Hey Guys

[Seryaph]

Another new member to the forum.

This looks like a really cool and friendly place. I am looking foward to learning from all of you guys and picking the brains of the resident experts.

I've only really ever tinkered around with guitars, I've gotten pretty close to completely dismantling and putting guitars back together but have never gone all the way.

I recently had to sell my beautiful American Made Fender Fat Strat and so now I am saving all of my money to buy my own, custom made strat. I am a poor college student so i might not get a second chance at doing this for quite some time. As it is, I am going to have to wait about 2 or 3 months (unless I can find some quickie one-time jobs) untill I can get the money to order everything I need.

Here is what I am going to order:

1 Hollowbody Swamp Ash Strat body with a flat ash top, I was thinking about getting it routed for a Wilkinson tremolo, but after reading the Wilkinson Wobble thread, I might just go for the vintage 6-hole tremolo. S-S-H Strat top rout for the electronics with the classic strat recessed top jack routing and a contoured heel. I was thinking about getting a burst finish, probably the black, brown, red.

1 Right hand Maple neck with a Maple fretboard, I'm having a hard time choosing between the 1-5/8's or the 1-11/16th's nut width. My hands are thin but my fingers are long and my left hand gets bigger with the added muscle from playing all of my lead guitar on an acoustic with '13 gauge strings. I'm thinking about getting the SRV neck, aside from the asymmetry, I think it might be chunky enough to be similar to my Fender Fat Strat neck, either the SRV or the Wolfgang, I play baseball-style but with some thumb-behind-the-neck chords. I wanted some locking tuning pegs (i go pretty crazy with the whammy bar sometimes which is why I wanted the wilkinson bridge) and will probably with the Jumbo frets (what I had on the Fat Strat) or at least the Med Jumbo (maybe try something new) I'm going to get a graphite nut for my whammy experiments and a clear gloss finish.

I'm also going to order some Custom made Rumplestiltskin pickups. I will probably get the Gypsys neck, with the Experience middle and bridge and I am going to ask him to overwind the bridge pickup to get the out put to be around 7.0k. I am getting these pickups staggered backwards, to get that upside guitar sound Jimi had. I am also going to get a left-handed bridge to place on my right-handed guitar to get the whammy bar above the strings, a la Stevie Ray.

Basically, I want Jimi's Olympic White Strat and his later Band of Gypsys strat to have sex and have a baby strat. Once that strat is full grown, I want it to make wild, beautiful, musical love to Stevie's number 1 and I want the offspring of that to be mine. Through all of this, even though it is clearly inspired by my favorite guitarists, I hope to find my own sound without imitating that of the masters. I'll give credit where it is due but hope to add to the legacy that they have handed down to me.

Anyway, do you guys have any tips, suggestions, comments or advice on
A) the orders I am making and
B) putting it all together?

Any help or words of wisdom would be much appreciated and I apologize for the wall of text.

 

[Rouse]

Welcome to the boards!  :headbang1:
On the neck, i think should look into raw exotic woods, you will love them once you try it, you will never want to go back to finished, or at least thats what most of the people around here say, it may be different for you.
otherwise it sounds like a sweet build, cant wait to see it completed!

 

[NonsenseTele]

wow, long post

You want it to sound like Hendrix?? I don't know this company you said, but I know Bare Knuckle pickups Mothers Milk will sound very Hendrix But I'm not sure why HSS, if you want Hendrix tone...

Get the 1 11/16" nut, if you play on acoustic, it will be smaller than you're used... What do you mean by "crazy whammy things"? As crazy as Vai/Satriani and these shredders???
About the left-hand bridge on right body, not sure, you'd better contact the guys at warmoth to see if it can be done...
Beside it, you're saying pretty much a normal strat, so if you want a better strat than Fender, but with the famous tone, that's the way...

Welcome to the forum ccasion14:

 

[Seryaph]

wow, long post

You want it to sound like Hendrix?? I don't know this company you said, but I know Bare Knuckle pickups Mothers Milk will sound very Hendrix But I'm not sure why HSS, if you want Hendrix tone...

Ha, yeah sorry about the long post. Been thinking about all of these things for a long time now, with noone to really talk about it with untill I found you guys.

And yeah, Hendrix is probably my single biggest-influence, but I don't want to mimic his tone. But this is one of the questions I have. Is it possible to  get the body of the strat routed to an S-S-H configuration and then buy a standard old S-S-S pickguard; will the humbucker routing at the bridge affect the way my bridge pickup is held? I want to start out with a decently high output single-coil bridge pickup, but I also love the grit and raw energy of a humbucker, I can definitely see myself going that way one day, so I wanted the body to have the humbucker routing in case I ever opt to slap a humbucker in there.

Sometimes you just need the dirt that only a humbucker can provide.

 

[exalted]

My first guitar was a cheap strat knockoff. S-S-S...until I took the pick guard off and found out it was really an H-S-H.

