Maher Posted July 17, 2004 Report Share Posted July 17, 2004 Hey, Ive built a tele from a kit and failed badly at trying to make a V from scratch (the less said about that the better ) anyway ive been inspired by Guitarfrenzy's Strat project, and have decided, i have a 2 LP, a tele, but i dont have a strat so i need one! Well anyway i was going to just go for it and just go by drawing and cad files but i think its wiser if i just order the templates from http://www.guitarbuildingtemplates.com this brings me to my first question, whats the difference between a 50s and a 60s strat? they have the templates for both, but i cant see a difference also i need some help deciding on Materials, i was thinking maybe i would use a 1 piece ash for the body? what do you think? I was going to build the neck aswell but i think thats beyond my skill level at the moment so hopefully i can find a Strat type neck with a Ebony fretboard, but will this neck fit the size of the routing template frm http://www.guitarbuildingtemplates.com ?? Other details; I want it to have no contours, i dont like them I havent decided on a colour but proberly a solid colour, a vintage type white maybe.. your standard type tremolo, i was going to go for a TOM but all my guitars have TOMs so i think i need a tremolo although i wont use it much is there anything ive over looked? im hopeing this thread can be a refrence thread for my project, so if anyone has tips, hints or suggestions please post them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar_ed Posted July 17, 2004 Report Share Posted July 17, 2004 Hi Lee, Welcome to insanity. And don't worry about blowing up a guitar. I blew one up yesterday, and it was not my first blow up. I would like to address a point or two in your post, not all of them. 1) Get your neck before doing the neck pocket. Between the template and your tools, the odds of a 100% fit are slim. So you will have to do some fitting. At least, that is my experience. 2) You mentioned that you want to use a 1 piece ash body, and then paint it white. If you are going to paint over it, save yourself some money and get a 2 or 3 piece body. Cosmetticaly you can't tell, and tone wise you can't tell either. 3) Get a camera and take pix of the whole thing. Welcome and enjoy. Guitar Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maher Posted July 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2004 Hey about the Body, the place where i am going to get the wood "craft Supplies" only do 1 or 2 piece, and its only a couple of £ difference so i though i may aswell get the 1 piece and it will save me glue the pieces up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePlague Posted July 18, 2004 Report Share Posted July 18, 2004 warmoth.com or allparts.com probably sells a strat neck with an ebony fretboard. if the headstock shape doesn't matter you can always get a carvin neck. good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted July 18, 2004 Report Share Posted July 18, 2004 Lee, a Strat is a great project to start with. It's can be fun and rewarding at the same time. As far as the templates go I went with the 50's templates simply because that's the design we wanted to go for, a 54' era strat to be exact. I would suggest that if you have enough tools or have access to them, go ahead and make the neck also, since you'll have the template already. But if you go with a premade neck, take a scrap piece of wood and the neck pocket template, route out to 5/8" of depth and see how well it fits. If it doesn't fit snug enough, then you can add some tape around the edges to build it up until it does test out ok. You might even want to make a new template with the neck pocket that will fit your neck before you start. If your lucky it will align up good and you won't have to do anything. As far as the body goes, the main reason most people go with a 2 piece body is because if you use just a one piece you'd end up with a bigger piece of wood to work with and most people don't have a wide enough planer to level the boards. If you used 2 pieces you could plane each board down before you glued. If the wood your getting is already down to 1-3/4" level and ready to go, which is what you want for a Strat, then it won't really matter that much. Good luck on your project and work safely at all times. MaTT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
litchfield Posted July 19, 2004 Report Share Posted July 19, 2004 As for the neck. Build it. It isnt as hard as you'd think. intimidating, yes, but not hard. Ger a pre slotted fretboard from LMI or Stewmac. Use a Stewmac hotrod. Really, the biggest thing will be fretting, and that really takes patience. I may be dressing it up a bit, but it isnt a really hard task. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotrock Posted July 19, 2004 Report Share Posted July 19, 2004 Lee You mentioned Craft Supplies so I'm guessing that you're from good old blighty Have a look at www.axesrus.co.uk as they have some necks and are in England. Actually now I think of it, don't craft supplies sell necks? I seem to remember some in the book. Don't think that they had the headstock cut to shape but that can't be too dificult to do. Kaj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maher Posted July 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2004 Hey! thanks for all the help and advice, im starting to buy, borrow,steal all the the tools i need, once ive got them, i will buy the templates and wood, i still havent decided about building the neck eventually i want to be able to build a neck but i think i havent got the skill yet anyway ill keep you updated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotrock Posted July 20, 2004 Report Share Posted July 20, 2004 The wood for my neck (and with some carefull cutting my finger board too) cost about £15 from Craft Supplies and I had the glue. It's the fretting stuff thats going to cost the dosh. Where abouts in the UK are you then Lee? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maher Posted July 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2004 Hey, im in London, what about you? and yeah its the freting that worrys me the most about the neck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange Fruit Posted July 20, 2004 Report Share Posted July 20, 2004 Hey, im in London, what about you? and yeah its the freting that worrys me the most about the neck Cool, wheres about in london, its a pretty big place! north? south? Why not jump on a train to redhill, then get a connection to reigate, go to Touchstone and see their necks. They really are nice. And they sell preslotted ebony boards aswell. im going in a couple of weeks! Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maher Posted July 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2004 Hey, im in London, what about you? and yeah its the freting that worrys me the most about the neck Cool, wheres about in london, its a pretty big place! north? south? Why not jump on a train to redhill, then get a connection to reigate, go to Touchstone and see their necks. They really are nice. And they sell preslotted ebony boards aswell. im going in a couple of weeks! Matt Hey im East London (tower hamlets/hackney area) i might go down to touchstone to see what they have thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiKi Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 I just recieved my 3piece alder from LMI, it sure is sweet, and cheap. I requested them to find me a good one with matching colors and good grain, and they got it. as for my neck, i bought one off of ebay for about 90 bucks with fender tuners, its a mighty mite. really nice too. im building a guitar as well, as you can tell. i wish you luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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