Semi-DIY

[Koop]

I met Curt Mangan a few months ago in Cortez, Colorado. We had a great chat while he gave me a tour of his string factory. He convinced me that every guitarist needs a Strat or Tele in the stable. I haven't played a Strat in more than ten years. I bought my first Strat in 1976, I wish I still had it. A few others went through my hands over the years, but I never bonded with them. I told Curt I'm a Gibson guy.

But he planted a seed. I don't spend as much on guitars as I once did and Strats have gotten expensive (like everything else). I budgeted about $1,000 and then decided DIY was the way to go. By DIY, I mean more of assembling parts rather than doing a full on build. My intent was never to see how cheaply I could assemble a Strat, the idea was to maximize quality within my budget.

After some research I went with BYO. They have affordable kits with things like generic bodies and Fender licensed or Mighty Mite necks - presumably sourced in Asia. But what interested me was their Custom Shop. You can spec a body and neck and they make it right there in their New Hampshire shop. They can also apply a finish.

I went with a two-piece Swamp ash body, Black limba (korina) neck with rosewood fretboard, jumbo frets, Grover Mini-Rotomatic tuners, Wilkinson Vintage six-screw trem-bridge and so on. Kim at BYO finished the body and neck with Wudtone stain and she did a great job.

I received it on Wednesday and started assembling. I expected to have to do some fret finish work, but they came leveled, crowned and nicely polished! Like I said, this wasn't really a build as much as it was an assembly task. The finish is called Azure Sky - it looks green in the photos, but it has more blue than the photos show.

It plays great, but it's a real adjustment for a Gibson guy to find his sound with a strat. I think I'm going to like this guitar. If you made it this far, thanks for reading. BTW - with a Gator Deluxe wood frame case and shipping I came in only $50 over budget.

Crappy parts pic - neck is not attached

Wudtone finish

Black limba neck with rosewood

Body masked for shielding paint

Initial set up done - it'll take some refinement.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

 

[Koop]

Played around with it again today for an hour and half. Found I didn't like the set of strings that were included with the kit - too light and seemed like a weird combination of string gauges. Changed to my usual 10-46 set and went through the set up process again. Still not finding the tone. I'll work on pickup height next.

 

[Bakelite1]

That's a good looking body. I did not know wudtone could come out like that. It looks great!

 

[StratUp]

Beautiful guitar.

If you're a lifelong Gibson guy, you'll need to play just the Fender for a month to acclimate. Then it will feel like home and your ears will be calibrated. After that you can switch back and forth as you like.

Fenders/ singles need a whole different playing style.

 

[Koop]

Beautiful guitar.

If you're a lifelong Gibson guy, you'll need to play just the Fender for a month to acclimate. Then it will feel like home and your ears will be calibrated. After that you can switch back and forth as you like.

Fenders/ singles need a whole different playing style.

That sounds like a good plan. I reset the pickup height - they were too close to the strings - now I'm liking the clean tone.

 

[Deafsoundguy]

Wow that is a really cool color!!!

Never thought I’d like a green guitar but that looks amazing

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Very nice indeed. I love limba necks.

You may find the longer scale makes your familiar gauge of strings feel heavier.
Sometimes a .0095 set on a Fender feels much like .010s do on a Gibson.
Obviously an entirely different animal tonewise too.
Like StratUp says, give it your all for awhile.
It will feel like home eventually.

 

[msbrech]

Nice finish on that body!
I've been wanting to do a kit build for a while now, and after that a partscaster build (I'm thinking strat style body with a rear route, roasted maple neck with stainless steel frets, something a bit more unique). I'm still a ways away, but to want the kit guitar to be a good playable instrument. How was BYO? I've been checking out their site along with The Fret Wire and Solo.

 

[Triple Jim]

That sounds like a good plan. I reset the pickup height - they were too close to the strings - now I'm liking the clean tone.

I don't know how much you've played with amp settings, but I often change mine when going between humbucker and single coil. That's a very pretty guitar... good work!

 

[Koop]

Nice finish on that body!
I've been wanting to do a kit build for a while now, and after that a partscaster build (I'm thinking strat style body with a rear route, roasted maple neck with stainless steel frets, something a bit more unique). I'm still a ways away, but to want the kit guitar to be a good playable instrument. How was BYO? I've been checking out their site along with The Fret Wire and Solo.

BYO was great - they even sent a photo to my phone of the limba neck next to a maple neck so I could make my choice. The two-piece swamp ash body is book matched so perfectly that I thought at first they sent me a one-piece body. I had to look really close to find the seam running down the center of the body.

 

[Koop]

So, I've been playing this guitar exclusively for about an hour and a half daily. I'm really diggin' it. I still need to get used to the scale length - especially the spacing of the first five frets or so. The tonal variety is mind blowing. I took a little presence off of the amp (my Trainwreck inspired build) - the Strat doesn't need a high boost like a humbucker.

To be honest I can't remember much abouth the first Strat I owned - it was 45 years ago and I only had for about two years. But I'll say I think this is the best Strat I've ever played with regard to tone and playability.