The Jimmicaster

I don't normallly troll around the Stratocaster side of this as I usually do Teles, but I got the itch to build a Olympic White on white Stratocaster like Jimmi played.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/Jimi_Hendrix_on_stage_fender_strato.jpg

So I saw this in a catalog...
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/woodstockstrat.gif

and thought, why not I have built a couple of Teles, how hard could it be? Well I will tell ya, the Teles are easier to build by far... so start like Leo did, build a Tele first before you start on the Strat.

So I had a couple of pieces of leftover Poplar from the Tele builds... one larger than the other, should work out for a Strat body...

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/photoshoot004.jpg

So after a little searching on the net I finally found a Strat drawing file, printed me off a copy

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/stratbody003.jpg

and went to making a jig (sorry Ron, I like to make my own... I am too cheap to buy them!!:lol: )

Started sourcing parts for the build...
found this on the Bay, for $30 I figured why not...

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/NEck002-1.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/NEck001.jpg

Eden necks are drilled for Modern tuners, but I got a sweet deal on some Vintage Pings, so we had to buy some bushings from GFS.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/NEck005-1.jpg

Headstock looked good though...

So we attached the drawing to a piece of MDF to make our jig.

Now I am not a purist by any stretch of the imagination, so I thought one day I might want a SSH, so I made the bridge pup cavity flexible. I am also going to set up a reverse slanted bridge pup, so this will allow a standard set up, a reverse slant and a bucker if I wanted... options!!

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/Templatestart.jpg

I drilled all the starting holes, so off to the band saw for some cutting!

wow, this will be cool. can't wait!

Is that white one from the catalog, a MIJ strat? Looks cool with the early CBS head, Klusons and that matte finish look to the neck. All the MIJ ones I see are very glossy and thick finished.

sidetracked, well actually...
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/trainderailed.jpg

The daughter wants a guitar... so we were shopping for parts and she decides she wants one. So I spy this on the wall, don't need the neck, I already have one but I have another Tele body in the works that needs a neck and I start thinking which is a dangerous thing...

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/leftystrat001.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/leftystrat002.jpg

That neck for a tele will definately need to change... So we spent about two months on the Tele, while the Start sat...:cry:
But the daughter was happy, find the Gumdrop Tele and you can see that saga...

buddastrat Is that white one from the catalog, a MIJ strat? Looks cool with the early CBS head, Klusons and that matte finish look to the neck. All the MIJ ones I see are very glossy and thick finished.

that is from the Musicians Friend Catalog, I am sure it is a MIM as it was listed somewhere around 5 bills, too rich for my cheap blood, why buy them when you can build them?

Now the Bentley was nothing to look at... but it had some parts... and for $60 it fit the cheapness factor...

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/leftystrat003.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/leftystrat005.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/leftystrat004.jpg

not too sure about the pups, they look to new to be in that guitar and the soldering looks too much like someone like me added them. They have a certain vintage look to them...

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/leftystrat007.jpg

Still have not ran the Ohms, but I do not think they are overwound or hot.

I do not want to be confused with Buckocaster as a master builder so I won't give you step by step pictures as I am too lazy for that and it slows you down. :grin:
So we routed the body...

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/guitar002.jpg

And the back... what a pain...my jig bit the dust for the back... so I blocked out the space on the back with wood strips (should have bought those jigs from Ron!!) good thing it is getting painted. And I did do it with a router, as hard as it is to believe, next time I think I will use the chainsaw!!!:roll:

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/guitar003.jpg

So after a little work I installed the tuners, man I love those vintage looking Pings and the bushings and did a logo... for the headstock logo police read it carefully, and yes it has fooled at least a dozen people at this point.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/strat005.jpg

Oh and I cut my own Corian nut, used some needle files to the slots and it turned out pretty good for my first one...:smile:

So after some sanding we fit it all together to see how it fits...

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/strat003.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/strat006.jpg

It is a little rough and I need to adjust the neck angle somewhat, but I am happy. So happy I played it for about a month like that but did not unveil it to the public.

Wow that last pic the flash was bad but you get the picture albeit a bad one...:lol:
here is a little better shot of the front.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/guitars014.jpg

Now we have a problem. As I mentioned this body is poplar, but the grain looks pretty good, too good to get painted I start thinking. So maybe a burst as the back has more green mineral streaks than the front. Maybe a Cherry burst, hmmmmm... <slaps himself in the face> snap out of it, we started to do a Jimmistrat and we will stay with the plan!!!

So the tear down begins!!!

So after about a month and a half of...<in my best Pat Morita Karate Kid>

with 150 grit, 200 grit, and 400 grit
sand the body up, sand the body down
sand body side to side, sand body circle up, sand body circle down...

Primer on,,,
with 200 grit, and 400 grit
sand the body up, sand the body down
sand body side to side, sand body circle up, sand body circle down...

We were ready to apply paint. Krylon Antique White I do believe, close enough to Artic or Olympic or Lace and so we spray and spray and spray.

And then we spray on Clear, spray on clear, spray on clear...

And then we...
with 400 grit, 800 grit, and 1000 grit
sand the body up, sand the body down
sand body side to side, sand body circle up, sand body circle down...

And then with the polish we...
polish the body up, polish the body down
polish body side to side, polish body circle up, polish body circle down...

And we end up with....

The JimmiCaster...

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/jimmistratfull.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/jimmistrat.jpg

How did I do?

the original...

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/Jimi_Hendrix_on_stage_fender_strato.jpg

the replica...

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/PreacherOK/jimmistratfull.jpg

Of course I would have to learn to play left handed to look like Jimmi, well not look like him as I am caucasin, but play like him, well I can't play like him either, so well, when I play it righty, it looks like his guitar playing lefty... well you know what I am talking about. :grin: :lol:

looks sweet!

great job! I noiced the bridge looks lefty. did that make it harder for you to make?

Today 12:09 PM
mogascreeta great job! I noiced the bridge looks lefty. did that make it harder for you to make?


Good eyes... yes the orignal plan was to put a vintage "righty" tremolo on it, after I had cut out the body for the "righty", I got the "lefty" on the donor guitar which would keep it more like Jimmi's. So when I went to put it on, the slot for the tremolo is not symetrical on the mid line of the body, so I had to do a little more route. If I had it to do over again I would have gone ahead and bought the "righty" tremolo and not cut the body. You can see just below the bridge that there is a slight hole you can see.
Oh well, live and learn.