what strats have realy round necks BIG!!!

[jpage]

Originally Posted by straightblues

This is the very reason I built a partscaster. I wanted a Fat neck. I also wanted custom hand wound pickups. By the time you buy a Fender and start changing things, you can build a top shelf guitar with everything you ever wanted on it for less. One piece light weight bodies, fat neck, top of the line bridge, nitro finish, etc.

Yes and no. I've built one before and am pondering doing it again but it really doesn't come in much under $17-1800, esp. if you go for a pro nitro finish, good setup (I don't feel right tweaking necks myself and a fret dress is alot of times necessary on a new neck), and a hard case. Assuming also you are doing Callaham hardware and custom pickups.

As I mentioned, I'm eyeing the American Vintage '59 RI right now--around $1600. Six in one hand...instant gratification is a factor sometimes too...a partscaster is a 3 month project MINIMUM.

[Dave Orban]

Originally Posted by jpage

Yes and no. I've built one before and am pondering doing it again but it really doesn't come in much under $17-1800, esp. if you go for a pro nitro finish, good setup (I don't feel right tweaking necks myself and a fret dress is alot of times necessary on a new neck), and a hard case. Assuming also you are doing Callaham hardware and custom pickups.

As I mentioned, I'm eyeing the American Vintage '59 RI right now--around $1600. Six in one hand...instant gratification is a factor sometimes too...a partscaster is a 3 month project MINIMUM.

There's a fairly brisk market in pre-owned parts -- ranging from fully- finished, -fretted and -nutted necks to finished bodies, and all manner of pickups and hardware, so it's pretty easy to pull together a world-class partscaster inside of a week or two.

Just sayin'...

And I've owned some stellar custom shop and boutique F-style guitars, and I'd put my current crop of parts Teles right up there with (if not better than) the best of them. And the most I've got in any of them is well under a grand.

[jpage]

I see what ou are saying Dave but I just don't trust folks enough on the parts market. And when I build one of these it's under the assumption that it is going to have the "best" of everything. Sure, you can find a body here and a neck there, but I don't know if that body is some crap 5 piece plywood job, I don't know for sure what kind of finish it is or who applied it, and my hands are so picky with strat necks I can't imagine just flying blind there.

Here are my last two partscasters, and like you say--better than the real thing (but they took the better part of a year):

[mrfjones]

those look great jpage