+1

And the other evening I saw an original ash hardtail body from '73 for $225 BIN (including the original bridge and saddles). I almost jumped on it myself "just because".



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

Even with zooming in I still cannot tell if that is a string thru body hard tail or is it just a plain top loaded. If it is the top loader than I would suggest installing a thru body hardtail with ferrules. The new bridge will have better sustain qualities as well as a different screw hole location so installing this will be into new wood ( for the screw holes ) plugging the existing holes with small dowels and refinishing should be easier....

You could also install a Tremolo which would eliminate any remounting issues since the body wouldhave to be routed out for the install...
But if you go for a thru body string hardtail, make sure that.....
(1) Your scale run is correct, 25.5 inches or 648mm from edge of nut to mid point travel of bridge saddles ( fore and aft )

(2) Also make sure that the bridge you are installing will allow enough height adjustment of the saddles in relation to string action..This correlates to how the neck pocket was cut, or more precisely the depth which should be 5/8th of an inch..
If the pocket is too deeply cut as well as the issue with the offset, it might be less expensive to just replace the body and then keep it for a future project that would allow quite a bit of reworking...The neck being set too deep would require shimming which then reduces the ability of vibrations to travel from bridge to nut ( sustain ) or simply put, a neck set in a loose pocket has a damping effect...

Good luck

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

That is the same style bridge but mine was modded for through body stringing with furrules. Routing out the body for a trem may be the best option too and I see Stew-Mac has routing templates for doing just that. I'll have to do a strip down and see if I have the room to do it otherwise I'll be replacing this bridge with a better one, maybe an original Fender hardtail bridge.

Update! This has evolved into a deeper project that I had wanted to get into but here I am. I've decided to forget the trem system and stick with a hard tail. I've bought a Fender bridge to do this and I've figured out that the original install was not done right or even close to correct, same goes for the pickguard.
Solution, drill out the holes to 1/8" for the pickgaurd and install 1/8" dowels glued in with Titebond wood glue. The holes for the bridge were drilled out with a 3/16" bit and filled with 3/16" dowel material. I'm not sure what I want to do about the existing holes for the string holes but I did get the superglued in ferules out thanks to preheating them with a soldering iron. The new holes will be in a different place so I will have to do the dowel trick to them as well. Staining them in the correct color will be the big trick! I will drill the new ones on a drill press after I mount the bridge in the correct location, (25 1/2" from the nut in the mid position of the bridge), and install new ferules.
Also, since this is an unknown body, I'm going to do it as a HH hardtail. I have the pickguard and pickups in my parts stash already so why not? Chrome covered humbuckers would look cool but I have to open up the holes slightly. CTS 500k pots and Orange Drop caps plus a new Fender 5 way switch with a Switchcraft output jack wired together with cloth covered wire. Shielding tape throughout and it should be good to go!
I hope this guitar turns out as a good player! Any thoughts?

+1

It's no Fender body.
The pickguard doesn't fit! The "belly" of the body contour seems too wide.
Judging by the string position over the fretboard, the trem is either off center or the neck is tilted to one side.

_________________
Kindest regards from Germany, Dee
My recordings --> http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_mu ... dID=564337
STRATS ROCK!!! but Teles and Firebirds, too!

Looks thin also, like an affinity Squier strat

_________________
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present."

oogway, kungfu panda 2008

I'm not even sure what kind of wood it is. It looks like it's a purple color and is harder than the dowel material which is causing problems when I drill new holes. It's starting to annoy me!

I'd try to get a used Mexican Fender body instead of frigglin' around with a cheap copy body.
Or a new one. I got a new one for around 150 US Dollars on "the *bay" and I'm very satisfied with it.
If it's within your budget, do that!

_________________
Kindest regards from Germany, Dee
My recordings --> http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_mu ... dID=564337
STRATS ROCK!!! but Teles and Firebirds, too!

On second look: I'm not even sure, if the neck is real Fender. I'm not so very familiar with Fender necks which have the trussrod opening at the heel, so I'm not sure but the misaligned Fender logo looks strange to me as well.

Don't want to shock you, I'm not really sure. It's not parallel to the edge of the headstock, it's somewhat tilted. I've never seen this on original Fender necks! But I might as well be wrong.
I would suspect a third party repair decal on a non-Fender guitar.

Maybe somebody else can confirm?

The serial No looks legitimate, though.

_________________
Kindest regards from Germany, Dee
My recordings --> http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_mu ... dID=564337
STRATS ROCK!!! but Teles and Firebirds, too!

CIJ neck, very nice one too. Love the feel!

I'm not sure but it might be a mahogany body, the grain looks very close and it's hard. You might get a small piece of mahogany and cut some plugs for your dowels, that would make it easier to match stain, you might find plugs at the hardware store too, cut the dowel at bit short and recess them, then put the plug in on top

I may just shop around for another body, this one is just ticking me off everytime I fuss with it. It's not even a real Fender body so I may start shopping for a MIJ/CIJ body and be done with it!

Beware of the Fender-Japan bodies. They often build them of basswood, in addition to the more traditional alder and ash. Ask the seller to specify the composition of the body before the sale. If you're bound and determined to keep the guitar as a hardtail be prepared for a prolonged search. Fugi-Gen builds very few of these. You might have better luck with a MIM Robert Cray body, though the factory finish choices are limited to 3TSB, Inca Silver, and a horrid violet blue.

HTH

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

Try this site if you are going for a new body....
less expensive and none of the reliability/ fit issues from an E-bay ...

http://www.bhefner.com

_________________
"C'est parti mon Kiki "

These look interesting!

http://www.guitarfetish.com/Strat-Style ... _c_75.html