The Luthier Community

Sorry this took so long to get too - I'm so tired I'm crosseyed...

Anyway, Tom's questions first!

I wouldn't personally buy a used body unless I were looking to build a "genuine '72 Blah", and even then, I'd be careful - There's a lot of counterfeit vintage out there, and it's dang hard to tell from a pic or two what is what. In your case, wherein the kid wants a Strat, I would look for a new body by a seller who has excellent feedback and plenty of it. I'd PM them BEFORE bidding and confirm the scale length, wood, pickup and control routes, and ask for additional pictures if there's anything you can't see adequately. The standard Strat pickup pattern is 3 single coils, (Sometimes marked S-S-S or SC-SC-SC, as opposed to H-H or HB-HB for buckers). If he's wanting a traditional Strat sound, the 3 single coils is the way to go. Now, as for necks, it's the same question I asked y'all - Making an electric neck is, IMHO, easier than an acoustic, so if you're comfortable carving necks, (Which I love to do), then make your own! If you'd rather buy, same rules apply for questions and due diligence before bidding - Ask the seller for PRECISE heel dimensions and, if mounting holes are already drilled, what the pattern is: Armed with the neck info, contact the body seller, relay those heel measurements and confirm that the neck will fit the body or be real close. Know that buying the neck means an increased risk of incompatibility, and you may not be able to return stuff depending on the seller, so... That's another good reason to carve your own. As I mentioned elsewhere, I've fit different bodies and necks together a few times, and it can almost always be done IF the construction is sound and the fret scale measurements are accurate!

Now Jim!

You've got a good grasp on strategy, Jim - Patience is the key - I've been looking seriously (And bidding) on Thinline bodies since December, and just got the right one at the right price - It's easy to get exasperated and spend more than you want, and nobody likes to start a guitar build with a bad taste in their mouth. If the seller is somebody like the guys I got mine from, or another good size maker/dealer with a web presence, try pm'ing them and make an offer - Say, for the one that starts at $49, 'would you accept $90 for that right now, shipping included?' You can't win if you don't ask, and there's nothing wrong with asking! At any rate, stick to your guns and you'll get what you want, and follow multiple auctions as you are, but again, contact the seller, you might be pleasantly surprised! IN any case, by either road, yes, it is completely possible to get a good body from a reputable seller for $100 or less!

E

Eben,

Thanks for the advice and I will start looking now. I also will follow your build with interest cuz I am sure you will give us all the "insider" secrets.

Tom

OK, on to the rest of the stuff!

Now, I am choosing parts for this on two primary criteria;

1. I am purposefully not buying top notch, expensive stuff. Yeah, there are ultimate brands of each component that I would use, were I building a top shelf axe, but this time, we're looking to make a very good axe with very reasonably priced stuff, 'cause once again, you don't need to spend tons of bucks, especially on your first one. On some key things, I didn't skimp, and we'll talk about those shortly.

2. I AM getting the scheme I want, which is gonna be black components on Ash body, with a maple neck and Fretboard.

Now, once again, with a decently made body and parts, everything will fit together, although you may have to do some fine fitting!

OK, so what do we need for an electric? Well, we're talkin' pots, switches, jacks, pickups and wires for the electric part, of course. And then we're gonna need a bridge, tuners, control, neck and jack plates, strap buttons, and anything else you gotta hang on your axe, right?! When I source stuff, I typically look at the following outfits, (And they're all www dot com unless noted otherwise): Warmoth, Allparts, and WDBiz. Nine times of ten, I can find what I need from those three and the prices will be decent. Of those, WDBiz, (Which is 'dealer or builder only' requires you to apply and be approved), is generally best for the small stuff; They're not a true wholesale outfit, but when you're buying one or two and don't want or need a dozen, they usually have the best price: And that was the case here, where what I was after was decent quality but price first. So literally everything I'm about to show y'all came from there -

The bridge is a generic powder coated steel, but it's decent quality, thick and heavy, not a stamped POS - It's also got 6 fully adjustable brass saddles, not the vintage 3 as Tele's usually have; it only ran about $40, (IIf I got my preferred high-end option, I'd have dropped $135!). This also is an option that you can easily change out down the line of the GAS spirit moves ya. Oh, and I'll put a brass nut on this bad boy too...

The control, neck and jack plates are just generic.

The tuners are not; they're locking Sperzels and pretty decent quality.

