Budget Stratocaster Build

[ISOTone]

Brand new forum member.

Brand new guitar player.

First time builder.

It's only been one week since I first discovered that you could build a quality guitar for yourself. I love being a DIY'er and freaked when I realized I could make myself a unique quality guitar.

I'm very much on a small budget but I know I can build a great strat for less than a fender american standard. So I'm going to catalog the build here in this thread. I know the sound I'm after and am glad I found this board which seems to have a lot of experienced builders!

Here is the body and neck I picked up today.

Total to date: $346

Body: Stratocaster®, Right handed, Alder, Top Rout, F-Holes: None, Pickup Rout: (Strat®, Strat®, Strat®), Bridge: Vintage Strat® Flat Mount, Jack Rout: Strat® Top Jack Rout, Battery Box: None
Neck: Stratocaster®, Vintage Modern, Right Handed Handed, Maple, Wenge Fretboard, 1 11/16" Nut Width, Standard thin, 6105, Vintage Style (11/32") Tuner Ream, 22 frets, 10-16" Compound Radius, Mother Of Pearl Dots Inlay, Black Corian, No Finish, 25-1/2 in. Scale, Standard 4 Bo

 

[ISOTone]

After they arrive I will post more pics.

Here's the backside of the neck.

 

[swarfrat]

Bravo - another cheapskate showing it can be done with patience.  :hello2:

You do know about GFS right? For hardware on a shoestring budget they might be a lifesaver.

 

[anorakDan]

Here's GFS link:http://store.guitarfetish.com/

 

[ISOTone]

Thanks for that I just might use them for hardware....

What would be the best way to obtain a chocolate color with this alder? I've seen some wood stains close to what I'm wanting but would dying give me a more chocolatey look. I'm looking to do this guitar with a black and tan (think beer) theme with either gold or black hardware.

 

[tfarny]

I love this kind of thing, and I love hardtail strats. No "lawyer guitars" for you and I!
The GFS pickguards are a great deal, by the way. I would just stain it brown using Minwax oil based stain, and apply a few coats of Deft semi-gloss, available at home depot. Your finish might run you $20 depending on how much sandpaper you have lying around!

What black hardware + vintage tuner ream are you going for? Personally I would go for the narrow mount bridge Warmoth sells and these tuners: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Guitar,_solid_peghead_tuners/Gotoh_Tuners/Gotoh_Locking_Vintage_Oval_Knob_Tuners.html - they work great and only look old-school.

Since you got the vintage ream on the tuners, you don't have a ton of other options.
Budget pickups, you might look for Bill Lawrence Keystones, or go for the higher-end stuff that GFS sells. Personally I'd browse ebay and get a used pair of duncans or dimarzios, they run you about the same as new GFS and are easy to shift if you decide you don't like them.
Welcome to the addiction!

 

[tfarny]

Oh, a general word of advice from one cheap guy to another: An electric guitar never, ever sounds better than its pickups. So get good ones, not necessarily boutique or fancy, but that's the one place you don't want to skimp.

 

[ISOTone]

Oh, a general word of advice from one cheap guy to another: An electric guitar never, ever sounds better than its pickups. So get good ones, not necessarily boutique or fancy, but that's the one place you don't want to skimp.

I'm right there with you. I have heard quite a few home brews with the dimarzio "area" PUPs and like the sound. Thanks for the advice and suggestions. Keep'em coming!

 

[swarfrat]

If the project stack gets low enough to mess with my 12 string, I'm going to stick a set of GFS Neovin vintage S/S/S in there.

 

[rapfohl09]

I'll chime in with the pickups since I just did a budget Strat build myself. I got a fully loaded guard, just like this...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Mighty-Mite-Fender-Lic-Rails-Strat-LOADED-PICKGUARD-Stratocaster-MM402B-BLK-/360481905954?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item53ee655d22

...and it sounds fantastic. I took a big risk buying what I had generally considered a budget brands pickups, but they really do sound great.

And nice picks for the neck and body, this thing is going to look stellar! Jacobean MinWax stain is a nice dark brown.

 

[Cagey]

If the project stack gets low enough to mess with my 12 string, I'm going to stick a set of GFS Neovin vintage S/S/S in there.

