A couple of Stratocasters...

Well.. since I've finished my double bound tele I started a couple of strats..

Strat #1:
Paulownia Body
One piece guatambu neck
gotoh Hardtail
gotoh Tuners
Pu's: Fender CS '54
Color: Surf green

kinda like this one:

http://img.buzznet.com/assets/imgx/7/0/1/1/1/2/1/orig-7011121.jpg

Strat #2:
lenga body (alder type)
flame maple neck
Bois de rose fretboard
gotoh tremolo bridge
gotoh Tuners
Pu's: Fender CS '69
Color: Vintage white

kinda like this one:

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/KGrHqEOKpQE3stOkjrBO6B4qs_3.jpg

here's the wood..

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC04697.jpg

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC06289.jpg

bois de rose is a bit heavier and with a more closed grain than regular rosewood.. here's a comparative pic..

Palisander, bois de rose and ebony..

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC06290.jpg

I didn't take too many pics of the process..

sanding to final thickness

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC06327.jpg

Routed

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC06619.jpg

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC06620.jpg

Paulownia..

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC06622.jpg

and both necks..

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC06621.jpg

more to come..

cheers..

cool

que hermosas stratos, lindisimo laburo muy pero muy prolijos estan

slow motion on this build..

some progress pictures:

heel access..

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC06759.jpg

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC06760.jpg

skunk..

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC06772.jpg

glued

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC06774.jpg

trueing the fretboard

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC06778.jpg

It's a great rosewood.. but stains anything it touches..

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC06779.jpg

hide glued..

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC06775.jpg

and a time jump..

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC07027.jpg

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC07028.jpg

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC07031.jpg

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC07032.jpg

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC07033.jpg

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC07034.jpg

wow! you are incredibly good, do you also build and sell guitars?

wow! you are incredibly good, do you also build and sell guitars?

Thanks man! you're too kind.. I build guitars for fun and for myself.. :-)

These are going to be fantastic!! They look great!

Great looking bodies, nice job!!

These are going to be fantastic!! They look great!

Great looking bodies, nice job!!

Thank you!

Cool, man. Can't wait to see more of these!

great stuff!!

I build guitars for fun and for myself.. :-)

That's the best kind of building. :cool:

Awesome work. Everything looks great.

A double build. Nice!

Builds look so clean. great job.

Do you usually do heel access instead of headstock access?

What tool are you using in the drill press for thicknessing?

Cheers

In the first shot it looks like a 3M hookit sanding disc.
http://www.amazon.com/3M-Hookit-9173NA-5-Inch-Reusable/dp/B00004Z4E0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337178138&sr=8-1

I've got one I use in my Radial Arm Saw and it works great.

How is the Guatambu to work with? I saw a big slab of it at woodcraft recently and it seems like good stuff for building necks.

Builds look so clean. great job.

Do you usually do heel access instead of headstock access?

What tool are you using in the drill press for thicknessing?

Cheers

Yes, I tend to put the access hole in the heel because you need to make the headstock too thin to get needed angle to access a double action rod from the top. Some people use a thicker board with a headstock offset but I don't like that.

In the first shot it looks like a 3M hookit sanding disc.
http://www.amazon.com/3M-Hookit-9173NA-5-Inch-Reusable/dp/B00004Z4E0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337178138&sr=8-1


Nailed it! I have a bunch of them from different brands.. nice little add-on

How is the Guatambu to work with? I saw a big slab of it at woodcraft recently and it seems like good stuff for building necks.

It's great to work with, it's a very homogeneus wood, no weird grain in it. It's heavier, denser and a bit darker sounding than maple. If I had easy access to maple boards (which I don't) I wouldn't use it mostly because it tends to move quite a bit so you need to get it perfectly dry and stable. The thing is that over here is really cheap.

Thanks everybody!

Bien hecho!!!!

Frets are in..

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC07040.jpg

And started filling the pores on the paulownia strat..

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC07036.jpg

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC07037.jpg

;)

Love watching your work - it is very inspiring partly because it's really high quality. You've even got me thinking about Strats again:oops:. Cheers

And almost a year later I got to pait!

Just the white nitro base coat but I'm getting there

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC07672_zps2889c5af.jpg

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC07673_zpsca7f9ec5.jpg

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC07674_zps363fcd6a.jpg

And the color coat

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC07679_zps40d7efab.jpg

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC07678_zpsd8ef0970.jpg

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC07676_zpsa97b0b1c.jpg

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC07677_zps3d338601.jpg

I think that the color is a little past on the blue side, making it closer to a seafoam green, but I'm hoping that the nitro yellowing will pop up some of the green..

Cheers!

Looking good melomanarock , yea , that looks like seafoam , I like :wink:

Looking good melomanarock , yea , that looks like seafoam , I like :wink:

Thanks Herb! It'll get greener you'll see..
BTW the lester is coming superb!!

We had good weather today so I sprayed a couple of coats..
Today it was aged nitro time..
Here's the aged jar next to the fresh lacquer..

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC07681_zpsdf8b9e39.jpg

Over the white body it just nails that vintage white tone.. pictures don't show it well.. don't know why..

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC07682_zpsf5a8a72d.jpg

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC07683_zpsaf4bb3fe.jpg

It also brings the neck to like killing that nasty pale maple tone..

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC07684_zps118bbd59.jpg

Here's the happy couple.. this pics shows the body's color a bit better.

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z465/melomanarock/Stratos/DSC07685_zpsc2d5ff97.jpg

cheers!

Sweet!!

Beautiful !!!

Hey melomanarock , looking good , aged lacquer looks perfect ;-)

That looks fantastic, man. Love it.

Only problem I've got with this build is - which one would I choose ??
Lovely work, (I guess I wouldn't be able to resist that gorgeous surf green model)