Why You Should Build or Buy a Partscaster

[Frisco 57]

Here's my take:

This is a great video that captures most of reasons why I'm hooked on putting together partscasters.

One of the reasons that is sometimes overlooked is the amount of money you have on hand. You can always walk into your favorite music store with a huge stack of $100 dollar bills to buy your dream Fender ________ guitar (fill in the blank.) or you can, over time, acquire the parts one by one, to assemble that Fender style guitar you've always dreamed of having. Parts purchases can be made when there's a little extra $$$ in your pocket and you've hopefully done your selection/costs research . It takes a lot more time but the acquisition and the hunt are well worth it!

Yup, I love assembling partscasters!

Edit: Here's my latest. Check out the headstock logo.

 

[Jazzerstang]

trial and error are how I have rolled for like 20 years.

 

[El Tele Lobo]

This is a great video that captures most of reasons why I'm hooked on putting together partscasters.

One of the reasons that is sometimes overlooked is the amount of money you have on hand. You can always walk into your favorite music store with a huge stack of $100 dollar bills to buy your dream Fender ________ guitar (fill in the blank.) or you can, over time, acquire the parts one by one, to assemble that Fender style guitar you've always dreamed of having. Parts purchases can be made when there's a little extra $$$ in your pocket and you've hopefully done your selection/costs research . It takes a lot more time but the acquisition and the hunt are well worth it!

Yup, I love assembling partscasters!

Edit: Here's my latest. Check out the headstock logo.
View attachment 1076546

Very nice. Love the body color and the guard. Hard to see the headstock logo though. Have a close up?

 

[CalebAaron666]

Partscasters are for playing.
If guitars are a financial investment, another asset to be totaled, then a partscaster is not ideal.

I love teles, but they have to be partscasters because I can’t find what I want off the rack. I’m not alone in this regard. I have three. Each has a story and each has it’s own sound.

 

[ValveTubeHead]

Me dad was a tinker… so, I guess that makes me one.

 

[Sax-son]

Partscasters are the worst investment and the biggest crap-shoot there is when it comes to owning a viable guitar.

When you walk into a store and buy a guitar that costs the same amount of money as what it costs to build a partscaster, you almost always take possession of an instrument that sounds and plays better than anything you build yourself.

The biggest difference is, you pick up a guitar in a store and know almost immediately if it sounds and plays great. Not so with a parts caster. And building one that truly sounds great is just as rare as finding one hanging on the wall in a store.

This doesn't mean that it isn't fun to roll your own. But it does mean that you are not likely going to come up with something that good on your first several tries. You will learn a lot, spend a lot of money, and maybe, just maybe end up with something that actually sounds as good as what you could have simply pulled off the wall in a store. Not to mention the dismal resale value of a partscaster.

Did I mention it's fun? The whole learning experience thing?

I both agree and disagree with your assessment. You are correct in saying that it is a financial crap shoot, because it is. However, if you are building one for an investment, you need to look somewhere else. My venture into building my own was because I wasn't finding what I wanted at a music store. You can try a bunch out (if they have enough in stock) to get close. But unless it is top tier or custom shop, most everything else is generic and those other guitars are super expensive. I was lucky in the sense that my first build was a "winner" and when I sold it, the buyer was stoked and paid me more than I had invested (other than my time) that is.

I do my homework on the parts that I buy. When you purchase the best there are, there is lessor of a chance for disappointments. If you try to do it on the cheap, your chances for success are riskier. That doesn't mean you can't get a good result, but quality has a lot going for it.

A previous thread member had mentioned swapping out necks and pickups to get things just right. That is a true statement and I for one have had to do that. I have had necks that weren't working on one body only to shine on another and vice versa. Sometimes you just have to find the right marriage of parts to make things flow together properly. In addition, the more you build, the more saavy you get to know what works. I have several builds that I will never part with because there are no other replacements for them. To me, they are perfect the way they are and they are unique.

 

[Telenator]

I both agree and disagree with your assessment. You are correct in saying that it is a financial crap shoot, because it is. However, if you are building one for an investment, you need to look somewhere else. My venture into building my own was because I wasn't finding what I wanted at a music store. You can try a bunch out (if they have enough in stock) to get close. But unless it is top tier or custom shop, most everything else is generic and those other guitars are super expensive. I was lucky in the sense that my first build was a "winner" and when I sold it, they buyer was stoked and paid me more than I had invested (other than my time) that is.

I do my homework on the parts that I buy. When you purchase the best there are, there is lessor of a chance for disappointments. If you try to do it on the cheap, your chances for success are riskier. That doesn't mean you can't get a good result, but quality has a lot going for it.

A previous thread member had mentioned swapping out necks and pickups to get things just right. That is a true statement and I for one have had to do that. I have had necks that weren't working on one body only to shine on another and vice versa. Sometimes you just have to find the right marriage of parts to make things flow together properly. In addition, the more you build, the more saavy you get to know what works. I have several builds that I will never part with because there are no other replacements for them. To me, they are perfect the way they are and they are unique.

We're saying the same things. Besides, I actually did write the book on it...

