new body

[cooler23]

Hi. I've bought the Warmoth strat all-maple pro neck with SS frets and fatback contour. Now I'd like to order a chambered strat body to this neck. I'd like the weight of it to be around 3lbs. I'd don't care what type of wood it will be as long as it will be extremely resonating and sustaining with balanced sound and good sound match to the all-maple neck. I'm not interested in the special look or figure of the wood, because it will be a Alpine white or Inca Silver solid finish. Any sugestions?

On my guitar I have Dimarzio Area 58 noiseless singlecoil pups which sound great with Dimarzio Solo noiseless singlecoil at the bridge but I don't like it that much. I'd like to try HSS configuration with some hi-output humbucker like Dimarzio Tone Zone which has a lot of bass and mids but not that much highs. I'd like to use the Areas 58 for the bluesy, funky clean sounds and the HB for modern hi-gain (Linkin Park, P.O.D. etc.)

Also I now have a body with tremolo and 5 springs but I dont use the tremolo so I'm thinking about the fixed bridge. I kinda like the sound of springs but I can surely live without it unless it somehow helps the guitar to sound more alive or to sustain better. I think fixed won't change the classical strat sound that much - think of Robert Cray and his fixed bridge strat - I mean it sound different but it is strat sound. Which type of bridge would you recommend for the best resonance? Fixed or classic tremolo (I'm sure I don't want to try Floyd Rose and locking nut)? And which one exactly?

And what about the Warmoth new .720 neck pocket modification? Is it somehow improving the sound?

Thanks

 

[dNA]

er. i'm not gonna make suggestions on the bridge. I imagine any of the fixed bridges you can get from warmoth are going to be equally effective and it's a matter of personal taste.
What i do want to say is that if you get a high output humbucker (or anything other than a vintage-output humbucker) you're going to have some serious volume balance issues with your pickups.

 

[rockskate4x]

720 mod doesn't improve the sound. What it does is, it brings the fretboard and the strings closer to the body. It might only affect the looks because it is such a small difference, but I've heard some people say that it affects the ergonomics. If the difference between the height of strat's bridge over its body versus a les paul's bridge over its body affects your playing in any way, the 720 mod might make a difference to you.

 

[tfarny]

If you never use a tremolo, don't get one, they're not natural.  :icon_biggrin: Hardtails are great. They are simpler, lighter, and stay in tune better. Since you want to get a light body, why would you put a 500 gram steel block under the bridge and suspend it with springs?  :icon_scratch: :icon_scratch: Hardtails MAY help to increase "resonance" and maybe even "sustain".

 

[exaN]

If you never use a tremolo, don't get one, they're not natural.  :icon_biggrin: Hardtails are great. They are simpler, lighter, and stay in tune better. Since you want to get a light body, why would you put a 500 gram steel block under the bridge and suspend it with springs?  :icon_scratch: :icon_scratch: Hardtails MAY help to increase "resonance" and maybe even "sustain".

+29203 for hardtails

 

[bbl4ck]

If you never use a tremolo, don't get one, they're not natural.  :icon_biggrin: Hardtails are great. They are simpler, lighter, and stay in tune better. Since you want to get a light body, why would you put a 500 gram steel block under the bridge and suspend it with springs?  :icon_scratch: :icon_scratch: Hardtails MAY help to increase "resonance" and maybe even "sustain".

+29203 for hardtails

+29204 for hardtails

I have a Robert Cray strat [since you mentioned Robert] and I love it...
I personally feel that it may help to increase "resonance" and maybe even "sustain" as tfarny mentioned.

However, those terms and sounds are very subjective, so maybe it's just me.
The objective aspect is staying in tune.  Mr. Cray [my strat] stays in tune forever.  
Any minor tuning adjustments are usually related to me banging and bumping the tuners against chairs, tables ect.

If you don't use a trem; hardtail is the only way to go.
Good luck &  :rock-on:

Oh yea, welcome to the forum and post pics with your decision...

 

[JaySwear]

+29205 for hardtails then. there are a ton of people here who love floyds (and i can be one of them on occasion) but a vintage style trem is just not worth having in my mind. very cool for small effects, but i'm a string-through hardtail guy. i have 2 warmoth hardtails, and my 3rd project will be a 3rd string-through hardtail :icon_biggrin: for your string spacing, i would get the warmoth vintage flatmount narrow spacing whatever-its-called, then add on graphtech saddles. for a grand total of about $100 in parts its sure as hell not the cheapest hardtail bridge you could get, but i love it. i have done this on my tele deluxe, and soon my strat will have this as well. the string saver saddles seem to be great, and the tele now sustains forever. the saddles are all black, and can look a little strange, but graphtech also offers chrome or nickel versions. worth looking into i think

classic string-saver saddles http://graphtech.com/products.html?SubCategoryID=13

metallic versions http://graphtech.com/products.html?SubCategoryID=56

 

[Cagey]

I sorta hope for your sake that you've never had stainless steel frets before because that means you're in for a whole new experience. You're gonna LOVE that neck. I think I've probably owned 50+ guitars over the last 35 years, and nothing prepared me for SS frets. They're just great, plain and simple.

My last build I used a chambered Strat body, and am very happy with it. The thing does resonate more, which adds greatly to the tone. But, I think after the build currently in process, I'm going to do a hardtail. Simple physics says it's going to have more sustain and better response. Wang bars are tone eaters, no matter how good they are. They exist for the added expression they provide, but not everybody wants/needs that.