That's basically Stratosphere's entire business model. I happily bought a Jim Root neck from them. It cost me way less than buying the guitar, and also less than a custom neck from warmoth with a compound radius with the unmarked ebony fretboard. I didn't want an (another) HH guitar, and I didn't want EMGs. Plus it says "Fender" on it so I can dangle it over the feeding frenzy in the future should I decide to get rid of the neck (ie... if I lose my hands in an industrial accident or something equally as brutal... it's an amazing neck). The only thing I regret not getting was the awesome black/white tweed case, but I can cope with that.
I have bought 9 Strats and 4 Teles over the past 2 years (Craigslist, local adds and a few from Guitar Center on line), I have seen no "deals" on reverb... more like over priced to begin with. If I put new pick ups in they are quality pick ups to UP Grade certainly not Guitar Fetish. CTS pots, switches and jacks if the guitars need replacements, and bone nuts no plastic. I do rewire things to play with tone and I have purchased HSS strats and then installed SSS pick guards with new electrons. I have not spent over $500 on any 1 guitar which includes 2 Nashville Teles but mostly nothing over $400 and mostly $350 on anything including a few other Teles and a few Deluxe Player Strats with the gold hardware. I might have added $150 to $200 to some of these MiM Fenders and very little to some other than rewiring for tone and a lot of loving to clean them up and set them up. So these are "partcasters" as I changed things but I never have added after market non-Fender parts, just bought unloved guitars and brought them back to life. Have not sold anything yet as I am having more fun buying and tweaking than I am playing at the moment. But for sure the wife is giving me the look so some of these MiM Fenders will leave my hands to get a second chance at inspiring other players. I certainly will not sell these to "cash in" but I do think if I purchased a beat down Fender, cleaned her up, gave her love and up grade any parts that needed it I should not take a loss on the situation. Of course I will be keeping my favorites that will include Ash bodies, the CV Robert Cray pickups, Texas Special pickups and the Yosemite pickups. I guess I am saying "partscaster" has many meaning after market or cheap parts vs up graded parts are a different ball game but i do agree my handy work is not Custom Shop quality and none of the MIM Fenders I purchased and worked on will ever be worth more than maybe a few dollars more than I bought them for.
It's one way to get a collection of old parts that individually might be worth 8 or 9k, but it will not be and never will be worth the 30k-100k that an original would sell for. Some of these original parts go for insane amounts of cash. Just the tuners from a '59 Les Paul will sell for $2k. Personally, I would not sink that kind of money into a parts guitar... and I would not sink 30k-100k into a confirmed original vintage build. Would I love to have a pre-CBS? Absolutely. For $2k-$3k? Most likely. For $10k? No.
Yep. Stratosphere is great if you plan the build. If you have a box of parts needing a home, you can put together a very nice guitar. Even if you need to buy all of the parts, you can come in a couple hundred below retail, however, it will always be a parts guitar, and you'll have no warranty. Fenders tend to run a bit more than Gibson because you need to buy the body and neck separately, and the pair frequently gets pretty close to list price. The Gibson husks obviously keep the headstock and body together, but I have no idea if the serial numbers are in any way "branded" in the Gibson database. Trogly, FWIW, suspects that they are NAMM demos that Gibson would rather sell to Stratosphere at a discount, rather than carry back to the factory, as he was able to get a Billy Joe LPJR from Stratosphere a month before any dealers had them.
I believe folks that want the best and cheapest guitars for the money should learn two things....learn to install new quality frets and cut a nut themselves.....by learning those two things the need for parts guitars diminishes greatly cause they can heavily modify any budget guitar and have the same( or better) result for way less money....so the guitar doesnt loses its...brand,gets the high quality parts installed while the originals are kept in a box and if you wanna resell it the originals go back in and the quality ones stay for the next project...
I read that as "I have a spare SD bridge pickup, some pots with knobs, and the white pickguard I swapped out for the tortoise... I can completely justify building another guitar"
Yep... The box of parts isn't doing anything for you but taking up space. Slap them into a body and they can take up space and actually be used.
‘56 style Mary Kaye wired, finished, & assembled by a friend from USACG wood, sporting Duncan vintage-style pickups with a blend knob rather than a second tone control. I string it with heavy flatwounds for jazz/swing style playing. Of course I’d never get my money back, but as someone else wrote, I doubt I’d ever be able to get a “real” Fender guitar spec’d like this for the money I put into it; selling it will be someone else’s concern once I’m gone!...
Yes, but...disassembling, listing, packing and shipping each component individually is a colossal pain in the posterior. I'm about to post a really lovely partscaster for sale, and I'm 90% certain that I'm going to list it whole with HSC just to avoid the hassle of parting it out...and it has some components that would fetch a good price on their own, e.g., Callaham V/N tremolo, Classic '60s rosewood neck (not PF). I will probably post it here for less than what I'll be asking if it goes on ebay to account for the fees, and because I like you guys. And, I'll be realistic about the price. I would never expect to recover close to what I've got into it, but I put it together fully aware that I might sell it someday, and take a significant loss if I did.
Value doesn't always mean price. Value is harder to measure, while price is price. Partscasters' value often lies in the owner's eyes. As for price, if you are interested in buying a partscaster, make sure that the seller is completely honest and true to what the actual specs are. Make sure that the guitar bonds with you. Make sure that the price is reasonable, even though the word "reasonable" is often subjective, but at least try to be generally reasonable whether you are selling or buying one. I have 3 electric, 2 of them are partscasters. I have tried playing high end branded boutique guitars (I consider $2000 and above as high end, yes I don't have that kind of money), but I don't find their features justify their price, compared to my foolish partscaster. And even if I do have the money, I don't think I would spend that much. I would rather be a "fool" and build myself a partscaster for less, than to spend thousands of dollars on a "label" on the headstock. Personally and generally for me, I don't care really much about brands. I want an instrument that bonds with me.
In my mind guitars are judged from two main categories which need to be closely linked: For the money And For the use As an example a squier bullet is an incredible guitar for the money(cause for that money you can barely do a decent paintjob let alone a full working guitar) and for the use if you consider use someone who is learning the guitar playing for fun and not someone who uses it to bring food to the table so to speak(session musician recording artist etc etc etc). Parts-guitars really shine if we are talking about making something to be the very best.....you dont(shouldnt at least) make a partcaster to get close the quality of a mexican or a mia..cause for the money and for the use plus the resale value they win..especially if you get them used....you build a partcaster to make the ultimate custom instrument(according to you) that ll be the best tool for your job and in that case its makes sense for the money(cause custom guitars go for several thousands) and you can get your dream instrument for around 1000 dollars or less. Why compromise when you can make a strat with frets that dont wear out,that pretty much never goes out of tune,has a bridge that can float and be used like a floyd(without being one) electronics that are perfect and have all the options you ll ever need,your absolutely fav paintjob etc etc. That way the value of the guitar to you ll be immeasurable just like a good hi end computer that never troubles you and does every task you assign to it..without a glitch....helping you focusing on job and not troubleshooting or worry about it.If you make it just to have another guitar treated like an accessory that ll soon get the boot for something else....i agree...its a bad choice.
