Halp! Some questions...

[MidnightMinstrel]

Putting together a 7/8 Strat with Mustang 24" neck.

- Going with roasted maple neck hands down with a rosewood fretboard. Not going to finish the neck. Does the rosewood fretboard need finishing?

- Is there an option for getting a quartersawn roasted maple?

- I'm new to this so bare with me. I'm having a hard time choosing a bridge, mainly because I have no experience with one. Looking for something tried and true. The less problems the better. What do you recommend for a 7/8 strat, 10-16 compound radius short scale neck?

- Fret size; I think i'd prefer something wider/taller, but again i'm not sure i'm relatively new to this. I like to play a lot of legato, love a low action of course, light touch as well. However i'd like to try and avoid fret buzz. This playstyle of light touch, legato, low action leads and solos would mean I should get the biggest frets possible? SS6115? i've heard mixed reviews, maybe I should just go with the regular old "Jumbos" SS6150? it seems like the ss6100's are overkill? I dunno maybe im just talking out of my ass..

- Tried and true tuner holes? Looks like gotoh and vintage are popular. Again looking for simplicity and durability.

- What do you think of a 1 11/16" wizard neck profile for smaller hands / thicker and short fingers? I think the wizard would be most comfortable for me. I've always played on really small necks (tenor guitar, mandolin, banjo) but never with a wider neck like a 6 string. If i go standard thin I might bring it back down to 1.650. But leaning wizard 1 11/16, I think 1 5/8 would be cramped.

- Ok so I'd like to go either swamp ash or roasted swamp ash for the body, i'd also like to go with a clear gloss finish, vintage tint, or a tobacco-y burst. The problem is I think the wood on wood contrast between regular swamp ash and roasted maple neck would look weird no? I'm also leaning towards regular swamp ash because of the darker tone of the body of a roasted after a finish. Too dark for my taste. I like the idea of that wood grain look, but i'm thinking it'll just be a stark contrast to the roasted maple neck. Maybe itll look awkward? A burst would take care of that I think? No solid colors for me. I mean maybe Taos Turquoise because I'm from Taos and it's a lovely color. What do you think?

- If I finished it myself, I was thinking linseed oil and nitro gloss? Maybe grain filler for the open grain of the ash first?

- Is a battery box necessary?

- Where do you guys get your electronics from? Stewmac? I know warmoth has some for sale, hows their quality? I'd really like to get the best quality pots, wires, etc.. I can find.

I'm sorry about the wall of text. I'm a bit of a lazy perfectionist. An oxymoron I know, but I want to put together something I'll love. I'm really gung-ho about this project. I've been disappointed in the past with the guitars i've had, which is one of the reasons I've decided to go custom. Hopefully you guys can answer some of my questions.

 

[ragamuffin]

Welcome!

-No a rosewood fretboard doesn't need finishing, the only common fretboard wood that needs a finish is unroasted maple

-Quartersawn roasted: I believe this is an option, but you'd have to call Warmoth to order it

-What do you mean you have no experience with a bridge? What guitars have you played liked/disliked in the past? Do you want a tremolo or a hardtail?

-Fret size: is largely personal, not much to do with the action. I really like 6105, but 6150 is probably the most popular. I'd go to a guitar store and play some guitars to see what you like. Most Fenders have 6150s, some of the "shredder" guitars will have larger frets like the 6100, many Gibsons will have frets smaller than 6150. Whichever you decided to go with I would recommend stainless steel; they have a smoother feel and are much longer lasting.

-Tuner holes: you choose the one that fits the tuners that you want to use, nothing to do with durability etc. I'd recommend Hipshot locking tuners which use the Sperzel/Schaller hole size, but the Schaller mini or Gotoh tuners that Warmoth sells are good too.

-Neck profle/nut: If you like thin necks you'll like the wizard. 1 11/16 nut should be a good choice too

-Swamp ash/roasted ash: largely up to you. If you're looking for a middle ground in color between regular and roasted ash you could do regular ash with vintage tint or with a light stain before finishing.

Here's a picture of a jazzcaster that I built; roasted maple neck, "regular" ash body stained with several coats of tea, no grain fill, and finished in Tru-oil.

-Finish: If you use linseed oil you want one with a hardener like Tru-oil which is a great, easy, and affordable finish to do. You can do it with or without grain fill. Nitro gloss is much more difficult and would require grain fill.

-Battery box: is for use with active pickups or preamps. Not needed with passive pickups. What kind of pickups do you want to use?

-Electronics: I usually get mine from Warmoth or Mojotone. Stewmac is fine but generally overpriced unless you're buying specialized tools or things that can't be found elsewhere. The standard CTS pots that Warmoth/Mojotone/others sell are fine, "boutique" pots, caps, etc are largely hype or snake oil.

 

[JohnnyHardtail]

I will just add my comments where I can contribute.

Fret Size.  If you like low action you will probably like big frets.  I would suggest that SS6115 are a good size for the 7/8 neck.  If it was a longer scale neck, I personally choose SS6100, but I don't think its essential with Gibson like 24.75" scale neck.

Tuner Holes.  Important - You need to check the datasheet from the maker of the Tuners.  Personally I used Schaller 25/64" hole size option for Gotoh SG381 tuners because the holes can be sanded very slightly to make it a secure fit.  If you have kluson style tuners, then you need a different size.  The Warmoth option for Gotoh locking tuners actually makes the holes oversize which isn't acceptable to me where I think they need to be a precise fit.  Mostly I choose the Fender "F logo" locking tuners, which work with the Schaller 25/64" hole size option, although may need a slight sanding on the inside of the hole.

