For The Want Of A Strat

[tonyw]

In 2007 after many years of just playing my G&L ASAT Special and a Danelctro U2 i decided i wanted a vintage strat, but i had no money (muso's don't have money). I played a few different guitars but nothing had that feel i wanted, so i decided to put my own together, heres the build.

Rory Gallagher is my fav guitarist of all time and he didnt need any fancy frills just a strat and an amp pretty much and its the way i like to setup and play.This guitar is loosely modeled on Rory Gallaghers strat and being a blues blues/rock player myself i wanted the sound and looks to be vintage, hence a late 50's early 60's outlook. I did alot of homework and many late hours on the net looking for parts, not buying anything unless it was an absolute bargain. Netty as the project was called, and if i could make it work, would be constructed by only purchasing the parts over the internet and the cost had to be kept <$1000 aussie (which was achieved).The Aussie Dollar compared to the U.S at the time was .98c today its .72c

Body
NEW (AUG-2007) NITROCELLULOSE LACQUER 3-TONE SUNBURST SOLID ALDER GENUINE FENDER USA STRATOCASTER BODY,JUST UNDER 4lb IN WEIGHT,NEVER BEEN PLAYED,DRILLED FOR A USA SPACED VINTAGE STYLE BRIDGE

Pickups were probably the hardest choice for me, i wanted vintage with grunt but the prices or even the making of some of these pickups left alot be desired until i stumbled upon "Sliders Vintage Classics" an Aussie guy in Sydney making handwound vintage pickups so i lined up a set on Ebay and won the bidding. Heres what Slider has to say about his pickups. Slider's Classic Vintage 59's are a matched set of handmade "scatterwound" single coil pickups.

Next up

A NEW GENUINE FENDER 3 PLY 11 HOLE 62 STYLE MINT GREEN S/S/S PICKGUARD COMPLETE WITH SCREWS.

FENDER STRATOCASTER

ACCESSORY KIT - AGED WHITE

Genuine Fender Replacement Part No. 099-1368-000.

Kit includes :

3 knobs
3 pickup covers
Tremolo arm tip
5-switch tip
Backplate

Now for a Bridge

Type: Tremolo/Bridge with Full Steel Block

2008 American Fender Strat Tremolo (6 Screw Vintage) Vintage Style Synchronized Tremolo w/ Fender Stamped Saddles & Full Steel Block- Mounting hole spacing 2 3/16", String hole spacing 2 1/16"- Genuine Fender.

Wiring and Pots

CTS 250k POTS matched pots

CRL 5 WAY SWITCH

ORANGE DROP 47uf CAPACITOR

cloth vintage lead wire

Switchcraft Jack

I spent quite some time wiring the pups, the Vintage wiring looks good the shielding takes out about 75% of the guitars hum and noise and although the vintage wiring looked great, no ones going to see it anyway.

Neck and Finished

Warmoth Vintage C shape replacement neck, headstock with Sperzel Lockers. Neck is Maple with rosewood finger board 1-5/8 at the nut Straight 7.25" Radius, Cream Face Dots frets are Vintage Jumbo. I found this neck on the Warmoth showcase.Neck is finished in Nitro clear Matt finish.

Tuners: Sperzel lockers.

I probably saved a couple of grand doing it this way, and it also taught me a bit about sourcing guitar parts and whats available via the net, today i am much much wiser.

[tonyw]

More parts

[tonyw]

The finished project

[andrewdosborne]

Looks good Tony. Does she play as expected? I notice no tremolo arm, is the block fixed? I would like to build a similar axe but with a hard tail (I'm not a fan of tremolo systems)

Sent from my GT-I9506 using Tapatalk

[stan]

nice work Tony, neat job on the wiring

[tonyw]

Looks good Tony. Does she play as expected? I notice no tremolo arm, is the block fixed? I would like to build a similar axe but with a hard tail (I'm not a fan of tremolo systems)

Sent from my GT-I9506 using Tapatalk

Yes Andrew its better than i expected, my second generation Luthier mate said he gets thousand of strats through and this is one of the best hes seen and heard, so i got it done right which was my main concern. I blocked the trem, also not a fan, Rory Gallaghers guitar was blocked as well ,so it was always going to be. It doesnt get played as much as it should, i am a tele kind of guy but i do love the sound of the strat.

[tonyw]

nice work Tony, neat job on the wiring

Cheers Stan i pride myself on my wiring even if no one can see it

[wokkaboy]

looks good Tony, so the body and neck were pre-finished (stain and clear coats) when you purchased them ?

Keen to hear a sound demo of the pickups in all switch positions.
The only fault I can see is no headstock logo to say you assembled it

[stan]

Cheers Stan i pride myself on my wiring even if no one can see it

Shows attention to details mate, reveals that you have taken care with this one

[tonyw]

New body off a HWY1 strat, the neck was in the Warmoth showcase as a Screaming deal or something like that so i jumped on it. Being an on the road muso at the time i didnt have the time or the inclination to do any finishing, especially with Nitro seeing its the finish i wanted, to keep it sort of old school. Pretty much other than sourcing all the parts and doing the wiring i had nothing to do with the guitar other than putting it together and setting it up, and not being a fan of names on headstocks it is what it is Maybe oneday i will put a name on it if i could be bothered sourcing some decals

Heres a quick clip i did after the project was done and dusted, it took me about 3yrs to eventually upload it haha, i havent used this youtube site in ages, i might get back into again someday.

https://youtu.be/hGZT_nj5nzw