Custom Build Stratocaster

[rabidgerry]

Hi guys, I'm looking to off load a few guitars from my collection with the intent of picking up some more desirable axes.  However, the ones I'm chasing I'm kinda sick of waiting on and I can never find one in the right condition or the right price.

So I've taken an executive decision to build my own from parts that can be bought.

I don't want to get into finishing, I simply want to buy a body, buy a neck, add hardware etc myself.

I also want to keep the cost down.

So I've settled on a body I think.  Buy I'm looking for a neck fitted with a locking nut or at least has a slot big enough to accommodate a locking nut. 

Can anyone recommend anywhere online I can get necks to fit the bill?  Guitar Fetish website has one neck that I might be into but I am interested in other options possibly should I find alternatives elsewhere.  All suggestions welcome, and remember I'm looking to have to do very little to this project other than assemble and may be a little bit of drilling.

This is the body I've settled upon

https://www.guitarfetish.com/XGP-Premium-Alder-Floyd-Rose-ST-Body-Atomic-Red_p_47825.html

Thinking about black on red colour scheme soo black scratch plate, pups and hardware.

[rnolan]

Hey RG, well these days there seems so much to choose from.  Be very mindful of the dimensions (The neck pocket is routed to a vintage correct 2 3/16" width, 5/8" deep and 3" long), so it seems you'll need a vintage neck  .  What FB'd radius do you want? some of the vintage radiuses are 7" circle (bent notes buzz out up high  ), and also 12th fret width is narrower (on say bullet stats), so bridge is narrower.  Harley can probably help more as he's our "strat" guru.  I suspect you'd like a 22 fret neck (strats traditionally are 21) thus FB continues over the end of the neck for 22.  And what neck profile do you like? (I like the Anderson V contour personally).  And what frets do you want?  Stew Mack sell some nice looking Fender necks, but maybe you should get one made to exactly your taste ?

[rabidgerry]

If I'm honest I never gave any thought to the profile of the neck from behind.  However I would not accept anything less than a 12" radius.  If I was really fussy also I'd want the compound type too.  I can't live with fret choking.

I'm happy to get a vintage spec'd neck to fit with that body.  I don't see that as a problem.  It would just have to be finished, require only hardware be fitted, perhaps the odd hole drilled, have medium jumbo or jumbo frets, and a fairly flat fretboard radius.

GF has this which is a possibility.  Mind you drilling the holes for the neck terrifies me a little bit.

https://www.guitarfetish.com/XGP-Floyd-Rose-Routed-Maple-22-Fret-Strat-Neck-Maple-Fingerboard-_p_47857.html

I also have never had a maple fretboard or light coloured wood fretboard so I kinda fancy the change.  However not essential.

[rnolan]

Hey RG, you'll also need to get the right FR for it, they come with different string spacings and also the saddle heights are for different radius boards. 

E.g. I installed a sunken Schaller FR on my Tele, I copied the routing from my Anderson, the saddle width and nut width were fine but the Tele's radius is probably 8" or 9".  So I had to buy some shims to go under the saddles.  Also the sustain block was too deep and poked out the back (designed for top mount not sunken), so I bought a shallower brass sustain block to fix that.  So careful FR selection will save you grief. 

Re maple FBds, they get quite slippery when you sweat under lights etc. so while they look nice, maybe that's not what you want?  Also unfinished FBds resist you a little, which I prefer.  So I'd go for this one https://www.guitarfetish.com/XGP-Floyd-Rose-Routed-Maple-22-Fret-Strat-Neck-Pau-Ferro-Fingerboard-_p_47858.html My Anderson has a Pau Ferro FBd which I really like, Rosewood FBds suck tone a bit (which is why Leo Fender used a really thin (almost) veneer of Rosewood and curved the maple underneath.   

