Shell Pink Hybrid Strat - My First Warmoth

[Axkoa]

Well, after over 4 years on the forum I'm finally at a point where I can afford my first Warmoth build. Not only that, but I've come up with a build that I think would really compliment my playing and the type of music I want to play on it. As I only currently have a 7 string multiscale and a HSS Kramer with a Floyd Rose, I don't have much versatility in the range of my current guitars. Over the past 6 or so months I've been loving playing blues and rock music so I've decided I want to build a guitar that would compliment that style. Cue the Shell Pink Hybrid Strat. The specs:

Body: Hybrid Strat, light Swamp Ash, P90 Neck, Humbucker Middle (just in case), Telecaster Bridge. Gloss Shell Pink.

Neck: Wenge/Ziricote, cream dots, standard thin, 1 11/16" width, SS6105. OR Roasted Maple/Roasted Maple

Pickups: Creamery Tapped Tele bridge, Creamery Classic '57 Neck P90.

Hardware/Electronics: Wilkinson Compensated Saddles Tele Bridge, Schaller Locking Tuners (TBD), 2 x 250k pots, 3 way switch.

Over the coming months I'll be buying more of the parts, I'm picking up the Wilkinson bridge today.

I have a few questions as well, are there any other recommended P90/Tele pickups for a nice blues/soft rock tone. I've been looking at Creamery because I think it was Logrinn was talking about them a while back and it interested me. Best locking tuners? And should I go Wenge/Ziricote or Roasted Maple?

Thanks all, and I can't wait to order the parts for this and to build it.

 

[Rick]

That’s going to be great!  With a question like that you’ll get diverse recommendations:
Neck pup, phat cat or, dimarzio mini humbucker vintage neck (I know not a p90 , but sounds good
Middle pup  phat cat is good too.
Bridge, check out bill lawrence, or dimarzio area t
Locking tuners I like hip shot staggered open back with the ump plate, you can also change the tuning buttons.
You can’t go wrong either neck.

 

[rgand]

For the neck, I'd choose roasted maple/roasted maple but with MOP dots. I'm a fan of the hipshot staggered locking tuners. I can't say much about pickups other than I chose Wiggins Brand pickups when I wanted a P-90 (Badlander)/Tele combination. Unfortunately he's just selling sets on ebay and not taking custom orders right now.

 

[Axkoa]

Thanks for the suggestion with the tuners. I totally blanked on the Hipshot ones because it costs so much to ship to where I live, Australia. But I found a shop on eBay with half decent shipping so I'll grab those, and staggered so I won't have to put a string retainer on the neck.

MOP on roasted maple is a good idea actually, would fit the pickguard nice. Just not 100% sure if I prefer maple or dark fingerboards yet. I do have two maple back necks already, even if they aren't roasted, so sort of leaning towards the Wenge.

 

[stratamania]

I like the Wenge, Ziricote idea.  On the Mother of Pearl, and this also applies to Abalone, Warmoth no longer ships parts with either out of the US.

For pickups perhaps also check out Kinman's offerings.

 

[Rick]

I like the wenge neck.  In that combo cream dots would go well with any dark fret board.

 

[BroccoliRob]

i gotta give a "Like" to anything pink. hat's off to ya!

 

[Axkoa]

Thanks for the idea with the Kinman pickups stratamania, made me actually think and consider Noiseless/Hum-Free pickups which would be a pretty smart idea for me because I'd like to play a bit of rock or even something like stoner rock with this guitar. I shortlisted a couple brands.

• Creamery - Tapped Tele BRIDGE, 7.5k & 9.6k. Classic ’53 P90 NECK, 7.1k. Push-Pull tone pot to activate bridge boost. $333 AUD Shipped
• Fralin - Split Blade BRIDGE, Blues Special. Hum-Cancelling P90 NECK, Stock. Hum-Cancelling P90 NECK, Stock. $478 AUD shipped.
• Kinman: Impersonator 52b BRIDGE. C&B NECK. $485 AUD + Shipping.

