One of my "I always wanted one of those" guitars

[KaiserSoze]

Swamp Ash Body
Maple/Pau Ferro neck  Standard Thin, short scale, 6130 frets
Hipshot locking staggered tuners
Wudtone Amber finish with aging tint (whatever that is) and some strategic sanding.
Wilkinson trem
Roadhouse Sixty-Five pickups with blender wiring from Ken
Total weight 7.5 pounds

The image of a older ash strat with a black pickguard has always been in my head.  I don't know if it came from an album cover or catalog or what, but I needed to build one.

I've also been experimenting with some relic looks and wanted to have this one be a little aged looking, like a 70s strat, but with some personal preferences like the short scale neck without inlays and the wilkinson trem.

I chose the Wudtone finish because of the ease of use and I liked the look for my purposes.  It is an easy finish and can be done in the kitchen with good results.  If you like the minimal finish look without the mirror gloss, check them out.  I also liked that I could take a bit of steel wool to some spots.  It has a nice warm color and the grain pops well.  It captured the aged color I was shooting for.  The neck got a couple coats of the tint for some sealing and color, but the pau ferro fretboard will be left alone.

I emailed Ken at Roadhouse and let him know my build and what I was shooting for and he suggested his Sixty-Fives.  I have his humbuckers in another guitar and love them so I bought a prewired set.  Wiring and components are top notch and the pickups are a very nice set.

I should preface by saying that I don't claim to be able to hear a "pronounced upper mids" or any other minute differences in pickups.  The Sixty Fives are a slightly underwound set, which Ken suggested because I was going for a very clear and stratty sound.  I have a great humbucker guitar and want this one to be, well, stratty and quacky, and all those great strat things, and clear as a bell.

These deliver.  I spent some time getting them dialed in with my amp and they are everything I wanted them to be.  They are bright but not overly so.  I'm going to have to woodshed a bit because these are very articulate and clear, which means that my mistakes leap out.  The bass strings sound tight and defined and the treble side doesnt thin out.  My complaint with a strat that I had years ago was that only one position sounded good.  In this set, all positions sound good with only mini adjustments in the volume or tone knob.  These are also very balanced and each note in a chord rings out evenly.  I love that.  I did some quickie recordings with a backing track and these cut through nicely.  They are also much quieter than I expected.  There is still hum, but its not in the way or bothersome.

All told, this build went really well and I love the guitar.  It will need some minor fret work but I will wait on that.  Feels good, sounds great to me, and has the look of that guitar that was in my head.  Happy.  Thank you Warmoth and thank you Ken at Roadhouse.

 

[sixstringsamurai]

:headbang1:

 

[anorakDan]

Nice!

 

[mystique1]

Yeh really nice Strat.  :headbang: I love the Swamp Ash/Maple and Pau Ferro combination. I built a very similar Strat earlier this year using the same woods except for a chambered body. I read on the main discussion forum your thoughts on going to single coils. I've been playing Strats, and until I built my Warmoth, all Fenders in fact for the past 35 years. 'Til this day when I occassionally pickup a Gibson I find it clubby and cumbersome in comparison. Note seperation isn't great with them either unless you have loads of Treble on your Amp. I suppose it's simply a matter of what you're used to and Strats have always been my thing. Hope you persevere and grow to love yours too.

 

[stubhead]

Swamp ash/maple/pau ferro - >

 

These guys trade necks sometimes, and when the "tele" headstock has gone woody, it is a marvel - and swamp ash, maple, pau ferro! I read through a good bit of the Wudtone site and they're refreshingly B.S.-free and practical. No magic mojo, no secrets of the BIG STARS eeee! eeee! eeee! etc. They are (sort-of) selling 15 pounds/quids? worth of goop for 30 pounds/quids? but one of the irritating things I have to do is throw out a fair amount of finishing goop every few years - I wish I could buy half cans or even quarter cans of some stuff. When I add in the price of stuff I have to pitch it com... well I just don't, that's all.  :icon_biggrin:

And another thing using a specific kit out of the box can do is maintaining certain steps that turn up in almost every plan. And it also STOPS somewhere!  :toothy12: :laughing7: The classic noobie effort is to want to finish the CRAP outta that thing. There are about four or five procedural ways to finish wood, and the well-meaning noob - determined NOT to "leave anything out" - takes maybe three different steps out of each of the five ways and then re-combines them into this glorious mish-mash with about 18 steps and oil and water and sand here and scrap here and on and on. This one just works huh? I'm pretty sure I need on of these myself.... :help:

 

[KaiserSoze]

The finish did indeed work for my purposes.  I wanted an attractive and easy finish for a simple and utilitarian guitar.  I really enjoy the finishing/building process but simply dont have the time, patience, or workspace for a complicated finish job. 
As much as I appreciate the effort and skill that goes into some of the really nice finishes I see here, thats just not me, at this point anyway.  I tend to like the more natural wood and have always liked the no-filler look.  Aesthetic preference, which is why we all build our own anyway.

I'm totally pleased with the result, and I'm not afraid to bump or scratch the thing, which I'm likely to do.

 

[mark1178]

That's a beaut, I'm going for the amaranthine Wudtone finish on the body and headstock of my build.