NGD build aged Sonic Blue and rosewood Strat

rze99

I first saw a ‘60s Sonic Blue Strat being played by Dennis Greaves with Nine Below Zero back in ‘81. And I really wanted one. At the time he’d recently switched from playing a 335 and when I asked him after the show why he changed, he said “the 335 can’t handle the road, it’s too delicate. The Strat’s indescructible”. Since then I've admired many examples from the Custom Shop, but I prefer making my own. Here’s my Sonic Blue Strat build, inspired by the ‘60s originals. It’s a combination of USA, MIM and UK, new and used parts.

Body: New ‘60s style body in lightly aged and checked Sonic Blue nitro, to my specs by Jon Crawford a.k.a @rexter. We spent a while playing with hues based on ‘60s originals and this was the one we chose, based on a ’65. I love it! 

Neck: Used Fender Classic player ‘60s neck. I sanded off its original poly finish at the back, rolled the edges and hand finished it with fine steel wool and oils. It also has a new hand cut real bone nut, lightly aged. The tuners are new Kluson Deluxe.

Pickups: Used Seymour Duncan SSL-5 bridge pickup, with Fender Custom Shop ‘69 middle and neck 

Electronics: New RS vintage electronics: CTS pots, vintage paper in oil capacitor, treble bleed resister, CRL 5 way switch, Switchcraft socket.

Guard: Used Fender mint guard and Fender aged plastics

Hardware: Used UK-made Wudtone “Constant Pivot Holy Grail” complete assembly vintage style tremolo unit with base plate and heavy cold rolled steel trem block, 60s trem arm, extra thick neckplate. The block is pure 1018 cold rolled steel same as used in the original pre-CBS strats and Callaham product. 

See here for Wudtone trem details:

http://www.wudtone.com
http://www.byoguitar.com/Guitars/Wu...omplete-Assembly__WUDTONE-CP-HG-ASSEMBLY.aspx
https://www.theguitarmagazine.com/gear/wudtone-cp-vintage-tremolo-review/
https://www.guitarplayer.com/gear/review-wudtone-cp-vintage-s-style-trem
http://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/12504/wudtone-tremolo-fitted-and-reviewed

The Wudtone trem unit is an interesting re-engineered version of the original pivot design. It has slight half-moon-shaped divots behind each mounting-screw hole in the bridge base which let the plate pivot forward without catching on the screw head. There is a thin steel “strike plate” as an added part that sits between the bridge base and the body to improve physical contact with the body and enable a smoother pivot. The vintage look saddle stamp actually says "Wudtone" not Fender.

To play. The strings are well in from the edge of the fretboard which inspires confidence when noodling on top E. The guitar is exceptionally fast and easy to play. It has loads of sustain for a Strat. I have two other strats and this is a discernible notch up in terms of playability and feel. The Trem unit is beautifully made. I can’t say whether it better than Callahan as I’ve not tried it, but it is much better than the standard Fender unit having more volume, sustain and clarity. It stays in perfectly in tune when set up right. You can hear the improved string resonance acoustically and electrically. It's about 8 Pounds in total. The body is quite light but the Wudtone unit adds a lot of weight.

The Seymour Duncan SSL-5 bridge pickup is the choice of Dave Gilmour. It is quite a bit hotter than vintage spec, has cut and a sizable bottom end which often missing from Strat bridge pickups. It sounds pretty good clean perhaps missing the traditional hollow twang, but it excels with light gain (which is where I usually sit). It plays nicely with the Fender CS '69s. With the extra sustain from the Wudtone kit, it sustains more like Les Paul. I’ve rarely been happy with Strat bridge pickups. This is a great choice for rock and blues, though I wouldn’t choose it for clean spank.

danishbacon

Very nice build!

Bellycaster

Lovely Strat!

grappagreen

Loving that..,

SteveF

That's gorgeous.  It's funny, it looks exactly what I'd expect from Sonic Blue in the sunlit pictures and a much, er, bluer blue in the others. 

lovestrat74

That's a beaut!

dazzajl

Looks as beautiful as it is well considered. 

Neil

Strat-Talk deja vu! 

sawyer

Very cool!

kswilson89

Well done, great job!

kt66

loved Nine Below Zero, great live band, never got into The Truth.
that's a Beatles guitar btw 

TINMAN82

Very nice. The classic playerneck is a good foundation, particularly with the finish change.

rze99

SteveF said:

That's gorgeous.  It's funny, it looks exactly what I'd expect from Sonic Blue in the sunlit pictures and a much, er, bluer blue in the others. 

Thanks yeah, the shade shots are quite saturated by the little Canon camera I use. This was always intended to be a Closet Classic/Journeyman type aging like it was always kept in a case, so the original Sonic Blue, but aged, and decidedly not Faded Sonic Blue.

rze99

kt66 said:

loved Nine Below Zero, great live band, never got into The Truth.
that's a Beatles guitar btw 

I love that shot of John. No one seems to know what happened to that Strat. I wonder if Yoko knows.

I think Dennis still has his Sonic Blue Strat. Prob keeps it under lock and key as it'll be work a bit now.  I meant to see them on the recent Live at the Marquee anniversary tour in London but I spotted it too late. 

Blaendulais

Nice build fella