Building a strat

Blazer · August 7th, 2006, 07:03 AM

Well, as you people might have read in my "fixing a headstock" topic, I am the proud owner of a late eighties Squier Stratocaster which I bought new on my fifteenth birthday back in 1991, this old girl, lovingly called "the Veteran" has been through a LOT of modifications but now I'm restoring her to strathood.

But as to take three dimensional photograph I'm building a closely matching replica of how the "Veteran" used to look with the mods and all. I'm thinking of naming that one "The rookie"

The "Veteran" before the restoration, the "Rookie" wil look just like this.

Blazer · August 7th, 2006, 01:05 PM

Here's the raw maple with the strat routing template

After sawing off the exess wood, ready for routing

After routing, a nice clean maple strat body to be.

Routing out the neck pocket, I put in the neck to check if I haven't routed it too dep, luckely, I got it right.

And so I started working on the vibrato channel

And while doing so I completely forgot that I had a camera with me and failed to document the routing of the pickup and control routs, and of me bevelling the body. I only remembered my camera when I put the thing together to see how it looked.

Artist impression of what the Rookie will look like when finished.

The "Rookie" at home.

The neck, Kahler Vibrato, pickups and pickguard all come from "the Veteran" as you can see I am FAR from finished, I need to drill the holes for the bushes of the vibrato and spray the body in sealer before I can add the first layers of red.

It'll be a long time before I can play the "Rookie" but I'm having a ball just making it.

Blazer · August 9th, 2006, 06:07 PM

The "Rookie" in its filler coat, showing how green she is right now. I put the neck and other hardware on to see formyself how she will look when done.

A close up on the Kahler bridge showing the studs I inserted today.

and so the build goes steadily forward.

chickenpicker · August 10th, 2006, 03:06 AM

Nice work Blazer. How heavy is it?

Blazer · August 11th, 2006, 10:26 AM

I did the last sanding job and put the body in primer. Now I need to start wet sanding (after the primer has dried of course) and then I can start applying the layers of color.

Boy I'm having fun with this.

Blazer · August 15th, 2006, 08:57 PM

Okay you guys, I finished Building the "Rookie" compare it with the Picture of the Veteran in the beginning of this thread.

As you guys can see, I went with a different neck. I could get this gorgeous Birdseye maple neck for a bargain price and I went for it. Apart from the headstock shape I suceeded in making a matching copy of the "Veteran" They look so similar that I have to catch myself sometimes. The swimmingpool rout of the Rookie gives it a very airy open sound, I figured that the all maple construction would result is a very bright sound but that's not the case, it has a very tight low end and it nails that David Gilmour tone when overdriven. All in all this project was a success.

August 7th, 2006, 07:03 AM	#1 (permalink)
Blazer Friend of Leo's Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 3,268	Building a strat Well, as you people might have read in my "fixing a headstock" topic, I am the proud owner of a late eighties Squier Stratocaster which I bought new on my fifteenth birthday back in 1991, this old girl, lovingly called "the Veteran" has been through a LOT of modifications but now I'm restoring her to strathood. But as to take three dimensional photograph I'm building a closely matching replica of how the "Veteran" used to look with the mods and all. I'm thinking of naming that one "The rookie" The "Veteran" before the restoration, the "Rookie" wil look just like this. __________________ "I reject your reality and subsitute my own." - Adam Savage, Mythbusters

August 7th, 2006, 01:05 PM	#2 (permalink)
Blazer Friend of Leo's Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 3,268	Here's the raw maple with the strat routing template After sawing off the exess wood, ready for routing After routing, a nice clean maple strat body to be. Routing out the neck pocket, I put in the neck to check if I haven't routed it too dep, luckely, I got it right. And so I started working on the vibrato channel And while doing so I completely forgot that I had a camera with me and failed to document the routing of the pickup and control routs, and of me bevelling the body. I only remembered my camera when I put the thing together to see how it looked. Artist impression of what the Rookie will look like when finished. The "Rookie" at home. The neck, Kahler Vibrato, pickups and pickguard all come from "the Veteran" as you can see I am FAR from finished, I need to drill the holes for the bushes of the vibrato and spray the body in sealer before I can add the first layers of red. It'll be a long time before I can play the "Rookie" but I'm having a ball just making it. __________________ "I reject your reality and subsitute my own." - Adam Savage, Mythbusters

August 9th, 2006, 06:07 PM	#3 (permalink)
Blazer Friend of Leo's Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 3,268	The "Rookie" in its filler coat, showing how green she is right now. I put the neck and other hardware on to see formyself how she will look when done. A close up on the Kahler bridge showing the studs I inserted today. and so the build goes steadily forward. __________________ "I reject your reality and subsitute my own." - Adam Savage, Mythbusters

August 11th, 2006, 10:26 AM	#5 (permalink)
Blazer Friend of Leo's Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 3,268	I did the last sanding job and put the body in primer. Now I need to start wet sanding (after the primer has dried of course) and then I can start applying the layers of color. Boy I'm having fun with this. __________________ "I reject your reality and subsitute my own." - Adam Savage, Mythbusters Last edited by Blazer; August 15th, 2006 at 08:57 PM.

August 15th, 2006, 08:57 PM	#6 (permalink)
Blazer Friend of Leo's Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 3,268	Okay you guys, I finished Building the "Rookie" compare it with the Picture of the Veteran in the beginning of this thread. As you guys can see, I went with a different neck. I could get this gorgeous Birdseye maple neck for a bargain price and I went for it. Apart from the headstock shape I suceeded in making a matching copy of the "Veteran" They look so similar that I have to catch myself sometimes. The swimmingpool rout of the Rookie gives it a very airy open sound, I figured that the all maple construction would result is a very bright sound but that's not the case, it has a very tight low end and it nails that David Gilmour tone when overdriven. All in all this project was a success. __________________ "I reject your reality and subsitute my own." - Adam Savage, Mythbusters

August 10th, 2006, 03:06 AM	#4 (permalink)
chickenpicker Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: UK Posts: 3,060 14 Photos	Nice work Blazer. How heavy is it?