Left Handed STRATOCASTER (!) build questions

themeinside

@Frankus Thing is, as I said, there is very little personal element to buying a Squier and maybe doing a few mods. With a cheaper base, even if I did upgrade, I would be assembling, finishing and cutting the headstock myself. The effort and the personal element is more important than the guitar in this case, methinks...

frankus

Okay, I appreciate that - how long are you giving yourself for the project?

themeinside

I have until the end of December/start of January. All these elements make me think that the best way to do it right now would be one of these kits. Honestly, i'd prefer something other than Basswood, but needs must, and I have deadlines to meet! xD

themeinside

If no one has any objections, and it wouldn't be too boring for you good people, I think the nice, tight grained basswood kit above is my best option at the moment, so I think I shall order that forthwith and get going! 

ThePrettyDamned

themeinside said:

If no one has any objections, and it wouldn't be too boring for you good people, I think the nice, tight grained basswood kit above is my best option at the moment, so I think I shall order that forthwith and get going! 

Good man

Megii

Don't blame you at all for going for the kit @themeinside - and fwiw I have a few basswood body guitars, and quite like the stuff - it seems to give a very balanced sounding guitar to me, I think it's under rated for some reason.

themeinside

@Megii I tend to agree- I have a basswood LTD (Kirk Hammett sig) and it's a perfectly good sounding instrument. A fairly good substitute for Alder, and maybe even a little more balanced as you say. 

Only problem is, the above kit has been sold, so I'm waiting on a picture of another from Mike at Kitbuiltguitars- so far, they've been excellent in communication!

ThePrettyDamned

When cheap manufacturers use basswood, it must be bad.

When Suhr use basswood... Wait, what? It's a fine wood, and apparently quite easy to work with.

Joe satch has his guitars made of it.

themeinside

@ThePrettyDamned Indeed! It is certainly not the end of the world, but the colour match on the best kit he has left is FAR worse than the one above. A whole quarter, to a third of the front is a darker hue than the rest. Would the Wudtone cover this colour discrepancy? 

ThePrettyDamned

themeinside;419228" said:

@ThePrettyDamned Indeed! It is certainly not the end of the world, but the colour match on the best kit he has left is FAR worse than the one above. A whole quarter, to a third of the front is a darker hue than the rest. Would the Wudtone cover this colour discrepancy? 

If you use a solid pigment type, yes, follow my thread for instructions - it's very very near completely solid, I left it a tiny bit trans from choice as I loved the look.

If you want a trans finish, no.

The black magic woman should cover it nicely though. If not, and you run out, write to Andy at wudtone. He's helpful, and will be happy to send you more of the stuff for a small fee.

My thread is the pine strat one - using red.

themeinside

Ok, excellent to know! Thanks @ThePrettyDamned

themeinside

OK- Change of plan! Turns out the same kit supplier has an Alder bodied Strat kit with a flamed maple top! I'd rather buy him a proper US Fender Tele, maybe for his 60th, when I've finally got my degree and hopefully then a job! xD But the better tonewoods, and the flamed maple top hiding a myriad of sins regarding wood colour matches, I think this is the best option. EDIT: Turns out I COULD change the title, if I had but looked! xD

themeinside

Ok! All things being equal, this kit is being ordered tonight. I decided that the better spec of the kit would be a better call for the gift. Mike at KitBuiltGuitars has been excellent in communication and sending through pictures of the kits remaining in stock. I chose this one as it had almost the best flame, but certainly the best matched back. 

I'll be looking forward to receiving this later this week!

frankus

looks great

themeinside

Thank you But does the bridge hole alignment look right? And one of the holes is a bit crooked on the neck pocket, does that matter? I presume they're pilot holes, so I guess it'll be fine!

themeinside

@Frankus @ThePrettyDamned @WezV @Megii @jd0272 @DrBob @NPP @GuitarMonkey: Any thoughts?

ThePrettyDamned

Okay, the neck holes... On the body, it doesn't really matter how big they are, as the screw goes straight through and then draws the neck to the body.

So, it needs to be close enough to the right position that the size of the hole to align correctly doesn't give a bad look once a neck plate goes on. Does that make sense? Although, if it's bad, I'd be miffed.

The bridge routing, I can't really tell. Test fit everything before finishing perhaps? I'd do that on any build anyway.

frankus

The bridge looks offset in the right way, the neck holes will hopefully line up with the neck plate, you'll probably not want a pre-drilled neck... maybe.

themeinside

@ThePrettyDamned Thank you! That's what I thought, I think they're all close enough that it would even out when screwing the neck in. I was going to test fit indeed, and once I order it should only be a couple of days, so Friday I reckon I might get a few pictures up! 

themeinside

@Frankus Thank you too! I don't know what the state of play is regarding the neck, but I have a feeling it comes without being pre-drilled