Years and years ago my guitar instructor said it was comparable in build/tone to a MIM strat....so I don't imagine having the humbucker rout would affect it TOO much. That's why the pups are screwed into the pick guard, after all.

 

[Seryaph]

Welcome to the boards!  :headbang1:
On the neck, i think should look into raw exotic woods, you will love them once you try it, you will never want to go back to finished, or at least thats what most of the people around here say, it may be different for you.

While I have heard many people complain about laquered maple necks, my Fender Fat Strat had one and, to be honest, I loved the feel of it. I felt super smooth and my fingers glided along it. After that neck, all rosewood necks felt rough, somehow, like they caught at my fingers or something.

However, I am always willing to try new things, do you have any recommendations? If I get one of those raw exotic woods, do they have to be finished in anyway? Keep in mind that I am a poor college student and that my budget is already pretty strained.

Get the 1 11/16" nut, if you play on acoustic, it will be smaller than you're used... What do you mean by "crazy whammy things"? As crazy as Vai/Satriani and these shredders???
About the left-hand bridge on right body, not sure, you'd better contact the guys at warmoth to see if it can be done...
Beside it, you're saying pretty much a normal strat, so if you want a better strat than Fender, but with the famous tone, that's the way...

Welcome to the forum ccasion14:

I played a guitar at guitar center with a 1 11/16" and it just felt kind of big for some reason. But then again I was in a hurry as the store was about to close. I'll go try it out against the 5/8" and see. By crazy whammy things I mean similar to what Hendrix did in his various versions of Machine Gun. I love that kind of auditory exploration of a real-world situation.  I will definitely make sure to get in touch with the guys at warmoth before I make any orders. I'm assumming that some of the bridge rout would have to be adjusted to accomodate the whammy bar being at the top, but I hope with all of my heart that they would be willing to do so.

When you say that's the way, do you mean that going through warmoth is the way to get a normal strat (even if it is hollowbody) that is better than a Fender strat but still has that tone? Haha, I just want to be sure because that is pretty much exactly what I want.


Oh, also, does anyone have any idea how much it costs to get a recessed bridge rout? Is there any extra charge added? I have looked around but have not been able to find any prices on a recessed rout.

 

[NonsenseTele]

I said like, if you want a strat better than Fender, then what you said is the way to go, Warmoth, custom pickups, nice parts... Because I wasn't sure if that whammy thing was Hendrix or Steve Vai :laughing7:

I like the idea of GraphTech nut as you'll use the bridge a lot, think you'd better get a real nice bridge (Callaham, Bare Knuckle also makes a vintage reproduction real good, etc) to hold the use nicely.

Pickups seems you need to try a BKP Sinner or Piledriver on bridge  :evil4:

PS: The "raw" thing is about being unfinished

 

[Rouse]

Welcome to the boards!  :headbang1:
On the neck, i think should look into raw exotic woods, you will love them once you try it, you will never want to go back to finished, or at least thats what most of the people around here say, it may be different for you.

While I have heard many people complain about laquered maple necks, my Fender Fat Strat had one and, to be honest, I loved the feel of it. I felt super smooth and my fingers glided along it. After that neck, all rosewood necks felt rough, somehow, like they caught at my fingers or something.

However, I am always willing to try new things, do you have any recommendations? If I get one of those raw exotic woods, do they have to be finished in anyway? Keep in mind that I am a poor college student and that my budget is already pretty strained.

My friend ordered Goncalo Alves, he said its like a satin finish but smoother because the grains are so tight. and you dont have to get it finished so it ends up saving you money   :icon_thumright:

 

[Seryaph]

Dammit,

I was so sure of the neck I wanted. I am no longer sure.

Those Goncalo Alves necks look so nice. Although I don't know what kind of fingerboard I would want with that.

 

[callaway]

Pau Ferro?

 

[Seryaph]

Yeah, i was looking at the Pau Ferro or the Kingwood, but I think that the Kingwood would break my budget.

I just hope that the Pau Ferro doesn't make it sound too bright. I guess that most of the tone from a neck comes from the wood of the neck back and not the thin fingerboard, right?

Also, do you guys know what kind of sustain I would be looking at here with a Goncalo neck and Pau Ferro fingerboard?

P.S. anyone have any experience with Wenge for a neck back?

 

[DocNrock]

Yeah, i was looking at the Pau Ferro or the Kingwood, but I think that the Kingwood would break my budget.

I just hope that the Pau Ferro doesn't make it sound too bright. I guess that most of the tone from a neck comes from the wood of the neck back and not the thin fingerboard, right?

Also, do you guys know what kind of sustain I would be looking at here with a Goncalo neck and Pau Ferro fingerboard?

P.S. anyone have any experience with Wenge for a neck back?

I built a black korina Strat with a Wenge neck.  Killer is the word I would use to describe it.

 

[Seryaph]

Haha, well that is just great. Now i have no idea what to do.


I am torn.

