where to start with a partscaster build?

phil_b

I like the Idea of building a strat partscaster

choosing the hardware seems strait forward as you just buy it in and bolt it on (for the most part)

the neck and body is the heart of the guitar and is where things get a little more difficult and is where I need some advice. Now I could just buy very expensive parts from a named brand and you know it will be of a certain quality but I don't really have the money to spend thousands on the project. if I had that kind of money I would buy ready made fender custom shop strat.

I am going to attempt to build my own body

The neck is where I need some help due to my lack of knowledge of guitar building. necks can be bought for about £25 or I could spend £600 on a genuine fender neck.  now I realise more time and effort is put into levelling and dressing the frets on the fender and nicer looking wood is selected. but at the moment my only guide to neck quality is the price tag. how should I choose a neck

GoldenEraGuitars

phil_b said:

now I realise more time and effort is put into levelling and dressing the frets on the fender and nicer looking wood is selected. but at the moment my only guide to neck quality is the price tag. how should I choose a neck

Well, that’s not true.

With this entire build you’ll be taking a punt on it all working out. And my impartial advice is to have a good tech or luthier (preferably the latter) on your side throughout. You’ll have to pay them a buck or two for their time as they help you.. but it’ll be the difference between this working nicely or not at all. 

If you plan to finish the neck yourself buy a raw and unfinished neck. Don’t be fooled by big names on headstocks. An inexpensive neck can be made to feel incredible after just a few hours work. 

Youll need to buy a neck based on approximate dimensions that you think you like and go from there. The fretwork, shaping, sanding etc is the stage where a lot of the feel is put into neck so this is a crucial part. You may want to finish with nitro or oil, both are Uber thin and will show discrepancies so make sure your prep is good. 

You could actually have a neck made first for about £300-400 then cut your neck pocket to suit the neck which is the easy way of doing it.

As for hardware... it’s not as simple just bolting it on. You’ll run into a few issues especially if you’re making the body yourself but most issues can be sorted. 

phil_b

With this entire build you’ll be taking a punt on it all working out.

well that is the danger. I am a little worried about wasting a big chunk of money I could have put towards buying a decent guitar

paulnb57

If it we me and it was my first build, I would either
Look for a Fender/Squier neck and body to ise as a base
or
A Guitarbuild body and a neck from Allparts or similar, both would need finish applied, however two light coats of Tru Oil will leave a neck silky smooth and if you choose a nice grained wood, you could do the same for the body with a few more coats
I did one recently where I replaced the body on my MIM Lone Star Strat with a Walnut body from Guitarbuild

https://i.imgur.com/WihSdPf.jpg

GoldenEraGuitars

phil_b said:

With this entire build you’ll be taking a punt on it all working out.

well that is the danger. I am a little worried about wasting a big chunk of money I could have put towards buying a decent guitar

There’s always a risk and if this is your first endeavour into the world of making and modding then don’t be scared to spend £80 on a used Squier to practice basic stuff on. Better to make mistakes on a cheaper guitar than the piece you plan to make.

Funkfingers

paulnb57 said:

Look for a Fender/Squier neck and body to use as a base

GoldenEraGuitars said:
don’t be scared to spend £80 on a used Squier to practice basic stuff on. Better to make mistakes on a cheaper guitar than the piece you plan to make. 

I probably speak for many forumites when I admit that I learned the in and outs of screw-on neck guitar construction by disassembling something of my own that I could afford to ruin.

paulnb57 said:

Guitarbuild body and a neck from Allparts or similar

Again, a good many tFB forumites have either done this or tried and given up half way. Consequently, you will find plenty of affordable parts listed for sale in the £Parts section. (Disclosure: Some of those parts are mine.)

In similar vein to paulnb57, I have a walnut Guitarbuild HSS "Stratocaster" body and an Allparts neck acquired from a well-known forum hoarder. They fit together perfectly without modification. If/when I ever source a fulcrum vibrato with fine tuners, the project will get finished. Honest, guv'nor.

prowla

Starting with a Squier donor guitar, or buying parts on ebay is a good way to get going.

I've got a Fender MIM body Strat with a Warmoth neck and it is a really good guitar. It's got a Fender bridge & tuners, Tonerider neck & middle pickups and an IronGear humbucker at the bridge (I plan to swap that for a Seymour Duncan JB humbucker when I get 'round to it).

I also have a Squier body precision with a Fender MIM neck and it is an excellent bass. It's got Fender USA pickups, a Badass bridge, Fender tuners and a Hipshot drop-D, and my own wiring harness.

I've resurrected a number of guitars and have some on the go too.

One word of warning: you will end up with boxes of parts which you might never use, and spend a chunk of your time perusing ebay & other sources for more bits to add to them...

Oh, and then there's the Tele I built based on a Fender MIM body and neck.

A Jazz bass, with a Fender MIM body, a very nice Mighty Mite fretless neck, a Badass bridge, and the control panel from a Fender Geddy Jazz.

