My recent build

What I was going for - natural wood grain overload. The first Fender Strat I ever got my hands on was an early 70s clear swamp ash. Never forgot the look. Was too grainy to be alder.

Thanks Brian! I wished I had weighed the body prior to assembly. No matter - It is light compared to my '73 Les Paul Custom. That is 10 pounds 5.4 ounces.

Yellow suit? HA! Never! Would be fun for a goof I suppose.

 

Very cool recollection! I am a home only player who really needs to play more to get better. Couple that with the fact I have played more off than on for the past ~43 years.

If I had kept up the learning intensity I started with I'd likely be pretty damn good by now.

Sound clips? I have have two / three. They are hosted on Microsoft OneDrive. Best if you download, then play.

http://www.strat-talk.com/threads/what-does-a-blender-pot-in-a-strat-sound-like.505633/

... and a recent attempt at playing John Fogerty's - "The Old Man Down the Road". I worked out this version for about a week.

First link is bridge pickup, with a bit of neck blended in:

https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ap5QYpbZPsElgpg0denYQXSxc0F1Xg

The second is full middle pickup:

https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ap5QYpbZPsElgpgzKiTndqIgEVcY5g

 

Thank you kind sir! As a not at all serious home player, those are encouraging words indeed.

I need that.

The blender pot makes this guitar a real sound machine I was not expecting. The bridge with varied amounts of neck is such a great setting range. My favorite thus far.

I tried the middle only and liked it for that song. A lot. I'll need to give credit to my dear old friend, the bought new in 1981 Mesa Boogie Mark II-B.

I also get very pleasing tones from the Vox AmPlug 2 Classic Rock headphone widget. I'm going to make recordings with that soon. As the weather gets hotter, I use the Boogie less. It creates a lot of heat when run hard.

The Les Paul is just not as comfy and easy to play as the new Mutt. The comparatively skinny and narrow neck do not help. Still, it excels at many classic rock songs the Mutt just cannot pull off.

 

Thanks! This was all about the character of wood. Tone-wise, swamp ash is well known too.

My first partscaster in 1981 was hard (HEAVY!) ash. Big mistake. Did not sound very Strat-like. The pickups from that build live on in this one.

Thanks!

A yellow body tint would have looked quite good with the pickguard, no doubt. At the time I ordered the body I did not have a clear idea of the yellow in the pickguard. It all worked out for me.

 

No more Seymours. A Lace Sensor Holy Grail three pack now resides in the Mutt. Initial impressions are good. Far better than regret.

In summary: smoother, more definition and an improved balance between strings. This observation is based on day one. More to come.

www.strat-talk.com/threads/lace-holy-grails.508256/

Scroll down for the newest: www.strat-talk.com/threads/lace-holy-grails.508256/

 

What? Who? Me? Talent? Oh no, no ...

My second build after one from 1981 was kind of a flop.

As I have stated I knew what I wanted, it was just just a matter of finding the "correct to me" bits.

What "scale" do you measure yourself on? Who gives a sh!t what others think. Do what you want to do. I did. We are on the same scale.

I do thank you for you for the kind words. Please give yourself some credit for doing what you wanted.

 

Go back to the first post for all of the details.

The newest images: https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/sets/72157702059279941/with/46864409914/

An updated run down of the parts used:

Warmoth clear gloss finished swamp ash body, hardtail. Body cavities lined with copper tape.

Warmoth vintage / modern neck; quarter sawn maple, Macassar Ebony in 10" / 16" compound radius, abalone dots, 1.75" nut, 1" fatback, and 6105 SS frets.

Callaham hardware; vintage spec hardtail bridge, SS string ferrules, SS 50s reproduction string tree, polished neck plate with all SS screws and .017" aluminium under pickguard shield.

Warmoth jack plate.

Greasy Groove pickguard. http://www.greasygroove.com/proddetail.php?prod=0008-PVC

Lace Sensor Holy Grail 3-pack added 4/22/2019. Seymour no more.

Schaller M6 mini 18:1 tuners in chrome added 4/8/2019.

Mojotone 5-way blender kit:

(2) CTS 250k vintage taper audio split shaft 7% tolerance potentiometers
(1) CTS Blender 250k audio split shaft potentiometer
(1) Switchcraft CRL 5-way switch
(1) Switchcraft mono input jack
(1) Orange drop .022mfd capacitor added 4/22/2019.
(2 ft) Pre-tinned cloth covered black wire
(2 ft) Pre-tinned cloth covered white wire
(1) Volume mod cap and resistor

Fender knobs, pickup covers and switch tip in parchment.

 

Thanks for the compliment. Yep, the pickguard is certainly different - some like it, some do not. As I mentioned earlier in this thread Prince's Tele was part of the inspiration.

I also like the look on old guitars from the 20s and 30s that had actual hawksbill on them.

You avatar example is a nice contrast of looks as well. I like actual Fenders with the tortoise look too.

 

New images of the Holy Grails in the Mutt. The pups in aged white no longer match the parchment knobs, but seem close enough. I'm usually uptight about everything matching. Not this time.

This image is linked full size, zoom in to see the detail. It shows the "Lace Sensor" logo after the polishing out of the paint.


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47760275711_ed02542ca8_o.jpg