Swamp Ash / Wenge Strat Completed!

[m4rk0]

I finally finished my latest project:

Swamp Ash Body
Wenge/Ebony Neck
SS Frets
Sperzel Tuners/LSR Nut/Gotoh Wilkinson
GFS lil Killers

I am very excited about the result! It plays, feels and sounds absuletely great! the neck feels so great! Raw wood and stainless steel frets - sooo smooth!
The other good thing is that the neck is absolutely not bringing it out of balance, not top heavy at all.
the GFS' sound surprisingly well (this is my 2nd set) but they're still budged pickups, so I will probably replace them later.
Tone is amazing...haven't played it s lot yet, but so far I really like the ash/wenge combo.. I hate describing tone, but it is a nice balance between bright and wamr with great sustain!... if that makes sense.

I really intended this guitar to be very plain and non-spectacular, and think it turned out really cool!
I used Minwax 'Natural Maple' Stain and now I'm finished I wish I used a darker stain.. but then again, I am sure the Tru-oil finish will darken over time anyway.
oh and did I mention I hate Sperzel Tuners????  I almost F-d it up again!! so this is the last time using them. :tard:

 

[bpmorton777]

nice, i like the grain on the back. Sweet!

Brian

 

[Superbeast520]

That is Awesome, m4rk0,    This is exactly the kind of Idea I want to do on my next Strat project, just Bare Bones Tone !

I Love the unfinished Neck / Stainless combo and with swamp ash to boot.

I second your feelings on Sperzel tuners, Not my cup of tea either, Im not sure what problems or dislikes you've had with them, but I found them to slip over time and always in the same spot of the turn, thus eliminating the ability for me to use minimal string around the post, I just plain got sick of playing around with em, though I do like the Schaller mini lockers, for me they worked great even with a 56 low E.

Very Nice Job........... :icon_thumright:

 

[Soloshchenko]

Looks an amazing guitar. I just love natural finishes!!!!

 

[willyk]

     :hello2:          That looks tremendous. I like the dot free 'board. Hey I like the whole thing.     

 

[Nando Vallart]

Amazing guitar!  :icon_thumright:

 

[WarmothRules]

awesome. but whats wrong with sperzels? Those ones you are using are the ones with the different pole height, cause I see no string tree?

 

[WarmothRules]

also what size SS frets?

 

[Tweed]

The pic of the back is the best!

 

[m4rk0]

Thanks for the nice comments everyone!

Superbeast, Bare bones tone is a great description of the guitar! that's exactly what it is!

WarmothRules, The Sperzel is actually not that bad, I just got frustrated during the instalation process.. I made sure that all the 'post holes' where straight, and still 2 of them where off so I had to enlarge the holes.. caused lots of swearing
I really love the locking tuner/LSR/Recessed Wilky combination..  a great alternative for a Floyd Rose!
The frets are SS6105.

Other than that, it was really easy to set this one up! the only other strange thing is that this one needed so much more shims on the high E side to lift the string over the first fret. 5 on the high E side and 2 on the low E side... while on my previous LSR it was just 2 on each side.
but it plays super smooth now and the action is really really low with no rattling!  I know not everybody likes it this low, but with the raw neck, the slick ss steel frets en the smooth ebony fb, it just feels perfect!

The only other problem was finding satin/brushed chrome hardware! I found satin strap holders to match the sperzels and the wilkinson, but I can't find matching jack or neck plates anywhere!. if anybody does, please let me know!
also, I am thinking about applying some Stock Sheen & conditioner and/or Wax to the body to make it even more Satin-y.. not sure if that will look good yet.

 

[jackthehack]

I like the Sperzels, but have gone to the Planet Waves tuners due to the same issue...

How do those GFS PUs compare to the SD blades? Never tried them, but have used and like the GFS '64 overwound gray bottom staggers...

 

[Nando Vallart]

Bare Bone Tone?  :icon_scratch: wtf is that?

 

[Superbeast520]

Bare Bones Tone is just the basics, and it dosn't matter how it looks because it sounds and feels so good vibrating through your body you never want to put it down! ......   this one just happens to look nice as well!   :icon_thumright:

 

[TroubledTreble]

Well done man! Way to go with that beautiful dark neck and no dots on the board... sweeeeeet! Hey, I thought you were going to do a hardtail?? Was that you?

CHEERS!!!

-TT-

 

[m4rk0]

That was exactly the plan! but I changed my mind since I realized I missed a Wilkonson Strat. I recently sold one and gave the other one away, and I already had the LSR and Sperzels lying around. I still want a hard tail thought

Jack, I don't think I ever tried the SD blades. But these sound great! great value too!