TTony

phil_b said:

I am going to attempt to build my own body

The neck is where I need some help 

The best necks, certainly in VFM terms, are from @GSPBasses. ; He often sells his Tele/Strat necks here, or may well be along in a few minutes to let you know what he's got.

Once you've got the neck, and if you're making the body, the fit is then entirely down to you - so you can make it perfect!

prowla

Some which need a bit more work...

A cheap Epi LP, needs its electrics wiring up.

A Vox Clubman I bought at a car boot - stripping of the over-painting is proving to be a bit of a chore.

I bought a Levinson Blade neck and am on a quest to find bits to fit it to (the neck heel is deeper than a Strat.

A really nice Strat body I can't find a neck for.

I had a Status Graphite neck and a cheap Frankenstein body, so I thought it would be fun to fit them together...

My Rebel Bass - the body was broken, but I have a replacement; it's a 70s Kenner toy and needs significant surgery and some LEDs fitting.

A Tokai Strat, which the previous owner decided to strip of the finish with a chisel and then abandoned the project.

phil_b

thanks for the advice.

I my one and only guitar is an encore strat I got from an online charity shop for £16. It has already been subjected to a few experiments.

it is a good enough guitar for my very fledgling level of playing but it does have a few issues

this guitar was played a lot by someone and the frets are obviously worn with dents where the string lye on the higher frets

there are a couple of dead spots towards the lower end of the neck 

the back and sides of the neck are full of dents

it has the thinner body that will not fit a full size block

But my messing about with it has sparked an interest to put something together myself

LastMantra

What the funk! A Mel. Falcon? 

robinbowes

Do something cheap first. Make your mistakes on something that doesn't matter.

Roland

phil_b said:

I am going to attempt to build my own body

The neck is where I need some help due to my lack of knowledge of guitar building. necks can be bought for about £25 or I could spend £600 on a genuine fender neck.  

Do you mean that you want to start with a plank of wood, and shape the body yourself? You can download a template from here or here. 

Necks are much harder to make, and you’re better off buying one for your first build. Don't be tempted by the very cheap necks. The ones I’ve tried have been a waste of time and money. Either buy a second hand neck, or get a new, unfinished one in the £90 to £120 price bracket.

Don’t forget to post a build thread.

phil_b

Roland said:

Do you mean that you want to start with a plank of wood, and shape the body yourself? You can download a template from here or here. 

Necks are much harder to make, and you’re better off buying one for your first build. Don't be tempted by the very cheap necks. The ones I’ve tried have been a waste of time and money. Either buy a second hand neck, or get a new, unfinished one in the £90 to £120 price bracket.

Don’t forget to post a build thread.

yes. I thought I could make my own body but buy a neck for it. Thanks for the links the will be very useful.

I have been a little obsessed with the story of how Brian May built his own guitar. My build idea is a sort of homage to this. The plan being to stick to a strat shape as I can but all the parts I cant really make myself. but I could make a strat shape body using similar construction methods to the red special body. ie an oak centre piece surrounded by block board that is chambered to some extent.

The wood for the body wont cost a fortune so I think I will start on that. if it turns into a pigs ear I will know not to buy anything else

Megii

My experience is it's worth spending a reasonable chunk for a quality neck. I once bought a strat neck via ebay for £60 - looked good in the pictures, but you could pull the frets out with your fingers, poor finish, the wood looked a bit iffy, and the headstock dimensions were off. Allparts are good, also Mighty Mite. GSPBASSES on this forum might make you something if you get in touch - he certainly does good stuff.

phil_b

https://crimsonguitars.com/store/kit-guitar-s-type/

I would imaging these to be good quality also but you do have to pay for the privilege

sweepy

Check out Haynes of Haynes Guitars if you after an unfinished body, he sells them on eBay for well under £100
here's mine after it was finished

https://i.imgur.com/Nw2Mk3l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/yadDERA.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/iRh6Bws.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/3vGC2vd.jpg

prowla

Don't buy pawlonia (it's like balsa wood).

Funkfingers

prowla said:

A really nice Strat body I can't find a neck for.

Would an Allparts 22 fret neck be of interest? 12" radius rosewood fingerboard, big fret wire, step for FR string clamp, golden replica Klusons.

Sarge

You could check out boobooguitars.co.uk they sell rejected Guitarbuild bodies and reject necks (not sure of the origin of the necks) and there are some great bargains to be had.
I got my 1 piece ash strat body there with the only flaw being a tiny router plunge mark in the trem spring cavity, that was £90 iirc and just needed the unfinished cnc cuts sanding out. 

phil_b

Sarge said:

You could check out boobooguitars.co.uk they sell rejected Guitarbuild bodies and reject necks (not sure of the origin of the necks) and there are some great bargains to be had.
I got my 1 piece ash strat body there with the only flaw being a tiny router plunge mark in the trem spring cavity, that was £90 iirc and just needed the unfinished cnc cuts sanding out. 

that is very interesting thanks for the link

some of the bodies seem to have very minor imperfections that would be covered by a solid colour finish.