I'm currently actually leaning more towards the Fralin pickups. I really love the sound of them from what I've heard and they're definitely cheaper than the Kinman. Though price for pickups of all things is something that I feel like I don't want to skimp on. I think I'd really enjoy playing Noiseless pickups, but we'll see. I've set myself a deadline of 2 months from now before I have to order everything, so I can have the guitar built before my 21st birthday (though that's not really something we celebrate in Australia), so I still have a little time to decide on things. If I decide on the Fralin I'll chuck in 500k pots as recommended.

The Wenge/Ziricote neck I was looking at isn't on the showcase anymore either, which is the one I have in my artistic "render" :laughing7:. So I think I might be trawling the showcase from today onwards to see a neck like that with the specs I want, and if one pops up then I guess I'm buying all my Warmoth parts ASAP. If not, I might just custom buy it, or just get a boring ebony fretboard neck.

I also picked up the Wilkinson Tele bridge the other day, feels really sturdy, just need to get some screws for it and clean it up a bit and should be nice.

 

[Rick]

Whichever way you go sounds good.  Cheers Mate!

 

[zebra]

Going with a P90 or mini-humbucker in the neck is a great idea.
have you considered a tort-shell pickguard?  Might go well with the pink...

 

[Axkoa]

Going with a P90 or mini-humbucker in the neck is a great idea.
have you considered a tort-shell pickguard?  Might go well with the pink...

I haven't actually had a look at tortoise shell, but I might do a quick mockup. Not really sure about tortoise shell pickguards in general. I can't wait to try the tele and P90.

 

[rgand]

Going with a P90 or mini-humbucker in the neck is a great idea.
have you considered a tort-shell pickguard?  Might go well with the pink...

I haven't actually had a look at tortoise shell, but I might do a quick mockup. Not really sure about tortoise shell pickguards in general. I can't wait to try the tele and P90.

Maybe a tort with more of a reddish tint?

 

[Axkoa]

I couldn't wait any longer and I had the money sitting in my bank waiting for this, so I just placed my order with Warmoth for my first Warmoth build!

The body I picked; a 4lb Alder Hybrid Strat. P90 Neck, Humbucker Middle, Tele Bridge. Gloss Shell Pink.

The neck; Wenge/Wenge, standard thin, SS6105, 10"-16" Compound Radius, 1-11/16" nut width, GraphTech Black TUSQ XL - Standard Nut.

And here is the full final mockup.

Now I can wait a little bit to order the tuners and the pickups and wiring, from eBay and Fralin respectively. Going with the Hum-free P90 in the Neck and Split Blade Tele Bridge, Blues Special. Also going to get some threaded inserts for the neck.

I'm honestly so excited right now, I hope my expectations aren't too high and I'm disappointed when it all comes and is built, but I'm sure Warmoth won't disappoint.

 

[stratamania]

Congratulations, especially since this is something you have been wanting to do for a few years now.

 

[Logrinn]

Congratulations Axkoa ccasion14:

You wrote humbucker in the middle position, but I see no third pickup in the mockup. Is that for future changes if you decide to add a third pickup, or was the decision to make the body a little lighter?

 

[Axkoa]

Congratulations Axkoa ccasion14:

You wrote humbucker in the middle position, but I see no third pickup in the mockup. Is that for future changes if you decide to add a third pickup, or was the decision to make the body a little lighter?

Mainly just in case I want to add another pickup, maybe like a Phat Cat or a Strat pickup. But I guess making the body lighter is a benefit.

 

[Logrinn]

Congratulations Axkoa ccasion14:

You wrote humbucker in the middle position, but I see no third pickup in the mockup. Is that for future changes if you decide to add a third pickup, or was the decision to make the body a little lighter?

Mainly just in case I want to add another pickup, maybe like a Phat Cat or a Strat pickup. But I guess making the body lighter is a benefit.

:icon_thumright:

 

[rgand]

Good choices, Axkoa. I always like to rout a body to allow for future changes or additions. Congratulations. I look forward to seeing your build progress.

 

[Axkoa]

Ordered tuners as well, just the Hipshot Grip-Lock staggered tuners, cheers Rick :icon_thumright: I've got a string tree on order but staggered tuners so I shouldn't need it.

 

[BigSteve22]

Ordered tuners as well, just the Hipshot Grip-Lock staggered tuners, cheers Rick :icon_thumright: I've got a string tree on order but staggered tuners so I shouldn't need it.

I have several sets of those too, very nice tuners! Good choice.  :icon_thumright: