Look, I have a new strat. (pics, of course)

[MikeS]

Sort of. Bought the body off Xeromus a few months ago, collected a few parts along the way, and the last few parts arrived yesterday:

More pics here

Body - One piece mahogany body (routed for H-S-H under the guard), recessed Wilkinson VS100N, Alpine White finish, silver/blue shell pickguard

Electronics - Crazy 8 and Cool Rails. The toggle works just like a Les Paul, master volume, master tone, and the mini toggle is an on/off/on that splits both pickups. In theory I have 9 positions (and yes, I know they don't have "screws" but think of that in terms relative to a typical humbucker):

Crazy 8 "stud" coil, Crazy 8 full, Crazy 8 "screw" coil
Both inner coils, both full, both outer coils (all neck/bridge combinations in parallel)
CRn "screw" coil, CRn full, CRn "stud" coil

Even though that's 9 positions there are really only 8 distinct tones because there's no audible difference between the two CRn coils. And while it is supposed to be an "inner/outer" scheme, dummy here mounted the CRn upside down :smack: However, since I can't hear a difference between the CRn coils, the fact that it's upside down is really irrelevant.

Neck - I borrowed the neck from my Highway 1 until I can get a hold of another neck. The neck was/is only meant to be temporary, as I liked it on my Highway 1 but thought it might be too stiff for what I wanted for this project. Man, was I wrong. The floating Wilkinson helps loosen up the guitar, and it actually plays incredibly well on this guitar. The specs I thought I wanted for a new neck flew out the window, and I may just look for a used Fender neck like the one I've got now.

Anyway... I talk (type) too much. Enjoy the pics.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Look, I have a new strat. (pics, of course)

love the guard on the white with maple neck! very nice!

 

[scottish]

Re: Look, I have a new strat. (pics, of course)

sexy time!!! lol, i love that pickguard...where did you pick it up?

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Look, I have a new strat. (pics, of course)

Hmmm... Where did you get that pickguard again?

I gotta say, it looks better on your frankenstrat than on my rusty ole Carvin. Wanna trade?

 

[MikeS]

Re: Look, I have a new strat. (pics, of course)

Thanks guys!

Scottish, the pickguard is from Warmoth. The website lists it as "silver shell," but when you call them they get confused, because they call it "silver-blue shell." Seems trivial, but it almost landed me a silver pearl, and it extended a call to Washington by 5 minutes.

I never liked that guard as displayed on Warmoth's website, but when I saw Scott's Carvin it changed my mind. I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

Scott, if you're ever up this way again you're more than welcome to play it, though I'm not sure a trade is gonna take place.



I need to spend some work time on it tonight and set it up properly. I managed to get the action almost perfect in about 2 minutes by just adjusting the posts last night, but the 2-5 saddles could come up just a wee bit. What's freaky is that the intonation settings that Xeromus had dialed in on the saddles are almost dead on with this neck and these strings... close enough that it didn't bother me last night. Then there's the minor detail that the tone control doesn't work... not sure why that is... I finished soldering at 1AM, so I should be lucky that it even makes noise in the first place. Ha!

I need to spend some more time with it, but my first impression is that this is a nice guitar... premature to say it's my new #1, but very impressive out of the gate. The Crazy 8 hasn't "wowed" me yet in this guitar, but I think it may be a bit too close to the strings.

More to come later as I play it more... between getting this together and meeting George Lynch yesterday, I'm in a fantastic mood. A little tired, but floored nonetheless.

 

[DazH]

Re: Look, I have a new strat. (pics, of course)

Cool pickguard man, very funky.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Look, I have a new strat. (pics, of course)

Sweet strat!!

 

[phil_104]

Re: Look, I have a new strat. (pics, of course)

Pimping guitar man. Now I want me one of those guards for my black strat.

 

[tone?]

Re: Look, I have a new strat. (pics, of course)

how heavy is it considering its mahogany??

how does it sound with that combo? compared to your other more traditional guitars?

 

[Hoss]

Re: Look, I have a new strat. (pics, of course)

that's awesome bro!!!










NEW STUFF ROCKS!!! :headbang:

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Look, I have a new strat. (pics, of course)

Cmon man! I give ya fiddy dollas yo!

 

[MikeS]

Re: Look, I have a new strat. (pics, of course)

Thanks again, bros.

tone? - the weight is noticably heavier than ash or alder strats, but it's not a back breaker. Without putting it on a scale I have no idea what it weighs.

I hesitate to make many comments on the tone until I can open it back up (ugh) and see what I did wrong with the tone pot. Though, it doesn't have the choked sound a tone pot on "0" has, so my first thought is that none of the highs are being passed to ground at all. I also need to fine tune the pickup heights. When I've done all that I'll get back to you. The real test will be this weekend when I get the chance to plug it in to my 50 watts of Marshall goodness.

 

[scottish]

Re: Look, I have a new strat. (pics, of course)

mike...you killed me with this post. thanks to you, i just ordered a white MIM 60th anniverary strat and a brown shell pickguard from warmoth :smack:

GAS is a terrible thing. now i really need to sell my tokai

 

[MikeS]

Re: Look, I have a new strat. (pics, of course)

Awesome! Be sure to post pics so you can pass the GAS to the next guy. I almost bought the brown shell. Should be cool!

This sucks. I'm at work, looking at pictures of my own guitar on the internet :smack: The hardest part for me is knowing that it's a five mile drive from my office. I want to go play it.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Look, I have a new strat. (pics, of course)

That looks great, Mike. I like the pickup config.

 

[heem6]

Re: Look, I have a new strat. (pics, of course)

THAT is a sweet guitar. I like the Lynch pickup config and the Wilkinson trem. Are you gonna put locking tuners on it?

 

[MikeS]

Re: Look, I have a new strat. (pics, of course)

That looks great, Mike. I like the pickup config.

THAT is a sweet guitar. I like the Lynch pickup config and the Wilkinson trem. Are you gonna put locking tuners on it?

Thanks! I really like this pickup configuration, too, and it's got me rethinking the pickup configuration in another project. The plan is to get a new neck for this one and put this neck back on my Highway 1. The new neck will have locking tuners and more than likely an LSR nut. I haven't decided on any other specs... I was going to do a short scale maple/ebony with a '59 roundback profile until I fit this Fender neck on it... given the playability of it now, I'm just as likely to buy a used Fender neck and be done with it.

 

[Richard]

Re: Look, I have a new strat. (pics, of course)

sweet

 

[blueslegend8]

Re: Look, I have a new strat. (pics, of course)

Thats a heck of a nice strat. But for some reason that pickguard really hurts my eyes. Don't get me wrong, that guard really makes the strat but it just has too much going on.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Look, I have a new strat. (pics, of course)

I love the Alpine White! So much better than the aged, yellow and Olympic whites.