Stratosphere products

Michaelga

Junior Member
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Has anyone had any experience buying used parts from Stratosphere? I'm considering building a guitar with a superwide neck to accomodate my big fingers. They have used loaded pickguards and bodies (I'm planning on building a strat). Some are new and some are older (early 2000's). Does anyone have experience with them? Anything I should watch out for?

Michael
 
It appears to me that part of their business model is to take brand new instruments they buy at wholesale and break them down for parts they then sell at retail prices.  They're legit - they''ve been around for years.  I have bought miscellaneous bits and bobs from them, and also the loaded Eric Johnson signature Strat loaded pickguard that lives in my main Strat.  It was as-advertised and in brand-new condition when I got it.  No problems dealing with them - all has been timely, correct, and without material issues.
 
Bought couple things from them in the past (Clapton neck and a body), no issues at all. They describe things accurately and ship really fast.
Normally, whenever I wanted a specific neck/body I bought the mint/used guitar and parted it out myself. But now, I'm getting lazy and don't want to bother spending time parting out, photographing, listing, shipping, etc...
 
I would buy one of those cheap knock off kits from china before I bought anything from them. If I'm going to pay their prices, I'll just go to GC....
 
I bought a a few items over the years.  They are ok to deal with, but I would probably rather have spent my money with Warmoth in hindsight.  IMO the Statosphere parts are too over-priced to be worthwhile unless its something really unique that isn't available anywhere else.  I found their packaging for the bodies is not really adequate.  Its just wrapped in some bubble wrap and put in a box.  Since our national postal service is very rough, the body came out with a crushed upper strap lock and some damage to the body.  I decided I'd rather repair it myself than send it back for a refund.
 
I used their parts for my Charvel build.

My goal was to build a Pro-Mod San Dimas to my own spec, so I bought a Charvel neck and a Charvel hardware set from them.

The neck I believe was $270 and the hardware was $150.

One upside is the neck was finished, already drilled for tuners, had the nut installed and had fretwork done by the factory. I got really lucky with the neck, it has quite a bit of figuring on the fingerboard that just looks beautiful. And the hardware was a bargain compared to buying everything individually, the only thing is (buyer beware) if you buy a hardware set with a Floyd Rose it'll come with the posts but not the bushings. I saw that coming and bought a set of OFR steel studs. And there is a lot of play in the arm, I'll probably replace it down the road.

So yeah, if they have what you're after my experience is positive.
 
I have just built a warmoth Strat, a roasted swamp ash body and super wide roasted maple and bought a Stratosphere loaded pickguard with Gen 4 noiseless p/ups. The only problem I had was that they didn’t mention in their description that because of the depth of the pick ups it wouldn’t fit in the standard body without modification by routing out the pick up cavity. I politely suggested to them about mentioning it in their description and they pretty much told me to take a flying leap and that it was my responsibility to know what I am buying, quite rude actually, terrible reaction to a legit concern even after I mentioned that I should myself have researched it more prior to buying it. As it turned out I routed out the pick up cavities another 3/16” deeper and it fit like a glove. The guitar turned out great my best Strat by far, but find the super wide neck a little big for my hands, probably will sell it and build another. I don’t think I would buy from them again because of the poor customer service, I would prefer to deal with a company that cares more about their customers.
 
Thank you all for your feedback! I've found a few loaded bodies under $400 that are listed as brand new condition. I'm looking to get a guitar with a wide fingerboard without spending a lot of money that will be good quality. While I could build one from scratch, it would cost significantly more.

Michael
 
Bought a bare Strat body, was absolutely immaculate and even came with strap screws that weren't advertised.

Packed really well too even though was delivered to UK from US.

Would happily buy their products again.
 
Michaelga said:
Has anyone had any experience buying used parts from Stratosphere? I'm considering building a guitar with a superwide neck to accomodate my big fingers. They have used loaded pickguards and bodies (I'm planning on building a strat). Some are new and some are older (early 2000's). Does anyone have experience with them? Anything I should watch out for?

Michael

But shouldn't you be getting in contact with "Maurice", who has a super-wide neck he'd like to sell (above) ?
 