You'll also likely need a peg hole reamer https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/tools-by-job/tools-for-tuner-installation/peghole-reamers as most decent machine heads are 10mm not 9mm like Kluson style.  I use a small hand drill to drill the machine head screw holes similar to https://www.bunnings.com.au/craftright-8mm-chuck-drill-hand_p5610142 so you can control the hole.  You need to pre-drill the MH screw holes and you need to over drill them by using a ever so slightly larger drill bit (1/64th bigger than the screw, IIRC I used a 5/64th bit for 1/16th screw.  Otherwise you risk snapping the head off the screws, they break off really easily (learn't that the hard way and don't over tighten them).  Also you set the depth with a bit of masking tape around the drill bit.  Similar approach is required for other screw holes e.g. scratch plate/jack plate screws etc. 

You'll also need to pre-drill the neck screw holes and not go too deep, also best done slowly with a hand drill. 

Anyway enough crap from me, looks like an exciting project 

[rabidgerry]

Hey RG, you'll also need to get the right FR for it, they come with different string spacings and also the saddle heights are for different radius boards. 

E.g. I installed a sunken Schaller FR on my Tele, I copied the routing from my Anderson, the saddle width and nut width were fine but the Tele's radius is probably 8" or 9".  So I had to buy some shims to go under the saddles.  Also the sustain block was too deep and poked out the back (designed for top mount not sunken), so I bought a shallower brass sustain block to fix that.  So careful FR selection will save you grief. 

I personally didn't know they had different radius, I thought a standard floyd was a standard floyd?  I know there are other versions like 7 string and lo pro and others but I'm aiming for the original spec here as that will be most common to find.  So I know that body is routed to a accommodate a standard floyd.  And since I'm after a 12" radius (seems most likely what I will end up with) I thought the standard Floyd's saddles were also to the same radius??  Having just breezed on their site I see  there is a new version to me called the hot rod which seems pretty much the same but with slightly narrow string spacing.

Re maple FBds, they get quite slippery when you sweat under lights etc. so while they look nice, maybe that's not what you want?  Also unfinished FBds resist you a little, which I prefer.  So I'd go for this one https://www.guitarfetish.com/XGP-Floyd-Rose-Routed-Maple-22-Fret-Strat-Neck-Pau-Ferro-Fingerboard-_p_47858.html My Anderson has a Pau Ferro FBd which I really like, Rosewood FBds suck tone a bit (which is why Leo Fender used a really thin (almost) veneer of Rosewood and curved the maple underneath.   

Hmm this is something to think about.  I like Elixir strings for the slippery effect I get from them when I start to sweat, but sometimes it can be a little too much as my hands to perspire excessively when I am warm due to a circulation condition called Raynaud's syndrome.  Anyways I still enjoy the slickness, I even use string glide to start me off before I break a sweat.  Plus winter time there aint much sweating going on at practice.

Never heard of Pau Fero before.  I ignorantly would have just thought that was Rosewood also, so you learn something new everyday.  I might have a think about this a little more, perhaps super slippery will be too much.

You'll also likely need a peg hole reamer https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/tools-by-job/tools-for-tuner-installation/peghole-reamers as most decent machine heads are 10mm not 9mm like Kluson style.  I use a small hand drill to drill the machine head screw holes similar to https://www.bunnings.com.au/craftright-8mm-chuck-drill-hand_p5610142 so you can control the hole.  You need to pre-drill the MH screw holes and you need to over drill them by using a ever so slightly larger drill bit (1/64th bigger than the screw, IIRC I used a 5/64th bit for 1/16th screw.  Otherwise you risk snapping the head off the screws, they break off really easily (learn't that the hard way and don't over tighten them).  Also you set the depth with a bit of masking tape around the drill bit.  Similar approach is required for other screw holes e.g. scratch plate/jack plate screws etc. 


You'll also need to pre-drill the neck screw holes and not go too deep, also best done slowly with a hand drill. 

Anyway enough crap from me, looks like an exciting project 

For this I'd either get Kluson locking tuners which do the 9mm ok or else I'd ream them out a little larger as you suggest.

