Please help me choose a Strat style guitar

[John_P_WI]

Markus

Last winter I built a strat from a Warmoth neck and body. The body was a pre-finished swamp ash "special" and the neck was a custom build with birdseye maple and grover locking tuners. All other parts were from Callaham (bridge, pickups, pickguard etc.) Total cost was around $1300. There is no retail guitar that will come close to the quality of this one for the price.

The hardest part was cutting the nut.

The beauty of Warmoth is that you can sellect the neck profile, width, wood, fret size etc. My next strat will have a mahogany "angled head stock" neck.

John

[Markusv]

John

Thanks- I made a rough estimate from warmoth- That means everything is from them:
-Maple veneer topped one-piece body with fancy sunburst
-Angled fender headstock with maple veneer
- binding
-sculpted heel
-1/4 sawn Maple neck with Braz Rosewood board
-abalone dots
-Locking tuners
-Roller nut
-tremelo bridge
-All electronics and parts
etc...

roughly $1500. I agree I would be hard pressed to find anything that specialized in that price range.
I have misgivings about assembly, but should be OK
I have built 1 guitar long ago with moderate success.

Markus V

[John_P_WI]

Markus,

Assy is very easy if you take your time and test fit everything first. Most likely there is a local luthier who would be more than happy to help if you get in over your head.

On the strat that I mentioned, I went top shelf on everything, I think the vintage narrow bridge and pick ups alone were $500 from Callaham. He was really cool about exchanging the vintage bridge for a narrow one, as I was uncomfortable about the string to neck edge distance. (I like to bend and pull the strings a lot)

Guitar building (assembly) is one hobby that forces me to slow down and be a perfectionist. I guarantee, if you do build, this won't be your last.

BTW, I have one of the very first "Leo" G&L's that I bought in '81 or so. I feel this last Warmoth is superior.

John

[dano-rator]

If you've got half a mind to build the thing from parts - I so DO IT! You'll learn a rediculous amnt about these instruments we play, and as a side bonus you'll not have to pay someone to set up a guitar for you ever again. There are alot of online resources and books to give you guidance.

I haven't built a guitar from parts, but I've done a couple from scratch, and it's really rewarding as Strutco said. The only caveat is that when you're done, the whole will be worth less than the sum of it's parts. And if you ever try to sell it you won't get diddly squat for the thing. Although it's unlikely you'll ever want to sell it, tastes change, and today's strat might not fit tomorrow's mood.

Good luck - hope ya find what you're looking for!!

Dan

[blinddog]

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Books,_plan ... Great.html

If you are build your own, the Dan Erlwine book is very good for walking you through a set-up and building too if I remember correctly. The last addition included radius guides for setting string heights on bridges.

I set up a dinky $150 Strat copy using Dan's book and it made a HUGE difference on how it played. I prefer it to some MIM and USA strats friends have. There may be other good books out there, and I sure the guy's here can suggest them. I just started reading Dan's articles in Guitar Player and Vintage Guitar mags and I had tried other things he had written about with great sucess.

[Markusv]

Thanks so much for all the replies!

Looks like this discussion has moved from "Name a good Strat" to "Build a good strat"!

What else can you expect from a bunch of people who play on nuthin' but self-built amps- and that includes myself.

Anyway, please keep it coming. also your opinions on Suhr guitars - no-one has really commented on them yet

Markus V

[John_P_WI]

Sure on Suhr....

I would buy a Guthrie Govan model in a heartbeat if I was not in this damn divorce

The only downside to some of the Suhr models is a narrow nut width, which I suppose could be resolved with a special order??? (I have big hands) But, I have to say their high end guitars are one of the finest American made guitars today. IMHO.

John

[Markusv]

Update...