Blackouts said:
Michaelga said:
Has anyone had any experience buying used parts from Stratosphere? I'm considering building a guitar with a superwide neck to accomodate my big fingers. They have used loaded pickguards and bodies (I'm planning on building a strat). Some are new and some are older (early 2000's). Does anyone have experience with them? Anything I should watch out for?

Michael

But shouldn't you be getting in contact with "Maurice", who has a super-wide neck he'd like to sell (above) ?

I am still researching options, but I would definitely consider it, if he's interested.
 
Stratosphere is an excellent seller and the prices are as you’d expect for what it is. You’re not going to get a $1,600 Fender Strat for less buying it piecemeal.

On the other hand, if you wanted a random (genuine) replacement part or say the husk of a Gibson to build out, it’s not a terrible way to go. I bought a MIJ body in a particular color and a gutted Explorer some time ago from them. Random bridges and so on
 
I bought a tele body from them to mate with a warmoth neck. The body is fine. They shipped quick. I wanted a warmoth but it didn't look like warmoth would be shipping for a while so I went with stratosphere. I think I bought some yosemite pickups from them, too. Amazon was taking like 3 weeks to ship guitar parts what with the plague and all.

Anyway, I have a fender 50s vintera for somewhat less than buying a fender vintera.

Oh, and that fatback, 7.25 radius, roasted maple neck is awesome.
 
Maurice said:
I have just built a warmoth Strat, a roasted swamp ash body and super wide roasted maple and bought a Stratosphere loaded pickguard with Gen 4 noiseless p/ups. The only problem I had was that they didn’t mention in their description that because of the depth of the pick ups it wouldn’t fit in the standard body without modification by routing out the pick up cavity. I politely suggested to them about mentioning it in their description and they pretty much told me to take a flying leap and that it was my responsibility to know what I am buying, quite rude actually, terrible reaction to a legit concern even after I mentioned that I should myself have researched it more prior to buying it. As it turned out I routed out the pick up cavities another 3/16” deeper and it fit like a glove. The guitar turned out great my best Strat by far, but find the super wide neck a little big for my hands, probably will sell it and build another. I don’t think I would buy from them again because of the poor customer service, I would prefer to deal with a company that cares more about their customers.

I've heard similar stories about them.

One I've heard is people buying EVH Striped series bodies and not realizing they're not compatible with standard Fender/Charvel necks, or vice versa.
 
I was visiting my parents in Upstate New York and found a goo deal (I think) on an American made Stratocaster with dimarzio pickups and a new case. I’m going to play it for a while to see how my big fingers can fit on the neck. I will fit it with a wider neck if I can’t get comfortable with it.
 
FWIW, I started off having good experiences with Stratosphere but over time their prices have gone up and their communication has dried up, so I find it hard to recommend them now unless you spot an absolute bargain or they have a piece which you absolutely can not replicate elsewhere.

Funnily enough my favourite piece I've gotten from them is a broken Gibson LP DC Special. Yes, they do buy some new guitars in bulk and part them out, but they also buy up a lot of used stuff and in some cases outright damages parts. They advertised this particular body & neck as having a damaged truss rod but otherwise in good cosmetic condition, and for £100 I thought why not, it'll be a bit of fun to see if my skills are up to salvaging a broken truss rod. They were—at the time—very helpful sending me more detailed photos and explaining what they thought the biggest problems were, and though fixing it up was a bit of a challenge I did get it all working in the end and I've held on to and still enjoy playing that guitar. After all, who's going to complain about getting a Gibson for a grand total of about £220 including all the shipping, import fees, and replacement parts? 

That was back when they were only on eBay, though. Since they moved to their own site, eh. I struggle to get a response from them about anything now and given how their prices have risen, I've stopped bothering. If what you want is something quite standard like a regular SSS Strat body or a Tele neck, you can get those on eBay for nothing all day long or order from a parts company if you want something brand new. (In fact in some countries you can buy bodies and necks direct from Fender now, too, and their prices aren't much more than Stratosphere's.) I only even think of Stratosphere now if I want to chase down something oddball like a body of one of those Japan-exclusive Squier Starcasters that you otherwise can't get in the west and Warmoth don't offer sufficient options to recreate.
 
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