[rnolan]

Hey RG, A standard FR is for a relatively flat radius FBd, so 12" radius is probably fine.  But I suspect you will need narrower string spacing for a vintage neck.  So neck width at 12th fret sets string spacing required i.e. Centre of E1st saddle to Center of E6th saddle = width at 12th fret, too wide and the strings go off the side of the FBd (been there before  ).  I suspect a "standard" FR is wider spacing for non-vintage necks which are wider.  They should come in either wide or narrow.  The Guitar Fetish site doesn't detail the 12th fret width, just the nut width (42 mm or 1 5/8") and the neck depth (thickness) at 1st and 22nd frets.  So you'll need to find out the 12th fret width as that will define the saddle width required (centre to centre of E1&E6). 

Hey I don't hate maple necks, I played one for many years, but I did an outside gig at the Wagga AFL club in 45 deg C heat (not unusual in Oz LoL) under a tin awning and it was so slippery. Pau Ferro is a hardwood and probably the best pick for FBds IMHO.  Not as slippery as ebony, which is very fine grained (as is maple).  But maple boards have to be lacquered and they are very slippery when you sweat (slippery when wet  ::) ). 

Locking tuners are overkill (useless (almost)) with FR as you have a lock nut.  A nice set of black (are you going black with the red body??) gotohs, or even the black chrome they do may be more cost effective.  Also a dark FBd will work better with black I reckon. 

Anyway lots of fun to be had putting it together. 

Check out this link https://www.stewmac.com/kits-and-projects/instrument-kits/electric-guitar-kits/offset-trem-electric-guitar-kit for $200US, and a bit of painting (they also have easy to use aerosols for that) may be an easier project to get into? And then you'd have a guitar with P90's which I suspect you'd enjoy.

[rabidgerry]

Locking tuners are overkill (useless (almost)) with FR as you have a lock nut.  A nice set of black (are you going black with the red body??) gotohs, or even the black chrome they do may be more cost effective.  Also a dark FBd will work better with black I reckon. 

Believe it or not that was a slip of the typing.  I bought Kluson locking tuners for my Flying V the other week you see and they didn't fit and I had to return them so I have Kluson Locking tuners on my brain at the moment.  I just meant Kluson Tuners.  Gotohs may also be an option to.  Non locking are actually a nice enough price.

BTW not even sure about that neck from GF.  That's just an example.  This is why I am on here asking if anyone else can recommend anywhere for necks.  The GF one I am not so keen on the head stock to be perfectly honest.

Not seeing a lot of places with the locking nut cut and holes drilled in the neck so seems slim picking for the things I am after unless I do it from scratch which I can't do as I don't have the tools and don't want to buy them just for one guitar and never be used again.

[Harley Hexxe]

Hey Gerry,

  I just read over this thread, and I see your dilemma. The neck you posted should work just fine for your project, and it shouldn't be an issue with the Floyd either, the only thing you need to pay attention to as far as the Floyd goes, is the nut width. I think they have two different widths the last time I looked at them, so you'll want one as close to your neck as possible. It seems to have the correct dimensions for the body you are looking at.

Gotoh makes vintage retrofit locking tuners that will drop into your vintage guitars without the need for reaming. I have a set of those on my '57 RI Stratocaster. They look like OEM equipment, until you look closely.

As a matter of personal preference, I don't care for Pao Ferro. It feels dry and coarse to me, kind of like someone took an old plank of wood off the side of a dilapidated shack and made a fretboard out of it. My Bass guitar has that on it, and I hate it. It's the first and last Pao Ferro guitar I will ever own. But you might like it. I would suggest you go to a shop and try a guitar out with a neck like that and see what you think.

