The perfect strat...or at least in my opinion

[mwbjr13]

So I've been tossing around several ideas for my first build. I've gone from the bare essentials to the over the top. I think I've finally narrowed it down and I want to see what everyone thinks about the idea and to get any input I can.

So here we go... :rock-on:

The Neck
A Warmoth pro CBS neck. Quarter sawn neck with a rosewood fretboard and abalone dot inlays. A 1 5/8" nut width with a 9.5" radius and a standard thin contour. Sperzel tuners and either a brass or LRS roller nut (probably the LRS but I'm not quite sure yet). 6150 frets and a clear satin finish to top it all off.

The Body
A solid Basswood or Swamp Ash strat body with a flame maple top. A universal rout (just for tweaking purposes) top jack rout and a vintage 6-hole trem. Maybe a contoured heel (I've gotten so used to a standard hell I'm used to it). It's probably going to be in Black Cherry Burst as well with a plack back and Bwk/Wht/Bwk pickguard.  No binding.

The Pickups/Electronics
This is not a super vintage strat and I don't want it to sound vintage. With that being said I'm going with a HSS Lace setup. A burgandy in th neck, a silver in the middle and an Emerald/Purple dually in the bridge. A standard five way with a 3-way mini toggle to split the dually and when the south coil (the purple) is activated it switches the five way to Nashville wiring. A master S-1 volume for a series/parallel setting and two TBX pots, one for the neck and middle and one for the bridge and middle.

The Hardware
Chrome all the way. Like a said Sperzel tuners are a go and as for the bridge...a Super-Vee Bladerunner. I'm going to set the bridge to float so I can get 3 half steps on the G string, 2 half steps on the B string, and a half on the high E.  I'm going to use a brass block from FU and maybe brass saddles. 

I'm pretty sure I've thought of everything but if not please point it out to me and let me know what you think.

 

[Cagey]

I might just point out that the only real reason to use a Blade Runner vibrato bridge is if you already have a body that's been drilled/routed for an old 6-point that you want to get out from under. When starting from new, you're better off with a Wilkinson.

Also, you would probably be very pleasantly surprised at how much you would like stainless steel frets. They play like glass, wear forever, and don't affect your tone at all. For the extra $20 Warmoth charges to put those on instead of the nickel-silvers, it's a no-brainer.

 

[line6man]

Ditch the six-point nonsense. Those things are hopelessly unstable.

Also, get a compound radius, and a raw neck. And stainless frets, as Cagey mentioned.

 

[drewfx]

+++ on what they said about SS frets and the trem - there's no reason to get a 6 point unless you're really serious about a "completely vintage" kind of thing.

And the LSR nut requires a 1 11/16" nut width.

Since your body is pretty straightforward, I'd just find something in the showcase with a top you like and save quite a few dollars. And if there wasn't something exact there, I also wouldn't pay 20% more to special order basswood or ash just to paint black.

 

[JCizzle]

+++ on what they said about SS frets and the trem - there's no reason to get a 6 point unless you're really serious about a "completely vintage" kind of thing.

And the LSR nut requires a 1 11/16" nut width.

Since your body is pretty straightforward, I'd just find something in the showcase with a top you like and save quite a few dollars. And if there wasn't something exact there, I also wouldn't pay 20% more to special order basswood or ash just to paint black.

+1, this is what I've considered for my strat build in the future; I'm just going to paint it yellow, so any body from the showcase will work for me. Just my humble opinion.  :icon_thumright:

 

[mwbjr13]

Ok, so the wilkinson it is then. Having never met anyone with a Bladerunner and really only liking te concept behind it that narrow that down. I never really thought of the SS frets as being that big of a deal but if the concensus is in favor of those, then I'll go with it. I can live with the 1 11/16" nut to have the LRS, unless there is a better nut out there that I'm unaware of  ???.
Here's my big question. What's the deal with the raw necks? Is it just to allow the wood to breath and to cut down even more on sticking or am I missing the bigger picture?
Thanks again everyone  :rock-on:

 

[Cagey]

The LSR is a very good nut. Probably the best extant. I'm sure it would be used more often were it not for the price. By the time you have the neck prepped for it and buy the nut, you're $80 down and it's still not installed.

