My Dinky Strat maple neck

spauldingrules

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Well, here it is - my new Dinky Strat, done as cheaply as possible.  $157 maple/maple Warmoth pro neck, standard thin, CBS headstock.  Dimarzio Humbucker from Hell in the neck and Super Distortion in the bridge.  I'm normally a vintage pickup guy, but I wanted to drive my new tube amp a little harder.  They sound great!  Anyway, the body is a Dinky Strat (about 7/8 the size of a normal strat body).  Unfortunately, I had to get the body from another company as Warmoth cannot do one of these that will work with a regular Warmoth neck!  They really should, if one of their biggest competitors can do it for the same price as a regular body.  In fact, the body was $120, 3 piece alder.  I was planning on painting it, but I thought the 3 piece alder would look sweet in Mahogany minwax stain with tru-oil over it and a little minwax satin poly over that.  Non wood/guitar geeks thinks it looks cooler than my one piece!

Sorry warmoth, but at least I'm not pimping the other site here.  I did email you and you said I had to buy a 24 fret 24 3/4 neck, and I already had the maple, so I looked elsewhere and was accomodated.

Anyway, the bridge is the Gotoh Wilkinson and the tuners are the Gotoh non-Klusons (I forget what they are called). 

Sounds fantastic, and for all you noobs - the cheapest stuff in the showcase is just as "good' as the highest dollar stuff - it just may not look as nice.

Peace Dawggies,

TS




By spauldingrules


By spauldingrules


By spauldingrules

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/4844/guitarpix017wo0.jpg
http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/2069/guitarpix023zw4.jpg
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/2700/guitarpix025rl0.jpg
 
Well, it certainly doesn't LOOK cheap! Looks fantastic to me.

Rich
 
It did look cheap before I finished it!  Lots of love went into it, and I LOVE the smaller body - just enough to be more comfy.
 
Kick @$$ guitar Spaulding! Huge props on the pickups and for going with a CBS neck. It's just my opinion, but I've always thought Strats with the smaller headstock just didn't look right. Great guitar you got there.

:rock-on:
 
The way I finished the body was:

1. Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner - 1 application with cloth.  Wait 20 minutes.
2. Minwax "Wood Finish" Red Mahogany Stain.  1 application with cloth.  Wait 48 hours.  Lightly steel wool any little bumps.
3. Tru-oil with FINGERS.  3 coats with at least 4 hours between.  Steel wool back each time.  Don't worry too much about perfection here.  Just slop it on there to fill everything up and get a nice base.
4. Tru-oil with cloth, kind of "polishing" with each one.  10 coats, at least 2 hours between.  Rub hard and steel wool is only necessary in spots.
5. Could have been done here - looked nice and glossy and sweet.  HOWEVER...
6. 2 coats Minwax Satin Poly for protection.  Took a lot of the gloss off, but offers a ton of protection.  I also prefer a matte finish.  I'm sure the Gloss Poly is nice as well.  Wait 24 hours.
7. Steel wool off any little bumps.  Rub hard with old t-shirt.  Done with finish!
 
Nice job!

The guitar looks great - I love natural looking guitars - they just seem more approachable.

Should be a great "workhorse" ax for you....

congrats

Kurt

 
I really like the Super Distortion pickup.  It's hot without sounding too "metal".  Of course, a lot of the older metal bands used it.  But I find it works really well at pushing just about any kind of overdrive / distortion.

I also like your one volume / one toggle setup.  Who really needs anything more?  The simplicity is so clean and elegant.
 
Let me state the importance of the tru-oil for the color as well.  Kind of "naturalizes" it and softens the stain.  I'm sure tung oil would do the same.
 
I've messed around with parallel/series, split, etc., and it is all just a waste to me.  I always go back to basics, which sound better to non-guitarists anyway!  I have a strat for single coil sounds.  You can look at my post in the pickups section, but I LOVE the dimarzio humbucker from hell in the neck.  Best surprise ever!  I had to go with Dimarzios, anyway, since they seem to be the only ones to have all creme pickups.  I do use a tone knob with single coils, but never with my humbuckers, so I just left it out.  I spend less time jacking around and more time playing with a simple guitar.
 
spauldingrules said:
I've messed around with parallel/series, split, etc., and it is all just a waste to me.  I always go back to basics, which sound better to non-guitarists anyway!  I have a strat for single coil sounds.  You can look at my post in the pickups section, but I LOVE the dimarzio humbucker from hell in the neck.  Best surprise ever!  I had to go with Dimarzios, anyway, since they seem to be the only ones to have all creme pickups.  I do use a tone knob with single coils, but never with my humbuckers, so I just left it out.  I spend less time jacking around and more time playing with a simple guitar.

Yeah, I have a Dual Sound, which is really a Super Distortion plus a free push/pull pot, wired for series/parallel and I keep it in regular old "series" mode 99.9% of the time.  The parallel mode is a little weird, although I can use it for funky thin Chili Peppers-type stuff.  I'm not sure what they intended that mode for.

I basically did the opposite and threw in everything I could just for the sake of having it.  But if I do another one, I want something really straight forward.  Maybe just one bridge pickup and one volume.
 
This actually is the dual sound.  I went ahead and got it since it was the same price as the super distortion.  I do use the push-pulls on my strat so I can get the n-b and n-m-b combinations.  I figure at some point it may go into a 3 pickup guitar and I can use it there.  I have done the 1 pickup thing before, but I ended up putting in a neck pickup later.  Nice to have the option, since I play all kinds of stuff.
 
Great Straighforward guitar!
I have done some low budget warmoths, and I agree, for under about $450, you can build a great guitar that will be much better than most 'off-the-rack' stuff...
 
Is there any reason why this guitar is any "less" than the fanciest Warmoth?  The "tone" of wood is completely subjective, but I believe the pickup is responsible for 80% of it, 10% bridge, and the neck maybe 8% and the body 2%.  Anyway, the closest thing to an "objective" measuring stick is playability, and this guitar is every bit as playable as a solid Brazilian rosewood whatever.  I guess if you want / don't want a finished or unfinished neck, then that could be a factor.

 
Plain Jane or Miss World fancy, where the tone comes from, how much you spend.......... It's all a personal thing. If a guitar does what you want it's a great guitar. :party07: :guitaristgif: :guitarplayer2:
 
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