Cdwillis
New member
I just finished putting together my parts guitar and wanted to share it.
The Warmoth neck is their modern construction with:
CBS strat headstock (obviously)
Warmoth standard thin neck profile
10-16 compound radius
6100 fretwire
Gotoh tuners
I gave it a few coats of Tru Oil and buffed it with 0000 steel wool between coats. I have a couple string trees, but I've held off on putting them on, hoping that I wouldn't need them and it would be one less point of friction to cause tuning issues.
Body is alder. It's a Mexican Fender standard strat. Originally it had a sunburst paintjob, but the previous owner stripped it. It's actually seven pieces of wood with a veneer over the front and back. Sounds good still and not too heavy. I've never refinished a guitar before so it's got some flaws. I used Duplicator Perfect Match brand acrylic lacquer from the auto parts store. There's a champagne pearl layer, then a black and olympic white under a couple thin clear coats. I experimented with different colors and didn't completely sand the body down. Already got a nick in a spot and a mark from the guitar stand since it isn't cure. Doh.
The trem is a standard fender six point with the larger block that they started using a few years ago.
I went with a Duncan Custom TB5 pickup. It sounds exactly like I hoped. It's got a lot of balls, but still responds well to picking dynamics. The volume pot is a 500k CTS and it's usable through the entire sweep. Whether that's the pot or the pickup, I'm not sure, but I like it. Tight enough to chug along with Metallica (if you've got the gain), but it can still do ACDC and Van Halen. Harmonics pop out easily.
Just throwing it together with no prior experience, it plays pretty well off the bat. I should probably take it to a pro to have him check the intonation, action, and fretwork. Still, I'm really stoked to have it all together right now. The only thing that slightly disappointing was that there is a gap in the neck pocket between the edge of the neck and the body. I have the body attached to a Squier neck for painting and it was snug as a bug in a rug. Not sure if it's an inconsistency with Warmoth or Fender. No biggie though as far as I'm concerned.
The Warmoth neck is their modern construction with:
CBS strat headstock (obviously)
Warmoth standard thin neck profile
10-16 compound radius
6100 fretwire
Gotoh tuners
I gave it a few coats of Tru Oil and buffed it with 0000 steel wool between coats. I have a couple string trees, but I've held off on putting them on, hoping that I wouldn't need them and it would be one less point of friction to cause tuning issues.
Body is alder. It's a Mexican Fender standard strat. Originally it had a sunburst paintjob, but the previous owner stripped it. It's actually seven pieces of wood with a veneer over the front and back. Sounds good still and not too heavy. I've never refinished a guitar before so it's got some flaws. I used Duplicator Perfect Match brand acrylic lacquer from the auto parts store. There's a champagne pearl layer, then a black and olympic white under a couple thin clear coats. I experimented with different colors and didn't completely sand the body down. Already got a nick in a spot and a mark from the guitar stand since it isn't cure. Doh.
The trem is a standard fender six point with the larger block that they started using a few years ago.
I went with a Duncan Custom TB5 pickup. It sounds exactly like I hoped. It's got a lot of balls, but still responds well to picking dynamics. The volume pot is a 500k CTS and it's usable through the entire sweep. Whether that's the pot or the pickup, I'm not sure, but I like it. Tight enough to chug along with Metallica (if you've got the gain), but it can still do ACDC and Van Halen. Harmonics pop out easily.
Just throwing it together with no prior experience, it plays pretty well off the bat. I should probably take it to a pro to have him check the intonation, action, and fretwork. Still, I'm really stoked to have it all together right now. The only thing that slightly disappointing was that there is a gap in the neck pocket between the edge of the neck and the body. I have the body attached to a Squier neck for painting and it was snug as a bug in a rug. Not sure if it's an inconsistency with Warmoth or Fender. No biggie though as far as I'm concerned.
