguard at every point. But I ended up having to make a thin shim (approx. 1/16" thick) out of some very dense, coated posterboard to place between the two. Is this a common problem? Could it be that I didn't drill my pilot holes deep enough? Will this effect the guitars resonance?

The only other problem I had was the soldering (this was my first time soldering electronics). I went to my local RadioShack and the guy there set me up with a 15 watt soldering iron... impossible! Needless to say I went out and bought myself a variable wattage soldering gun. Made a world of difference. What initially took me 8 hours (and looked rediculous, not to mention the shorts I had), ended up taking me about an hour and a half (nice and neat and professional looking).

Having the right tools is half the battle. Anyways the guitar looks and sounds great. I'll be taking some pics tomorrow. Will definitely try to post some. Thanks Again, Craig C.


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