Found a nice Mark Jenny Strat body...

Lewguitar

Lewguitar

New member
I've had the flame maple neck on this guitar a long time...it's beautiful and plays really well. And the Duncan Antiquitys sound great - as always. But the body on this guitar just isn't working out. It's an old StewMac alder body and vibrato rout is a little narrow for the Fender '62 Reissue vibrato to fit quite perfectly.

I'm gonna take the neck and all the parts off this guitar:



And put everything on this new guitar body that I just bought:





It's an aged, nitro finished, super light 3.2 lb Mark Jenny Swamp Ash body. $290. Best deal I could find on a newish body.

Got my fingers crossed!
 
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Re: Found a nice Mark Jenny Strat body...

Looks very nice Lew. I always liked Tobacco Sunbursts, and that Ash has some nice grain! Looks like a one piece.
 
Re: Found a nice Mark Jenny Strat body...

Looks awesome! Someone brilliant mentioned MJT in your other thread..........Hmmmmmm.......:wave:
 
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Re: Found a nice Mark Jenny Strat body...

metlking said:
Looks awesome! Someone brilliant mentioned MJT in your other thread..........Hmmmmmm.......:wave:
Click to expand...

Yep. Thanks for that. I've been looking for a few days, searching all of the specials on Warmoth's and USA Custom websites. Anything I could afford was not as pretty as I wanted, or the wrong color or heavier than I'd hoped for.

When I saw that super light, one piece Mark Jenny body on Ebay I could hardly believe it after seeing all of the prices for bodies not nearly as nice.

Thanks guys - all of you!
 
Re: Found a nice Mark Jenny Strat body...

That looks great Lew, I keep eyeing up some of his stuff and I'm getting the urge for a relic'd sonic blue Strat build and a NOS type '52 Tele.
 
Re: Found a nice Mark Jenny Strat body...

STRATDELUXER97 said:
Beauty Lew..Love the grain!
Click to expand...

Me too John! Just sold the old body a few minutes ago and the old vibrato.

And the new Callaham and the Raw Vintage Tremolo Springs just showed up in the mail.

The new body should be here early next week.

I've got nothing but time these days so I can't wait to put it all together. :)
 
Re: Found a nice Mark Jenny Strat body...

Lewguitar said:
Me too John! Just sold the old body a few minutes ago and the old vibrato.

And the new Callaham and the Raw Vintage Tremolo Springs just showed up in the mail.

The new body should be here early next week.

I've got nothing but time these days so I can't wait to put it all together. :)
Click to expand...

Nice Lew...Feeling good these days?
 
Re: Found a nice Mark Jenny Strat body...

Wow , the swamp ash looks awesome. I have an ash Telecaster and a Mexican Tele too , in Alder . There's a definite difference in tone between the two.
Good luck with the build. Would you know where I can find info on Strat "contemporary" models and parts ?
My buddy gave me a body that is missing the original
trem-system , Fender system 3 . The tremolo-bridge is built into the guitar and tension can be adjusted via a rod/block assembly . I have found photos but thats about all. For the moment it is modded with a Tele bridge but I would like to get it back to original .
 
Re: Found a nice Mark Jenny Strat body...

GEARHEAD8 said:
Wow , the swamp ash looks awesome. I have an ash Telecaster and a Mexican Tele too , in Alder . There's a definite difference in tone between the two.
Good luck with the build. Would you know where I can find info on Strat "contemporary" models and parts ?
My buddy gave me a body that is missing the original
trem-system , Fender system 3 . The tremolo-bridge is built into the guitar and tension can be adjusted via a rod/block assembly . I have found photos but thats about all. For the moment it is modded with a Tele bridge but I would like to get it back to original .
Click to expand...

Is that a Japanese guitar from Fender Japan? Boy - I know nothing about them!

Just took a quick look for you and found this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fender-1985...379?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item5d499b9c43

Just searched for "Fender Contemporary Stratocaster" on Ebay.
 
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Re: Found a nice Mark Jenny Strat body...

Lewguitar said:
Still in remission. That's something to feel good about. ;)

Been doing a lot of guitar repairs for the local guys and that's been very nice too. :)
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Nice....These days I play alot more and the goofy modding stuff has halted,though I did do some repairs to my Pro Reverb amp.Needed repairs! :wink:
 
Re: Found a nice Mark Jenny Strat body...

Looking forward to hearing how the ingredients of the recipe come together, and the 'flavour' of the results. The best we can ever do is use good quality parts that we think will work together in a good way, but wood being wood, ya never quite know what the end result is going to be. I'm sure this one will be good, but I do look forward to hearing in which direction the good-ness lays.
 
Re: Found a nice Mark Jenny Strat body...

crusty philtrum said:
Looking forward to hearing how the ingredients of the recipe come together, and the 'flavour' of the results. The best we can ever do is use good quality parts that we think will work together in a good way, but wood being wood, ya never quite know what the end result is going to be. I'm sure this one will be good, but I do look forward to hearing in which direction the good-ness lays.
Click to expand...

Until I started experimenting with the Angled Brass Claw from Killer Guitar Components I didn't realize that the rout for the tremolo block on this guitar was about 1/8" less wide than for a Fender USA Strat. Also, the springs were raised a little out of the rout. I thought it was the new brass claw but it the rout.

You can see how close the block is on the treble side of the rout and how close to the walls of the rout the springs are:



The Brass Claw was made perfectly and worked perfectly. Made setting up the floating vibrato a breeze. But my Fender USA vibrato was to tight and even rubbed sometimes.

So I pulled out the three Fender Japan tremolos I'd collected over the years and sure enough: although they looked exactly like my Fender USA unit, the blocks on all of them were 1/8" less wide. I never knew that!

I installed one and it fit perfectly - which meant I couldn't use the new Callaham I'd ordered for this guitar.

So I decided to sell the body with the MIJ Fender tremolo and look for a new body cut for a Fender USA tremolo.

The Callaham arrived yesterday and the new body should arrive in a few days and then I'll put it all back together.

Like I said: Got my fingers crossed. ;)
 
Re: Found a nice Mark Jenny Strat body...

I'll be interested to know how you like the change from alder to swamp ash in a strat with most other things being the same.
 
Re: Found a nice Mark Jenny Strat body...

Lake Placid Blues said:
I'll be interested to know how you like the change from alder to swamp ash in a strat with most other things being the same.
Click to expand...

You can bet I'll be posting about it as soon as it shows up and I get it put back together again. LOL!

Since I have the Antiquitys in a couple of Strats, I'm thinking of doing something different with this one.

Or not! :fingersx:

But I might put it together with a pair of Antiquity Surfers and a Fralin Steel Pole 43 for the bridge pickup.

I put my buddy Aj's Strat together with a pair of SSL-1's and a SP43 and I'm always impressed with that guitar.

The problem was getting them all in phase. But I did it with Aj's guitar and I'm sure I have enough pickups laying around that I can get it all worked out.
 
Re: Found a nice Mark Jenny Strat body...

Will be interesting to hear what you think of difference between the two woods. With the SP43 is he using Steal slugs that are magnetized or is there a mag on the bottom?
 
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