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#1
11-02-2009, 08:53 AM
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Is making a partscaster difficult?
I can't really find what I'm looking for on the shelf, so I'm thinking of trying to put one together. I've found a solid alder white strat (not Fender) body with a loaded pickguard and all hardware. It has a standard 2 3/16 neck pocket. I'd probably throw a road worn neck on it.
Is there anything else I need to be concerned with? Is it as simple as putting a neck on it? I'd probably replace the bridge and pickups too, but I'm just trying to figure out what kinds of things I need to watch out for...things that could go wrong or not work together. Is the biggest thing how the neck fits on the body? I've read other threads where people say it took trial and error until they finally got it right. 
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#2
11-02-2009, 09:01 AM
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With what you've presented I think you'll be fine. You'll need to know how to set up the guitar, but that's more or less it. There shouldn't be compatibility issues.
If you get into finishing the neck and body, putting on a nut, fretwork... it gets considerably harder!
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#3
11-02-2009, 09:04 AM
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OK. Yeah, I wouldn't be doing any of that. I'll just buy a finished neck with tuners, and a body that's either plain or loaded. Even if I have to buy a pickguard, electronics, and a bridge, that's pretty easy. I have a local tech that will install my pickups and do a setup (action and intonation, etc.) for $40. So, it seems like it's just a matter of buying a body, the road worn neck, the pickups, then paying him $40 to set it up. It just seems like it can't be that easy, but since I'm not refinishing anything or messing with the frets, maybe it is?
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#4
11-02-2009, 09:06 AM
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If it's a new neck, say from Warmoth, it will need a fret dress. Otherwise these are pretty simple to do.
__________________
www.rotfeld.com
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#5
11-02-2009, 09:06 AM
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With patience and some practice you can make it work; check out this thread for inspiration (if you haven't already):
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/sho...d.php?t=451419 good luck! cheers, wemedge
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#6
11-02-2009, 09:08 AM
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Quote:
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#8
11-02-2009, 09:21 AM
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Not sure if this will affect you, but I once tried to combine a USA Highway1 body, with a Vintage spec Bridge, and a Mexican Neck.
These were all REAL FENDER parts. Yet.... I found out the hard way some Mexican Necks are narrower at the upper frets. This caused, the 1st and 6th strings to both be too close to the edges. I then took a Digital Caliper, and compared American, Vintage, and Mexican neck widths at the 12 fret. The Mexican was actually smaller in WIDTH. I also noticed the Mexican neck did not fit as tight in the American HW1 Body. I then took a neck from my other American-Standard Strat just to test. That neck fit perfect in the pocket of the HW1 body and it did not have the issue with both the 1st and 6th being close to the fretboard edges. I learned from this, that the string spacing of a Vintage bridge can cause issues with at least some Mexican necks. I have since tested a Warmoth neck, and it was fine. I even tried believe it or not, a Mighty Mite neck and that fit Better than the Mexican neck too. Go figure. The easiest way to avoid these potential issues, is to just use a neck with a 1 11/16 (1.6875) nut. Hope this helps.
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#9
11-02-2009, 09:33 AM
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The neck I really want to use is a road worn 50's neck. It's a 42mm (1.65) neck. The road worn bodies have a 2 3/16 neck pocket, so I'm assuming a road worn neck would fit into a different 4-bolt strat body that has a 2 3/16 neck pocket.
I could run into the issues you're talking about though. I don't know how I'd determine if it'd be an issue until I actually buy everything. To fix the issue though, would I just have to replace the bridge rather than replacing the neck?
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#10
11-02-2009, 09:47 AM
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^^^^
There are two string spacings: 2 1/16 ..... 2 7/32 I personally don't care much for the smaller one. Most common with the smaller 2 1/16 string space are of course Mexican Bridges. To further confuse this is that MIM Bridges with the 6 hole body mount do not align with the 6 hole body mount found on American Vintage. There will be some trial an error or you might just get lucky. I learned the hard way, but it made me look up and learn all this info.
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#11
11-02-2009, 10:02 AM
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So, if I can get the neck to fit, it's just a matter of finding a bridge that will work, correct?
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#12
11-02-2009, 10:06 AM
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Imperial and Metric measurement. I belive MIM is metric, so this is why there may be some problems.
__________________
Guitars - Fender Strat, Ibanez Artcore, MIJ Epiphone. Amps - Fender, Vox, Roland. Bunch of old pedals,
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#13
11-02-2009, 10:10 AM
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Quote:
__________________
Sorry, I don't explain stuff any more for free.
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#14
11-02-2009, 11:35 AM
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Quote:
If the neck angle is a hair off, you can always shim it at one end. Some partscasters turn out great, some end up just OK, yet never somehow feel quite right. I have had the best luck sticking with all American Vintage spec parts, while using a 1 11/16 nut.
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#15
11-02-2009, 12:24 PM
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I agree. Although with due respect it can vary, depending on your depth of familiarity with the products and how they marry together. Or not. I suggest lots of hours with mildly modded, to moderately modded stock guitars, first. Then more hours, maybe with some incremental changes as you see fit. At some point when you need a transfusion of fresh blood, THEN you strive for a higher level of personal matching of guitar features and components. If you buy a guitar and sell it 10 days later, your chances of a random grand slam home run with a partscaster are just not good enough, I respectfully submit.
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