I have a set of those in one of my Strats and they sound very good. But, if you really want a vintage single coil sound, their new "True-Coil" series are the best sounding single coils I've heard in years, and they're nearly noiseless. They do a small dummy coil thing that's pretty effective at canceling hum without changing the actual pickup coil behavior. Try just one in a guitar that has a single coil in the neck position, and see what you think. I'm betting you'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

[swarfrat]

Not to hijack, but for this guitar I wasn't really shooting for 'vintage' anything in particular, just low output stratty pickups with nice shimmer, and figured that would best be served by a 'vintage' wind. But yeah the website is less than clear on neovin vs true coil. Honestly I kinda figured it was Supplier A vs Supplier B rather than v2.0

 

[Cagey]

No, I have them both here, and it's definitely a version 2.0 thing. Design is different. Sound is different. Quality is high, as usual. The True-Coils aren't dead noiseless like the Neovins or other "noiseless" single coils, but very close to it. Certainly nothing annoying, and easily gated without heroic settings if you must. In exchange, they really do sound like single coils. I don't know how to describe them like the evangelists do; all I can say is if you like single coil tonal character, the $32 one of these costs is a worthwhile experiment. The money won't be wasted - you or somebody will find a home for the thing if it doesn't work in the guitar you're thinking about. And $90 for a set of three is cheaper than one of the Big Name Brand units.

 

[stubhead]

Unlike the original humbucking concept, where they tried to match coils as close as possible (and as ridicule-worthy lore would have it, the failures were the successes) the idea seems to be to have the second coil as unmatched as possible, just to take that plus-4K hiss away. It still goes back to re-econo-engineering Alembic's dummy coil, hopefully for less than $7,000 or so. I don't even like "quack", so what do I know.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

If you didn't get stainless frets, I'd call Warmoth and see if they can do that.  It is not very expensive, and they wear much better.  If you have an aversion to stainless, some do, then carry on.
Patrick

 

[tfarny]

It's interesting that people like the Neovins, I hated them. I thought the Area series or, really, anything, was better than the neovins. Worst pickups I've bought (that I can remember). It's too bad Ken @ Roadhouse is temporarily shut down. His vintage wind pups are serious quality, fantastically clear tone, and reasonable.

 

[Jumble Jumble]

I do like the sound of these cheap pickups. But then I remember that I get free pickups, and it seems a bit silly to spend the money. There are a lot of different pickups out there I want to try though. Some of the Lace stuff is intriguing, and I have to hear some Kinmans at least once.

 

[jmavl]

RE: finish...
Depending upon the look you want to achieve, I would suggest Tru-Oil over analine dyes-- They look great and they're easy and goof-proof, especially if you don't have much experience with finishing.  And, they're economical.

You can buy the dyes from stewmac.com, and go for a solid color or burst.  Dyes are ~$20 each.  There's plenty of youtube instruction on how-to.

Same for Tru-oil... It's essentially a boiled linseed oil with hardeners added.  Wipe on in THIN coats, one daily.  Wet sand with 1500 after every second coat.  The shine will begin to appear after your third sanding.  Apply up to 20 coats, and finish the last coat with Maguire's auto polish (no abrasives) after two days of curing.  One 3oz bottle from a BassPro or other hunting box store, ~$10, should be plenty.  Store the bottle upsidedown to prevent hardening in the bottle.

 

[jmavl]

Dyes & Tru-Oil will give you a transparent finish and show the wood grain.

 

[ISOTone]

RE: finish...
Depending upon the look you want to achieve, I would suggest Tru-Oil over analine dyes-- They look great and they're easy and goof-proof, especially if you don't have much experience with finishing.  And, they're economical.

You can buy the dyes from stewmac.com, and go for a solid color or burst.  Dyes are ~$20 each.  There's plenty of youtube instruction on how-to.

Same for Tru-oil... It's essentially a boiled linseed oil with hardeners added.  Wipe on in THIN coats, one daily.  Wet sand with 1500 after every second coat.  The shine will begin to appear after your third sanding.  Apply up to 20 coats, and finish the last coat with Maguire's auto polish (no abrasives) after two days of curing.  One 3oz bottle from a BassPro or other hunting box store, ~$10, should be plenty.  Store the bottle upsidedown to prevent hardening in the bottle.

Thanks this was really helpful. I'm leaning toward doing exactly this or instead of dye using an oil based wood stain and then using tru oil as a finish.