Is a partscaster a good idea?

prowla

I’ve made a few from parts and overall the results have been as good or better than expected. 

A Squier body is a good start. Plonk a decent neck on that and you’ve got a great base. 

I’ve not had good experiences with cheaper unfinished bodies & necks. 

Bridges & pickups can start cheap and be replaced as funds allow. 

menamestom

prowla said:

I’ve not had good experiences with cheaper unfinished bodies & necks. 

Guitarbuild are good, I have just finished a Tele body in Nitro for around £110.  It's light and good 2 piece Alder.  I got the body in one of their sales for £50.

tomajoha

If it's a keeper then yes, if you see it as a stepping stone to something else than no (unless you are doing it on the cheap). Partcasters can end up like Range Rovers or herpes - difficult to shift as the saying goes!

menamestom

Neil said:

Probably just me, but personally I'd rather try out and buy something that is the finished product rather than some "pie in the sky" idea of what I think a guitar should be with a handful of disparate parts. 

I don't think they need to be disparate.  Take a Tele, much of the aftermarket hardware might be considered better than Fender, Glendale, Callaham etc.  Take a good body, add a quality neck, good hardware and you end up with a really good guitar.

Whether you can get over the fact you made all the choices is a different matter, there is something to be said for somebody else doing the choosing for you, it is a psychologically different process, but it's not rocket science - quality aftermarket parts make quality guitars when put together right.  Option paralysis can be an issue however!


 

menamestom

Some other random thoughts:-

Parstcasters can be terrible, high quality guitars (Fender CS, Suhr, SVL) and consistently amazing.
A partscaster, like a hot rod car, covers a massive spectrum, from a lowered Peugeot 106 with the back box cut off, to a 1930's V8 masterpeice in engineering (to continue the analogy).  The best partscasters are amazing, but probably cost £1k rather than £200 (the latter could be very good however).  It's perfectly possible to have an experience with a partscaster that's really bad, weather bought or assembled yourself.


To get the lighter, thinner finishes, partscaster is the way to go unless you spend big money (or go through the hassle of refinishing a poly guitar, which may reveal wood less good than you could have got with an aftermarket body)


Some of Fender's most expensive guitars are copies of partscasters, many of the artist models had swapped necks, different pickups, bridges etc.  

I'm doing a Tele at the moment, it's frustratingly slow due to funds but by the same token it allows me to but a guitar as and when I can and it is great watching it come together.  It's going to look great when it's finished and if anything like my other will be a favourite, I know I'd have to spend 3 times the price to get something I liked as much and I'd be three times as worried taking that out to gig.

Ben_McCarthy

Thanks everyone for the responses lots to think about. 

This certainly wouldn’t be a 200 build, probably closer to 1k or so. As many have said I could go and grab something off the shelf but to tick the boxes that I want ticking I can only really get custom shop. 

I think a call to @GoldenEraGuitars might be in order! 

boogieman

Just as an indicator for what you can build for not a lot of money, this came out at under £600 including the refinish. 
https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/165081/strat-refinished#latest

I’ve had quite a few genuine Strats in the past, including a custom shop, and this is the nicest sounding and easiest playing one of all of them. The only issue, as mentioned before, is resale value: you’ll rarely get back what you sink into it. If it’s a keeper though, it’s not a problem. 

Ben_McCarthy

boogieman said:

Just as an indicator for what you can build for not a lot of money, this came out at under £600 including the refinish. 
https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/165081/strat-refinished#latest

I’ve had quite a few genuine Strats in the past, including a custom shop, and this is the nicest sounding and easiest playing one of all of them. The only issue, as mentioned before, is resale value: you’ll rarely get back what you sink into it. If it’s a keeper though, it’s not a problem. 

Thanks for posting that, looks great 

Jimbro66

A partscaster shouldn't be looked at as a cheap option unless you are prepared to compromise quite a bit on its its parts and appearance (and maybe playability).

In the classifieds at the moment is a very nice partscaster with quality parts being sold by @RevMatt at a very good price. There's also a Levinson Blade advertised by @mikeyrob73 for a price that is an absolute steal. If your budget doesn't extend to them @Ben_McCarthy then you might be better off following the advice of others above and buying something like a Squier.

Unless you have good experience of working on guitars you will find that some things are learned the hard way when building your first partscaster.

I am certainly not against partscasters: Most my F-style guitars over the past 37 years have been partscasters and all excellent. I only ever owned one Fender and that was a pile of poo. I learned from that that the headstock label means zilch.

Edit: Sorry OP, I only just saw your later post indicating a £1k-ish budget. None of my partscasters have cost more than that and they have all been top quality.

boogieman

Ben_McCarthy said:

boogieman said:

Just as an indicator for what you can build for not a lot of money, this came out at under £600 including the refinish. 
https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/165081/strat-refinished#latest

I’ve had quite a few genuine Strats in the past, including a custom shop, and this is the nicest sounding and easiest playing one of all of them. The only issue, as mentioned before, is resale value: you’ll rarely get back what you sink into it. If it’s a keeper though, it’s not a problem. 

Thanks for posting that, looks great 

Thanks, I’m over the moon with the way it came out. It was already a decent sounding guitar but the paint job and the neck strip and refinish has brought it up to another level. I can’t recommend Rich’s work (he’s on here as @lamf68 )highly enough: if you’re thinking going down the bitsa route and getting it painted I’d ask him first. 

Ben_McCarthy

Jimbro66 said:

A partscaster shouldn't be looked at as a cheap option unless you are prepared to compromise quite a bit on its its parts and appearance (and maybe playability).

