Gav's STA-1
hi guys,
Jet lag is gone and time to start a new build. I thought I'd attempt the Ash strat that I picked up at the birthday sale in september. I've only built one strat before - and that went to my neice - so my wall is stratless at the moment. Hoping to remedy that this time around.
Right out of the box the kit looked great. The neck is straight, with a nicely figured rosewood fretboard. The 3-piece ash body also has some great figure in it. I was intending a solid colour for this baby - I've always coveted a surf strat - but now this figure is giving me pause. I could be tempted with a blue burst if I can find a burstable finish with a brilliant blue colour. How have you dudes gone with bursting Dingotone? Could I burst it perhaps with black Colortone dye? (yes the naughty room awaits as always!!).
Anyway, no need to decide this second, but any feedback would be appreciated!!
The mock build went together very quickly. As you all know, the assembly of the strat kit is very straightforward, with only the position of the bridge to be established. To be honest, the tremelo cavity really doesn't leave much room for error here either. There's only a couple of mm play vertically and horizontally within the cavity, and with the pickguard also taken into account, it's pretty easy to see where the bridge should go. Anyway, just to be safe I consulted the Stewmac Fret Position Calculator to validate the distance of the mounting screws from the nut, and used the two E strings down the length of the neck to determine the optimal horizontal position. In no time I had the neck mounted, the bridge screwed in, and the tremelo spring claw installed. Choice as bro!
And now for some sanding...
cheers,
Gav.
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