so i recently took on the challenge of putting together a guitar, i have the body and thats about it. i already mostly stripped it down to bear wood (i think its maple). its a japanese made squier strat. i know itl take awhile but im hoping for a great guitar in the end. so the neck that was made for the body was sold already (got the guitar on ebay). and now im pissed off because the neck pocket is just a hair smaller than the standard 2-3/16th". im a bit confused and need help with set up issues. how tall should the neck be to the strings, scale length, truss rod, getting the neck straight, wiring and all that fun crap. im going for a nitro lacquer finish, SSH pickups, classic strat sound but at the same time a little crunchy with some nice gritt to it. I need some help with figuring out what pickups to buy, should i buy them in a set? should i buy some expensive individual ones?? god knows, and now im going crazy with all the stuff that needs to be done! i really want a beautiful guitar when its finished, and need some help on my path to come. btw, im new to this forum. thanks in advance :dontknow:
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- Thread starter kidsquij
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bagman67
Epic Member
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Welcome aboard.
I think it reflects well on you that you're asking now, before you invest a bunch of money without a plan.
First, pick up Dan Erlewine's book:
http://www.stewmac.com/shopby/product/5198?tab=Details
For your first project, I would suggest not blowing a whole lot of money to make your dream guitar. Consider this a first draft. You can always build another (and another, and another, ad infinitum).
What you run the risk of, of course, is building a really nice-playing guitar that will also bear all the scars of your beginner mistakes. This is to be desired. My green telecaster is one such guitar - I did the finishing and wiring and most of the setup myself, and it looks like hell now because I put too little lacquer on, sanded through in a couple places, blah blah blah. But it's my favorite guitar to play, hands down. My beauty-contest winners are very nice guitars as well, but they just don't have the whole "I did it myself" vibe.
To address your immediate questions:
If you have a Squier strat body, then any Warmoth Fender-style neck should give you what you need fit-wise. You can use some 60-grit sandpaper on a block to open up the neck pocket a bit, but wait until you actually have the neck before you do it so you actually modify the pocket to fit what you plan to use. You might even save your big money and get a Squier neck for your first try, while you work out what you can and cannot do yourself. If you're feeling particularly spry, you could procure a Strat-style neck pocket router template and rout it out to spec, but that's not necessarily the first thing I'd advise a newbie to take on.
For pickups and hardware, look at GFS/Guitar Fetish for your first whack at things. They carry high quality parts at very good prices - especially the pickups. They don't have the resale value of Hipshot or other premium brands, but that's okay - this is for you, not the resale market. The point is you want to buy parts that WORK. To that end, however, don't buy one of their necks or bodies - they don't conform to standard Fender specs consistently.
http://www.guitarfetish.com
Good luck, and keep us posted on what happens.
Rgds.
Bagman
I think it reflects well on you that you're asking now, before you invest a bunch of money without a plan.
First, pick up Dan Erlewine's book:
http://www.stewmac.com/shopby/product/5198?tab=Details
For your first project, I would suggest not blowing a whole lot of money to make your dream guitar. Consider this a first draft. You can always build another (and another, and another, ad infinitum).
What you run the risk of, of course, is building a really nice-playing guitar that will also bear all the scars of your beginner mistakes. This is to be desired. My green telecaster is one such guitar - I did the finishing and wiring and most of the setup myself, and it looks like hell now because I put too little lacquer on, sanded through in a couple places, blah blah blah. But it's my favorite guitar to play, hands down. My beauty-contest winners are very nice guitars as well, but they just don't have the whole "I did it myself" vibe.
To address your immediate questions:
If you have a Squier strat body, then any Warmoth Fender-style neck should give you what you need fit-wise. You can use some 60-grit sandpaper on a block to open up the neck pocket a bit, but wait until you actually have the neck before you do it so you actually modify the pocket to fit what you plan to use. You might even save your big money and get a Squier neck for your first try, while you work out what you can and cannot do yourself. If you're feeling particularly spry, you could procure a Strat-style neck pocket router template and rout it out to spec, but that's not necessarily the first thing I'd advise a newbie to take on.