 

[tfarny]

Welcome to your new permanent state of 'torn GAS' - you really want a new guitar, but can't decide what you want, and as soon as you get it the cycle starts all over again. Great stuff.  :doh:

Couple thoughts: exotic unfinished necks are great, in a big guitar center there should be at least a few; a high-end PRS with an all-rosewood neck would be a good place to start (also that neck contour is the same as 59 roundback so you'll have a basis for comparison), then head over the bass section and;see if they have any all-bubinga or something you can at least pretend to play.
Bridge: no idea about the lefty bridge thing, maybe you should call and ask before taking this idea further. Do you really like playing it that way, btw? Playing the SRV sig guitar would help answer the question - I found it unusable.
Also, there are a ton of other bridges out there that should fit warmoth's routings, look around stew mac and some other spots to see more options. But if you want a vintage thing, don't you need to go six-hole, anyhow? The Callaham bridges get great reviews.
Good luck and be sure to post pics when you do make it.

What else - The humbucker routing but using a single coil thing is very common, affects nothing.

 

[blue313]

Welcome to the boards!

As far as the left handed tremolo on a right handed guitar, I think its a $45USD charge.  Here's one Tonar got from W.

Order up the body with a reverse trem route and do it up like this.  Works Great!

Warmoth can do a lefty trem in a right handed body.  No problems.  6 hole trem routs are not symetrical, so you'd need a rout specific to the right/left hand bridge.

 

[DangerousR6]

Haha, well that is just great. Now i have no idea what to do.


I am torn.

Welcome to insanity Seryaph, you'll pull your hair out trying to decide it's all to much to take in sometimes. Might I add anothermix in the equation. Ziricote have 2 with ziricote and it's my new fav fretboard wood. One is mahogany.ziricote and the other is wenge/ziricote. I like the wenge/ziricote the best.. :rock-on:

 

[Seryaph]

Also, there are a ton of other bridges out there that should fit warmoth's routings, look around stew mac and some other spots to see more options. But if you want a vintage thing, don't you need to go six-hole, anyhow? The Callaham bridges get great reviews.
Good luck and be sure to post pics when you do make it.

What else - The humbucker routing but using a single coil thing is very common, affects nothing.

Thanks for the PRS and high-end bass idea. I also play bass so I will probably be able to enjoy the exotic wood of a good bass, anyway. I will definitely go do that. And in terms of bridges, I am much more concerned with tuning stability (although to be honest I am willing to retune if necesary), tone, and my budget, than I am with vintage looks or anything of that sort. Thos Callaham bridges look great but are a bit out of my price range, so I think I will either go for the Wilkinson and just replace the brass nut under the housing or go with the 6-hole vintage.

I will certainly post pics and keep you guys updated. I really appreciate all the advice.

]Welcome to insanity Seryaph, you'll pull your hair out trying to decide it's all to much to take in sometimes. Might I add anothermix in the equation. Ziricote have 2 with ziricote and it's my new fav fretboard wood. One is mahogany.ziricote and the other is wenge/ziricote. I like the wenge/ziricote the best.. :rock-on:

Do you have any comments on wenge vs. goncalo for neck backs?

The wenge/ziricote neck looks like it would look and sound beautiful but it is out of my price range for right now, I will definitely keep that combination in mind because it sounds very tasty.

I am pretty sure I am going to go for the Goncalo/ Pau Ferro neck for right now, unless someone swears to me that Wenge knocks Goncalo right out of the ball park.

 

[DangerousR6]

]Welcome to insanity Seryaph, you'll pull your hair out trying to decide it's all to much to take in sometimes. Might I add anothermix in the equation. Ziricote have 2 with ziricote and it's my new fav fretboard wood. One is mahogany.ziricote and the other is wenge/ziricote. I like the wenge/ziricote the best.. :rock-on:

Do you have any comments on wenge vs. goncalo for neck backs?

The wenge/ziricote neck looks like it would look and sound beautiful but it is out of my price range for right now, I will definitely keep that combination in mind because it sounds very tasty.

I am pretty sure I am going to go for the Goncalo/ Pau Ferro neck for right now, unless someone swears to me that Wenge knocks Goncalo right out of the ball park.

Nope, don't have any experience with Goncalo, although there are those on here that have them and swear they won't use anything else... :dontknow:

If you're going with a stat style headstock, you can sometimes find all pau ferro and all ziricote necks..They are pretty sweet... :glasses9:

 

[NonsenseTele]

If you really want that Maple tone, get a Canary neck Will look like "vintage tint" without the need of finish and the tone alike the traditional strat :icon_thumright:

EDIT:

http://www.warmoth.com/showcase/sc_guitar_necks.cfm?type=guitar&start=1&menuItem=1&itemNumber=SN5038&subMenuItem=0&subMenuItem2=0&neckWood_filter=55

Give a search on Canary

 

[Seryaph]

Haha, you guys are making this soo hard for me.

I need help trimming my options down! Not increasing them!