1954 Z-Caster

[Patriot54]

This is not quite a work in progress yet, but the dream will soon become a reality (As soon as I complete my 5 or so unfinished guitar projects).

I'm building this because '54s are the original, the holy grail of Strats (and just happens to be my lucky number and screen name). But lots of people have recreated 54 Strats, and I needed an extra challenge so the idea is to put every possible part of a vintage Strat on a Z-body and somehow adapt the ones that don't fit.

I've had the mockup done for a while now and I always pictured it with a rear routed control cavity but it turns out that the top jack on the thin layer of wood is not a great idea so I'm talking to the shop about the possibility of a top rout. I'll post an update once I hear back from them.

I have mostly everything planned, but I'm sure I can make this guitar even better with some feedback from the Warmoth community.

 

[Patriot54]

Finish: Black-brown-yellow burst, but I will request it to look like a '54 finish

Neck specs:
Style: Stratocaster
Construction: Total Vintage
Scale: 25-1/2 in.
Shaft Wood: Maple
Fingerboard Wood: Maple (One Piece)
Nut Width: 1 5/8"
Back Shape: Fatback
Radius: Straight 7.25" (vintage)
# of Frets: 21
Fret Size: SS6150 (Stainless)
Tuner Ream: Vintage Style (11/32")
Inlays: Black Face Dots
Pre-Cut Installed String Nut: GraphTech White TUSQ (I will try to get bone if that's what was used in 1954)
Mounting Holes: Standard 4 Bolt
Finish: No Finish
Price: $207.00

Parts list:
Single-ply white pickguard blank
Fender Custom Shop '54 Strat pickup set
Vintage tremolo bridge
Standard Fender white knobs (I considered getting the original Bakelite mini-skirts but they cost $100+)
Vintage cloth covered wiring
5-way switch
0.1 uF 200 V poly film capacitors
vintage inline tuners (I believe they were made by Kluson)

 

[Death by Uberschall]

Tonar8353 is a master at that vintage finish. It's all about the order of the colors going on.

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=16876.0

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=14866.0

 

[Patriot54]

Tonar8353 is a master at that vintage finish. It's all about the order of the colors going on.

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=16876.0

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=14866.0

This one will be finished at the Warmoth shop but Tonar gave me some good advice about how the vintage Strats were finished back in the day and which Warmoth colors would look most like them. The mockup I posted above is actually a little darker in the middle than what I want.

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=19242.msg283407#msg283407

 

[Kei]

looks awesome in sunburst.
i'm here to testify for the awesomeness of Tonar 3tsb! you can check out my Tonarcaster in the strat forum

 

[DangerousR6]

Pretty cool idea, I like it. I've never really cared for the Z body, but that look fits it well... Should be plenty of places to get the custom PG done unless Warmoth can do it.. :dontknow:

 

[Patriot54]

I think the vintage look will fit the body well, and I've never seen it done before. I fell in love with Z shape as soon as I saw it, but my original idea of blue quilt maple on a Z has been done by a couple of people here already so I wanted to take it in a unique direction.

I'll cut the pickguard myself out of the thinner white plastic and it will go to the edge of that beveled lower horn sort of like in the picture.

 

[DangerousR6]

I think the vintage look will fit the body well, and I've never seen it done before. I fell in love with Z shape as soon as I saw it, but my original idea of blue quilt maple on a Z has been done by a couple of people here already so I wanted to take it in a unique direction.

I'll cut the pickguard myself out of the thinner white plastic and it will go to the edge of that beveled lower horn sort of like in the picture.

You can get multi-layer blank pickguard material. You can even get blank bakelite like the original 54's had.. :icon_biggrin:

 

[Patriot54]

I think the vintage look will fit the body well, and I've never seen it done before. I fell in love with Z shape as soon as I saw it, but my original idea of blue quilt maple on a Z has been done by a couple of people here already so I wanted to take it in a unique direction.

I'll cut the pickguard myself out of the thinner white plastic and it will go to the edge of that beveled lower horn sort of like in the picture.

You can get multi-layer blank pickguard material. You can even get blank bakelite like the original 54's had.. :icon_biggrin:

I will look for the bakelite blank when I'm ready to buy the parts. The more vintage the parts the better - I want old school Strat lovers to be like "WTF" when they see this thing.  :laughing7: I also thought it would be funny to relic it but I decided against that, I'll let it get old naturally.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

Although the RS Guitar 54 bakelite set is absurdly priced, the bakelite pickup covers are reasonable...  I got a set for my strat, and they are one of those things that make me smile every time I look at the thing.
Patrick

 

[ihavenothingprofoundtosay]

That's an absurdly sexy idea!  I abhor pickguards on 80% of instruments, and yet - this fits beautifully.  I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing this become reality.

 

[Jet-Jaguar]

I love this.  It's subversive, stylistically speaking.

 

[Patriot54]

Subversive - I like that description.  :icon_thumright: I hope the guitar gods will be pleased.

Making the pickguard will be the most fun part.

And I forgot to mention that I got some good info about '54 Strats, inside and out, from this link:
http://home.provide.net/~cfh/strat54.html

 

[Tweed]

The mockup makes it look like you can start with a Strat pickguard. Or have you already found that not true?

 

[Patriot54]

The mockup makes it look like you can start with a Strat pickguard. Or have you already found that not true?

I think this one will stick out a little from a standard Strat shape PG so I'll probably have to cut it from a blank - I woun't be sure until I have the body.

And even if this ends up as a rear rout, I'll still put the PG on just for the visual effect.

 

[NonsenseTele]

I really like it!!!! =)

 

[Jeremiah]

I like this a lot - actually I was thinking of building a Tele-Z-Caster with the Tele bridge & pickups on the Z body, though I'm not sure the Tele headstock would work.

 

[Patriot54]

I like this a lot - actually I was thinking of building a Tele-Z-Caster with the Tele bridge & pickups on the Z body, though I'm not sure the Tele headstock would work.

Here's a Tele filled in to the shape of the Z-body. If you wanted the traditional control plate, you'd have the same issue I have with the Z-Strat, which is modifying or moving the control rout, as you can see in the picture. It could be done though, probably easier than changing the Strat rout.

 

[Patriot54]

modified Z-Tele:

It looks a little crowded. If I was building this guitar, I would center the control rout right between the bridge and edge of the body, but also have a smaller custom plate made. Then put mini-knobs on it, so everything would look in proportion to the narrower body.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Anyone else getting this vibe?