For pickups and hardware, look at GFS/Guitar Fetish for your first whack at things. They carry high quality parts at very good prices - especially the pickups. They don't have the resale value of Hipshot or other premium brands, but that's okay - this is for you, not the resale market. The point is you want to buy parts that WORK. To that end, however, don't buy one of their necks or bodies - they don't conform to standard Fender specs consistently.
http://www.guitarfetish.com
Good luck, and keep us posted on what happens.
Rgds.
Bagman
found a some necks online, thoughts on prices and specs would be great, thanks.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Licensed-Fender-Strat-Neck-Maple-Single-Action-Truss-Rod-21-Frets-SMV21/360909524231?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222003%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D22466%26meid%3D6388407259015464379%26pid%3D100005%26prg%3D9735%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D141242777326&rt=nc
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fender-Squier-Strat-Neck-Skunk-Stripe-Rosewood-Tuners-Inc-Affinity-Series-/321351941445?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item4ad2117d45
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Licensed-Fender-Strat-Neck-Maple-Single-Action-Truss-Rod-21-Frets-SMV21/360909524231?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222003%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D22466%26meid%3D6388407259015464379%26pid%3D100005%26prg%3D9735%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D141242777326&rt=nc
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fender-Squier-Strat-Neck-Skunk-Stripe-Rosewood-Tuners-Inc-Affinity-Series-/321351941445?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item4ad2117d45
bagman67
Epic Member
- Messages
- 9,111
I would take that Squier Affinity neck (the second one) and swap out the nut, and probably it would be fine, especially for a first try. You can experiment with dressing the frets and all that without feeling as though you've murdered your firstborn if things go pear-shaped. Plus it has what looks like Gotoh-clone tuners, which ought to function reasonably well until you are in the mood to spring for some locking machines.
The "licensed" neck looks as though it would also suffice, but at a larger (but reasonable) initial cash outlay. You'll still need to do some work to it to it to make it suit your playing style, but the neck is of course brand new and has no dings, which might make it a better value for you. You'll probably want to polish the frets and get the lacquer off them, at the very least, even if you don't intend to do a full fret-level job.
One thing to keep in mind is that fret size matters a lot when it comes to the overall feel of a neck, and replacing frets is a non-trivial undertaking. For your first try, even if you're doing it on the cheap, try to get a neck with frets that suit your preferences. Looks like the brand new neck you're considering is a "medium jumbo," which could mean 6130, 6105, or 6150, or even some other gauge that's not recorded on the Warmoth page. Who knows what the Squire neck has... but in my experience, usually cheap Strat/Tele guitars have vintage-size (i.e., narrow and low) fret wire. Entry level Ibanez and other more metal-oriented guitars sometimes have bigger frets, but there's no such thing as a sure thing.
See http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Necks/FretSize.aspx for details.
Bagman
The "licensed" neck looks as though it would also suffice, but at a larger (but reasonable) initial cash outlay. You'll still need to do some work to it to it to make it suit your playing style, but the neck is of course brand new and has no dings, which might make it a better value for you. You'll probably want to polish the frets and get the lacquer off them, at the very least, even if you don't intend to do a full fret-level job.
One thing to keep in mind is that fret size matters a lot when it comes to the overall feel of a neck, and replacing frets is a non-trivial undertaking. For your first try, even if you're doing it on the cheap, try to get a neck with frets that suit your preferences. Looks like the brand new neck you're considering is a "medium jumbo," which could mean 6130, 6105, or 6150, or even some other gauge that's not recorded on the Warmoth page. Who knows what the Squire neck has... but in my experience, usually cheap Strat/Tele guitars have vintage-size (i.e., narrow and low) fret wire. Entry level Ibanez and other more metal-oriented guitars sometimes have bigger frets, but there's no such thing as a sure thing.
See http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Necks/FretSize.aspx for details.
Bagman
