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I bought a completely stock white SE late last year from Guitar Center and had it delivered to my friend, Nic, in Massachusetts. Nic is not a luthier or a tech, but he works on his own guitars and those of his friends. I had seen a lot of his work and he volunteered to do everything for me for free on his downtime so I felt good about doing it this way.
The neck, body, string trees, neck plate and jack ferrule are the only things original about this guitar now. Here are the upgraded parts:
2007 Fender USA Wiring Harness (came with the stock Fender neck and middle pickups)
Seymour Duncan Red Devil bridge pickup
Switchcraft output jack
Fender Pure Vintage Tremolo Spring/Claw Kit
Modern MIM narrow spacing big block bridge
Fender American Standard trem cavity cover.
Proline Metal Dome Control Knobs
Gotoh Locking Tuners
Dunlop Straplocks
Graph Tech Tusq XL nut
Warmoth custom single ply, 8 hole pickguard
I also purchased the following products for this project:
ColorTone tinted (vintage amber) nitrocellulose lacquer
Music Nomad F-One fretboard oil
It took 3 months before Nic was ready to send the guitar back to me (remember that he was doing it on his downtime). I got it and then took it to my tech for the nut replacement and setup w/neck shim for low action..
The neck finish is just great...it's very smooth to the touch, but has a few places that make it look authentically aged (as seen in the photos below). You may or may not like it, but I freaking love it. It's a tiny little touch that I think is just superb. Nic also rolled the fretboard edges and applied two coats of fretboard oil.
This is a CSX, so it has the huge neck with lots of shoulder. It feels just like an old Gibson neck...it has that much shoulder. Measurements are .87" at the first fret and a full inch at the 12th fret.
Radius is 9.5" and the nut width is the vintage 42mm.
This guitar is a super cool combination of vintage and modern and I really can't say enough good things about it.
PICS from before the nut replacement and final setup (pardon the messy office...I originally took these photos for another friend and don't feel like doing it again now that my office is not messy):
Short iPHone VIDEO from after nut replacement and setup:
The neck, body, string trees, neck plate and jack ferrule are the only things original about this guitar now. Here are the upgraded parts:
2007 Fender USA Wiring Harness (came with the stock Fender neck and middle pickups)
Seymour Duncan Red Devil bridge pickup
Switchcraft output jack
Fender Pure Vintage Tremolo Spring/Claw Kit
Modern MIM narrow spacing big block bridge
Fender American Standard trem cavity cover.
Proline Metal Dome Control Knobs
Gotoh Locking Tuners
Dunlop Straplocks
Graph Tech Tusq XL nut
Warmoth custom single ply, 8 hole pickguard
I also purchased the following products for this project:
ColorTone tinted (vintage amber) nitrocellulose lacquer
Music Nomad F-One fretboard oil
It took 3 months before Nic was ready to send the guitar back to me (remember that he was doing it on his downtime). I got it and then took it to my tech for the nut replacement and setup w/neck shim for low action..
The neck finish is just great...it's very smooth to the touch, but has a few places that make it look authentically aged (as seen in the photos below). You may or may not like it, but I freaking love it. It's a tiny little touch that I think is just superb. Nic also rolled the fretboard edges and applied two coats of fretboard oil.
This is a CSX, so it has the huge neck with lots of shoulder. It feels just like an old Gibson neck...it has that much shoulder. Measurements are .87" at the first fret and a full inch at the 12th fret.
Radius is 9.5" and the nut width is the vintage 42mm.
This guitar is a super cool combination of vintage and modern and I really can't say enough good things about it.
PICS from before the nut replacement and final setup (pardon the messy office...I originally took these photos for another friend and don't feel like doing it again now that my office is not messy):
Short iPHone VIDEO from after nut replacement and setup:
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