Itchy Finger Results Are In! New Strat Day!

DrewJD82

DrewJD82

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Skip to the bottom post for new pics!

The grain on this body is EXACTLY what I’m looking for. MJT body, All Parts neck….it’s a 9.5 radius and tall vintage frets, which is the only thing slowing me from buying it right this second. It’s only $900, AVRI bridge, Pribora pickups (wtf are those?) and a hard shell case. Man…..I’m actually tingly right now.



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I’m banishing it from my mind. I bought way too much crap in the last two months and need to recoup/flip some sh*t before I get more. But man…..that grain….
 
My finger isn’t itchy anymore and someone has some packing to do today!

Fireproof said:
Sweet! I couldn’t do with the 9.5“ radius though…
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The neck was my only real concern and actually had me removing it from the cart numerous times. It’s an All Parts Fat neck, which I’ve read are HUGE, even by vintage Strat standards. After doing some reading, I found a lot of guys are just sanding them down to their own preferred thickness, which appeals to me quite a bit.

9.5“ isn’t bad, I pulled my MIM Strat out last night to check it, I can live with that, but I’ll most likely re-radius it once I get it and rip the tall, vintage frets out because screw those. I have all the tools to do a re-fret, I can remove/install them just fine, it’s the finish that I suck at so I can have my tech do the finishing. Then I’ll just re-spray it with nitro and no one will ever know the neck got brutalized.

My Gilmour Strat was right around $1K, I ended up getting this one for $850 and it comes with a hardshell case and I really, really enjoy doing the work. I couldn’t stop thinking about that wood grain.
 
JiveTurkey said:
I love strats so much. I am usually fully enamored with Vs but a choice strat is something else :love
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I was flipping between the Strat and two Solar baritones last night, one 27” E-type and a 29” S-type, but I figure the Solar’s will be in production for a while and I can wait for a B-stock to show up, it’ll take me forever to find a 1-piece Strat body with a grain like that again!
 
DrewJD82 said:
My finger isn’t itchy anymore and someone has some packing to do today!



The neck was my only real concern and actually had me removing it from the cart numerous times. It’s an All Parts Fat neck, which I’ve read are HUGE, even by vintage Strat standards. After doing some reading, I found a lot of guys are just sanding them down to their own preferred thickness, which appeals to me quite a bit.

9.5“ isn’t bad, I pulled my MIM Strat out last night to check it, I can live with that, but I’ll most likely re-radius it once I get it and rip the tall, vintage frets out because screw those. I have all the tools to do a re-fret, I can remove/install them just fine, it’s the finish that I suck at so I can have my tech do the finishing. Then I’ll just re-spray it with nitro and no one will ever know the neck got brutalized.

My Gilmour Strat was right around $1K, I ended up getting this one for $850 and it comes with a hardshell case and I really, really enjoy doing the work. I couldn’t stop thinking about that wood grain.
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Wish I had the skills and tools to do that stuff! But I don’t - so I have to buy ‘em like I like ‘em. 😊
 
I had a huge HVAC install last night at work that ended with a massive issue with the controls, keeping me there until 4AM and back at 6AM! Once I got everyone doing what they needed to be doing I shot home and 10 minutes later UPS knocked at the door.....I'm so damn tired, but I don't care. Now I'm in Strat mode!

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This neck is a BIG BOY!

I've had the chance to play quite a few 50's Strats over the years, well, 20 or so and man, it's really crazy how close to one this feels. I'm going to live with the neck for a while before deciding on sanding it down or not but this even feels a bit bigger than an EJ sig Strat neck. One thing that's going to drive me nuts is the non-period correct logo on the headstock; this is the type they used from '62-'64.

This will definitely be getting a re-fret down the road, they're tall vintage frets and that's a nope from me dawg, SS med-jumbos are going on. Maybe when I start that project I'll sand the headstock and put the correct logo (and in the correct place) on.

Sound wise I was NOT impressed at first until I realized the selector switch is installed upside down. It's got some Pribora pickups which I've read are handwound in Russia, they sound nice, but this is most likely getting an HS-2 in the bridge and some Fender Custom Shop 69's in the neck/middle.

The original owner didn't play this thing past the 8th fret and the remaining nitro on the neck shows that. The upper frets are covered with it, so first step is an hour or two with fret erasers, then I'm going to buff the hell out of the nitro on the neck and get it into a nice glass-like sheen.