Here is something you'll need to consider when building a guitar, the way you are going about it. Even if all the parts come together for a good fit, especially with a new neck like this one, you'll still need to adjust neck angle with the pocket, and almost certainly, you'll need to dress the frets before it's comfortable to play. Drilling screw holes is not a big deal. as Richard mentioned, you just need to make careful measurements, and apply tape on the drill bit to make sure you don't drill too deep. (Take into consideration the neck plate and the thickness of the heel and the length of the screw to know if how deep to drill the pilot holes). Even if you order a high priced neck from a company like Warmoth for example, you'll still have to do a set up and fret dress. Warmoth also pre-drills the neck holes however, they do that to vintage Fender specs as far as the hole locations go, so will that match up with the holes on a body made by another company?
Ask yourself this question: After you put this project together and you start playing it, how often do you look at the headstock of your guitars when you play them? Do you even think about it? I don't.
Oh yes, I almost forgot, when you do go to mount your Floyd nut on the guitar, you may have to shim or file the nut slot slightly, depending on how high you want your action. With a Floyd, I've found that the action needs to be slightly higher than it would be with a vintage tremolo. It's not an uncomfortable setting but it needs to allow for the extreme pull-ups or dive bombs. Tall frets work great for that setup, but vintage frets will work too, You just might lose a little of the natural sustain with vintage frets. My Beastie looking guitar has those skinny frets, and it doesn't seem to have quite as much natural sustain as my other guitars, but that could be because of the fur I've glued to the body of it. I compensate for that with a more aggressive vibrato with my left hand.
I would guess the most tedious part of a project like this would be the fret dressing. It's tedious and takes a little time to do properly, but when it's done right, it feels great. I'm going to order the tools to do that from Stewmac, not because I'm going to build a guitar, (I might), but because the ones I have will eventually need to be treated to levelling and crowning after so many years of playing.
Enough of my ranting. I hope something I posted here is useful.

[Dante]

HI!! I'm here to muddy the waters a bit  :waving-banana-smiley-emoticon

I recently picked up a Squire Tele that (i was told) had a Fender neck....after I bought it, while changing the strings, I take the neck off....it's a Guitar Fetish XGP rock maple neck.

Here's the deal though...no shims at all, and it plays really really nice (part of the reason I just bought it after playing it). I did put some locking tuners on it...nice guitar

[rnolan]

Hey RG, I see what you mean about the peg head, they have slightly changed it (it seems) to avoid copyright issues with fender which is unfortunate as it doesn't look great/quite right.  The upside is, as you say, it's pre-routed for the FR looking nut. And also they say it will fit the body you are considering.  It shouldn't need neck shims for a sunken FR as they don't require any neck angle.  This is more an issue setting up standard strat trems so they trem both up and down (an art that Harley has mastered).  Setting the lock nut height (or nut heights in general) is about getting the clearance over the 1st fret just right for the open position.  Normally you press down the string on the 2nd fret and check the clearance over the first fret, how much clearance is a personal preference, but rule of thumb is it just needs to clear it by a poofteanth, i.e. you should see daylight but not much, maybe 1/64th" max or 1/128th" better.  I see the original FR string spacing is 0.420", I suspect you'd need the narrower German FR which is 0.400 (for a 2 1/16" 12th fret width (vintage) neck) but depends how wide the neck you get is (at 12th fret). 

@Harley, you must have a not very nice bit of Pau Ferro  , the Pau Ferro FB on my Anderson is beautiful

[Harley Hexxe]

@Richard,

    I wouldn't say I've mastered the floating tremolos on my Strats, but I have managed to figure out ways to get them to stay in tune with better than average stability. I insist on floating trems though.
   On that subject, I did manage to make the bridge on my Elite Strat float, but man, was that ever tricky as hell. Very tiny adjustments on the tension set screw in the bridge or it takes off like a bat outta hell. And now that I've gone through all that fuss to get it that way, I'm kind of on the fence about setting back to the way it was designed to be...decked against the body. Although it's cool when you have it going through a good amp and it starts to feedback and you just gently add that trem warble to it/

   I find floating the tremolo much more finicky with FR trems because you have to have everything in precise balance. I have been considering tremsetters for mine.

