Hi folks, i'm looking to build my own Strat based on Blackmore's 1968 black version. This is the one he used for the early years of Deep Purple MK2 (In Rock, Fireball). All the Blackmore signature models are based on his later Rainbow/80's Purple reunion strats so I thought I'd be different. I'm also trying to save cash where possible!

I'm looking for a body and have seen a few Squier SE's at the right price. Would they do the job or should I be looking at a MIM body (I understand theres differences in screw sizes when trying to fit a vintage tremolo, neck etc)? US standard bodies seem to be just too expensive this side of the pond.

My intention was to fit all vintage reissue hardware, 69 reissue pups, a maple American Special neck (with non synchronised decal!) and I know someone who can modify and fit an extra thick tremolo arm as per Ritchie's specs.

Whats everyones opinion on the Squier body being the platform? Would it be undermiming the whole project? I want it to sound and play great as well as looking as authentic as I can get it.

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"Can we have everything louder than everything else?"

One of the pickups on the Blackmore Strat is a dummy coil.

Yeah, i know. I'll also be fitting a 3 way switch, 0.1uF tone cap, cts 250K pots etc

He also didn't scallop the neck on this one (at least for the first few years anyway), he started that on his sunburst strats slightly later.

Think I read an interview with him saying he trashed it on stage 72/73 and threw it into the crowd, only realising what he had done afterwards. Usually he would trash duff or cheap strats. Think thats why its never documented as much as his sunburst 71/72 strats (used for Machine Head) and his natural Strats (used for Burn, California Jam) as it died before Purple were huge stars.

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"Can we have everything louder than everything else?"

Ritchie is also a notable fan of Lace Sensor pickups.

Fender built several variations of his signature models with two or three LS Golds, both Japanese and US-made.

The USA Blackmore Strats were handcrafted by the folks at the Fender Custom Shop. These guitars were also available with a Roland GK2A synthesizer pickup.

He kept the black Strat and he still has it today. He used it for most of his solos because he likes the attack and the clarity and loudness of that Strat.

It´s starts at 2:40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGNZ5NCK5T8

I think it´s a very good project, Enjoy and I hope it all comes together well, enjoy.

Cheers,
Robin

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http://www.youtube.com/robinstrower
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Is that the same one? It has a completely different neck (rosewood), smaller headstock and I think a standard vintage tremolo . Unless he kept the body?

This is the bad boy here that i'm looking to build up :-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Djwv-M_saU

Hopefully staying in tune a bit better than in this video clip!

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"Can we have everything louder than everything else?"

the SE is awesome for a mod platform it has that fender sized body at a reasonable price... the good news is that if you want a vintage trem you're not that far from getting it with this guitar all you need to do is find the proper vintage saddles to go with that bridge (pay attention to string spacing though)... the bad news is that you may want to change up the neck (ritchie's strat has the 70's headstock like you said)... all in all this guitar is appears to be an awesome mod platform the only downside to this guitar is that it has no serial number so there is no information about the guitar but i guess that doesn't really matter as long as it plays

Thanks for the help!

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"Can we have everything louder than everything else?"

Good luck on that Squier platform Blackmore jobbie..

May be slightly off topic, but I've always been intrigued by the incredible tone Mr B had on the "Burn" album. Slightly sharper and more aggressive. I have 2 pickups that I'm told were from a guitar trashed on stage by Ritchie from about that era, and which were then thrown to the crowd on the scratchplate as part of the debris. True or not, I don't know, but I have a photo of Ritchie from that time playing a black strat with two of those very distinctive pickups on board. No middle pickup.

The pickups are hand engraved "Hyperflux G by John Birch" (a well known Birmingham based luthier who made guitars for Iommi, Dave Hill from Slade and even Mud). They look like and sound like narrow humbuckers to me, which makes them a very different choice for Blackmore. It may also account for that one off tone he had on the Burn album.

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Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

no problem man any further questions just ask

Here's a photo from the Burn sessions. By this time Ritchie was using a 73 strat and rejigged his whole set up, live and in the studio. Dawk Stillwell started to build him strats in the mid/late seventies and so he went through various set-ups before eventually settling on something similar to the current signature models.
Some info from the BSM website on this period of Ritchie's gear:-

"Ritchie Blackmore in the studio, recording the "BURN" album in the early Deep Purple Mk3 period and at one of the last live shows of Deep Purple Mk3. He´s playing his heavy weighted early/mid 1973 Fender ash Stratocaster with scalloped fretboard, maple neck and original staggered Fender singlecoil pickups. This guitar had a extra fat neck, which was one of the reasons why it sounded so great. This axe was his first scalloped guitar ever, and his only one with a scalloped maple neck ! He loved this guitar very much, and it was his main axe during the complete Deep Purple Mk3 period and the early Rainbow days. After this guitar was stolen out of Ritchie´s house, he only played 70´s "big head" Fender Strats with scalloped rosewood fretboard. During the "Burn" Session, Ritchie was very creative with his gear, he used everything he liked. Now he was the leader from Deep Purple (DP_Mk3) and could experiment with whatever he wanted. Besides his HS Booster Ritchie used different amps, even a small car-battery powered transistor amp ("Sail Away") out of the tone studios junk room. From spring 1974, Ritchie will use a partly new live setup: the pre-amp of his Major amps are modified now, the treblebooster was retired and replaced with the famous AIWA TP-1011 reel-to-reel recorder, built in December 1970. For his studio work, Ritchie started to use the AIWA machine as a booster lately at the middle/end 70´s"

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"Can we have everything louder than everything else?"

That's a great post Stratpack76. I recognise the right hand pic as being from "Made in Europe". I'm grateful to you for the research and for caring enough to do it.

So it would appear that my speculation about the use of the John Birch pickups on "Burn" was incorrect. I'm therefore left to wonder when the hell he did actually use those p/ups.. I'll go back to the picture I have and look for some dating clues! I still greatly admire his tone on the Burn album though. I have some 50+ albums featuring Blackmore, and that's my favourite of the tones he creates on them. Maybe it was a different approach in the studio that provided such a sharp, strident sound.

Thanks again..

And to the original poster, don't forget to let us know how the project turns out.

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Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!