 

[ndcaster]

pretty simple to me: I know what I want or need, I don't see it on a rack, and I'm pretty handy

TDPRI has been invaluable and a big part of the fun

if I had no kids and more disposable cash, I'd buy brand-name merchandise if the specs were there

but I'm not in the middle of any target demographic, so my feelings aren't hurt -- I don't resent or envy the big makers for doing what they do

I'm just out here in the Territory, doing my own thing

 

[chris m.]

My best guitar is a partscaster Tele that I bought cheap, used, on consignment in a music store. Came with a boat neck and Fender noiseless pickups. The boat neck was just a hair fat so I had it reshaped a little and then refinished it with Tru-Oil, and I put in Cavaliers.
End of the day it ended up in total costing me around $600 but I have no need or GAS for another Telecaster. It's perfect for me. So that's a big win for me, with a certain amount of serendipity and luck involved. It even came in sonic blue, my favorite color.

 

[Southlaw 68]

Love the Hunter gatherer comment. I’m genetically programmed to be a gear head.

My only other comment is if your partscaster costs less than a new Tele you’re not doing it right.

Couldn't agree more. Anyone that builds a "partscaster" will learn rather quickly that a custom built guitar with all the bells and whistles can cost close to some CS Fenders.

 

[El Tele Lobo]

Couldn't agree more. Anyone that builds a "partscaster" will learn rather quickly that a custom built guitar with all the bells and whistles can cost close to some CS Fenders.

I disagree. I've cobbled several of them together and none of them has cost me more than about $600 or $700 total. Even the local luthier build I got was only about $1100 and I have about $175 of mods to it since I bought it. Still WAY cheaper than a CS Fender.

You may have to take your time and shop around, but you can build a VERY nice guitar for under $1000, even with a fancy aftermarket neck.

 

[Sax-son]

We're saying the same things. Besides, I actually did write the book on it...

 

[Sax-son]

Couldn't agree more. Anyone that builds a "partscaster" will learn rather quickly that a custom built guitar with all the bells and whistles can cost close to some CS Fenders.

I'm sorry! If I could buy a CS Fender anywhere close to what I can build them for, I would be buying everyone I could get my hands on.

 

[Uncle Daddy]

I build 'em for fun, pure and simple. Occasionally I get lucky and end up with a real player, but if I'm unhappy for any reason I can tear them down and start again.

I should probably spend more time practising.

 

[Sax-son]

I build 'em for fun, pure and simple. Occasionally I get lucky and end up with a real player, but if I'm unhappy for any reason I can tear them down and start again.

I should probably spend more time practising.

Yeah! I hear you on that one.

 

[dinomike77]

The fiesta red tele in my avatar is a partscaster using a Warmoth body that was on sale and Fender everything else. I was chasing an image from the Fender Golden Years book that just looked perfect to me. Initially, I was bit underwhelmed when it all came together. However, over the last 8 years, I have made minor tweaks that have turned it into my favorite guitar. Possibly even my favorite material object that I own!

 

[chris m.]

The fiesta red tele in my avatar is a partscaster using a Warmoth body that was on sale and Fender everything else. I was chasing an image from the Fender Golden Years book that just looked perfect to me. Initially, I was bit underwhelmed when it all came together. However, over the last 8 years, I have made minor tweaks that have turned it into my favorite guitar. Possibly even my favorite material object that I own!

Usually the biggest thing I see that would most significantly improve a parts-caster is a better setup. Not different tuners, pickups, etc. Things like correct neck relief, fret level/crown/polish, proper nut, and careful action and intonation adjustment. These are coincidentally the same things that dramatically affect playability of just about any guitar.

 

[FSRCustomTeleHHGT]

The Strat I want (Player Plus rolled-edges neck, CS-designed Classic Player 60s body refinished in purple metallic with Lace Holy Grails in gold anodized pickguard) is not one Fender offers. So I built it myself. Bruce Springsteen's famous Tele, plus famous guitars of Eddie Van Halen, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Stevie Ray Vaughan are all Partscasters™. I doubt any of us cared about the resale value.

Some of the coolest guitars are partscasters. The vast majority of the most boring guitars are stock.

 

[FSRCustomTeleHHGT]

Couldn't agree more. Anyone that builds a "partscaster" will learn rather quickly that a custom built guitar with all the bells and whistles can cost close to some CS Fenders.

LOL! The Strat I just referenced in the post above cost me less than a MIM Player Strat, and it is FAR better. Don't be afraid of screwdrivers and wrenches.

 

[FSRCustomTeleHHGT]

Partscasters are the worst investment and the biggest crap-shoot there is when it comes to owning a viable guitar.

The best investment guitar of the past 15 years is undoubtedly the Hello Kitty Squier Stratocasters, which were blown out by GuitarCenter in 2010 for $79 and can fetch nearly 20 times that in mint condition with accessories. You were saying?

And I'd have to be a blithering idiot to make my partscaster -- spending all that time and effort -- as an investment when guitars in general are a TERRIBLE investment with guitar-based music becoming less popular with each passing year. And only someone who doesn't know how to correct problems with solid-body electric guitars would say that putting together a partscaster is a bigger crap shoot than buying a stock guitar in terms of owning a viable guitar. I can make any guitar viable. Anyone who can read a book on guitar maintenance/repair can learn how. Hint: It is time better spent than trying to convince the rest of us that we're wrong.