   I'll admit the fretboard on my bass isn't my favorite feature, and I may take it to a local luthier to see if he can do anything with it, otherwise, I'll swap the neck out for one with a rosewood fretboard. I may swap out the black 3 ply pickguard for a tortoise shell one if I can find it for my model P-Bass. Against the white body, that ought to look pretty good, kind of like my Seafoam Green Strat, just no gold hardware.

[rnolan]

Hey Harley, with the sunken FR I set them perfectly level (parallel) with the body (with the action I want (i.e. as low as possible) they end up ~1/64" higher than the body but parallel to the top (i.e. flat)).  The only mod I made to the Anderson was to add a Hipshot Tremsetter, works really well but does increase the trem action slightly (but you get used to that really quickly).  Very much improves bends and also returning to pitch.  I run 3 springs, 2 on the bass side, 1 on treb and Tremsetter in the centre.  And I always use the same strings (DR 10-46 tight wounds) so once set they never need adjusting (I've set up my Tele the same, only difference is it's got a Schaller FR and I had to put in some FR saddle shims to match the 9" radius).  The Tremsetter destructions are easy to follow, so you set it up with 3 springs, get the bridge just right, and then add (and adjust) the Tremsetter.

With your Pau Ferro FB, maybe try dressing with 600 then 800 then 1200 paper and then give it a really good drink of FB oil, as I said, the Pau Ferro FB on my Anderson is fantastic (and has been since 1987). I do keep it well oiled and dress it (with 1200) very occasionality.

[rabidgerry]

I see the original FR string spacing is 0.420", I suspect you'd need the narrower German FR which is 0.400 (for a 2 1/16" 12th fret width (vintage) neck) but depends how wide the neck you get is (at 12th fret). 

I have never heard of this before, I thought all original FR's where made in Germany and the only ones that are made in Korea are the FR 1000 series which are identical (same material) to the original only made in Korea.  The the FR special is the same only with Alloy saddles and block.

***edit***
When I am talking about FR by the way I mean the original series, so no other model although I see the Pro is a narrower spacing but way more expensive

HI!! I'm here to muddy the waters a bit  :waving-banana-smiley-emoticon

I recently picked up a Squire Tele that (i was told) had a Fender neck....after I bought it, while changing the strings, I take the neck off....it's a Guitar Fetish XGP rock maple neck.

Here's the deal though...no shims at all, and it plays really really nice (part of the reason I just bought it after playing it). I did put some locking tuners on it...nice guitar

It's good to know someone has first hand experience with this brands necks so thanks for that 

Hey Gerry,

  I just read over this thread, and I see your dilemma. The neck you posted should work just fine for your project, and it shouldn't be an issue with the Floyd either, the only thing you need to pay attention to as far as the Floyd goes, is the nut width. I think they have two different widths the last time I looked at them, so you'll want one as close to your neck as possible. It seems to have the correct dimensions for the body you are looking at.

Gotoh makes vintage retrofit locking tuners that will drop into your vintage guitars without the need for reaming. I have a set of those on my '57 RI Stratocaster. They look like OEM equipment, until you look closely.

I believe the neck I was looking at is for a 42mm floyd locking nut.  But I'm well versed in that areas having had much research into finding  more uncommon R1 which is just under 40mm.  Here is a chart https://www.wdmusic.com/media/floyd_rose_chart.html.

Alas Gotoh's locking tuners do not come in Chrome but in Nickle instead, so for my Flying V I cannot fit them without them looking out of place compared with the rest of the chrome hardware.  Yeah I know I'm very particular.

As a matter of personal preference, I don't care for Pao Ferro.

Yeah I don't think I really like the look of it myself.

you'll still need to adjust neck angle with the pocket, and almost certainly, you'll need to dress the frets before it's comfortable to play. Drilling screw holes is not a big deal. as Richard mentioned, you just need to make careful measurements, and apply tape on the drill bit to make sure you don't drill too deep.

