Need Help With My First Strat Project

[yngvay23]

Hey everybody, i was fascinated by starting building my new Strat project, i would love to know some things.... About for example , wood.... or about the strat itself, ive heard the stratocasters at least the ones from fender are 2 piece bodies, whats the difference?? cant i make it a solid 1 piece body??? i will grab alder to make the body, do i have another good choice and cheap of a wood as light as Alder??? I grabbed my fender strat to make a template on the body.. but i need to know if i can make it 1 piece body, Then, I was hoping to paint it on a cream color, Vintage white i think it is, what are the things i need to do to the body once its ready to paint?? i need a base paint i heard, Whats the name of that?? where can i get it?? and then i listened i need another colour to put it on top of the base paint, that as you build up it reacts with the base to make the colour i want, what should i use to make that colour up??? , Thanks againb for everything, ohh and if someone could give me good template for a 70's Strat ,i would be grateful

Thanks again for everything.

[al heeley]

a. 1 piece body = better. 2 or 3 or 4 piece = cheaper

b. alder or poplar or basswood are good alternatives.

c. primer = sanding sealer, good before painting.

d. overcoat reacting with base paint = rubbish. Ignore. Do you have spray equipment?

e. Strat template, plenty of outlets willing to sell to you

[yngvay23]

Well i guess it wasnt that difficult after all, so i might be able to start soon i just need to go to the nearest store and get me the materials ... i think im gonna have a go to alder wood, my strat is made of basswood, but its terribly heavy, and its impossible to do some of the tricks i used to do on my other guitars with this one !. Heavy as hell. So i might try making it from poplar if not alder... Anyways, about the Templates, im living on South America, Argentina. Would any still be selling me one of those templates i need??? They have to be as cheap as possible !!.... cause living here is already a pain in the a** for the deliveries ... I mean, too expensive for me...But i can try it anyways if someone lets me know where i can get those great templates... willing to make a 70's Strat, i would love to have a 60's Strat template as well.

Well anyways, Thanks for everything ..Hope a soon response!

[SoundAt11]

I'm going to bet that if it's heavy, it's not basswood. I've been working with Basswood all week and it's the lightest of the hardwoods and extremely soft. If you can press your fingernail into it and dent it, then it's basswood.