got myself a guitar body and neck, what do I need next?

W

wannabecomedeat

New member
Well, the title says it all. I got a body and neck, now I need all the parts. This guitar is hum-sing-sing strat-like. I have the pickguard. I need ( Help me decide what to buy):

-the metal plate and screws to fix the neck on the body
-two single coil pickups
-maibe a humbucker (I consider just putting my dimarzio superdist in it, any comments?)
-a bridge (fender like tremolo probably, which brand is REALLY good? any other suggestion?)
-tuners (locking tuners? any brand recommended?)
-2 Volumes and 1 push pull pots, toggle switch, input jack plate(100k pots? 400k? is there any package available for cheap and of great value?)
-Plastic plate to hide the tremolo springs under the guitar

I think that's about it, did I forgot something? Your suggestions are highly apreciated.
One more thing, I'm looking for the typical fender strat or tele through marshall sound, which I think will greatly influence the pickup choice (I already have the marshall amp :rolleyes: )
 
well for starters the guitar fetish strat bridges are REEEEAAAALLLLYYYY nice, and you can get 'em vintage spec, too. other than that depending on your body/neck you may need to finish them, and you probably need tuning machines, and you MIGHT want someone who knows what they're doing to help you a little bit if it's your very first attempt and throwing this kinda thing together
 
wannabecomedeat said:
One more thing, I'm looking for the typical fender strat or tele through marshall sound, which I think will greatly influence the pickup choice (I already have the marshall amp :rolleyes: )
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Then don't bother with the humbucker. Even split, it will never sound like a Strat because it doesn't have the angle of a Strat bridge pickup. That slant is a big part of how that pickup sounds.

First off, it everything finished? If it's not, then get it finished. Guitars NEED a hard finish if you want them to last. Oil finishes are useless, and leaving the wood bare is just an invitation for your guitar to go through major changes every time the humidity or temperature changes by a degree or two. If you want to do it yourself, get Dan Erlewine's book from Stew-Mac and do what he tells you to do.

As for bridges, Gotoh all the way. They make a very nice Wilkinson-licensed trem bridge (in fact, they make several, so if you need it with six pivot screws, you can do that), but the big question is what is your guitar routed for. If it doesn't have a trem rout already, then it is a real pain to rout it for one, unless you've got some experience. For tuners, there is nothing nicer than Gotoh's 510 line. In fact, the entire 510 series (tuners and bridges) are extremely nice. They make a six-on-a-side mini-locking version for Strat and Tele pegheads which work really slick.

Neck plates and neck screws should be readily avalible in most guitar stores. Same with pickguard screws, cover plates, etc.

Strats usually have 250k audio taper pots. Humbuckers usually have 500K pots (though some Gibson's have 300k pots, but mostly just the 70's ones, and of course everyone knows the alternate spelling for 70's Gibson is P-O-S). There are cheap electronics packages avalible from Allparts, WD Music Products, and Stew-Mac (among others), but while they are all inexpensive, they are also CHEAP. Electronic parts are cheap, so go ahead and buy the good stuff (CTS pots, Switchcraft jacks, etc.)

Two final thoughts. First, if you are doing this because you think you will end up saving money on a good guitar, send what you've got back. You won't, period. You can do it cheap, or you can do it well, but you won't get both. If you are doing it because you think it's fun, or because you want to learn about this stuff, then you are doing it for the right reason, and you should go for it, and have fun while you are doing it (and it IS fun). But the cheap guitars out there right now from Fender and others are shockingly good, so go ahead and use them. It will save you a lot of money, if that is your goal.

Second, once you've got it put together, take it to a good repair shop to get it set up properly, at least the first time. It will make a world of difference, as you probably don't have much experience with things like getting the neck angle right, adjusting trem tension, etc. Let a pro get it up and running, at least the first time. I promise, they won't laugh or be offended to be working on a "homemade" guitar. I've seen some that were awful, but most of them are fantastic, and it's kind of cool to put the final touches on a person's dream guitar.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Well, I just picked up my first "good" guitar today(after owning too many squiers and cheap knock offs). All I gotta say is, get the wilkinson style bridge....... f'n amazing. Also, sperzel locking tuners are now the love of my life, I would strongly suggest a set, as the ones in my new axe have a nice ratio for fine tuning, and the fact that they lock makes everything so much easier.


