My hardtail strat build

[McCreed]

This is my latest Non-PB build. Just finished it yesterday after starting approximately 74 days ago.
It was a strat body routed for a vibrato that I block filled with Tasmanian Oak and drilled as a hardtail. In the right (or wrong?) light the block is slightly visible but not too obvious. I'm happy with it overall.

This build had a couple of detours along the way, but each challenge was a good learning opportunity. The finish job on this one was my first time spraying with a gun (kudos to those members that offered me advice when I was shopping for spray gear a while back). The finish isn't perfect but it's more than okay and a big improvement over my previous rattle can finishes.

Here's the specs/details:
Mahogany body finished with Holden "Poison Ivy" and clear coated (both Dulon Ac/Lac)
Realtone hardtail bridge with s/steel block saddles
Fender Vintage Noiseless pickups
Fender 5-way switch - standard wiring
Alpha pots with Gibson-style knurled speed knobs
Switchcraft input jack
Maple/Maple neck (stained with custom blended analine dyes)
12" radius (re-radiused from 14")
Re-fretted with medium jumbo fretwire
Jin-Ho tuners
Bone nut



Oh... and it plays and sounds GREAT! One of my best playing builds to date.

[Bakersdozen]

Love it! Looks sensational mate

[McCreed]

Thanks BD!

[Dan_B]

That looks awesome

[I’ll give it a go]

It does look really good mate, well done.


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[Woltz]

Love that colour. That's the colour I've got for my pitbull TL kit. Just waiting for some warmer weather to spray.

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[McCreed]

Love that colour. That's the colour I've got for my pitbull TL kit. Just waiting for some warmer weather to spray.

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Yep, Holden 746S. The first time I saw a Commodore in that colour, I said "That would look great on a guitar!"

And yeah, waiting for warmer weather in Canberra... could be a while
I was lucky, we had a spate of 25-27 degree days at the end of May, so I shot it then.

Also, thanks for the other comments guys!

[FunkedOut]

Well done, sir!
I must say, I especially love the neck color.

I am in the process of building a hard tail strat myself.
I have planned on mixing analine dyes as well.
Do you recall the recipe for that color?

I was thinking mostly yellow, I bit of red to bring in some orange flavor and perhaps a touch brown to settle down the vibrancy a bit.
I have no idea in the ratios just yet.
A ballpark could save me a lot of time finding the right color.
Your neck, friend, looks like the right color.

Congrats on the build.

[Brendan]

Nicely done! Love how there is just a tinge of natural wood coming through.

[McCreed]

Well done, sir!
I must say, I especially love the neck color.

I am in the process of building a hard tail strat myself.
I have planned on mixing analine dyes as well.
Do you recall the recipe for that color?

I was thinking mostly yellow, I bit of red to bring in some orange flavor and perhaps a touch brown to settle down the vibrancy a bit.
I have no idea in the ratios just yet.
A ballpark could save me a lot of time finding the right color.
Your neck, friend, looks like the right color.

Congrats on the build.

I do have the recipe written down in the shop. I'll retrieve later and post it back here. And thank you for the compliments!

Nicely done! Love how there is just a tinge of natural wood coming through.

Thanks Brendan. As is the case with dyes sometimes, there was a bit of unevenness, but I didn't mind on this neck. I reckoned it just gave it more of a unique character.