when shopping for a strat

[hardheartedbill]

asuming all the parts arrived as advertised , why shouldnt I buy the individual pieces off ebay and screw it all together myself , sure seems cheaper, plus I've got extra tuners and pickguards laying around, what is the downside

[Guest big steve]

i really dont see much of a down side.the only thing i dont like about the fender strat ,are the awful tremblos.

you'd think after all this time they would come up w/something better.they look to be a real pain to adjust and intonate.if you know how do do all that ,i dont see that you'll have any problems.

[pesocaster]

"asuming all the parts arrived as advertised"

ran into this a couple years ago..... Looked just like an American standard strat trem... what I got was a cheap-o knock off.....

Luckily I found a grat shop that has most of the goodies I'm looking for from time to time...

www.tradingmusician.com (for NW Locals)

not to mention all of the fabulous dealers we have on the board....

I don't think I'll buy parts from an auction again.....

[Turdus]

If you were starting from scratch, I don't see where it is cheaper than buying a used guitar. I've got (2) Mexi strats:

1) Vintage player: Alder body, rosewood neck, jumbo frets, staggered tuners, US Vintage bridge, Texas Special pickups, gig bag. I've got $450 in it with shipping.

2) 70's Strat reissue. Sunburst, Maple, whatever the cheap hardware and pickups are, gig bag. I've got $350 in that one, but I did put a Custom Shop '69 bridge pu in it.

I've seen both of these in parts form on Ebay. The sum of the parts has been a lot more than I paid for either. I never thought I would actaully say this, but with some tweaking both of these guitars are decent, and I would play a gig with either. Personally, I dig the Texas Specials.

[Brewmaster]

If you were starting from scratch, I don't see where it is cheaper than buying a used guitar.    I've got (2) Mexi strats:

1) Vintage player:  Alder body, rosewood neck, jumbo frets, staggered tuners, US Vintage bridge, Texas Special pickups, gig bag.  I've got $450 in it with shipping.

2) 70's Strat reissue.  Sunburst, Maple, whatever the cheap hardware and pickups are, gig bag.  I've got $350 in that one, but I did put a Custom Shop '69 bridge pu in it.

I've seen both of these in parts form on Ebay.  The sum of the parts has been a lot more than I paid for either.  I never thought I would actaully say this, but with some tweaking both of these guitars are decent, and I would play a gig with either.  Personally, I dig the Texas Specials.

I have a Mexican Splat Strat that I picked up for cheap. I then swapped out the pups and pickguard for Texas Specials and a black pickguard. I have $450.00 in the guitar.

It is a better Strat than an American Deluxe I had a few years ago. (If only it had a nice boatneck.)

I was looking at a Jimmy Vaughn Strat. It has a little more to the neck and comes with Tex Mex pickups but has a maple fingerboard if you don't mind it. I'm not sure how much they go for used but $400.00 seems about right.

I thought about building one but I'm a lazy bastard and with the price and quality of the Mexican Strats I can't justify doing it.

I'm not sure the Mexican and American parts, especially the neck, and body, are interchangeable. Maybe someone can answer that.

[BTMN]

I have opted for Daytonas instead. I know nothing but a hack's point of view so really I'm just chiming in. I do know, I got one of my Daytonas for $375 and the other for $350 IIRC. That was only couple years ago.

[Brewmaster]

I have opted for Daytonas instead. I know nothing but a hack's point of view so really I'm just chiming in. I do know, I got one of my Daytonas for $375 and the other for $350 IIRC. That was only couple years ago.

HHB has been down the Daytona route besides I doubt a good one could be found for $350.00 - 375.00 anymore. Gene............been hangin with David E?

Those days are gone forever,

over along time ago,

oh Yeah..........

Pardon the Pretzel Logic tangent............

[DavidE]

asuming all the parts arrived as advertised , why shouldnt I buy the individual pieces off ebay and screw it all together myself , sure seems cheaper, plus I've got extra tuners and pickguards laying around, what is the downside

My favorite strat was put together just this way.

[hardheartedbill]

Brews right on price and on vibe, I'm finding that Fender is best for that certain "scrape" that comes along w/ the note, much like the octavia, I love it where othere moght shy away. I've alwaya's been a strat man and have my eye on a LP trading wallet busting, Mirgae firesale custom shop strat or an ebay mongrel. I'm handy enought to do all the work myself , just wondering what the consensus was. while were at it Warmoth or USA custom?

[Jeff R]

Bill, get a G&L Legacy, circa 95-97. Me and Cajun Boy can supply the window of serial numbers with a little research on our part.

I haven't played a dud yet in that window. Absolute smokers.

Edited to add that the magic serial for me is G046xxx ... the neck shape is to die for.

[Brewmaster]

just wondering what the consensus was. while were at it Warmoth or USA custom?

Warmoth! I had my Tele built with warmoth parts and it was probably the single best thing I have done guitar wise.