I have no idea what is better out of standard thin or Wizzard, because I don't have your hands - I think you have to choose for yourself!  Standard thin is not very thick at all, but it has a slightly D shape shoulders that might restrict your reach if you are used to really tiny necks profiles.  1 5/8" nut size is for people with little finger tips, so you probably don't want that.  The good thing about Warmoth necks is they are Fender standard 2 3/16" at the heal so they aren't so wide as other guitars from Ibanez or Charvel, but you have to be precise with the bridge installation to make sure the e strings don't fall off the fret board.

Contrast is very good for guitars.  Its normal for musicians to choose contrasting neck, body, and pickguard combinations because they are performers and they want something eye catching.  If you choose everything to blend in together it can be bland, but I have done that myself as well.

If you like help with choosing colours its better to capture some images from the showcase bodies "picture it".  That allows you to combine the fretboard and body colours together, although the pickguard colours are mostly inaccurate.

I've read many times that linseed oil is the worst thing to use on a guitar because it can remain sticky for an extremely long time.  My only experience with oil finish is Tung oil, which I put on a roasted maple neck to protect it.  I was super happy with the result and it wasn't difficult.  For me, filling the pores in Swamp ash would require a lot of work.  Because I'm too lazy to do that myself I would rather get Warmoth to do the paint.

 

[zebra]

Here's my two cents:

- Roasted maple with rosewood fretboard left unfinished sounds great.  Consider burnishing the back of the neck (there's a thread around here somewhere on that...)

- Bridge:  Scale length and radius don't matter too much here.  If you aren't that familiar with electric guitar bridges (sounds like you're a bit of a multi-instrumentalist) and you want something simple and reliable, you might prefer a fixed bridge, rather than a trem.  A Fender-style hard-tail bridges might work for your body choice.  Hipshot has some really nice ones.  I have one of their Tele bridges - very good quality.  But comparable products can be had for cheaper. 

- I play with a lot of bends, hammer-ons/pull-offs.  After getting my first guitar with big frets, I didn't ever want to have a guitar with small frets again.  I'd consider "big" frets to be 6150, 6115, and 6100.  The 6115s are narrower at the crown than the other two, so I suppose they feel less "rail-road trackey" and less cramped at the upper frets, but I haven't tried them yet personally.  Other folks might have more input on the differences between those three shapes/sizes.  And as a previous poster already said, stainless steel frets are the way to go:  They polish up really slick (making bending a dream), and they last forever. 

- Low action and minimizing fret buzz is more a matter of setup (string height at nut, bridge, and neck relief) than a function of the fret size/shape, IMO.  Those concerns shouldn't really figure into your fret decision. 

- Neck Contour:  This is highly subjective.  The relationship between nut width and back shape is very dynamic:  Adding a little width at the nut can add a lot of meat on the back.  I liked my 1 11/16 standard thin, but when I got an 1 5/8 '59, I felt like I has home.  You might think you have thick fingers, but if you're used to playing mandolin and banjo, the 1/16 difference between the two widths might not be too much of a concern.  It might be good to consider how you grip your neck - players who keep their thumbs on the back of the neck versus those who palm the back of the neck versus those (like me) who hang off of their thumbs off of the top of the bass side of the neck and go all over the place will all have different preferences, as well as those who have different playing styles. 

- You're right about roasted maple and clear, natural body finishes - it's hard to match two different browns to each other, unless there's a lot of contrast.  I had a roasted maple neck on a transparent yellow Tele, and it looked really wrong.  It's now on a Candy Apple Red Tele, and looks great.  IMO, roasted maple necks look best on white, black, 60s Fender-ish pastel colors, and highly saturated colors.  I'm not sure why you think a roasted swamp ash body would sound that much darker than non-roasted, but a black-to-clear or black burst could work well to get more contrast between the neck and the body.  A tabacco-y burst could work, but I think the reds in a BRY burst might look weird with the roasted maple neck.  If you don't like solid colors, maybe consider a transparent finish (if you don't go the DIY route and have Warmoth do it for you).  I could see their transparent red, brown, or even sunset orange going well with a roasted maple neck.  Of course, with a nice dark rosewood fretboard, the weird mismatch or browns will only be visible from the back anyway...

- Finishing at home can be pretty easy going the linseed or tung oil route.  Spraying is a different story.  A previous poster mentioned Tru-Oil.  I've done tung oil with carnuba wax on top, while others have topped their penetrating-oil finishes with minwax poly.  There's a stickied thread on the forum on finishes - that will give you a lot of ideas. 

Otherwise, consider checking out some of the forum polls.  They're a great way to get a sense of specs (frets, neck width, neck shapes, etc) people prefer and why.  Lots of folks here have made multiple builds and really dialed in their preferences.  You can find comments by those with similar needs to yours, or if you're still uncertain, go with the obvious Goldilocks choice.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[rauchman]

If it helps....

I built a guitar using SS6115 frets.  I love them.  They are tall and not too wide, with a narrow peak.  if you're a string masher though, the height of the fret is high enough to maybe nudge a note out of tune a smidge.  Nothing big, but a touch/feel that is less than a kung fu/gorilla grip is helpful.  Think of a lightly scalloped fretboard.