Mahogany body Strat Build

SpencerJ

Newbie
Messages
2
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!
 

Attachments

  • 2.jpg
    2.jpg
    3.5 MB · Views: 60
Beautiful!

I don't think you'll be disappointed by the Lace Sensors. They've got the traditional Strat spank to them but can get pretty dirty when pushed. I can't say I'm either a lover or hater of them since my favorites are SD Quarter Pounders, but they do sound good, and if that's the tone you're looking for, then more power to ya, YMMV, yadda yadda, etc...

Be sure to post some pics when you get it all assembled.
 
That looks great.  Gold hardware doesn't go well with everything, but I think it goes best with blue-dyed figured maple! 

I had a Clapton sig strat for a time, which had Laces.  Not a "vintage" sound, but I think folks are too hung up on that.  I find it better to get sounds that work well for the amplification, style of music, volume, room, etc. than trying to replicate "ideal" sounds, whether from records, other equipment played in the past, etc.  Expect to re-think the eq settings on your amp, and to tweak how close they are to the strings (they're supposed to be closer to the strings than normal pickups).  Some folks have said that using a compressor brings out a desirable character in them, but I never tried that myself.  You''ll get more out of them if you explore them and figure out how best to use them, instead of expecting them to sound like something else.  I think you'll find they give good contrast to your Les Paul. 

Nice build!   
 
That looks exceptional. :icon_thumright:
Congratulations to an awesome guitar! :eek:ccasion14:
 
It's a real beauty. Nothing is classier than midnight blue dye on quilt maple and topped with a white pickguard. :icon_thumright:
 
Hey guys!

Finally got around to installing the strap locks, meaning I'm officially done! Well, almost, anyway. I'm still waiting on some gold pickup height screws to arrive, so once they come in I'll install them. In the meantime, I just used the included pickup screws.

A few stray thoughts:
I like the Lace Sensor pickups. Now, would I like them as much if I were a dedicated Strat player who had used all sorts of different pickups? I don't know. But I really like them as of now.

I was pleasantly surprised with the "float-ability" of the Blade Runner bridge, as I thought it might be a little tough to get it to float properly given how it operates (pivoting on a thin steel blade as opposed to the screws), but it was pretty responsive overall.

Anyway, here's pictures!
hAA30IW.jpg

nGE5cnL.jpg

sQaGMTv.jpg
 
That looks so great! I tend to be rather boring with black or white guitars but that and a tele thinline someone got recently that is blue dye on mahogany has me appreciating that possibility. I have one set of "noise canceling" strat pickups-Mojo Tone Quiet Coils '58 set. I rather like them a lot. But Kleins are still my favorite, I just shield everything in sight and do the best I can.
 
Back
Top