[Rocktuna]

I'm in the process of building a parts Strats. Got a California series body and neck for $200 and just bought a Mexican Strat for $175 to steal parts off of. I figure I'll Ebay whatever is left over. I already have assorted PUPs and some other parts. The only problem is, in the process of looking for parts I stumbled across an 83 Strat with the weird 2 knobs configuration and the jack on the pickguard and a "free flight " tremelo ........couldn't resist

[hardheartedbill]

lots of great suggestions, I love G$L but don't dig the bridge, I like a 6 screw trad brisge and a certian neck, I tell ya, the relic and closet classics will spoil you, they really do feel like old friends, plus I played a Jeff Beck sig friday that is haunting me, I'll say this, the Fender custom shop prices are up there, too high really but damn they feel good!

[BCR Greg]

Where's Galati when you need him?

WARMOTH, Bill. Or USA Custom Guitars.

[gwayne]

have my eye on a LP trading wallet busting, Mirgae firesale custom shop strat or an ebay mongrel.

Bill,

You CAN'T sell the Mirage. That would just be wrong.

[paults]

I see no downside to building from parts if you can't get exactly what you want "off the rack". Getting the right neck is the most important part. If you already have some parts laying around, even better!

[Steve Haynie]

You can buy the best parts and put them together, but if you are unhappy with the results you will not be able to sell the guitar for as much as a Mexican Stratocaster. Yes, there are people who would recognize the parts as being better, but the average person is still afraid of anything that does not have a big name on the headstock.

[El Kabong]

I had a strat built using Warmoth wood and the some of the best parts on the planet. It ended up costing an insane amount. It was a good strat, just not *it*. I sold it for $1250. It was about half of what I had in it. I should have hunted for a good strat style off the rack. Sometimes, the whole ain't worth the sum of the parts.

[Hamer95USA]

Hey hardheartedbill,

You know you want one of these:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/Gui...nStratfront.jpg

If you like Fender Japan Strats w/ factory installed Kahler Spyder tremolo and EMG DG-20, you might like this one. If the tremolo system and active pickups turn you off to it, there are many other cool Strats out there. You can find one of these on E-bay for a fair price. I bought mine from a local music store.

Guitar George

[Craig S]

I don't know about the cheaper part. I've been thinking about selling my Tele 72' Thinline Reissue and I can get more for it as parts than I can intact.

[JohnnyB]

Bill, get a G&L Legacy, circa 95-97. Me and Cajun Boy can supply the window of serial numbers with a little research on our part.

I haven't played a dud yet in that window. Absolute smokers.

Edited to add that the magic serial for me is G046xxx ... the neck shape is to die for.

YES! G&L!

I got a black/silver swirl/maple board USA Legacy (in 1997) for $350. So new it still had the peel-off plastic on the back plate. Used ones aren't hard to find at about $500. The next year I got an ash/maple blueburst Legacy Special (my favorite with the twin-blade pickups) NOS for $475.

I think you'd be hard pressed to equal it in a parts guitar because some very enthusiastic and skilled people pick the wood, do the machining, hand-fit everything, press the frets in one-by-one, and hand-crown and polish the frets. It's a very well put together guitar made up of 1st class parts made to very close tolerances. And their paint and finish jobs rank with the best.

[DaveL]

If you were starting from scratch, I don't see where it is cheaper than buying a used guitar. I've got (2) Mexi strats:

1) Vintage player: Alder body, rosewood neck, jumbo frets, staggered tuners, US Vintage bridge, Texas Special pickups, gig bag. I've got $450 in it with shipping.

2) 70's Strat reissue. Sunburst, Maple, whatever the cheap hardware and pickups are, gig bag. I've got $350 in that one, but I did put a Custom Shop '69 bridge pu in it.

I've seen both of these in parts form on Ebay. The sum of the parts has been a lot more than I paid for either. I never thought I would actaully say this, but with some tweaking both of these guitars are decent, and I would play a gig with either. Personally, I dig the Texas Specials.

I have one of those Vintage Player strats and

LOVE IT. The idea to take a mexican re-issue

and put nice electronics and hardware is pretty

sharp thinking. It has a stainless steel trem block

which makes a big difference. I got mine for $350 on

clearance at daddy's and it feels quality wise like

an american vintage reissue.

[Guest Buck Dharma]

I had a Chandler Strat that I loved. It was aztec gold with the lace sensor pickups. I never realized how light it was until I tried to replace it. Man did I screw up, sold it for $400 when my wife said I had too many guitars. I would give $1200 for that exact one now. The guy who bought it said he has something like nine strats and that is his number 1. Live and learn!

[Richard]

I would probably just buy a Carvin Bolt kit, or maybe just neck and body. IMO quality is easily as good as Fender, more likely better. Only thing is, you kinda have to like their neck profile, which is not exactly traditional. I like it a lot, but you might not.

[bobbymack]

HHB,

Awhile back I had similar questions. I ended up picking up a vintage white MIJ '57 RI body off ebay, ordered a bridge and pickguard mounted with Suhr V60LP pickups from Acme, and got Sperzels off ebay...then I ordered a '54 carve neck (sweet) with Braz board and 6105 wire from USA Custom, finished it myself with ReRanch stuff, had my tech set it up and I have a Strat which I'm very happy with...

I'll post a pic if I can snap one tomorra...