My first post, and my first build!
Some background:
There are a few boxes that I was able to tick off with this build. First of all, I've wanted a guitar with a quilt maple top in some type of transparent blue for a while now. I've always felt that combination made aesthetic sense, because quilt maple kind of reminds me of ripples in the ocean, so blue is a natural choice when it comes to color. Plus, it provides contrast to my Les Paul (Cherry Sunburst w/ a Flame maple top, so there is kind of a fire and water thing going on there between them).
Next, and perhaps more simply, I wanted a Strat! As can be ascertained from the previous paragraph, my main guitar over the past several years has been a Gibson Les Paul. It was my first "nice" guitar, and as such, I spend most my guitar-playing time playing it. While it's been through a number of changes (Pickups, potentiometers, hardware...), at the end of the day I've been playing the same guitar for the past several years. What's the cure for this. A Strat, of course!
Finally, I wanted a guitar with gold hardware. Every electric guitar I have owned thus far has had chrome hardware, so I wanted to do something different.
Now, on to more pressing matters of the build:
Both the body and the neck were showcase items. While I initially was going to go with the custom built made-to-order route, I found a body and neck that matched what I was looking for. As an added bonus, the body is chambered. While I wasn't looking for a chambered body, I'm certainly not complaining.
For tuners, I went with the tried and true Schaller locking tuners. Not too much to say here other than I like Schaller tuners, so I decided to use them once more!
On to the bridge. I kind of went back and forth with what I wanted on this front. My initial thought was to go with a Floyd, as I thought this build would be more on the Super-Strat side of things. After some thought, I decided to go in another direction. I ultimately chose to have the body drilled for the Six screw vintage style trem, and ordered a Super-Vee Blade Runner trem to install.
Finally, on to the pickups. This was the hardest decision to make, since I wasn't even sure what configuration I wanted! I had the body routed H-S-H for versatility's sake, but I wasn't sure that was necessarily the route I wanted to go. I finally decided to go with the classic S-S-S configuration for the simple reason that I've never owned a Strat or Strat style guitar, so I might as well go with the classic pickup configuration. Of course, this still means the actual pickups had to be chosen, and there are a lot of options when it comes to Strat pickups. True single coil, stacked coils, side by side coils, vintage output, high output, etc. What I settled on is the Lace Sensor Hot Gold set w/ Hot Bridge. I've been fascinated by Lace pickups for a long time, though I've never actually used them, as I've been satisfied by more traditional-style pickups. But for this build, I wanted something a little different. I know Lace Sensors are a little bit divisive, with some loving them, and some hating them, but I'm definitely excited to try them out.
As it stands, the build is almost completed, with only the straplocks, pickguard screws, and jack plate screws needing to be installed. All electronics have been soldered, the cavities shielded, and hardware installed, outside of the previously mentioned exceptions. I can't wait to finish it!
Some background:
There are a few boxes that I was able to tick off with this build. First of all, I've wanted a guitar with a quilt maple top in some type of transparent blue for a while now. I've always felt that combination made aesthetic sense, because quilt maple kind of reminds me of ripples in the ocean, so blue is a natural choice when it comes to color. Plus, it provides contrast to my Les Paul (Cherry Sunburst w/ a Flame maple top, so there is kind of a fire and water thing going on there between them).
Next, and perhaps more simply, I wanted a Strat! As can be ascertained from the previous paragraph, my main guitar over the past several years has been a Gibson Les Paul. It was my first "nice" guitar, and as such, I spend most my guitar-playing time playing it. While it's been through a number of changes (Pickups, potentiometers, hardware...), at the end of the day I've been playing the same guitar for the past several years. What's the cure for this. A Strat, of course!
Finally, I wanted a guitar with gold hardware. Every electric guitar I have owned thus far has had chrome hardware, so I wanted to do something different.
Now, on to more pressing matters of the build:
Both the body and the neck were showcase items. While I initially was going to go with the custom built made-to-order route, I found a body and neck that matched what I was looking for. As an added bonus, the body is chambered. While I wasn't looking for a chambered body, I'm certainly not complaining.
For tuners, I went with the tried and true Schaller locking tuners. Not too much to say here other than I like Schaller tuners, so I decided to use them once more!
On to the bridge. I kind of went back and forth with what I wanted on this front. My initial thought was to go with a Floyd, as I thought this build would be more on the Super-Strat side of things. After some thought, I decided to go in another direction. I ultimately chose to have the body drilled for the Six screw vintage style trem, and ordered a Super-Vee Blade Runner trem to install.
Finally, on to the pickups. This was the hardest decision to make, since I wasn't even sure what configuration I wanted! I had the body routed H-S-H for versatility's sake, but I wasn't sure that was necessarily the route I wanted to go. I finally decided to go with the classic S-S-S configuration for the simple reason that I've never owned a Strat or Strat style guitar, so I might as well go with the classic pickup configuration. Of course, this still means the actual pickups had to be chosen, and there are a lot of options when it comes to Strat pickups. True single coil, stacked coils, side by side coils, vintage output, high output, etc. What I settled on is the Lace Sensor Hot Gold set w/ Hot Bridge. I've been fascinated by Lace pickups for a long time, though I've never actually used them, as I've been satisfied by more traditional-style pickups. But for this build, I wanted something a little different. I know Lace Sensors are a little bit divisive, with some loving them, and some hating them, but I'm definitely excited to try them out.
As it stands, the build is almost completed, with only the straplocks, pickguard screws, and jack plate screws needing to be installed. All electronics have been soldered, the cavities shielded, and hardware installed, outside of the previously mentioned exceptions. I can't wait to finish it!