My Dream Guitar!

JerryHandbag

Hi, some feedback/info on this would be very much appreciated. Basically I have an obsession with the fender stratocaster, or to be more precise, the vintage looking ones, you know with the rust...paint fallen off, Rory Gallaghers strat in other words. Or Frusciante from the chili Peppers has something similar.

So I have been thinking what would it cost to build my own strat from old parts? Am I wasting my time? I've done a bit of research online and some seem to say that the price of everything would cost more than a new strat so why not just buy one new....I have a jap strat copy that I could use for some parts, though the head is a different shape than an authentic strat so that would be no good Is it a bit of a chore to strip the paint off the body?

I hope to treat it as my own little project, wouldnt really care how long it took, but again if its much cheaper to buy one new then i may think again.

Thanks in advance.

brendansmith

If i were you I would get a new one, then start building one aswell.

Bod1

what you're describing there is a relic. You can buy a fender road worn strat, which has play wear and discolouration and aged parts. You could also buy a custom shop relic, but your looking around the 2k mark. Just a note on doing it yourself. Many of the fender models have a poly finish (plastic coat) and it's a dog to strip or age. You'll need to be looking at a nitro body to easily do it.

spoonbadger

Eek, it's great that you like the battered strat look, but i dont condone intentionally "relic'ing" a guitar. It's cheap, tacky and superficial. And all the fender relic series guitars are rip-offs and just as fake!.

What i'd recomend doing is building a strat from good quality parts, and letting it age the way god intended :P.

1. Get original nitro finished fender necks/bodies off ebay (specifically the Stratosphere store) or get them from somewhere like www.musikraft.com.
2. Get the pickups, hardware and tuners of your choice.
3. Play the **** out of it!. That's how rory did it .

rcaz

spoonbadger wrote: »

Eek, it's great that you like the battered strat look, but i dont condone intentionally "relic'ing" a guitar. It's cheap, tacky and superficial. And all the fender relic series guitars are rip-offs and just as fake!.

What i'd recomend doing is building a strat from good quality parts, and letting it age the way god intended :P.

1. Get original nitro finished fender necks/bodies off ebay (specifically the Stratosphere store) or get them from somewhere like www.musikraft.com.
2. Get the pickups, hardware and tuners of your choice.
3. Play the **** out of it!. That's how rory did it .

4. Arrange for someone to steal it, and leave it in a ditch for a while. Then find it.

JerryHandbag

Thanks guys......haha the "leave it in a ditch for 3 weeks a la Rory" approach did cross my mind. Thats how sad I am!!

Its a bit of an obsession now at this stage, that Rory type guitar....saw a replica version in a shop in Dublin, but it just aint the same is it? I must admit I like the idea of letting the old lady age naturally

jamieh

Would you consider something like this?

http://johnmayer.yuku.com/topic/3484/t/John-Mayer-Relic-Stratocaster-Ver-3-0.html

JerryHandbag

Yep that guitar looks deadly....funny it was the sight of Mayer playing at Michael Jacksons memorial that put the idea back into my head of building a strat....I would imagine those guitars would cost a pretty penny though? Ive managed to get my hands on a maple 50s style neck, was looking for one for ages so happy to get that....although I admit a rosewood neck looks better on a strat imo...

jamieh

JerryHandbag wrote: »

Yep that guitar looks deadly....funny it was the sight of Mayer playing at Michael Jacksons memorial that put the idea back into my head of building a strat....I would imagine those guitars would cost a pretty penny though? Ive managed to get my hands on a maple 50s style neck, was looking for one for ages so happy to get that....although I admit a rosewood neck looks better on a strat imo...

Their actually ok money I think. There's two models - one fully blown custom shop job (balls accurate!) which costs a fortune but there's another model that's not too expensive (production line).

Here's the man himself explaning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qy3bmDkyOw&feature=channel_page

Serious tone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSM3FL7zUdw&feature=PlayList&p=4F873E190C78A55A&index=0&playnext=1

Ravelleman

JerryHandbag wrote: »

Ive managed to get my hands on a maple 50s style neck, was looking for one for ages so happy to get that....although I admit a rosewood neck looks better on a strat imo...

Do you like the feel of maple though? No point in buying it if you prefer rosewood.

JerryHandbag

Ravelleman wrote: »

Do you like the feel of maple though? No point in buying it if you prefer rosewood.

All the guitars I've had (acoustic included) have had rosewood necks so havent really played on maple.....will see how it goes once I attach it.