And of course, we gotta pick out pickups. Now when I'm goin' economy on pickups, there are limits - I will not buy, play or put shit on for somebody else, no matter what! Normally, I'd go Carvin; you can get a real nice pair for a Tele or set for a Strat for about $40 each and not be givin' up much of nothin' - but here again, were I going with my standard Duncans. I'd be spending $160 on a set for this axe, easy! In this case I decided to try something I've heard and liked but never used myself yet, Kent Armstrongs. They're made in Korea, but done to Armstrong's design and I thought they sounded pretty good, (And at about $30 a pop, the price was right - Another case in point for WB, 'cause I've seen these at $45 to $60 elsewhere...) And besides, pickups are easy to change out down the line, and I know me - I will be changing out pickups more than once!



The bridge is their THR1R which is a ceramic bar bucker in single coil size, with a 4 wire harness, so that it can be split or phased, or whatever floats your boat. I paired that with a Tele Hot Front, which is a reverse wound pickup with alnico magnets and somewhat overwound, hence the hot moniker. The pots I'll use I already have; they're CTS which are pretty high quality - Not Maserati, but probably Beamer level... And finally, the switch I'll use is an Oak 4 way, and these probably are Maserati level, very well made and quiet. The wire is US made, good quality 22 gauge. Ya just don't skimp on switches, pots and wire, gang, 'cause if ya do, you're gonna regret it, believe me!

Here's what it all looks like, including the Maple I'll use for the neck and a 25.5" fretboard which I had hanging around...



















E

OK, a note on eBay bidding based on a PM conversation with Jim, just in case not everybody is as much a nerd as I am when it comes to such stuff.

When you bid on eBay, you can load a high bid well above what the current bid might be. Say you are willing to spend $100 on a body, go ahead and load that; if the current bid is $49, and nobody has loaded more than $49 in their bids, you'll come up the high bidder at say $50. But keep in mind, everyone can do this, so the thing to do when you're getting down to the wire with something you really think you want, is to flush out those hidden high bids so that you don't waste your time and GAS on something that somebody else wants worse than you! In other words, loading your high bid right off the bat will more or less tell you where things are REALLY at - The guy with the high bid at $76 may have loaded $150 as his high bid, and you won't know that until you flush it out: Tactically, you want to know so that you can stay or move on, OK?

Keep in mind also that while the above strategy will work for the time being, it certainly doesn't mean that the person you beat out won't come back! Now we have to watch that bid and see what happens - eBay will email you when you're high bidder AND when you're outbid of course, but some OCD folks, (Like me), also have things set up so that when we're bidding on things, and we get notices on our cell phone - Chances are better than not that whomever they are WILL respond before too long and we'll find out again just how bad he wants this one!

Know also that some folks use 'sniper' programs, (Like me), which I can load with a high bid and instruct the software not to do anything until the last 10 seconds of the auction, for instance - That way, you'll never see me or my bid, and my bid will ONLY come into play if the current high bid is below what I'm willing to pay.

E

This is a COOL thread E,
I have pondered (daydreamed) about a few solid body electric projects. Most seriously, 1) a solid body electric mando and 2) a headless, 'micro body' practice guitar. I have a 60's Kent mando that I think is just too cool and like the idea of a buddy's Steinberger (sp?) he drags everywhere for practice.
You just might get me off the fence as I follow this!
Thanks!!
Tom

Eben wrote:OK, a note on eBay bidding based on a PM conversation with Jim, just in case not everybody is as much a nerd as I am when it comes to such stuff.

Know also that some folks use 'sniper' programs, (Like me), which I can load with a high bid and instruct the software not to do anything until the last 10 seconds of the auction, for instance - That way, you'll never see me or my bid, and my bid will ONLY come into play if the current high bid is below what I'm willing to pay.

E

So that's you!! ya fargin bastige!!!
david

mandomaniac wrote:This is a COOL thread E,
I have pondered (daydreamed) about a few solid body electric projects. Most seriously, 1) a solid body electric mando and 2) a headless, 'micro body' practice guitar. I have a 60's Kent mando that I think is just too cool and like the idea of a buddy's Steinberger (sp?) he drags everywhere for practice.
You just might get me off the fence as I follow this!
Thanks!!
Tom

Hey, thanks Tom! And if that didn't do it yet, I'm gonna be doin' a solid body electric Mando for a friend fairly soon!

gilmoreguitars wrote:So that's you!! ya fargin bastige!!!

Yeah, Sorry Dave, I'm one of them...



E

Hey Eben......How ya gonna use Sperzel 3+3's on a Tele?? Jes' wonderin'...

Thomas.