I pulled the trigger, almost — edit: done!

[croquet hoop]

After two months of pondering and ruminatig, I grew tired of my uncertainties and added the Strat body I was ogling in my cart. Then right before checking out I thought it might be smart to make a mockup to see how the body will look with the neck that will be attached to it. And now I'm under the impression that I'm gonna make quite a mistake :

Am I the only one seeing a problem here? I'm not sure why, but although I find the body beautiful (albeit slightly over the top), I am under the impression that it does not work at all with this neck. Is it because the maple is too plain? Or too light compared to the clear section of the body?

I have done mockups with other bodies (a flame Black Strat, or a classic Sonic Blue Strat), and none of them look has this startling quality which made me back off.

I know there is not one definitive advice for good taste, but what do you think? Am I overthinking it, or is there really something wrong with this combo?

 

[Strat Avenger]

'Looks good, but my advice is to know for certain what you want before building it.

When I built my Soloist, I knew exactly what I wanted.  Of course now that I achieved that, I want something else, so 'need to build another guitar.  :laughing11:

 

[TroubledTreble]

It looks great. But maybe the "thing" is that neck is not glossy in the mock up. I get a sense of what you are talking about and that is what stands out in my mind. I think a neck like that will make the body stand out more than a fancy neck. Then it can be too busy.
Once strings are on there it will change the character a little more. I always put strings on the mockups now because of that. The strings can hide a great deal of the fretboard, or at least take emphasis off of it.

 

[ghostrider]

Wow! I think it looks awesome. I think it compliments it well without distracting from the body.  ccasion14:

 

[swarfrat]

I like maple boards tonally. I think Ken is right about the gloss, but even though it's plain, I'm wondering if the light color is still managing to draw attention away from the body.

 

[Cagey]

That pearloid pickguard is more jarring than the neck. It's like biting on tinfoil. Not that there's anything wrong with pearloid pickguards, just that in this case is doesn't work. Get right down to it, I can't imagine any pickguard looking right with that combo, so I'd lose it altogether. It's a highly figured top anyway, so show it off. That body with that neck would look fine on their own. Worst case, get a clear pickguard, although they often look cheesy. Kinda like plastic covers on nice furniture.

 

[drewfx]

I too think the PG is more distracting than the neck in this case. I might try it with a black one on there.

But I do like it.

 

[Corey P.]

The lack of gloss is definitely making it look distinct from the body, but I think they'll pair handsomely in the same light/plane of existence.

 

[bagman67]

Now, obviously your desires are your desires, but I happen to have empirical evidence that a darker fretboard looks pretty nice with a purpleburst - and I agree with Cagey that if you can avoid a pickguard, you should - and if you can't avoid a pickguard, at least make it a solid instead of variegated texture.  Also, broad daylight does different things with purpleburst than diffuse studio lighting.


See here:

 

[Strat Avenger]

Try a black pickguard.

 

[Updown]

If it was me  :icon_biggrin: 

Get rid of the Maple neck ......
Wenge / Wenge neck
Black pickguard with Black Barrel Knobs / Switch / Pups
Chrome Bridge / Tuners / Outjack

I got a Purple Dye Flame and I'm with Bagman, that the Wenge is perfect combo with anything purple.
Try it  :icon_thumright:

 

[croquet hoop]

Thanks everyone for your answers, they cleared pretty much everything up, and only raised one minor question.

The fact that the parts have been taken under different light conditions may indeed account for the jarring effect; as for the tint/gloss, I could add tinted tru-oil to the face of the neck and polish it to a gloss if necessary, so let's say it is a non-issue..

As for the light color of the neck and the fact that a dark fingerboard may look better, I was planning to build another strat with a dark fingerboard, so if this one does not work with maple, I could fit it with a dark neck and keep the maple neck for the next build (yeah, there is always a next build). So, non-issue too.

Regarding the pickguard, I made mockups with a black & a parchment pickguard, and the effect was not significantly different in picture. It might change everything in person, though. I currently have a pearloid pickguard (the one that came with the DG20 set), another in aged pearloid, and two other are on their way (black, and parchment), so I'll be able to experiment.

Since it's a highly figured body, I wanted to try the Updown shape — not only does it reveals more of the body, but it really looks sharper than the standard Strat pickguard. As for getting a clear pickguard, ot losing it altogether, I'm afraid it's not really possible since this is a front routed body.

Finally, the minor question was "would this project be better served with a rear-routed body in the same finish?" but after writing this message I am pretty sure that this is the body I am looking for. So...

Thanks again everyone  There will be a "Work in progress" thread soon.



Now let's see how these wenge/wenge necks look.

 

[Patriot54]

'Looks good, but my advice is to know for certain what you want before building it.

When I built my Soloist, I knew exactly what I wanted.  Of course now that I achieved that, I want something else, so 'need to build another guitar.  :laughing11:

Exactly - the first Warmoth is just a practice run.  :glasses10: