A modern take on the Gilmour black Strat

[Frank67]

Like so many, I have lusted for a Gilmour type black Strat for a long time. Now, I finally built one from Warmoth parts and I really like the results. Going Warmoth allowed me to get rid of all the features of the Fender custom shop model that I did not like. The result is a guitar built from top notch parts that plays wonderfully and cost less than a third than the Fender. Warmoth rules  :yourock:

Here is a little video that I made about it
[youtube]https://youtu.be/jBPAMm3PcR8[/youtube]

 

[rgand]

Good video. Your Strat sounds good, too.

 

[vetteman]

I also love the "Black Strat" and made a modified version of it.  I started with a Fender Jimmie Vaughn strat and added the Overdrive Guitar Works thick acrylic pickguard, but went with the EMG DG20 pickup set (like the red strat in the Pulse DVD)  I also am finding I don't really care for the soft V neck and will probably replace it with a Warmoth neck.  The guitar sounds pretty good but not quite the equal of yours!  Nice playing by the way.  :guitarplayer2:

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Sounds great, nice axe and killer playing! I really like what you did with the video, what an excellent way to showcase the guitar. Nice job all around!

 

[Frank67]

Thank you so much! This is very nice of you.

Also remember that there is a lot going on in that recording chain that helps making the guitar sound good. I have very little to do with it

Enjoy music and guitars everybody and let's have fun with it!

 

[stratamania]

Thanks for sharing your project, Frank. Good guitar video and tone.

A nice choice of parts, one of these days I must get round to doing one.

I seem to remember one of your videos on Youtube about your board, did you get the MIDI to the Strymon pedals sorted from the Gigrig?

 

[Frank67]

Thanks a lot for the nice comment!

I did get the Strymon stuff sorted out well enough I thought - just not running all three of them in stereo.

But you know how it is  ... always tinkering. The board was great and sounded great but it was not too practical to play with a band. Hence, I simplified the GigRig board and use the big Strymons now in my home studio where I have time to dial them in running than surfing through all those menus while my bandmates get annoyed Once everybody is cooking the subtleties in the tone that most of us love to obsess about are mostly lost anyways.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCJDFPDKrdM&t=10s[/youtube]

 

[stratamania]

That's the video I was thinking about we exchanged some comments on it. Indeed sometimes live with bands subtleties do get lost but still lots of fun...

 

[Strat Avenger]

You did exactly what I did, which is to build a Strat the way you want it.
I retained all the features I like about a Fender Stratocaster, while changing all features I don't like.
Nice job.

 

[Frank67]

Thank you very much!

This was my fifth Warmoth. The first few times it took a few iterations before the guitars were exactly what I wanted. This was what I wanted from the first day on. 

Since the build I changed two minor things - I installed a Fender Tone Saver treble bleed so that the guitar retains all high end upon rolling down the volume. That thing is ridiculously expensive for what it is, but it gets the job done nicely.

The second thing is to install roller string retainers. That helped the tuning stability.

I wish I wouldn't be out of space. Designing Warmoth guitars is so much fun - and they rule!
:rock-on: