Thinline Strat

[Wil]

I just got my UPS email, and a call from them to clear the hefty customs charge in advance (about £130!) - so, hopefully the parts should be here in a few days.

Here's the full run down:

Chambered swamp ash Stratocaster body, black gloss finish, with single F hole, rear routed, single humbucker rout, one hole in the Strat tone 1 position for a volume knob and a side jack
Warmoth Pro neck, Birdseye Maple, Birdseye Maple Fretboard, clear satin finish, no inlays, reverse Strat headstock, 6100 SS fretwire, 22 frets
Gotoh Tune O Matic bridge, black
Schaller mini locking tuners, black
Various bits and bobs to finish it (shielding tape, ferrules etc)

I've got a Seymour Duncan Invader on it's way to go in the bridge position - I might in the future rout it for an angled pup in the neck position (probably for something like a Dimarzio Chopper).

It's gonna be freakin' sweet! I'll get some pics up when it arrives...

 

[Wil]

:headbang1:

Wow. Warmoth really make some great parts, eh? I got the bits today (it only took 2 days to go halfway round the world - that's faster than the Royal Mail!) and banged 'em together. I'm no luthier, and I tend to have a shoot first ask questions later approach to things like this, so I was pleased when nothing bad happened during the build. Ferrules tapped in nicely (tried the soldering iron trick but didn't work for me, probably my poor quality iron), tuner screws self tapped with a bit of candle wax and a lot of care (good thing too as I don't own a drill!) and everything slotted together perfectly, really.

The resonance and sustain acoustically is amazing! I almost can't believe I put it together, as it plays like a dream too. I just need to install some string trees and set the intonation, and then wire it up when the pickup arrives, and I'll be taking it to band practice to crank it up!

 

[m4rk0]

Surprisingly...... I really really like it..
I want one too!!

 

[Mor Paul]

I love the simplicity there.

 

[Wil]

I guess they spray the maple fingerboards with finish after fretting, because I've just been noodling around and it seems to be falling off the frets as I bend strings  :laughing7: do you guys polish the frets before use or will the finish just come off naturally with playing?

Yeah, a simple workhorse was what I aimed for, although I'm still contemplating a neck pickup at some point, it looks a little barren there...

 

[nathan a]

Wow, cool vision. Very clearly executed.

 

[rapfohl09]

I wanted a guitar just like this for a long time, im still thinking about it. Theres another one like it on the forum. I love the black with maple. Dang sweet.

 

[Wil]

Thanks for the comments, glad you like it 

 

[DangerousR6]

Sweet, very simple and straight forward. And i like the invisible pick up...  :laughing11:

:icon_thumright:

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Excellent build.  And yes, on maple fretboards (which only go on maple necks) the finish is applied after fretting over the entire neck.  I had mine set up and put that on the list of things for the guy to do.  As you're finding out, it will fall off anyway from use, so no harm.

Again, nice.  Black hardware with maple always looks good.

 

[Wil]

Does anyone know what size screws come with these string retainers from Warmoth?

I managed to shear one of them and don't have any spare. Got it out though! :icon_thumright: I can certainly see why drilling pilot holes would be a good idea, but hell, I'm not buying a drill just for these  :laughing7:

 

[blue313]

Not sure on those.  The ones I've used were #3 wood screws, round head and 3/8" long.  You could just bring what's left of the screw to the local hardware store.  Even if they don't have it in black, you'll definitely know the size after that.

Can you borrow a drill from a neighbor/coworker/family member?  You really should drill pilot holes in hardwoods.

 

[Wil]

Probably could have done, and should have done. Only this one screw to go, though, all the others went in without a hitch.

 

[stormbringer]

I used an Ice Pick for my pilot holes. Worked great!

Oh, love the axe BTW...

 

[tfarny]

Great axe. A drill is cheap and so useful around the house, besides being very important for guitar building.

 

[mayfly]

Love your guitar and glad that you built it!

... now go buy a hand drill  :icon_biggrin:

 

[bbl4ck]

Does anyone know what size screws come with these string retainers from Warmoth?

I managed to shear one of them and don't have any spare. Got it out though! :icon_thumright: I can certainly see why drilling pilot holes would be a good idea, but hell, I'm not buying a drill just for these  :laughing7:

Purdy axe ya got there  :headbang1:  Sometimes less is more...

Kind of late now, but you might not have needed string retainers related to the hard tail.  I have been playing my new hard tail for 3 weeks now with no string retainers and have had zero problems.

:rock-on:

 

[NonsenseTele]

nice!

 

[Wil]

All finished now, the pickup arrived today so I wired it in. It sounds great, really full smooth lead tones with nice mids. All it's missing is that extra string tree, but it doesn't seem to be causing an issue, sustain is fine and the strings seem to have sufficiant break angle with the schaller tuners.

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/585/guitari.jpg

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

Thats cool!