I have been so inspired by a number of self- build posts that last night I started stripping a strat shaped body someone threw out last summer.
Not great wood, very light, but should be OK for solid color spraying, and who knows- some people like the tone of lighter woods
I already have a set of pick-ups, a maple/ maple fretboard neck and hardware including a tremolo (Gotoh)

The idea is to make all the mistakes on this cheapie and learn a lot . Then I will cough up the dough and go speak to the warmoth crowd

Thanks so much to all for your invaluable input

Markus V

[Structo]

Join up at Guitar ReRanch forum.

You can learn everything you need to know about finishing and assembling your guitar.
I am a long time member there with over 20K posts.
Be glad to help anyway I can.

http://reranch.com/reranch/index.php

[Ripthorn]

I really like the projectguitar forum. I have built several guitars and the people there are very helpful. There is nothing like playing a guitar you built through pedals you built into an amp you built. Right now I do most of my playing through a neck-thru I built with active EMG's. I agree with the previous assessment that if you can put together an amp, you should be able to learn how to do a guitar (since the woodworking is radically different from most of what is done on amps). Let us know how it goes.

[Markusv]

Structo and Ripthorn

Thanks for the encouragement!

I have joined reranch. You will see me there as Markus V- Same as here
BTW I have started to spray my first project strat body in Hunter green

VERY exited!- Like a little kid

[Ears]

Find a luthier you trust and a lumber yard, pick your own timber, wind your own PUps, specify your own neck profile etc.
Bespoke strats, yeah!

[Markusv]

Ears

That is just too beautiful!
Really- I can see the virtue in what you are suggesting. Would you give me a rough cost breakdown and also comment on wood types and overall resonance etc?

Recently, I picked up a strat knockoff body on the curb. I sanded it, resprayed and relic'd it quite heavily
Joined it to a maple neck I had kickin' around. Just need a pre-wired GFS pickguard. Will order soon .
The point is, even with the super cheap wood of the body, the thing sings accoustically! I made sure that my neck pocket joint is a very good fit, and that may contribute. Additionally, I have a good vintage style trem from Warmoth.

So I would like to know more about your experiences with wood types, please

Markus V

[Structo]

Find a luthier you trust and a lumber yard, pick your own timber, wind your own PUps, specify your own neck profile etc.
Bespoke strats, yeah!

[img:221:400]https://tubeamparchive.com/files/thumbs ... 6a_889.jpg[/img]

Wow is that nice looking!

Is the top maple or some other hardwood?

Love the pickguard and other details like the knobs.

Are you the builder?

[Ears]

Tom, Markus,
I had a luthier, Peter Stephen, build it because not only have I played nylon as career for over 20 years and wanted a wide neck; but because I believe in supporting good craftsmen, unique things and enjoy projects such as winding the PUps and getting involved in the design process.
Yes, even a strat can have hidden design features.

This one obviously has scratchplate in wood, not omitted altogether as can happen with some nice timber builds, I wanted to try to keep to as much of the original design (aside from chambering) because who knows what it is that gives strats their unique tone?

The woods are Holm (Evergreen or Holly Oak), Tanekaha (New Zealand native timber having very straight tight grain, like spruce) both perfectly quarter sawn - check side-shot!, ebony on maple neck. Stainless steel frets, screws etc, a few nice features like wood veneered neck plate etc

A good Luthier will involve YOU and give advice on woods etc. There are alternatives to Ash, Alder etc, don't forget Leo chose certain woods for supply and cost reasons as much if not more than for tonal reasons. As for costs, it depends on who you work with, mine cost much less than Fender Custom shop model and imo it's better because it fits like a taylored suit. As for tone it sounds 100% stratty. It quacks and chimes every bit as expected, but strangely isn't strong acoustically so I'm wondering about the validity of that often cited correllation. (Peter made another solid body guitar for me (not a strat) that sings acoustically has a big electric tone but doesn't do the strat thing sonically at all). PUps here were wound to 1960s specs but followed Kinman's approach to pole stagger, each PUp has different pole spacing so it's first strat I've seen where all poles sit perfectly under the strings.

Building from kits may be even more hands-on, but trade off will be in unique design features.

Of course, spending an hour picking one from a rack at local store saves you time.