GFS bodies

[tcarp]

Sure like to try my hand at an inexpensive, quickie Strat build and found the GFS body page.

Finished bodies for $60, advertised as ready to accept Fender parts....seems way too good to be true.

Anyone use 'em? Fit/finish concerns? How 'bout the GFS pre-wired loaded Strat guards?

Tom

[Donnie55]

I saw that on the bodies. Im curious about that myself. I have and do use their pickups ,for the they are hard to beat. For an inexpensive build I would use their products in a heartbeat.

[musicalmartin]

I was looking out for these .They look pretty good .I didnt order as I dont really need another Tele to build ,(cant believe I am saying this ) or put it another way ,my wife doesnt see any great need for yet another guitar clogging the house.They also cost double to UK .if I was in the States I would drop the 60 bucks in an instant and get one of those bound ultra lights ,still might ........

[ievans]

The initial run of bodies needed quite a bit of work, and a LOT more than they let on. I ordered a butterscotch ash body, and then the (supposedly) compatible bridge when they got them in last spring. It turns out they were not to the same spec, and the body needed a moderate amount of routing to work.

With the "correct" bridge, the string-through holes were off, and the bridge pickup route was too close by 5mm or so. Lining up the bridge to the string holes and expanding the route also necessitated expanding the pickguard notch. But no other bridge would fit. A Wilkinson bridge, for instance, wouldn't cover the bridge pickup route.

The control cavity route was too narrow and too shallow. The neck pocket corners needed to be shaped to properly seat the neck.

While it's hard to argue with the price, I ended up putting in a lot of work just making the body usable. In retrospect, I probably should have put that time into either making a body myself or ordering one from another vendor.

When I brought these issues up with GFS, especially about the bridge/body incompatibility, I got a lot of smoke blown my way, and that left a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe they've fixed the issues with their new runs, but I'm done with GFS.

[boris bubbanov]

ievans, you are a wise soul.

You learned as much as possible from your experience and you will get criticized for passing along your observations, but I have nothing but respect for you stepping forward and setting the record straight.

The Advanced search function will uncover a litany of less than satisfactory experiences that folks have had with these "odd" body parts from GFS. The pieces that fit together better were built into whole guitars; the misfits are sold separately.

I am convinced that there are closets full of odd, ill fitting GFS components. One of the things, maybe THE thing that sets USACG parts and to a lesser extent Warmoth and Allparts parts above the crowd is the exquisite way parts fit together - almost assemble themselves. Applying a finish? Hey, a finish is so much less important than the perfect matching and fitting of quality high performance parts - the final finish is just frosting on the cake, from where I stand.

Nothing impairs the quality of the final result like an "off" part.

[SimpleOne]

Originally Posted by ievans

needed quite a bit of work, and a LOT more than they let on. When I brought these issues up with GFS, I got a lot of smoke blown my way

Jay, at GFS, seems to rely more on hyperbole, and less on specs sometimes to move merchandise.

Those bodies are supposed to:

"Accepts all the GOOD old school parts- Our ferrules fit, our Vintage style bridges fit, Our '62 spec pickguards fit- Heck, every genuine fender parts fit. Use your Fender USA, Allparts or Warmoth neck, or pick up a bargain from us- your choice...they all fit."

Very disturbing, especially as I was, this AM, checking out buying the parts at Guitar Fetish to complete a partscaster, using their bodies and hardware as suggested on the GFS site.

The cost with tuners, knobs, string trees, plate, guard, Callaham bridge, strap buttons, etc. was close to $350 shipped. No electronics ordered.

Seems a lot, and I noticed a steep price increase this year.

Thanks for the cautionary tale!

[ievans]

Originally Posted by boris bubbanov

ievans, you are a wise soul.

You learned as much as possible from your experience and you will get criticized for passing along your observations, but I have nothing but respect for you stepping forward and setting the record straight.

Thanks, Boris.