I'll need to adjust the neck angle?  How come?  I anticipated needing to have the frets dressed, but I wouldn't do this myself.  I don't have the skills.  For the drilling I don't have a drill to do this properly.  I wouldn't risk it with cordless hand drill type for domestic stuff I'd need one of those drills that you pull down with a wheel or lever and drills perfectly straight.

Ask yourself this question: After you put this project together and you start playing it, how often do you look at the headstock of your guitars when you play them? Do you even think about it? I don't.

Well put it this way, I'm aiming to make a guitar to cater for my tastes both cosmetically and playability so it does matter about the headstock, I am very fussy  ;D.  Still not saying no as it's only minor and I am pretty sure the neck is designed to fit that body that I like.  So those are positives.

[Harley Hexxe]

@Richard,

  When I had my old 70s Ibanez modified for the FR, I did have to shim the neck a little bit as it was leaving the action a bit too high, but that was just that particular guitar, and yes, the trem is sunk into the body. It's probably due to assembly line production methods at the time.

   As for the Bass, I'll take it into a luthier anyway for a complete set up. It's still basically a brand new guitar, although it isn't bad right out of the box. It's the same with the 2016 CG-1 Strat I bought when they were discontinued. Still not set up or dressed, and the frets on that guitar suck out loud. I just won't take that in until I've put in a set of Zexcoil pickups and a Vega-trem, and get a LSR nut, and locking tuners for it. I take all my guitars that are brand new in for a professional setup at first, then I maintain them after that. That's because I don't have the tools to do all that myself. Considering how many guitars I do have, I should probably invest in them so I could do that moving forward.

@Gerry,

  Okay, I forgot that is a Tokai V, not a Gibson. I'm sure someone makes tuners that will fit that, but I'm not sure who.

[rnolan]

Hey RG, I discovered narrower string spacings many years ago when I wanted brass saddles for my MIJ Anson Strat.  I bought a strat bridge (mighty might?) with brass saddles and installed it only to find the E1st & E6th were off the side of the FBd  . So I filed all the brass saddles to fit on the original (narrower) bridge to make it work.  Also, many years later I got the Squire "Bullet" strat, it also has narrow spacing so I replaced the (very crappy bridge) with a Wilkinson (nice bridge, only $40 AUD) but this time I got the right one (width).  When I did the Anson strat there was very little replacement parts choice available, no internet or anything back then.  And things were further complicated back then because the MIJ guitars were all sightly different dimensions to the US fender guitars they were copying for copyright reasons and they measured in mm not inches. So replacement PUs wouldn't fit etc.  Harley may be able to tell us but I think "vintage" necks are narrower, hence I brought it up.  And yes, FR made narrower string spacings for these guitars, though I note the one I was looking at on the FR site is discontinued  . The XGP necks don't quote 12th fret width, which is what sets the bridge and saddle (string spacing) requirement, they just say they are vintage.  But they do quote the FB radius at 12" (not vintage?).  My understanding (Harley chime in here) is early (vintage) fenders were 8 1/2" - 9" radius, as is my MIJ Profile Silhouette Tele, so I had to use FR saddle shims to match it on the Schaller FR I installed.  And then there's the neck profile rabbit hole C, D, V shapes, thin, medium, thick.  Very early fender necks were thin I think, again "vintage" ??.  I've seen Fender necks for sale here in one music shop, also Stewmac has them from time to time, but they are expensive and typically only 21 frets.  Stewmac has Mighty Might licensed necks so the peg heads are the correct fender shape, maybe Mighty Mite do one that's pre-routed for FR  . 

Anderson had to change their peg head shape because of (I assume) licensing issues.  My Anderson pro am's peg head is somewhere between a L series strat and tele shape, quite nice actually.  It was one of his first builds (1987).  Anderson peg heads now are more similar to an Ibenez shape (pointy) which I'm not fond of (on a super strat), fine on an Ibenez. 

Anyway I bring all this up so you can make an informed purchase and not accidentality fall into some of the traps I did along the way.