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But after you've done two or three guitars you will start to learn how much a difference it can make to how good your guitar feels, and more importantly, you start to learn what type of setup suits YOU. For example, I really like having a very low action on a jazz guitar for playing chord melody, but I prefer a much higher action on a Strat to get a better grip for bends and a fuller tone. You will start to appreciate how good polished frets can feel and rolled fingerboard edges (especially if you are a thumb over the top player), and how doing this to a cheap guitar makes it play so much better for YOU.
started my tele build. thanks everyone for your input.
I did get fender to build me a custom guitar but there was lots of this aesthetically wrong that it didn't feel right. I wanted a feeling i had and was holding a vintage instrument. It fell too shiny and new. So main goal is to make the guitar look and feel like an old guitar. Watch this space!
I have just ordered a Musikraft 2 p/c neck, 1 5/8 nut. I play with thumb over a lot! Really can't wait.
Like you said, it's a tele. Put it together and place the bridge properly and there's no reason it's not going to play and sound great. my Jazzmaster was a bit more of a challenge but not by much. Just thinking of putting something together in the Gibson vein makes me think 'it's probably not worth it' but if Fenders float your boat, theres no reason not to give it a go.
Oh, hang on, perhaps one reason : the guitar you build will not even be worth the price of the parts if you ever want to sell it!!
I had a lovely fender custom shop strat but didn't like the gloss neck or glossy finish on the guitar. The amount I lost selling then buying again I could of easily got the guitar refinished, but would of lost much much more.
im liking the idea of this even more!! I'm confident I know what I want in a tele. Watch this space
With all partscasters I've done, I have either given them away or rebuilt into something else, they are awesome for adapting and changing to get right.
To be clear, I have given them away because I've liked them and thought the recipient would like them too.
What I have learned from this thread;
Partscasters are good but really it is all about a professional setup.
Partscasters are good because you can have any colour you want as long as it is mostly wood stain.
Partscasters mean you can specify exactly what you want except you can't as the parts are hard to come by and really expensive so lets trust to serendipity and make one from whatever falls in our lap.
So just buy a guitar with a bolt on neck and modify it so it has the resale value of a partscaster?
Did I miss anything?
Never used woodstain, only Nitro
Parts are as prolific as threads about Les Pauls are on here
To an extent a new Fender _is_ a partscaster
I am sure your set up is very professional.
I said that about Fenders up there somewhere.
I was not being very serious. I am just waiting for the EN standard for neck joints but Brexit has probably scuppered that. Which raises the questions: Does Fender have a standard pocket? How closely do other manufacturers follow Fender pockets?
I always thought it was weird that guitars and necks are not sold seperately as standard.
Im also trying to gradually put stock out there for people to buy, at will, in order to assemble a dream machine of their own. Nothing with a strat or tele that doesn't say "fender" on it. Make it your own... love it, play it, enjoy it. With a modicum of knowledge regarding setups you could make a bloody good partscaster!
• Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@Goldeneraguitars
1) The idealised, fantasy, "perfect" specification project.
2) The "what happens if I try this?" project.
Your comment about buying a famous brand guitar then modifying it extensively is half right. Partscasters are often made from the left-over bits removed during modifications to other guitars.
Think of this as a solution to the problem of storing all those bits that get stashed away just in case you ever decide to sell a specific guitar and wish to return it to original specification.
It will cost about 40 % of the Fender
It will be a harder sell and will lose 30% of value
The Fender will lose 30% of value too
at one end you have the simplicity factor - wipe on oil finishes can be done by anybody at home. The biggest hurdle to spraying is finding somewhere to do it safely and then developing the skills to do it well. they are in no way a second class finish, but they are certainly easier - kind of a no brainer if its your first attempt
There is the cost. A £10 bottle of oil can do a few guitars , plenty to strip back and start again if you mess up. Rattle cans will cost at least 5 times that for 1 guitar, and there is no room for error. Spraying properly is cheaper, once you have paid for all the equipment to do it.
The lure of the wood counts for a lot too. You will be hunting for parts so you go go to warmoth and you end up drooling over showcase pieces of wood. Maybe you are reading a lot of build thread in preparation and your tastes start to sway towards that woody look. This gets even worse when you start building bodies and necks from scratch - its impossible to resist an interesting looking piece of wood. I like to ensure i have a lot of contrast in the woods i use or they do just end up looking like brown side boards.
This strat i am building is a good example, it easily could have ended up too much like a sideboard. African walnut body which varies from chocolate to golden brown (very much like a 70's sideboard) with a bloodwood top which will probably be quite brown in a few years. If i put a pale rosewood board on it it would end up looking really dull.... but I think a nice maple neck works well
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