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Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 5:43 pm
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I ran some numbers on a home brewed strat and came up well over $1,000 on what I wanted to do. At the end of the day, I can't put together my own strat for the same or less feature for feature.


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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:33 pm
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Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2008 1:51 pm
Posts: 2503
Location: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA
Hello Kirby.meador,

Just about all those things you ask are
pretty subjective. You really gotta get out
there and expose yourself to the plethera
of options available.

Like Straoholics advice, you won't save
any loot creating a price comparable
instrument to what's already available.

Take your time and have fun.

Cheers.


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Post subject: Stick your neck out
Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 9:18 am
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Location: Peckham: where the snow leopards roam
Warmoth's website (www.warmoth.com) has some useful information regarding neck options. They are amongst the best makers of retro-fit necks and offer a vast array of choices regarding radius, fret size, cosmetics and so on. This page - http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/necks/nec ... ction=faq1 - gives a few hints on making choices.

Generally, a flatter radius - ten, twelve inches or more - will be better for string-bending and getting a low action for faster playing. A compound radius, like on Parker Flys, will be even better. Taylor guitars use a bigger radius at the bridge than on the fingerboard; their website explains the thinking behind that.

The bigger, wider, higher the frets, the easier string-bending and playing intonation will be, so long as you are light with the left hand. Bigger frets are considered more modern. Some people think fat frets give better sustain - maybe, maybe not. And of course, the bigger the frets, the more times they can be re-crowned before the neck needs re-fretting. Look at the pages on fretting supplies on Stewart MacDonald's website (www.stewmac.com) for information about the variety of frets available - though I wouldn't suggest you go down the route of purchasing fret wire unless you are really serious about becoming a luthier!

Even so, you may well find that you want to do some extra work of your own on the fret ends, if you buy an off-the-shelf neck. They ain't always the best... And if you buy an unfinished neck, how about slightly scalloping the edge between the frets, like they do on Tyler strat-type necks? Mind you, Fender's modern rolled edges are as good as anything, to my taste.

Stewart MacDonald is also another good source for ready to go necks and matching bodies, finished or unfinished, with options on fingerboards and flame- and quilt-topped bodies available. They are a great company altogether. Compare their prices with WD Music.

Finally, search for MightyMite's website. They offer a good selection of ready to go necks, and also make necks for several other manufacturers. You may have played a MightyMite neck without knowing it.

The advice regarding neck profile is that there is just no way to choose between V, C and D profiles without trying out lots of them (again, see Warmoth's site). Any decent music shop should be able to give some guidance and offer you a selection to try and see which you prefer. For instance, try Les Pauls with 50s and with 60s necks to get an idea of the differences. And try an Ibanez Wizard neck to see what a really thin, fast one is like. (My loyalty is with you, though, Fender!)

Your own hand must be the guide.

A last little hint of my own. String trees on the headstock can interfere with tuning, especially when using a vibrato. A strange quirk of Leo Fender's is that he never did anything to remedy that - the man got almost everything else right, after all. If you put tuning machines with staggered pole pieces on a new neck the lower breaking angle on the top E string is just enough to keep it from jumping out of the nut slot, so you don't need a string tree - and don't have to make a screw hole in the face of your new peghead. Check out the Eric Johnson sig strat on Fender's website. There's a man who knows - his guitar does away with string trees by slightly shaving the front of the headstock back.

Staggered tuners do the same thing for you and me: Sperzel mini locking tuners are some that have staggered poles.

Good luck!


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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 10:50 am
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Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2008 4:04 am
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Location: Hungary
The Knowledge is good for you :wink:


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