Last year I built my ST-1, currently my biggest success in building kits. I went into the build with a failed Les Paul and I wanted this one to be a very nice guitar to keep.
I planned for Wudtone Carmine Gypsy as the finish, a little bit inspired by Mark Knopfler's Strat. This turned out as a massive success, completely stock hardware, very clean finish and something that I am still proud of building.
Here hare pics of this guitar a whole year (and a bit) later, there is some fading in the finish from where I have heavily played, my hands have polished a small section of the body, there's all kinds of crap on the fretboard (tried to rub as much off as possible), pup covers are getting a bit dirty, but that gives this guitar character and makes it stand out from the other Strats. The decal Andy gave me is still holding despite a bunch of dust in the finish, only the T is starting to peel, but that has still stayed in place! Only mod for this axe is the use of LP-1 knobs, which I think look cool!
This guitar feels and sounds awesome, the pickups are changing in terms of output and magnet strength from the last year of playing, giving it more character and tone that I love to hear blasting out of my amp.
The neck finish has work a little, making it faster to play and feels more like bare wood.
I will rebuild this guitar again, this time with gold hardware and some neat upgrades. But for now this is more than perfect.
Time for piccys! Silly camera added in timestamps to the pics..... Dangit!