As for the raw necks, it's a feel thing more than anything else. Kinda like the difference between two identical beer mugs where one is made of plastic and the other of glass. They'll look and perform the same, but the glass one will feel better. Another advantage of a raw neck is the savings enjoyed by not finishing it. That money can be rolled into better woods for the neck and/or fretboard. So, instead of Rosewood over Maple, you could have Ebony over Pau Ferro, or something like that. Look through the neck builder and read the descriptions of some of the many species of wood Warmoth offers. You're putting together a custom guitar - may as well make it custom. Everybody and their brother has a Maple neck - break out of the mold.

 

[Updown]

Here's my big question.
What's the deal with the raw necks?
Is it just to allow the wood to breath and to cut down even more on sticking or am I missing the bigger picture?

I can assure you, if you bought a Raw neck you will be thanking all that talked you into it.
Plus you'd owe us all a a beer or two.  :icon_biggrin:

Raw Necks ..... is like having sex  :headbang:

Finished Necks ... is like thinking about sex

Pau-Ferro / Ebony .... is my Top pick

It's all I'll buy RAW RAW RAW  :guitarplayer2:

 

[mwbjr13]

So how do I protect a raw neck from the elements?

 

[Cagey]

Same way you protect any neck from the elements: keep it out of the elements <grin>

The various species used for raw necks are stable and durable to the point where they don't need any more protection than a baseball bat.

 

[mwbjr13]

Yes, keeping the guitar away from the elements will protect it.
Raw it is then  :icon_smile:
Now I just have to convince my wife to let me build it lol
Thanks for all the input everyone. Please if you have any more suggestions send them my way, this is my first build and I want to make it count.

 

[mwbjr13]

Here's a question for ya'll. If I float my bridge do I need a recessed rout?

 

[Cagey]

No. All my Wilkies float, and none of them are recessed. You see recessed trems most often with the Floyd Rose design because they typically have a greater range of motion for sharping. Plus, they're kinda big, and need clearance for all the tuners and whatnot hanging off them.

 

[Updown]

The Neck
A Warmoth pro CBS neck.

:icon_scratch:
I gotta ask ...... WHY ?  .... the CBS

The only reason I can think of is that your a fan of that fugly oar paddle (I mean) headstock  :tard:

 

[Cagey]

I wasn't going to say anything, but since you brought it up... umm... yeah. Talk about a hydroencephalitic head. I don't know what they were thinking about when they blew that thing up to serving platter size. I mean, sharpen one edge and you could use it to maneuver pizzas <grin>

 

[SustainerPlayer]

The CBS head looks cool.  :headbang1:

 

[Phinox]

The unofficial rumor as to why Fender switched to the CBS head stock was two part one they wanted to change the image of the strat. Two because they where tring to add sustain. But as with all things Fender who really knows.

 

[Strat Avenger]

Ditch the Lace idea and put a good Seymour Duncan bridge pickup in, along with a couple of good Dimarzio Area-series single coils for neck & middle.

BTW; my next Strat build will have the CBS headstock. It's gonna be a tribute to Yngwie, but with my own personal changes from what his signature model has.

 

[line6man]

Here's a question for ya'll. If I float my bridge do I need a recessed rout?

You would need a recessed route BECAUSE you float the bridge. Unless you want to angle it way up so that there is enough room to pull up.

 

[mwbjr13]

I like the larger headstock. I don't buy into the notion that it adds enough mass to increase the sustain any but I like the fact that its different. It's completly a style thing. But with that being said, I was kicking the idea around some more and figured that a regular strat headstock would probably better fit the overall look of this guitar. But, one day when I'm all growed up and have a my own sign that says Harry Stamper oil on it I'm going to build a guitar with a CBS headstock.

On a side note, lets see who gets my movie quote.