what should I do with this strat body?

A

appar111

New member
This one has been decommissioned for a while since I've been getting more into my recent "rock jazzmaster" and, of course, my teles.

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It's about 3 3/4 pounds, and 1 piece swamp ash. Last time I had this together was with an Allparts SMO-C neck and I had tried some Dimarzio Injectors in it, as well as some other Dimarzio virtual vintage stuff. It also had some Fender Fat 50's pickups in it. Also had a Fast Track 2 in the bridge, and a Hot Rails. It was all just kinda "ehh...". Which is weird, as I love my tele and jazzmaster and both have single coils in it.

Right now I still have the nice gotoh full block bridge/trem system, and I have some nice tuners on the way, and a Duncan 59N and a couple SSS pickguards sitting around.

What direction do you all think I should go with this one? I don't want it to sound compressed, but I want the darned thing to sound lively. Should I go with lower output pickups like SSL1s or Fender CS69's? Maybe just a single bridge 'bucker, somethin' low output, direct mounted to the body? Floyd the sucker?

I keep feeling like what was holding it back from having some real bite and attack was the hotter pickups, just sort of sucked up all the attack that a swamp ash/maple combo would normally give you. That, and the neck wasn't a big one.

Any neck and/or pickup suggestions would be welcome-- thanks!
 
Re: what should I do with this strat body?

Yeah ! Either relic, or go ahead and sand it all off for a natural look ! :D
 
Re: what should I do with this strat body?

It's already about as reliced as it gets :)

It's just a thin coat of Duplicolor black acrylic lacquer on it right now, so 20 minutes with some acetone and a rag and I could get it back to natural.

Might be better than burning it (but not near as fun!)
 
Re: what should I do with this strat body?

Thats a worthy body. Strip that sucka down to natural wood, and Tung Oil it.
get yourself a good maple neck, like the Allparts.
I'm not great big on Ash Strats. Some people love em. They have more spank and are brighter than Alder.
Far as pickups, I think the overwound is for the 70's sound, but that wasn't swamp Ash, that was "boat anchor' Northern hard Ash.
That body really is a diamond in the rough, but i'd go 50's Strat all the way with low output singles. I have a warmoht Swamp Ash body like yours, and I put Duncan vintage singles in it , and true to form, it has that spanky almost Tele like sound. Again, not my favorite, but a real classic.
Then again, that thing would be great as a 2x PAf ( Chrome covered) H-H guitar! I'd definitley go '59's low output PAF if you decide to go that route.
 
Re: what should I do with this strat body?

My gut's been telling me to strip it back down to bare wood and go w/ some form of clear coat, whether that's wipe-on polyurethane, tung oil, tru-oil, etc. Something that'll pop the grain.

FYI, here's the pics from Warmoth when I first got it back in December of last year (I had them enlarge the bridge pup route to a humbucker size):

stratbodyDEC2011.jpg


stratbodybackDEC2011.jpg


So, as you can see, that wood grain has some dark spots through it, so it's not going to be a nice clear swamp ash under there. Still, none of my guitars have ever been nice, neat & clean, so I'm thinking it should fit right in.

Always seems like stripping black paint off of wood ends up darkening it a bit anyway, even using acetone, so it should have a nice aged look to it before I clear coat it. Depending on how dark/aged the wood looks will determine whether I go with a maple board or a rosewood one.
 
Re: what should I do with this strat body?

my buddy's a huge charvel head, so I'm leaning away from that look right now... otherwise that or the Gilmour look would be cool.
 
Re: what should I do with this strat body?

appar111 said:
My gut's been telling me to strip it back down to bare wood and go w/ some form of clear coat, whether that's wipe-on polyurethane, tung oil, tru-oil, etc. Something that'll pop the grain.

FYI, here's the pics from Warmoth when I first got it back in December of last year (I had them enlarge the bridge pup route to a humbucker size):

stratbodyDEC2011.jpg


stratbodybackDEC2011.jpg


So, as you can see, that wood grain has some dark spots through it, so it's not going to be a nice clear swamp ash under there. Still, none of my guitars have ever been nice, neat & clean, so I'm thinking it should fit right in.

Always seems like stripping black paint off of wood ends up darkening it a bit anyway, even using acetone, so it should have a nice aged look to it before I clear coat it. Depending on how dark/aged the wood looks will determine whether I go with a maple board or a rosewood one.
Click to expand...

If at all possible, go Maple with your neck. You can tint the neck to match the body. No issues with your irregular grain pattern..thats some character right there. With Swamp Ash, the key to a classic tone is the Maple neck.
I went with a Rosewood neck because thats the Warmoth neck I had on hand that plays very well, and the difference is pretty dramatic IMO. Maple really brings out the crisp clear snap and clarity with Swamp Ash body,whereas the Rosewood kind of adds some sizzle and doesnt really give you the classic sound of the 50's Ash/Maple to the best effect.

So; what pickups are you considering again?
 
Re: what should I do with this strat body?

I'm with Jerry, maple neck with light weight ash is a perfect match.
Some vintage output singles and modern hardware for playability and
she'll do it all day long. Maybe a little 59 in the bridge for versatility.

Colour wise I'd go black stained body, black plastics and amber tint neck.
Vintage, yet a little menacing!
 
Re: what should I do with this strat body?

I'd happily take that as it is - it's a shame we're not on the same continent, otherwise I'd be seriously thinking about making you an offer.
 
Re: what should I do with this strat body?

I love black '50's style Strats. Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em! And I love 'em even more when the black is wearing down and you can see the primer or wood below. In short, I want that body for myself! :D

So, what I'd do if I had it is to buy a used Custom Shop or AVRI '50's-style Strat neck. Then, since it is routed for a humbucker, I'd do a Dave Murray thing with it: the hot-rodded – but somewhat stock looking – '50's Strat deal. White single ply, 8 hole guard. Double white or black/white Super Distortion in the bridge spot (but not the neck, and no pickup ring like Murray's). I'd probably put Fralin Steel Poled 42 gauge stat pickups in the other two slots. I've always loved how even with those monster Super Ds with rings, Dave Murray's black Strat still mainly looks like a classic '50's guitar. No crazy paint jobs, no Floyd, and he kept the single-ply guard.
 
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Re: what should I do with this strat body?

MetalManiac said:
If at all possible, go Maple with your neck. You can tint the neck to match the body. No issues with your irregular grain pattern..thats some character right there. With Swamp Ash, the key to a classic tone is the Maple neck.
I went with a Rosewood neck because thats the Warmoth neck I had on hand that plays very well, and the difference is pretty dramatic IMO. Maple really brings out the crisp clear snap and clarity with Swamp Ash body,whereas the Rosewood kind of adds some sizzle and doesnt really give you the classic sound of the 50's Ash/Maple to the best effect.

So; what pickups are you considering again?
Click to expand...

Oddly enough, I tried a rosewood fretboard neck on this one before (a cheap Squier strat neck) and it sounded better with that than the maple allparts neck. And the Squier wasn't super beefy or thick or anything. Definitely made stock strat pickups sound alot bigger and beefier. I thought I was imagining it when I put it on there, so I put the maple neck back on and that tone was gone. I think that's when I started throwing single-sized humbuckers in it?

I'm considering doing this:

VH1.jpg


I have a spare Duncan 59 and an A8 that I could put in it. I'd almost have to go with a big headstock maple strat neck at that point, along w/ the single humbucker black pickguard...
 
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