Gibson Owner - I may make a Strat

Wonker

Wonker

New member
Ok Gibson or Gibson style guitar players that own and play Fender or Fender Strat style guitars I need all the input I can get as to if I’m making the right decision or not.

I was given an American Standard Strat neck the other day and I don’t know what to do with it. I’m thinking about making a Strat with a custom body from Warmoth.

I have three issues with Strats that I’m hoping a custom build will take care of.

1) I don’t like the bridge/tremolo on them I think it gives them a weak & springy tone.

2) I don’t like the pickup configuration

3) I don’t like the weight of Strats. (I know they are not that heavy but I’ve got a very bad left shoulder from getting hurt in the Military. So my guitars have to be light weight.)

So I think a hardtail would fix issue #1 I’ve liked the hardtails I’ve played in the past. For issue #2 I think the Universal pickup rout fixes that perfect.
And for issue #3 I’m hoping that the chambered body will help take care of some of the weight.

Here are the specs for the possible build. (And the finish color isn’t changing at all so don’t even suggest anything different. :p )

Model: STANDARD STRATOCASTER®
Scale: 25-1/2 IN.
Chambered: YES
Orientation: RIGHT HANDED

Wood
Core: MAHOGANY
Front Laminate: MAHOGANY

Control Cavity: TOP ROUT
Pickup Rout: UNIVERSAL
Control Routing: NONE
Bridge Type: HARDTAIL
Bridge Rout: FENDER® AMERICAN STANDARD FLAT MOUNT
Jack Rout: STRAT® TOP JACK ROUT
Mounting Holes: STANDARD 4 BOLT

Contours:
CONTOURED HEEL
FOREARM CONTOUR
TUMMY CUT

Finish: SILVER FLAKE

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Discuss away! :D
 
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Re: Gibson Owner - I may make a Strat

For #2, if you know you want humbuckers or at least a humbucker and 2 singles or 2 humbuckers and a single in the middle, go with the HSH route rather than the universal. Even chambered, the mahogany body can still be quite heavy but you can request a light piece to start with.

I think what you are doing is a great idea. I've gone one frankenstrat and will have another some time next year.
 
Re: Gibson Owner - I may make a Strat

Does seem odd to talk about needing light weight than spec for mahogany. Did you maybe mean you don't like the weight of Les Pauls? Something seems garbled here.
 
Re: Gibson Owner - I may make a Strat

I just bought a Strat, I feel dirty.......

Seems like a good plan.
 
Re: Gibson Owner - I may make a Strat

I'm a 50/50 Gibson/Strat user. I've rarely found superstrats to be a proper bridge between the two designs, until I tried an HS with nothing but a 3 way switch and 250K volume. Once you figure out your favorite pickup combo for it, you've got the Fender feel without the 5 way switch and middle pickup.

There's really something to be said for the HS 3 way/volume combo. Plus, it's one of the easiest to wire up.

Mine has a Custom 5/59 hybrid and currently a Hot Rails neck. I also love traditional SSS strats, but this one is my favorite bridge between Gib/Fender.
SilverburstHS2.jpg
 
Re: Gibson Owner - I may make a Strat

If you're thinking of going superstrat, Jolly and I would both probably recommend the new Charvel So Cals . . . It'll be a lot cheaper than custom making a new guitar, and if it turns out you don't like it you won't get hosed on resale. The only thing that you're really giving up is the Mahogany body (it's routed for HSH under the guard) and contoured heel.

charvel-so-cal-purp.jpg



If the trem is worrying you, just add another couple springs and block it. It'll feel pretty much the same as a hard tail. Then you always have the option of unblocking it and using it later if you feel the urge . . . plus, you get the added benefit of NEVER going out of tune when you bend a note, or play really hard.
 
Re: Gibson Owner - I may make a Strat

uOpt said:
Down this path lies doom...
Click to expand...

Why?

Despair said:
Does seem odd to talk about needing light weight than spec for mahogany. Did you maybe mean you don't like the weight of Les Pauls? Something seems garbled here.
Click to expand...

