Hello
I was all set in making an order with Musikraft to get a top quality body and neck. Nothing out the ordinary telecaster with a swamp ash body and rosewood/maple board.
There was a few reason for choosing this route but the main thing is the cost for a custom fender would be 2.k-3k. I wanted to a V shape neck with no finish on the neck and a really nice this nitro finish on the body.
When i talked to my friend about this before i hit the buy it now he put me off. He said that after i put the guitar together it will be rubbish and will just sit in the corner of the room and won't be worth anything to sell even though you spent time and money putting it together.
I'll be buying the best quality parts i can. Musikraft body and neck, callaham, gotoh hardware and lindy frailin or Klien pickups.
My thinking is, its a telecaster, its two bit of wood stuck together how hard can it be?
Do i re think my wood selection to start with Swamp Ash can be different in weight and tone? Alder more consistent and a safer bet with the rosewood/maple neck?
Whats your experiences with a part caster. Buying quality parts should i worry? When buying a neck from one place and a body from another and buying cheap parts be the cause of a bad playing sounding Part caster?
I will of course get it setup by a pro! (suggestions around West Sussex area would be great)
Am i worrying too much or should i rethink i ideas and buy a guitar off the shelf. Choosing the one that speaks to me.
Whats your experiences? Have you built a bad part caster? An amazing one because of the parts etc Any help would be great!
Comments
Ive ended up with a really nice guitar for not many pennies, BUT I know it won't be worth the value I'd place on it should I decide to sell it (I won't- I'm sentimentally attached).
Regardless of of the quality of the constituent parts the guitar will never be a Fender (even IF you apply a decal to the headstock) and as such it'll never be worth anywhere near a comparable production model.
To make money on selling a partscaster you have to part it out and sell the components individually.
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I bought an MJT body and neck, some quality electrics and local builder/pickup maker but it together for me and installed his pickups and it's great, and a keeper
But to get that you obviously have to be quite confident in terms of what specs you want, and what will work well together in terms of woods, parts, etc.
So good parts, time, care, thought, attention to detail - you'll get a nice guitar!
I guess there's no Guessing how good it will be though. Pot luck.
Walnut strat build: http://s1153.photobucket.com/user/Megi99/library/Walnut%20Strat%20Build?sort=3&page=1
Swamp ash strat build: http://s1153.photobucket.com/user/Megi99/library/Swamp%20Ash%20Strat%20Build?sort=9&page=1
Both of these builds were natural wood Tru Oil finishes on the body, and used bodies from guitarbuild.co.uk, who I would be very happy to recommend. The walnut strat has a Mighty Mite neck, and the swamp ash one a neck from Axesrus, though sadly they don't sell these any more. GSPBASSES on this forum also makes obviously excellent necks and bodies, though I haven't used those myself.
http://www.denniscopy.co.uk/img/GreenStrat1.jpg
Even before I set it up, someone from this forum (I forget who, sorry) said at a forum get-together "That is the best sounding strat I have ever played, and it looks great too."
I'm not saying that to big up my construction skills (cos they're not worth bigging up) but to say that if I can put together a partscaster of that quality, you most certainly can.
I recommend that you have a go and prove how right you are and how wrong your pal is.
They're more expensive to make, than an equivalent would be to buy, most likely, and you'll lose money, if you ever sell it.
Depends on what you want. I like em!
Even if you build it yourself, intonate it yourself and set the action consider getting an expert to do the nut .... that makes a massive difference
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/142/my-first-build-s-mjt-content#latest
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7378/9094464459_b25e8d6016_c.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/EW2q0y7.jpg