What KIND of wood would a woodchuck chuck?

[JacksonMIA]

It's finally about to get warm enough to start spraying my strat when I get home from work.

Unfortunately I got to thinking the other day.:smack: I'm going to fill up the trem cavity and make it a hardtail. Anyone ever done something along those lines before? I'm wondering if there would be enough wood there to matter what type I use or if I'll be ok regardless, as long as I stick to common tone woods.

And before everyone jumps on my case, don't forget I picked up the strat for $25. I'm NOT ruining it. I just want to experiment.

Anyone got any ideas? I'm comfortable with doing the woodworking. I'm just curious about wood types. It's an MIM strat, so I'm guessing it's probably poplar, but I'm not sure.

 

[darnright]

Re: What KIND of wood would a woodchuck chuck?

Yes, I have done that on 2 strat-style guitars. Both times I replaced the bridge with a TOM and stop tailpiece. I refinished the guitar and they both play great. Kinda' cool to look down while playing a strat and see these Gibson-ish parts hanging on there. One of them I actually took 2 Strat knockoffs, cut down one side of each and made a doubleneck...both six string. One with H-s-s and one all singles. (one with HB's has the trem, the other has the TOM) A little rough looking, but a fun project.

-dave

 

[JacksonMIA]

Re: What KIND of wood would a woodchuck chuck?

Yes, I have done that on 2 strat-style guitars. Both times I replaced the bridge with a TOM and stop tailpiece. I refinished the guitar and they both play great. Kinda' cool to look down while playing a strat and see these Gibson-ish parts hanging on there. One of them I actually took 2 Strat knockoffs, cut down one side of each and made a doubleneck...both six string. One with H-s-s and one all singles. (one with HB's has the trem, the other has the TOM) A little rough looking, but a fun project.

-dave

Cool! Got any pictures?

Did you try to stick to the same wood as the rest of the body?

 

[darnright]

Re: What KIND of wood would a woodchuck chuck?

Cool! Got any pictures?

Did you try to stick to the same wood as the rest of the body?

I can get pics, but I haven't ever figured out how to post them....As far as wood, went, I just went with a good dry wood..whatever scrap I had... that small amount isn't going to matter much, plus I glued it in so it couldn't vibrate even during an earthquake.....

-dave

 

[Richard]

Re: What KIND of wood would a woodchuck chuck?

I can get pics, but I haven't ever figured out how to post them....As far as wood, went, I just went with a good dry wood..whatever scrap I had... that small amount isn't going to matter much, plus I glued it in so it couldn't vibrate even during an earthquake.....

-dave

click this

when you post and add the pics url

 

[scottish]

Re: What KIND of wood would a woodchuck chuck?

just out of curiosity, is there any reason why you want specifically a hard tail as opposed to slapping a trem on it and blocking it? Im not saying you shouldnt experiment, im just curious.

 

[JacksonMIA]

Re: What KIND of wood would a woodchuck chuck?

just out of curiosity, is there any reason why you want specifically a hard tail as opposed to slapping a trem on it and blocking it? Im not saying you shouldnt experiment, im just curious.

Not particularly. I got the idea when I was thinking about whether or not I would have room for the batteries if I put my livewires in the strat. I thought about just blocking of part of the trem cavity (I'd still have to make it a hardtail) and leaving part of it open to put the batteries in the back. After looking at it again I'll have room for the batteries, so I thought I'd just block the whole thing off.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: What KIND of wood would a woodchuck chuck?

i have 2 bashed up strats i'm going to fill in the trem areas with wood and make them hardtails.... one is a 1987 Plywood kramer Striker... and another one is a parts guitar that has been abused greatly... the parts guitar is basswood so i'll use basswood to fill it in... i'll most likely use basswwod on the Kramer too.. The Kramer is a real wreck... i was going to just get it working so i could stick it in my locker at work and strum it a bit on lunch breaks...

 

[LesStrat]

Re: What KIND of wood would a woodchuck chuck?

I should figure out how to block the trem on LesStrat. Then again, I don't play him that often, and he stays in tune.

 

[JacksonMIA]

Re: What KIND of wood would a woodchuck chuck?

i have 2 bashed up strats i'm going to fill in the trem areas with wood and make them hardtails.... one is a 1987 Plywood kramer Striker... and another one is a parts guitar that has been abused greatly... the parts guitar is basswood so i'll use basswood to fill it in... i'll most likely use basswwod on the Kramer too.. The Kramer is a real wreck... i was going to just get it working so i could stick it in my locker at work and strum it a bit on lunch breaks...

I'd like to have one I can play at work, too. I've started going for walks at lunch, so I probably shouldn't interfere with that, but on the days it's raining it would be nice to have something to break the monotony.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: What KIND of wood would a woodchuck chuck?

I'd like to have one I can play at work, too. I've started going for walks at lunch, so I probably shouldn't interfere with that, but on the days it's raining it would be nice to have something to break the monotony.

ya i have lots of small practice amps, a few old Multi FX's, and a bunch of guitars sitting in the closet that i do not use... so i was thinking of taking one of the rougher ones to work and just leaving it there with some small amps i don't use at home...

the other option was i was thinking of making a small travel guitar body and stick one of my many spare necks on it... i have ton's of necks... i just made a deal to get some more cheap Strat necks... w/tuners as well... Ultra cheap price as well... i have tons of cheap hardware and various PU's to the point if i had some bodies i could stick some axes together... i could monkey many together if given a chance...

 

[Sanford]

Re: What KIND of wood would a woodchuck chuck?

I should figure out how to block the trem on LesStrat. Then again, I don't play him that often, and he stays in tune.

Back in high school, a buddy and I decided that blocked trem was the way to go on a strat. He cut and sanded a piece of wood and made it fit behind the trem block and it worked great. Sounded good. I used an eraser (one of those big rectangular block types that usually come in pink or green...mine was pink). I wedged it in with no modifications to the eraser and it also worked fine, the guitar sounded good as well. Both of us left the spring assemblies in place. Eventually I took the eraser out and was back in action with the trem working as intended, I believe my buddy left his in place.