first, let me thank the 2 members for their help. i'm planning a swamp ash strat w/ maple neck and ebony fretboard, single phat cat pu, tonepros tom with string through. i've just about got it together as far as parts i want - still thinking about tuning machines. i seem to get hung up on each part and waste a lot of time worrying about what eventually turns out to be of no real concern. oh well, it's the first one.