Yeah. I posted my experiences and frustrations over on the Harmony-Central's forum at the time, and got a lot of push-back from the GFS faithful and Jay.

I don't mind a project, especially one where you can learn from it, and I expected to do some light work on the body (sanding and drilling, as described on the GFS site). I wasn't expecting to have to make templates, re-route parts of the body, and recut the pickguard. If I didn't have my router table and drill press, I don't know what I would have done.

As you say, I learned a lot, so $60 or so for Life School tuition isn't too bad.

Nothing impairs the quality of the final result like an "off" part.

Ain't that the truth.

-i

[tcarp]

Thanks for the insight. A finished body for the cost of a decent pick-up seemed like a dream, but I've never been good at making a silk purse from a sow's ear. I was hoping to slap together a strat in less than a weekend just for s***s and giggles and for under $400 with a loaded pickguard and a used neck.

Sounds like I'd end up making a career out of correcting the body just to meet those requirements.

I still want to do a strat, but it'll just have to be a properly executed partscaster.

Tom

[Ricky D.]

Originally Posted by boris bubbanov

... One of the things, maybe THE thing that sets USACG parts and to a lesser extent Warmoth and Allparts parts above the crowd is the exquisite way parts fit together - almost assemble themselves. ...

Boris, you've got that right. My partscaster build with a $85 web-special USACG body and a TMNF-V Allparts neck went together perfectly. Just a slight interference fit in the neck pocket, needed to muscle it just a little. It's hard enough to achieve that type of fit (and with perfect alignment!) when you making both parts in the same shop and can test-fit. Getting that accuracy from two vendors is phenomenal. But, seeing is believing.

[k tone]

I have used GFS parts (pickups, electronics, parts etc.) in various projects and for the price I always thought it was a good deal especially with USPS shipping to Canada. Lately I have noticed an increase in the product prices and an almost doubling of shipping costs to Canada. I now use an American vendor who will ship USPS at cost so I might as well buy Dimarzio for the few extra dollars. I have not ordered from GFS in over a year now.

I liked the good sounding parts for a bargain price thing they had going on but they have now priced themselves out of my market. Jay was always quick with a refund whenever I sent anything back though.

[tonyw]

I had a small problem with GFS and them sending me the wrong pickups twice, i didnt like the reply og got to a question about another product of theirs, their answer simply said NO. I have 2 necks from Warmoth one for a strat 21 fre Vintage and it fit like a glove i have a baritone strat body and a Baritone neck 24fret off them and i had to spend all of 15mins getting the neck to fit the pocket with a bit of sanpaer on a block in the pocket maybe 1/16 out. I now am in the process of ordering a body from USACG its a telemaster and i wll also probably order my 12string neck from them.

Nothing beats quality, quality is still quality long after the price is forgotten.

I will stick with the major players and i wont use GFS for parts.

I must say in th GFS defence that they did send out a replacment part for the part they stuffed up just it was the wrong part again.

[timmer114]

Ehh, I have had good and bad with GFS. Like my lil puncher pickups, but have had a couple parts that needed "adjustment" to make em fit. For the most part I can't complain, but if I am going to buy a body, I am going to spend the money and be sure I get the right one from a quality company like Warmouth or such.

His shipping cost kinda negates the savings you get on parts. Who wants to pay 8 bucks shipping for some caps and a volume pot or 2?

[garymaddox]

I bought a pretty nice Might Mite Strat neck on Craig's List a few weeks back really cheap. The reason it was so cheap was the seller mounted it to one of those cheap GFS bodies that had pre-drilled neck holes. I never saw the body and neck together but judging from the hole placement on both, the neck was waaaay off! If it was the hour hand on a clock it would be somewhere between 1 and 2 o'clock. Get the picture? I could have gotten the body for next to nothing but I took the old El Paso on it. I dowelled the neck and it should be fine but the body was as bad as I've ever seen.