It's not odd. I like mahogany bodied guitars I just need the lightest mahogany body I can get. That's why I liked the Idea of a chambered body. The 3 V's I own are all mahogany and all come in at a round 5 lbs.

Gearjoneser said:
Once you figure out your favorite pickup combo for it, you've got the Fender feel without the 5 way switch and middle pickup.
Click to expand...

I 95% sure I'm going with just a bridge humbucker and 500K volume pot like on my V's

GuitarStv said:
If the trem is worrying you, just add another couple springs and block it. It'll feel pretty much the same as a hard tail. Then you always have the option of unblocking it and using it later if you feel the urge . . . plus, you get the added benefit of NEVER going out of tune when you bend a note, or play really hard.
Click to expand...

The trem is one factor the other is that I have a neck already.

But I'm very open to ideas.
 
Re: Gibson Owner - I may make a Strat

Wonker said:
I have three issues with Strats that I’m hoping a custom build will take care of.

1) I don’t like the bridge/tremolo on them I think it gives them a weak & springy tone.

2) I don’t like the pickup configuration

3) I don’t like the weight of Strats. (I know they are not that heavy but I’ve got a very bad left shoulder from getting hurt in the Military. So my guitars have to be light weight.)
Click to expand...

Well, we see eye-to-eye on this. So why bother with a Strat?
 
Re: Gibson Owner - I may make a Strat

As a Gibson player who wants to love strats, its always the neck scale and radius on strats (and Fenders in general) that makes me go back to Gibsons. So the fact that your project revolves around a stock strat neck makes me think this is doomed to fail.

Mahogany? It will be heavy. Get extra light swamp ash, it will be much lighter, and sound much better on a strat.

I'm with you on the hard tail, I love them and they still sound strat to my ears (with the right wood).
 
Re: Gibson Owner - I may make a Strat

I really don't like this plan. It is an extremely theoretical guitar with way too many aspects picked out of the blue with no real indication how they play together.

I would expect that a hollow mahogany long scale string-through body would be so boomy that it sounds like a trashcan full of pickle glasses rolling down a flight of stairs.

And then you face all the randomness around Warmoth necks. Just the double truss rod can kill you.
 
Re: Gibson Owner - I may make a Strat

He has a neck already, as he stated in the OP.

A mahogany strat still sounds like a strat, just with some added lower mids. I've played a few built like that myself. It's good combination.

If you want to go lighter, request an extra light piece of ash or alder. No need to chamber those either.

I don't know where the issues with the double expanding truss-rod come in. I have a neck from them with one and it's anything but a tone killer. The guitar it's on is the best sounding guitar I own. I think the whole "it kills the tone" is a myth.
 
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Re: Gibson Owner - I may make a Strat

Mahogany will be too heavy. If you have shoulder problems go with ash. Its a lighter material & will actually sound a bit better.
 
Re: Gibson Owner - I may make a Strat

Don't go swimming pool, go HSH. That will give you better resale value too if you decide later to get rid of it.

Good luck finding a pickguard though, unless you don't mind there being some extra space around the bridge. The hardtail bridge is narrower than a standard Strat bridge.

If you want REALLY light weight, grab one of the GFS Paulownia bodies, and then install 5 springs on the bottom to lock the bridge down.
 
Re: Gibson Owner - I may make a Strat

I hate to say this, but it's just gonna end up soundin like a cheap Gibson, or worse, a PRS

Go out, find a strat you like and buy a wider strap or play sitting down
 
Re: Gibson Owner - I may make a Strat

Warmoth is pretty good with their custom service, IMO. Ask them for extremely light mahogany if that's what you really want. If I was making a hardtail strat, I'd also consider ash, basswood (which is light), or korina.

What kind of neck is it? All maple or maple/rswd?
 
Re: Gibson Owner - I may make a Strat

#2 Go H/H or H/S. The Swimming pool route will also help a bit on this issue.
#3 Go solid swamp ash. As lite a body as they have as SA varies from lite to medium weight. I like the sound of solid swamp ash better than chambered guitars of any wood for electric.

Is it a rosewood fingerboard?
 
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