hamerhead Posted January 27, 2012 Posted January 27, 2012 The Ash/Alder Daytona thread on the expert page has me thinking about trading out the body on mine, which is fairly heavy for a Strat. I really like the way it plays as is, but lately the weight has me playing it less and less. I wouldn't mind doing the swap - I'd probably make it a hardtail - but I hate the thought of pulling apart a really good guitar to build something that may not be as good.What do you think? Have you done it?
burningyen Posted January 27, 2012 Posted January 27, 2012 It sounds like the guitar just isn't doing it for you. Either make the swap or sell it and assemble your own partscaster IMHO.
velorush Posted January 27, 2012 Posted January 27, 2012 Someone did on that Daytona Carfish bought at GC!
Toadroller Posted January 27, 2012 Posted January 27, 2012 Someone took a unique approach to lighten the body of my Daytona... I call that a "beehive route." Fugly and still fairly heavy but the excavation is covered by the pickguard. Since I found it it naturally reliced (plus this abuse) in September for two fitty, it's been my favorite Hamer. No worries about dinging her up. She plays and sounds great.
kizanski Posted January 27, 2012 Posted January 27, 2012 It sounds like the guitar just isn't doing it for you. Either make the swap or sell it and assemble your own partscaster IMHO.+1Unless you're that much in love with the neck on this guitar.
bubs_42 Posted January 28, 2012 Posted January 28, 2012 It sounds like the guitar just isn't doing it for you. Either make the swap or sell it and assemble your own partscaster IMHO.+1Unless you're that much in love with the neck on this guitar.+2
KH Guitar Freak Posted January 28, 2012 Posted January 28, 2012 Someone took a unique approach to lighten the body of my Daytona... I call that a "beehive route." Fugly and still fairly heavy but the excavation is covered by the pickguard. Since I found it it naturally reliced (plus this abuse) in September for two fitty, it's been my favorite Hamer. No worries about dinging her up. She plays and sounds great. I just died inside...
rj2858 Posted January 28, 2012 Posted January 28, 2012 I kinda did, but all I had to do was swap necks on 2 Daytonas I already had, to get what I wanted.Even so, 1 neck fit in easily, while the other took quite a bit of work (wood swelling?), although I've even had trouble getting a Daytona neck back on the same body it came off of, after some wiring work, which I'm guessing had to be due to swelling. Just remember to work on the neck pocket, not the neck.
velorush Posted January 28, 2012 Posted January 28, 2012 I kinda did, but all I had to do was swap necks on 2 Daytonas I already had, to get what I wanted.Even so, 1 neck fit in easily, while the other took quite a bit of work (wood swelling?), although I've even had trouble getting a Daytona neck back on the same body it came off of, after some wiring work, which I'm guessing had to be due to swelling. Just remember to work on the neck pocket, not the neck.The neck on my green Strat is really tight. If it's summer, I lay the butt end of the neck over the A/C vent and take the body outside (and if it's winter, I take the neck out in the garage [never out into the real cold] and leave the body in the house). Just a few minutes of difference seems to shrink the neck enough to allow me to fit it into the pocket without chipping the paint (well, so far).
rj2858 Posted January 29, 2012 Posted January 29, 2012 Velorush - Thanks for the tip. I didn't do the disassembly, or re-assembly on mine, as I hadn't done much work like that myself. I've got a friend with a great shop, and they showed me the necks and bodies, when all three that I took them, were apart. That's when I was told that the body should be worked on, not the neck. I suspect he did something akin to what you're talking about, because neither body had any sign of paint touch-up, and he told me that they eventually just "went together".
KH Guitar Freak Posted January 29, 2012 Posted January 29, 2012 I kinda did, but all I had to do was swap necks on 2 Daytonas I already had, to get what I wanted.Even so, 1 neck fit in easily, while the other took quite a bit of work (wood swelling?), although I've even had trouble getting a Daytona neck back on the same body it came off of, after some wiring work, which I'm guessing had to be due to swelling. Just remember to work on the neck pocket, not the neck.You are not alone. The neck on my Daytona USA is really tight against the neck pocket. I usually have to ever so slightly remove the front end of the pickguard and rock the neck in. Talk about small neck pocket tolerance. Seems to give the guitar great sustain from that...
Toadroller Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 I just died inside...It's not so bad. How else are you going to get a Daytona for $250? Aside from that abuse, this thing is stock and has obviously been played and played and played- the sweat stains in the cowboy chords area could tell a few stories. I can't put it down.I kinda did, but all I had to do was swap necks on 2 Daytonas I already had, to get what I wanted.Even so, 1 neck fit in easily, while the other took quite a bit of work (wood swelling?), although I've even had trouble getting a Daytona neck back on the same body it came off of, after some wiring work, which I'm guessing had to be due to swelling. Just remember to work on the neck pocket, not the neck.The neck on my green Strat is really tight. If it's summer, I lay the butt end of the neck over the A/C vent and take the body outside (and if it's winter, I take the neck out in the garage [never out into the real cold] and leave the body in the house). Just a few minutes of difference seems to shrink the neck enough to allow me to fit it into the pocket without chipping the paint (well, so far).When I was a kid, my father worked on all sorts of British motorcycles. BSAs, Nortons, Ariels were in our garage. He used to heat up the cylinder of an engine in the oven to be able to slide the pistons back in. Same concept.
cmatthes Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 That would be a pretty easy thing to clean up with a router. Get that beehive stuff nice and tight, slap some shielding paint in there and it would look real purty.
Toadroller Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 I'm not very good with a router, yet. Man, I have got to finish this project for my boy Henry.
RobB Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 The Ash/Alder Daytona thread on the expert page has me thinking about trading out the body on mine, which is fairly heavy for a Strat. I really like the way it plays as is, but lately the weight has me playing it less and less. I wouldn't mind doing the swap - I'd probably make it a hardtail - but I hate the thought of pulling apart a really good guitar to build something that may not be as good.Couldn't you send the body to one of the many after-market builders and have a light, ash body made to the Daytona's specs?Downside: with finishing (unless you're handy with painting guitars) it might cost more in the end than what you initially paid for the Hamer. Good luck either way.
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