I recently assembled a Strat from parts, supposedly all Fender parts, and was surprised at how almost every aspect of putting the guitar together had a problem, most notably, the neck's board was about 3/32 inch higher on the body. The body was sold to me as a Fender-made 50s ReIssue, MIM. I found a 50s RI (MIM) neck and bought some gold hardware (trem, jack plate, etc) because the neck had gold tuners. The only thing non-stock were the pickups, a set from the days when Sr. Van Zandt was still alive. I had to chisel some of the jack cavity to fit the jack plate assembly. The tremolo barely fit into its cavity. The neck was slightly loose, not snug, when placed into the neck cavity. The screws for the neck plate had to be screwed in, not slipped in, to attach the neck plate. An extra 3/32 of an inch is quite bit to raise the saddles but it works. Happily, the guitar is a chimer with lots of resonance up and down the neck. The $125 trem was impossible to tune so I've got the bridge against the body hardtail style. And the Van Zandts are an outrageous set, so I'm, well, set. I'm just puzzled about whether the body is really Fender or not. It had a serial number M0 and FSR on the neck cavity. Nonetheless, a happy ending.

Even though you had some problems you sure put together a beautiful guitar


I had a similar discussion with Arjay about putting a new steel block into one of my MIM strats and he said you had to make sure you got the right size and what not, just because it is says Fender on it don't mean everything will fit together correctly.

T2

_________________
-----------------------------------------------------------
What time is it? It's Fender Time.

I figured a vintage tremolo would fit a 50s RI body but I guess I was wrong. The tremolo fits, but with the block almost touching one side of the cavity. I also should have checked on string spread, though I think I'm good with what I have. The problem with the neck height would be more trouble for someone who plays with strings much higher than about 4/64ths. The adjustment screws could possible fall out if screwed down too much.

Yes the sizes are just bit different not so much you would think it would make that big of a difference, but just that small amount can make a huge difference when trying to line everything up. I was glad Arjay told me which one to get so I when I get it the fit will be perfect...he has built quite a few and figured out all the small things. The guy has a memory like an elephant!

T2

_________________
-----------------------------------------------------------
What time is it? It's Fender Time.

Strange.

By rights, the guitar should've simply fallen together.

Do you have any pics of the stripped body, prior to assembly?

Regardless of your tribulations, you've built a fine looking instrument.

Rawk On!

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

I wonder if everything you bought was "as advertised" that can sometimes be a real issues.
In the end it looks great. I hope it plays as good as it looks!

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

Well, the hardware was all Fender packaged. The neck I can verify is the RI with the 7.25" radius, vintage frets, identical to two others I have. The body is from Stratosphere, Ebay. It looked authentic to me, with the serial number and FSR (Fender Special Run) stamp on the neck pocket. A picture from the original ad in Ebay is below. The big question is why the pocket has 3/32" less depth than my Classic 50s RI MIM Strat. That's really a huge difference. Fortunately the guitar sounds great, better than I expected and I've got what I wanted without going through a Custom Shop thing.

ok its "stupid question time".

just below the neck and middle pickups there is a circle indention there (above pic)
what is that and its function?
ok easy with the shiot storm ok, i seriously dont know the answer.

_________________
63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

that is a beautiful guitar though. to look at it it looks like it was made by fender at fender.
what a looker this thing is. sorry your troubles too. this is interesting indeed.

_________________
63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

it doesn't look like you were sold something wrong. i have no idea why the neck pocket would be different.


Waycool that little circle is a tooling mark from the CNC, for the machine to hold the wood in place during cutting/shaping.

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

ah ok. im a .
ive seen some with just 1 of those, seen some with 3 even.
ok 12bar that explains it. 1 less mystery in my life lol.

_________________
63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

The body is genuine. And I myself buy many components from the Stratosphere, all without incident or drama. Which makes your assembly ordeal that much more curious. The fact that you had to deepen the pickup routs is also an enigma. I installed DiMarzio Virtual Vintage pickups into my '50s Classic without need for additional depth and those pickups are approximately .185" deeper than a stock Fender single coil.

No matter -- your guitar, by hook or by crook, is together. And stunning to look at. Be proud and enjoy it.

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Beautiful axe. The gold-plated hardware is the icing on the cake.

This guitar reminds me the famous "EC" Daphne Blue Strat.



Did you plan to drop in a set of Noiseless pickups and install an active TBX/MDX circuit? Or your prefer leaving the guitar stock? (let your musical creativity decide).

The pickups are Van Zandt, built by Van Zandt the Elder in 1996. I bought them from a friend. I doubt I'll replace them. The one thing that did fit perfect on this project is the Fender pickguard. Except for the loose screw hole on the horn.
Re: Earlier comment: The pickup cavity was fine. The jack plate assembly was a problem with tight fit. I had to chisel out an area the size of a dime and about 1/4 inch deep on the sharp wall curve bridge side to get the plate assembly to fit.
Upon altering the trem to hybrid hardtail I found there is some loss of chime.

Looks as good as my daphne blue EC !!
Great job
Rock on !