NGD day; Gilmour fever

[JakeFuzz]

Finally finished this. I built this guitar for ~200 bucks. This is really a bunch of spare parts that were hanging around. The neck is a mighty mite V-neck with a '54 Strat decal. Reranch neck amber. I leveled and crowned the frets and gave a gloss/sating finish (wet sanded to 2000 then hand buffed out with compound). This thing plays like a dream. The action is super low and no buzz. I cut the bone nut a little low on the treble side so I am getting some attenuation on the high e string; I am just going to cut another nut when it comes time to change the strings. Everything has a light relic on it,  The body is a naturally reliced MIM strat body that my friend gave me (he got it at a garage sale for 15 bucks w/ broken neck!). The neck is ambered and the finish is "worn" through in certain places. There is also fake nitro checking on the headstock and fretboard even though this is a poly finish! The decal is also worn and outlined to give it a 50's look. The pickups are Fender CS '69s and they sound wild. Super mid scooped, more so than any other pickups I have heard. I also included the "magic" switch in the pickguard attached to a little aluminum bracket I bent up. This is going to be my beater guitar, sounds great, plays like a dream an cost me very little.






and the family portrait:

[murdog47]

Great Job! Looks really good. I've been thinking about a parts guitar and I think you have pushed me over the fence. 

[JakeFuzz]

Great Job! Looks really good. I've been thinking about a parts guitar and I think you have pushed me over the fence. 

It probably wont help to tell you that all those "Fenders" in that last picture are parts-o-casters. They are all MIM bodies with Warmoth or MM necks. Totally worth it. Finishing is a PITA but you get something that plays better than most other guitars! 

[pickdropper]

That looks great. 

[midwayfair]

That's purty. Nice little collection there, too.

[JakeFuzz]

Thanks guys! Playing it a little more and the nut is really starting to bug me. I am going to put a tiny maple shim underneath the nut to see if that helps. Other than that it sounds and plays great. Man did the price jump for these pickups or what... I bought these for just over $100 about a year or two ago and now they are up to $200!

[DutchMF]

Wow, one of the nicest Strats I've seen in quite a while! Makes me wanna get my beat-up Squire in better shape (it already got a nice new pickup courtesy of Jacob K from around here, but it needs a little attention in the looks department). Love the split-post tuners!

Paul

[pickdropper]

I really want a beater strat.  When funds are right, I think a MIM strat is in order.

[pryde]

Very cool Jakefuzz. My strats are all partscasters as well, made cheap and play way better than most any off the shelf strat out there after a little fretwork and TLC.

As far as the nut goes a nice little trick is to just shim it up using printer paper and thin CA glue.

Take of nut
coat bottom of nut with CA glue
stick on paper
coat attached paper with more CA (saturate the paper)
Repeat until built up as needed
Trim around edge of nut flush and light sanding for a near-perfect blend

The paper/CA glue will blend well with the nut and make a nice, permanent shim. Much quicker than cutting a new nut and very effective.

[raulduke]

Really nice guitar mate.

...and for $200 you can't go wrong either 

[culturejam]

That's a sweet guitar. Nice work, man!

[Haberdasher]

Nice!

[Bret608]

Wow, I'm feeling the MIM or parts-o-caster thing after seeing this too! It'd be hard to part with my MIJ Mustang, but sometimes these days my hands just want a longer neck scale and wider nut width.

[JakeFuzz]

Thanks guys. I got really lucky with the body. My buddy just gave it to me after seeing the skunk stripe on the back of the neck was cracked and popping out. And the MM neck was only $90  . Thanks Pryde! I actually bought some walnut edge banding material and shaved it down with a razor blade to make a paper thin tapered shim; worked like a charm. I do this with neck pockets sometimes if the neck angle is off.