Well, it's not very impressive to assemble a strat these days but I really wanted to post it in an effort to thank all of you at this forum. I'm 16 and have been reading this forum/site for a year in anticipation of trying my hand at building my own guitar. Thanks for all the tutorials, tips, and finished photos that keep me motivated.
I figured a strat would be the best starting point and all parts are interchangeable and I've always wanted one. I've been collecting these Strat parts for a little over a year working part-time to get what I can. I purchased an Alder Strat body second hand off Ebay and got a Strat Neck from a luthier who said it was a spare (it was bhefner co. neck, but with no frets). The neck I believe is in the V Clapton shape and I managed to put on Fender Medium-Jumbo sized frets with a little help. I made my own bone nut out of a large blank after many hours with sandpaper and different gauges of files.
I finished the neck in Clear Satin finish from reranch and the body with Fender 'blonde' also from reranch. While the 'aged' clearcoat did color it much more yellow than I anticipated, I am happy with how the color turned out. I faced tons of problems while doing all of this and the guitar has suffered quite a few dings as a result. The only things I will change on this guitar in the coming months are some adjustments with the bridge (sits a bit too high) and sand the nut down a bit. I also broke one of the Kluson tuners I had and replaced it with a locking one and will eventually replace the rest as well.
There is not high-e string as I went through two trying to tune to pitch and can't afford another pack for another week or two. I suspect that my nut and the bridge saddle are too high and dropping both might give the string a break. Of course, I'm open to suggestions.
The strat has Lindy Fralin's 'Real 54's' pickups, RS Guitarworks electronics, and fender two-point trem. Thankfully, it sounds much better than it looks! I recorded a little bit of noodling with all pickup selections if anyone wants to give it a listen. I must warn you however, I've only been played guitar for a year and a half and it is on a mic unsuited for recording anything: MP3