This Strat Brought to you by . . . Pabloman

[pabloman]

That would have been cool! :icon_jokercolor:

Actually I used to work at GC a few years ago and acquired a pretty decent collection. I had a LP Std, LP studio, Firebird studio, Melody Maker, a CE24, a Highway 1 strat, a AM Std strat, a AM DLX strat, a Jackson Dinky, Mexi Strat, DC16GTRE, DSL 100 halfstack, HotRod Deville, and a California Blonde. Everything except the PRS and the LP studio had upgraded pups. I also had a Trailer Trash pedalboard with an OCD, 2 Keeley TS9's a Choral Flange, Retro-Sonic delay, Russian Big Muff, Small Stone, Keeley Compressor, couple different wahs. I'm sure there's more but I'm getting really depressed. Anyway, I slowly started selling things off because Mechanics make alot more money than GC sales guys and Treatment Center staff. My nest egg was drying up. I was stuck on custom builds anyway. So my plan was to get some bodies and necks. I had about 7 builds completely spec'd out. I aquired alot of parts but no necks and bodies. I bought some stuff from the stratosphere but it was still just off the shelf parts so I sold it off too. I have 5 kids so there are always clothes and shoes to buy. My oldest is 17 and the youngest is 15 months so I'm pretty tapped. I have a nice birdseye strat neck and all the parts minus the wood to build 3 more guitars. I have more misc. parts and thats what I've been passing out on the forum. All I have now is a custom hollow Wolfgang type body and a crappy maple neck I am trying to finish. I have a valve jr stack and a Zakk Wylde OD pedal and thats it. I Just can't seem to get the funds together for wood parts. I would really like a nice strat body. I think that would be the cheapest way to go to end up with an amazing axe. I couldn't stand the thought of B3guy ending up with a subpar body just to get a guitar together. I know how hard it could be to get that body and since he had the funds to get a good one I didn't want him to miss out. I know things will work out on my end eventually. Karma has to count for something :dontknow:


BTW....if you do a google image search for "Chris Sandoval" my son is the basketball player on page 6.

 

[B3Guy]

Yeah, I'm sure karma will roll round sooner or later. I can't see these pickups staying in this thing past this time next year, considering my GAS.  :icon_jokercolor:

once I pass this stuff on again, Karma will get going, and who knows . . .

 

[B3Guy]

my loving kid sister is down in the Twin Cities for her violin lesson today, and she's gonna stop by an drop something off for me . . . .  :icon_biggrin:

 

[pabloman]

Woohoo :cool01:

 

[Cagey]

my loving kid sister is down in the Twin Cities for her violin lesson today, and she's gonna stop by an drop something off for me . . . .  :icon_biggrin:

Clean urine sample?

 

[B3Guy]

my loving kid sister is down in the Twin Cities for her violin lesson today, and she's gonna stop by an drop something off for me . . . .  :icon_biggrin:

Clean urine sample?

yep.

no, but seriously . . . AWESOME BODY . . . pics later.

 

[Cagey]

my loving kid sister is down in the Twin Cities for her violin lesson today, and she's gonna stop by an drop something off for me . . . .  :icon_biggrin:

Clean urine sample?

yep.

no, but seriously . . . AWESOME BODY . . . pics later.

If I thought the forum would allow pictures of your sister's awesome body, I'd have posted them already <grin>

 

[B3Guy]

Progress! holes drilled in the body with the drill press and a hand drill! (I'll let you imagine who or what body  :icon_thumright: )

My free wiring help is outa town until next week, so this is as far as I can go with things for now. We'll wire it up hopefully at the beginning of next week, then by the end of the week it can be in and out of the shop for final setup  :blob7:

 

[B3Guy]

the inevitable mockup shot . . . mmmm . . . tasty . . .

 

[Cagey]

Looks nice. Won't be long now...

 

[reluctant-builder]

Nice, dude. Aside from the exotic neck (I went the "pedestrian" route with mine), it's the Strat sister of my in-progress Jazzmaster. I salute your impeccable taste.  :icon_biggrin:

 

[B3Guy]

Nice, dude. Aside from the exotic neck (I went the "pedestrian" route with mine), it's the Strat sister of my in-progress Jazzmaster. I salute your impeccable taste.  :icon_biggrin:

I'm no pedestrian when it comes to my neck, that's for sure. IMO, the neck is much of what makes or breaks the "playability" of a guitar. If the neck doesn't jive with my hand, it doesn't matter how flakey the maple is, how awesome the pickups sound, how smooth the vibrato bridge operates. When it comes down to it, the neck is where the guitarist does their work.