In the classifieds at the moment is a very nice partscaster with quality parts being sold by @RevMatt at a very good price. There's also a Levinson Blade advertised by @mikeyrob73 for a price that is an absolute steal. If your budget doesn't extend to them @Ben_McCarthy then you might be better off following the advice of others above and buying something like a Squier.

Unless you have good experience of working on guitars you will find that some things are learned the hard way when building your first partscaster.

I am certainly not against partscasters: Most my F-style guitars over the past 37 years have been partscasters and all excellent. I only ever owned one Fender and that was a pile of poo. I learned from that that the headstock label means zilch.

My budget would extend to those mate, I just don’t want to spend 3k again on custom shop. I’m only looking at it as an option to be cheaper than custom shop as opposed to a cheap alternative to any strat if that makes sense. 

Jalapeno

Roland said:

You also have to learn, with the cost of re-working if when you get something wrong.

FTFY

not an aspertion on Roland's skils, but inevitably unless you're a very experienced fettler one will make a mistake or two

axisus

I made up a great one. Loved it dearly until I started making my own guitars then it fell down the pecking order. It had way more character than the 4 Fender strats I had owned.

Jimbro66

Ben_McCarthy said:

Jimbro66 said:

A partscaster shouldn't be looked at as a cheap option unless you are prepared to compromise quite a bit on its its parts and appearance (and maybe playability).

In the classifieds at the moment is a very nice partscaster with quality parts being sold by @RevMatt at a very good price. There's also a Levinson Blade advertised by @mikeyrob73 for a price that is an absolute steal. If your budget doesn't extend to them @Ben_McCarthy then you might be better off following the advice of others above and buying something like a Squier.

Unless you have good experience of working on guitars you will find that some things are learned the hard way when building your first partscaster.

I am certainly not against partscasters: Most my F-style guitars over the past 37 years have been partscasters and all excellent. I only ever owned one Fender and that was a pile of poo. I learned from that that the headstock label means zilch.

My budget would extend to those mate, I just don’t want to spend 3k again on custom shop. I’m only looking at it as an option to be cheaper than custom shop as opposed to a cheap alternative to any strat if that makes sense. 

Yes, I saw your budget after posting so then edited my post accordingly.

There's a lot of talk about the money lost on partscaster sales but an awful lot is also lost on selling Fender Custom Shop guitars. So, yes, partscasters are still very viable.

mikeyrob73

Cheers for the exposure @Jimbro66 ;
:-) its a bloody good strat but its a STRAT and its the last one i shall ever buy  

boogieman

Jalapeno said:

Roland said:

You also have to learn, with the cost of re-working if when you get something wrong.

FTFY

not an aspertion on Roland's skils, but inevitably unless you're a very experienced fettler one will make a mistake or two

Really the only tricky bit is if you need to drill a new body and/or neck for the bridge and neck fixing screws. They do need to be done accurately and a drill press makes it 10 times easier, but even then I managed to put together my other bitsacaster on the kitchen worktop with a cordless drill (and a lot of patience). Otherwise it shouldn’t be a problem, Strats were always designed to be simple to work on and have bits replaced. Anyone with a modicum of diy skills should be able to do it. You could always pass it on to a luthier to do a finish and set up job if not. 

Ben_McCarthy

boogieman said:

Jalapeno said:

Roland said:

You also have to learn, with the cost of re-working if when you get something wrong.

FTFY

not an aspertion on Roland's skils, but inevitably unless you're a very experienced fettler one will make a mistake or two

Really the only tricky bit is if you need to drill a new body and/or neck for the bridge and neck fixing screws. They do need to be done accurately and a drill press makes it 10 times easier, but even then I managed to put together my other bitsacaster on the kitchen worktop with a cordless drill (and a lot of patience). Otherwise it shouldn’t be a problem, Strats were always designed to be simple to work on and have bits replaced. Anyone with a modicum of diy skills should be able to do it. You could always pass it on to a luthier to do a finish and set up job if not. 

I have to say, if I go down this route a trip to @FelineGuitars would be in order. Rather go there and ensure quality of work than fuck it up myself.

Jimbro66

mikeyrob73 said:

Cheers for the exposure @Jimbro66 ;;
:-) its a bloody good strat but its a STRAT and its the last one i shall ever buy  

I can relate to that. In my late teens I was loaned an original '63 Strat by a family friend for a couple of years. I loved the sound of it but everything else about it just seemed wrong. Couldn't get on with it and have not taken to the few Strats I've tried since.

boogieman

Ben_McCarthy said:

boogieman said:

Jalapeno said:

Roland said:

You also have to learn, with the cost of re-working if when you get something wrong.

FTFY

not an aspertion on Roland's skils, but inevitably unless you're a very experienced fettler one will make a mistake or two

Really the only tricky bit is if you need to drill a new body and/or neck for the bridge and neck fixing screws. They do need to be done accurately and a drill press makes it 10 times easier, but even then I managed to put together my other bitsacaster on the kitchen worktop with a cordless drill (and a lot of patience). Otherwise it shouldn’t be a problem, Strats were always designed to be simple to work on and have bits replaced. Anyone with a modicum of diy skills should be able to do it. You could always pass it on to a luthier to do a finish and set up job if not. 

I have to say, if I go down this route a trip to @FelineGuitars would be in order. Rather go there and ensure quality of work than fuck it up myself.

That’s fair enough. I’m a confident diy’er but I can see why other people would want to have it sorted professionally. Jonathan does excellent work and I’m sure would make a good job of it. 

Oh and.... pics when it’s finished. 

designerseye88

I like the idea of partscaster but I've seen US made strats go as low as £500 second hand. Stick in a decent of pickups and maybe a few minor changes and you'll have a great guitar plus it'll hold it's resell value.