Hello everyone... I'm on to my next project. This time I'm building a replica of the Fender Dave Murray Signature Stratocaster. For those who are not familiar, Dave is one of the lead guitarists for Iron Maiden. Back in the late 70's Dave bought a 1950's strat (which was formally owned by the lead guitarist for the band Free). Dave customized the strat with Dimarzio humbuckers for a H-S-H configuration. Here is a photo of the Fender Signature Strat that came out a few years ago:
I decided to build my guitar as a slight relic since it is based on a 50-year-old strat. Plus, finding older, beat-up components might be both easier and cheaper.
To start, I decided to look for a MIM strat or Japanese Squier. After about 3 weeks I found a pretty cool Korean-made Squier strat on Ebay. I was skeptical because I know many of the Korean strats were plywood, and also about 3/4 the thickness of a standard strat body. The strat was pretty "relic'd" which is a cool added bonus, but I couldn't tell how beat up it was from the photos in the listing. But, the strat was $150 shipped and had a few things in it's favor.
#1, it had Gotoh tuners and the tremolo had real Fender saddles. I was encouraged that perhaps the strat was of higher quality.
#2, it appeared to have a Dimarzio humbucker in the bridge. I didn't know what kind (or if it was even a Dimarzio) but it was cream with the hex-screws so I figured it probably was a Super Distortion.
With that, I took the plunge. In my next post I will show you the guitar (I got it today) and show you some of the stuff I found.
I decided to build my guitar as a slight relic since it is based on a 50-year-old strat. Plus, finding older, beat-up components might be both easier and cheaper.
To start, I decided to look for a MIM strat or Japanese Squier. After about 3 weeks I found a pretty cool Korean-made Squier strat on Ebay. I was skeptical because I know many of the Korean strats were plywood, and also about 3/4 the thickness of a standard strat body. The strat was pretty "relic'd" which is a cool added bonus, but I couldn't tell how beat up it was from the photos in the listing. But, the strat was $150 shipped and had a few things in it's favor.
#1, it had Gotoh tuners and the tremolo had real Fender saddles. I was encouraged that perhaps the strat was of higher quality.
#2, it appeared to have a Dimarzio humbucker in the bridge. I didn't know what kind (or if it was even a Dimarzio) but it was cream with the hex-screws so I figured it probably was a Super Distortion.
With that, I took the plunge. In my next post I will show you the guitar (I got it today) and show you some of the stuff I found.
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