Simon
 
It's 7 years of playing, I own 5 E.guitars, 1 classical guitar and 1 bass. I'm doing this because I'm at that point, and because I fell in love with that body and neck (incredible luthier art, wood body, blue finish, abalone eagle on the body, abalone palm tree, tortoise and sun on the neck, 2 abalone birds on the maple pickguard, incredible pieces, incredibly cheat, get it?)

I wanna have a unique instrument, with quality parts, an instrument that I know where everything comes from.

I won't be the one to install the bridge, bolt holes aren't bore, and I don't wanna ruin this piece of gear. The tremolo cavity is already done though. Thanks for the part recommendations, I'll have a look at those now. :D
 
This isn't even my project and I am excited as all get out.

I can't wait to see the finished Lovely Lady !!! I am a nut about inlays and carvings and the such myself. They are very hard to resist. I must be careful, NOT to buy something just for that reason alone. There is a Tibetian Lute with dragon carvings on it that I don't even know how to play, calling me. :D

Good luck on your project !
 
I can't help but notice you don't have any pics in this thread. This needs to be corrected or else.


















Or else we'll be really upset with you and we'll send you a letter telling you how upset we are with you. ;)
 
wannabecomedeat said:
It's 7 years of playing, I own 5 E.guitars, 1 classical guitar and 1 bass. I'm doing this because I'm at that point, and because I fell in love with that body and neck (incredible luthier art, wood body, blue finish, abalone eagle on the body, abalone palm tree, tortoise and sun on the neck, 2 abalone birds on the maple pickguard, incredible pieces, incredibly cheat, get it?)

I wanna have a unique instrument, with quality parts, an instrument that I know where everything comes from.
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Well that's a fine reason to do it. I just always like to make sure people get the warning before they are too far in, you know?


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
i just finished building my frst guitar , and all the parts and everything that i needed i got at stewarts mcdonalds stemac.com . They have a good selection and excelent customer service, found out when i had to call about grounding the bridge on les pauls, but that is another story! their shipping costs in kind of high, but it's fast. I just couldn't order ir all at one time...
JasonBird
 
One comment about bridges. I built a homemade art guitar thing and originally I put the trem on it that came stock on my late 80's '62 re-issue strat. After I'd had it a while, I bought an LRBragg x-bridge whihc is a strat bridge with piezos in the saddles to make a strat sound like an asthmatic ovation balladeer. I didn't tie it in with the magnetic pickup circuit, but installed a seperate output which I run through a fishman platinum preamp. I have to say that it sounds really good, and a teenie bit like an acoustic guitar. I am really glad I installed it.

I have played solo sets with it standing in as an acoustic. I have goofed with it with the band by running the fishman through a volume pedal and into a keyboard amp. I ran the direct peizo feed into my little 20 watt PV classic for a blues jam and it sounded like a chainsaw. AWESOME!

If I were going to go through the process of buying another strat bridge, I'd just another one of those. They are really cool toys.
 
Light said:
If it doesn't have a trem rout already, then it is a real pain to rout it for one, unless you've got some experience.
Click to expand...

I dug out my trem cavity for the homemade thing. Well, not the whole thing. Just enough for the trem bridge to fit without springs. That is one advantage I think of digging your own trem cavity. I block my trems anyway, so I just made the hole big enough for the trem block and wedged a thick washer in there so keep it mechanically joined to the body.

I did have to enlarge a hole in another crap guitar I had so that an american vintage bridge would fit. It took some time, but I used a some kind of nasty bit that came with my dremel to do it. as long as the hole on the guitar's face is clean and tight, you can have a really ugly abyss in the back to give plenty of tremelo action.
 
Oh my...I love the palm tree !!! The inlay is gorgeous. I can't see the carving of the eagle very well though. :D
 
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