Hardware and Pickup Upgrades for a StewMac Kit

[Kentucky_Colonel]

Hello everyone,

I have a new Stew Mac S-Style Strat kit that I am assembling. This is my first kit guitar build, and the finishing section of this community was super helpful for that part of the process. Now I am interested in what I could try if I wanted to upgrade the tuners, bridge + tremolo assembly, and pickups. Can anyone recommend products to me that would be relatively easy replacements to drop onto the instrument without too much modification of the stock guitar parts?

I do have a certain fondness for Fender parts, I just like how they look and feel. Would the Fender locking tuners and the Fender bridge assemblies fit the StewMac kit well? Are Kluson or Gotoh just as good but just at a lower price?

 

[Boreas]

Hello everyone,

I have a new Stew Mac S-Style Strat kit that I am assembling. This is my first kit guitar build, and the finishing section of this community was super helpful for that part of the process. Now I am interested in what I could try if I wanted to upgrade the tuners, bridge + tremolo assembly, and pickups. Can anyone recommend products to me that would be relatively easy replacements to drop onto the instrument without too much modification of the stock guitar parts?

I do have a certain fondness for Fender parts, I just like how they look and feel. Would the Fender locking tuners and the Fender bridge assemblies fit the StewMac kit well? Are Kluson or Gotoh just as good but just at a lower price?

Ask S/M what will fit.

S/M possibly could have swapped the "upgraded" parts at an upcharge before sending the kit. But they usually provide decent hardware to begin with. Why not install what you have and see how it works first? I suspect you will be more than happy.

 

[Linus Pickle]

Hello everyone,

I have a new Stew Mac S-Style Strat kit that I am assembling. This is my first kit guitar build, and the finishing section of this community was super helpful for that part of the process. Now I am interested in what I could try if I wanted to upgrade the tuners, bridge + tremolo assembly, and pickups. Can anyone recommend products to me that would be relatively easy replacements to drop onto the instrument without too much modification of the stock guitar parts?

I do have a certain fondness for Fender parts, I just like how they look and feel. Would the Fender locking tuners and the Fender bridge assemblies fit the StewMac kit well? Are Kluson or Gotoh just as good but just at a lower price?

I'm less familiar with Kluson but I have purchased Gotoh parts and they are all very good quality. Wilkinson is another decent option if you're trying to save money.

I agree with @Boreas that you should try the ones that came with the kit before deciding that you don't like them though, unless there is an obvious issue with them. I can't imagine StewMac would sell a kit with shoddy hardware and electronics. If they really are junk, then let someone at StewMac know.

Got any photos of the process? What are you doing for finish on the body?

 

[Kentucky_Colonel]

Ask S/M what will fit.

S/M possibly could have swapped the "upgraded" parts at an upcharge before sending the kit. But they usually provide decent hardware to begin with. Why not install what you have and see how it works first? I suspect you will be more than happy.

Solid question, @Boreas. Honestly, I think part of the reason to upgrade is to give myself the excuse to use the stock parts from the Stew Mac kit to assemble another Strat for my brother.

Theory being, if I take all the hardware and pickups from my kit, then all I would need to do is get a cheap body and neck to have all the parts for guitar #2.

 

[Scorpio1968]

Solid question, @Boreas. Honestly, I think part of the reason to upgrade is to give myself the excuse to use the stock parts from the Stew Mac kit to assemble another Strat for my brother.

Theory being, if I take all the hardware and pickups from my kit, then all I would need to do is get a cheap body and neck to have all the parts for guitar #2.

You can't fight logic like that!

 

[Boreas]

Solid question, @Boreas. Honestly, I think part of the reason to upgrade is to give myself the excuse to use the stock parts from the Stew Mac kit to assemble another Strat for my brother.

Theory being, if I take all the hardware and pickups from my kit, then all I would need to do is get a cheap body and neck to have all the parts for guitar #2.

Good luck! Finding cheap bodies and especially necks nowadays is getting tougher. Sometimes you are better off buying a used Squier than trying to source separate bodies/necks. But sometimes luck is on our side!

 

[Linus Pickle]

Solid question, @Boreas. Honestly, I think part of the reason to upgrade is to give myself the excuse to use the stock parts from the Stew Mac kit to assemble another Strat for my brother.

Theory being, if I take all the hardware and pickups from my kit, then all I would need to do is get a cheap body and neck to have all the parts for guitar #2.

Why make one guitar when you can make two? I can't argue with this logic. Proceed!

 

[Bob J]

Which is why I now have 6 guitars…

 

[Jumbotronic]

Guitarfetish locking tuners are quite nice on the cheap. You might give those a shot if you have the right size holes (or can ream to 10mm).

 

[Bob J]

I’ve purchased a couple of parts “kits”, the first as a full tele-style guitar (not from SM, but from some other outfit, “super cheap electric guitars dot com” or something like that). That kit had a couple things I changed right away, the bridge was top loading only, I drilled holes in it so I could do string-through. The output jack was a surface mount type, not like a “real” tele, so I got a cup-style jack mount. I then proceeded to “jack-up” the counter sinking for that and ended up using the surface mount. The rest of the parts I ended up using (even the strings as a break in set). Oh, and I changed the pickguard because I wanted black instead of white. After a while I ended up changing the pickups to a set of Bootstrap Palo Duros (mainly to see if it makes a difference-it does).

All the other parts are still on there, even the tuners, even though the plating is bad on one of them. They work fine.

 

[Zepfan]

I bought several Stewmac guitar kits.
First of all, the present day kits are made by China. They are what you would expect. The wood is good and fits together very well and are easy to put together if you have any experience building models.
The Bad :
The hardware is very cheap.
Screws break while installing parts.
Tuners are hard to turn and some don't hold the strings to tune.
Nuts are plastic.
Frets are thin and often require work to make them playable.
Electronics:
Pots are mini pots and you have a 50/50 chance of them working well.
Switches are cheap and same chances of working well as the pots.
Pickups work and do there job, but usually lackluster.


Stewmac changed vendors a few years ago and the quality was better then than now.
I wait til they go on sale before buying because I know all the hardware & electronics will need to be replaced and the frets will need to be replaced and worked. Afterwards, you can have a very nice guitar.

 

[old wrench]

I seem to remember SM selling "Wilkinson" kit guitars, but I could be wrong about that.

It seems like a Tele or Strat kit guitar with Wilkinson hardware would be good enough with the Wilky hardware.

Stew Mac needs to do better if they are selling kits with hardware that folks feel like they need to replace right off the bat.



I can speak for the quality of both Gotoh and Kluson tuners - I use their vintage style tuners on all of my Tele and Strat builds - I like their vintage-style, staggered height tuners with the "safety"-type posts.


.

 

[Zepfan]

I have bought some low cost hardware that's made in China, but worth buying.
CBGitty.com sells some tuners for less than $20 a set and other parts that may not look much different than the kit parts, but actually are worth buying.
Amazon and Meta Marketplace sell some great parts with the name Guyker on them that are decently priced and very good quality. I've also bought good pickups with the name Musililly on them.
Guitarfetish.com has good quality bridges and tremolos that aren't expensive. Some of the GFS pickups are great - some not.
Screws/bolts/nuts: I buy mine from the local hardware store or even Lowe's/ Home Depot.
Searching around and getting feedback can help you with your search for replacement items.