I'm long past any respect for maple necks, sorry. I struggle to see the benefits, honestly. I suppose it's cheap, hard wood . . . but its also one of the few that require a finish to remain stable, and finishes aren't necessarily cheap.

The Pau is incredible, and I'd be hard pressed to choose something different (although, Canary is gorgeous as all heaven if you're after something more "pedestrian".) AS far as neck wood, the only other woods I'm interested in are Black Korina (the best looking by far), and maybe Rosewood.

 

[reluctant-builder]

I hear you, loud and clear. The only reason I went with the standard grade maple neck is because, as Cagey often generally derides, I was trying to go with the feel of a Jazzmaster as it might have come off the line (albeit considerably better, even with a ho-hum neck, since it's from Warmoth). As a lefty, I've always wanted a Jazzy, but they don't exist except from the Custom Shop and I'd rather go the Warmoth route than Fender CS. It's perhaps wrong-headed and not at all practical to get maple because that's what I would have gotten from Fender, but hey. My "mistake" to make, and I'm OK with it.

I've put off buying a new neck for my MiM Strat because I was thinking of getting a maple replacement, although birdseye, but it's the same deal ... requires a finish, not the greatest wood -- by a lot of people's measure. However, I'm not practiced nor discerning enough yet to know what I'm missing, re: exotic woods. The more I think about it, though, I could possibly get a raw exotic for around $308 (not entirely sure about that), or I could at least put that money toward a raw exotic than stick around in ho-hum lacquered maple-land.

 

[B3Guy]

I hear you, loud and clear. The only reason I went with the standard grade maple neck is because, as Cagey often generally derides, I was trying to go with the feel of a Jazzmaster as it might have come off the line (albeit considerably better, even with a ho-hum neck, since it's from Warmoth). As a lefty, I've always wanted a Jazzy, but they don't exist except from the Custom Shop and I'd rather go the Warmoth route than Fender CS. It's perhaps wrong-headed and not at all practical to get maple because that's what I would have gotten from Fender, but hey. My "mistake" to make, and I'm OK with it.

I've put off buying a new neck for my MiM Strat because I was thinking of getting a maple replacement, although birdseye, but it's the same deal ... requires a finish, not the greatest wood -- by a lot of people's measure. However, I'm not practiced nor discerning enough yet to know what I'm missing, re: exotic woods. The more I think about it, though, I could possibly get a raw exotic for around $308 (not entirely sure about that), or I could at least put that money toward a raw exotic than stick around in ho-hum lacquered maple-land.

Mine was $380, and that's the total for my whole order, shipping included, with Stainless frets installed and the tuners. When it arrived, I felt like I'd robbed Warmoth. Seriously, this neck is Badass. I can's say that often enough.

 

[Cagey]

Requiring a finish isn't necessarily a Bad Thing. Maple is a very good neck wood that costs less than many of the "exotics", and you can get a colored finish. You're not limited to the clears. So, while Maple necks are common as dirt and so perhaps uninspiring as a result, you don't necessarily have to see the Maple. Of course, if you simply don't like finished necks, then you're out of luck. Fortunately for me, I don't care. Finished or not, as long as the fretboard is raw I'm happy.

 

[B3Guy]

Revival! I haven't forgotten about UWarmoth, I've just been busy (or, rather, my cousin has been busy). but we're getting together on Saturday to wire it up, and then its just a matter of me dropping it off at the pro shop for final setup. Should be rocking very soon! (IF not, I'll take it to the pros next week anyhow and have them wire. I can't wait no longer!)  :cool01:

 

[B3Guy]

Wired it up and put it together! she's done for the foreseeable future. Once I have the cash, I'll get all the stuff for doing it up with p-rails, and take it to the pro shop and get it the treatment it deserves. But for now, it plays really quite well, and that's good enough until I'm ready to go for the next overhaul.

Oh, and its dark here right now, but pics perhaps on Monday.

:rock-on:

 

[B3Guy]

Thanks again to Pabloman for the generosity, pickups sound great! (Other than that I unsuccessfully executed the "auto split" aspect of the wiring . . .something's not right with 4th position. It is quieter, and it is clearly using both the middle single and the two hum bucker coils.)