Do you build new guitars just to use up spare parts?

I've done it, more than once.

 

It's rather like cheese and biscuits. You have a bit of cheese left over so you take a couple more biscuits to use up the cheese but now you have a spare biscuit so it's back to the cheese and so it goes on. And on.

Currently I have three partscaster Strats in the den. I don't particularly need/want three partscaster Strats but what do I do? I couldn't get much for them if I tried to sell them so what would be the point? And they all play/sound OK so they're fun to bash around on. I sort of justify them to myself by fitting different pickup/wiring arrangements -- one of the the things I like about Strats is the ease with which loaded pickguards can be chopped and changed.

Trouble is I now seem to have an extra really nice Strat neck sitting in the parts drawer (can't remember where it came from), plus a pearly pickguard and the odd pickup or two, so it looks like here we go again. Oh well, pass the biscuits please!

 

Since March and all the covid restrictions, I've assembled 3 with another nearing completion. It's a waste when you have 75-80% of the parts just kicking around. All I've had to do is order things like strap buttons, a couple of pots and neck plates to finish them up. I'll post some pics when they're all done. Plus, it's nice to have a project on the go...keeps you focused!

 

Got 2 complete kits and two builds on the go - got spare inline tuners, bridge bits, humbuckers so an Explorer build is on the go.

'but Honey, I only need a neck and body....'

 

I did in lockdown, yes.

A couple were planned anyway, a couple I just had the parts around.

This one pictured was not planned. Turned out pretty well but I really don’t want it that much because it’s not as nice as my other thin line.

I just sold the neck with two others and the body and parts will go too.

If you are in the UK and fancy the body then pm me.

 

Yes. But then I buy a bunch of other new parts to support the build and end with the pile being just as big or bigger than before

 

I think it comes down to how much you like the individual parts. Ask yourself why is the warmoth neck, bridge, pickups, etc. in storage? If the answer is it's the spares off guitars because I upgraded those parts, then all you have is a load of seconds that will make a second rate guitar.

If you like your spare parts and swapped them out for other reasons such as aesthetics and variety then maybe have at it. But don't limit yourself to what you have and think about what you really want. If you want a cabronita and you don't have the pickups and bridge, sell off the bridge and pickups you won't use and use them to fund the parts you need.

 

Yes, Gibson Dirty Fingers pickup needs a home. Always have a project looming..never a rush. I sit & wait for super low price deals to come by. Believe i have learned a whole lot about guitars & what pickups i like. they sure do become treasures when the personalizing goes into them. Als a great way to experiment.

 

I did try, anyone want a triple neck classical / acoustic / electric with two pick ups, one bass, one contact on a banjo body? And before I get 'picks or it didn't happen', it no longer exists!

 

Parts aren’t going to be worth, on Craig’s list, what you paid for them. I am constantly tearing one guitar down for parts for the next. Some end up in drawers to be used on guitars sometimes years later. There also a refining process occurring. The parts that work best are always going to make it to the next build.

 

I had a kayaking buddy, who had his whole calendar laid out, sometimes 2 years in advance. And it drove me nuts since I wanted each trip up to the mountains to feel spontaneous even if it wasn't entirely.

Once you have assembled, set up and played in a significant number of projects, then you look at all the remaining projects (all the parts on hand, ready for completion) and if you're not careful, you feel like you already know how this movie ends.

So, I think I'll just keep practicing and doing minimal upkeep until I completely overhaul my work station. Better soldering techniques, etc. These collections of parts can be assembled the old way (been there done that) or I can experience something new, on the next ones in the pipeline,

 

With all due respect, why not make a body? A trip to Lowe's, a 6' 2 X 8 and you have the basics. Not thick enough? Top with luan ply and mahogany stain. Want a custom color? Use Rust-Oleum 2X available even at Walmart. Pickups? How about one for a change, simplify. The ones I've built I play most follow this theme. It's up to me to get different tones from picking style etc. If something isn't a challenge it will never hold your interest

Dave

 

No but I probably should. I just like having parts at my disposal and like building necks and bodies. I could probably assemble half a dozen guitars with what I have right now. This may stem back when getting parts was a hassle. Before " next day delivery ", back in the stone age when you had to wait weeks for a parcel, it was really annoying. The only alternative was to go to a guitar shop and pay their going rate, or have them order it and wait.

After a while, I made a pact to myself to always have what I needed on hand and have worked to achieve that. Only once in a while do I have to make a special order for something unique.

 

Yes. I have 9 Tele parts casters and 1 Strat for exactly that reason. It all started with a trade deal that left me with a Boogie Bodies T body.
Guitar show and online purchases of used parts as package deals was cost effective, but always created inventory mismatches.
Right now, my only spares are saddles and a pick guard.

 

This is pretty much the point I was trying to make last night: WRT assembling yet another guitar that will just take up space.

I have far more parts I don't really like than parts that are even better than what's in the guitars I'm already playing.
So I would really never assemble another guitar just to use up parts on hand, if it would end up being something I already know won't be a favorite.

I do however assemble guitars that are more like stepping stones to that "better/ best" guitar, because I generally have to do some routing in order to make any real changes toward a goal.
After literally 40years building and assembling parts Fenders, I no longer need stock parts assemblies.
For my needs there are ways to "improve" on the Fender bridge tone, and part of the improvement is for me eliminating the angle that makes the high E string extra shrill for whatever the coil wind happens to be.

Leo had the idea that the player wanted bright pedal steel tone from the high strings and dark bass line tone on the low strings.
Well, Leo was wrong about that particular detail, but he was trying to serve studio players who made double scale if they covered more than one instrument duty.

So I rout cheaper bodies for new configurations before committing that idea to a more expensive body.
Pickups that are close but not quite right can often be better in a different guitar assembly, so why sell them?
Necks I really dislike are not worth hanging on to but the effort to sell them is greater than the income produced.

 

Part of my classical challenge is to build an acoustic guitar completely out of materials on hand. So far I've had to buy a couple of sticks of fret wire and a set of classical tuners. I'll probably give the guitar way when I'm done, I don't need yet another guitar in the closet.

 

I did this once. I bought a P bass body. Then a neck. Then I exchanged the neck for a better neck. Then I just started collecting the parts and next thing I knew, I assembled my first parts precision bass. It was pretty sweet. I have stayed away from parts since then however.

 

I like to just kind of pick up stuff here and there, tools, guitar parts, wood, junk whatever, either because I think it's excellent and I can't pass up the opportunity, I seem to get pickups and hardware often on the tdpri classifieds. Building guitars is just rewarding and fun /me preaches to the choir.

 

I did that a few times in the past, but not anymore, because 25 guitars are enough for the rest of my life...they're everywhere and they threaten me..