I have such vintage Strat wood right now.....that grain, man. Overall, exactly what I was hoping for, aside from the logo thing. The original owner has 8's on it with action LOW, I managed to play TERRIBLY on it for a few minutes. :rofl
 
Congrats, Drew! Stoked for you man. :banana 🤘

Having a bit of a vibe from you, I am thinking that it needs a little Rev TLC is a good thing. You
can pour some of your own labour into and get it all tight and dialed in for you. :chef
 
I can’t believe I just did all that, but the frets are now polished and the entire neck was buffed. That was 5-straight hours of elbow (finger) grease and no nap yet! I’m supposed to be getting involved in shenanigans tonight…..hahaha, I can have one cocktail and be off the rails right now I‘m so tired but the Strat work was worth it.

I think I’m really going to enjoy this neck, especially once it’s been refretted. It’s only a 9.5” radius, which isn’t nearly as steep as 7.25” (wouldn’t have bought it with a 7.25…f*ck that) but as I work my way up the high E or even the low E, I end up pushing the string off the edge of the neck. This will get resolved when I replace the bridge with a Callaham V/N that narrows as it reaches the headstock and definitely once some nice, good size frets are on it.

Pickups definitely sound nice. There’s a blend pot on the bottom pot to blend in the neck with whatever pickup you’re on. People keep referring to Gilmour for that switch on his Black Strat but he never even uses it. :rofl It sounds good with this guitar, but has sounded like sh*t on any other I’ve tried it on, especially with an SSL-5 in the bridge. The middle tone knob is the master tone knob for all pickups but also has a push/push to go from in phase to out of phase. Definitely a vintage vibe to the pickups.

I’ll get some clips up later, if not tomorrow. I need to nap, but I just want to stare at the damn thing!
 
DrewJD82 said:
I can’t believe I just did all that, but the frets are now polished and the entire neck was buffed. That was 5-straight hours of elbow (finger) grease and no nap yet! I’m supposed to be getting involved in shenanigans tonight…..hahaha, I can have one cocktail and be off the rails right now I‘m so tired but the Strat work was worth it.

I think I’m really going to enjoy this neck, especially once it’s been refretted. It’s only a 9.5” radius, which isn’t nearly as steep as 7.25” (wouldn’t have bought it with a 7.25…f*ck that) but as I work my way up the high E or even the low E, I end up pushing the string off the edge of the neck. This will get resolved when I replace the bridge with a Callaham V/N that narrows as it reaches the headstock and definitely once some nice, good size frets are on it.

Pickups definitely sound nice. There’s a blend pot on the bottom pot to blend in the neck with whatever pickup you’re on. People keep referring to Gilmour for that switch on his Black Strat but he never even uses it. :rofl It sounds good with this guitar, but has sounded like sh*t on any other I’ve tried it on, especially with an SSL-5 in the bridge. The middle tone knob is the master tone knob for all pickups but also has a push/push to go from in phase to out of phase. Definitely a vintage vibe to the pickups.

I’ll get some clips up later, if not tomorrow. I need to nap, but I just want to stare at the damn thing!
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Damn - you go girl! Haha.

Nice job. Can’t wait to hear clips. I agree with you on the 7.5 being a no go. I made the mistake of buying a vintage model strat and couldn’t stand it. 9.5 isn’t my fav but I could get used to it if the rest of the guitar was hot - and it sounds like this one is. Especially with the tweaks you are making. Fun!!
 
Fireproof said:
Damn - you go girl! Haha.

Nice job. Can’t wait to hear clips. I agree with you on the 7.5 being a no go. I made the mistake of buying a vintage model strat and couldn’t stand it. 9.5 isn’t my fav but I could get used to it if the rest of the guitar was hot - and it sounds like this one is. Especially with the tweaks you are making. Fun!!
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Yeah, there difference betwee 7.25 and 9.5 is rather large, the jump from 9.5 - 12 is minimal. I can go between both my Strats without adjusting at all. My Classic 50’s has a 7.25 and unless you’ve got a perfect fret job, they’re useless to me. The whole “just raise your action to clear the frets when bending” is horsesh*t!

Doing some adulting stuff but once I’m done it’s back to Strat land! I’ll get some clips up today for sure!
 
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