7-string Strat (superwide mod)

[John NT]

I don't know if anyone's tried this before, but I took the plunge and tried to use the Superwide neck and a 6-string body (no trem routing) to make a 7-string And it did work, although it required routing for wider pickups and the Hipshot trem, making a custom pickguard by hand, and making a custom nut with narrower string spacing (this I had my tech do).

All the finishing, drilling, routing etc was done in my kitchen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzRoIGAYrCQ

Better pics of the finish and pick guard/knobs:

Enjoy!

 

[Updown]

1st up  Welcome aboard  :icon_thumright:

Dude thats amazing what ya did. 

Great work  :headbang:

Now ya can eat and cook again  :laughing7:

:kewlpics:

Gotta love Black quilt ... http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=17679.0

 

[SustainerPlayer]

Cool. But those outer strings looks mighty close to the edges.  :icon_scratch:

 

[John NT]

@Updown: Thanks a bunch! And good job on your strat, is that finish just black dye or is there something else mixed in? Looks like velvet

@SustainerPlayer: Thanks! The strings are indeed a little closer to the edges than normal, due to the Superwide neck not being as tapered as a typical 7-string neck. The nut width is 48mm (which is even wider than many 7's),
but it's only 60mm at the 22nd fret as opposed to for example 63mm on my Squier 7-string strat. This is why I needed a custom nut with narrower spacing. So doing this with a locking nut would NOT work, the outer strings would fall off the edges.

As you can hear in the video though, there are no issues with the playability. It's in fact an extremely easy to play guitar

 

[AprioriMark]

Man, that's great.  I know some will object, but I love the 7th tuner.  The whole build looks and sounds sharp.  Thanks for sharing!

-Mark

 

[Updown]

is that finish just black dye or is there something else mixed in? Looks like velvet

Just Black Dye, with Black back. Very 3D looking.

Yeah ... everyone that has seen it in the flesh, says WOW looks like velvet. 

 

[Corey P.]

Love it - enjoyed the video/chops also, too, as well!