Even a loser gets lucky sometimes! My Warmoth build

Well, ive had so many different parts and bodies since i started trying to put together a Strat close to way over a year ago. Some things were ok. Some things were disasterous. A LOT of money spent, and a lOT of lessons learned- I'm no luthier and never will be. Seems i lived in a perpetual state of dissatisfation.
Well, I'm soo happy that what i really doubted was just so much wasted time and effort has finally( through i guess a combination of luck and some of the skill I've acquired through trial and error failure) is that I finally assembled the guitar of my absolute dreams that i would never trade for anything and would stack up against any American Standard..and like the old shake and bake commercial "I did it myself!
I proudly present my 100% complete and never to be altered Warmoth Start build from used and gathered hither and thither parts!
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n...g?t=1202705987
I bolted on the neck after trying a few and she just laid right down as if she found her long lost home
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n...g?t=1202706492
Warmoth one piece Swamp Ash body
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n...g?t=1202706609
The guitar has a vintage genuine Fender Strat block and saddles,medium jumbo frets on the neck,Seymour Duncan APS_1 Alnico in the bridge, Duncan Five-two in the middle and Duncan Antiquities surfer in the neck with a three way switch. Its' vintage cloth wired , with CTS pots and Hoviland Musicap resistor and has copper shielding tape on the route.
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n...g?t=1202706912
Beautiful Warmoth fat slab rosewood board with some birdseye on the maple neck. Plays with low action and just the way i love it.Bone Nutt.Gotoh chrome tuners
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n...g?t=1202707062
So end of story: after over a year and a half of questioning what the hell am i doing this for(?), i finally get something I would bring home to Mother. Sweet sweet vintage Fender Strat sound. She plays like a dream....doesnt look so bad. Sure I could have bought an American Deluxe for what i speant ,(although i"ve got some great leftover parts) but it was a learning process. Ya gotta have faith, is what I'd encourage other begginners in their builds. End of story. And they all lived happilt ever after LOL

i'd rather be lucky than good anyday of the week.

after a lot "research" i've learned what works for me, other might not like my choices and decisions, but that's them.

glad you finally built a guitar you like, that's the frosting on the cake. there is a lot of time and effort that goes into this sort of thing, and most of the time it's frustrating when you work real hard and don't like the fruits of your labor. but the thing is, you have to stick it out if you want to reach the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

congrats man! :dude

congratulations! That's a good feeling when you finally get the parts that really gel together.

I've gone the same route. Lots of time, money and effort. But in the end...happyiness. Worth it! Nice axe

that natural ash body and black pickguard/plastics looks very 70's, Very mean looking! If it does everything you want it to, it's worth it, and the satisfaction of "I did it myself" is all that matters!

:confused: Way to go, Jerry! Nice build! I'll bet it sounds as good as it looks, too!:dude

Thanks for the love everone!
I played a Fender Std. Strat compared to this the other day, and it wasnt even close. Mine sounded a good deal better, and even played a little better, which is the lucky part of the equation. The rest i did my homework on.

Congrats,looks great! You will enjoy it for years to come.

Nice!

So what were the hard and frustrating bits?

Tell us the story!

Love the look.

well, not to beat a dead horse, but thheres just one thing i failed to realise about this guitar...






































Its a tone turd.

IS a tone turd, or WAS a tone turd? You seemed really pleased with the sound above, so I'm confused...

2-11: "Sweet sweet vintage Fender Strat sound."

2-23: "I played a Fender Std. Strat compared to this the other day, and it wasnt even close. Mine sounded a good deal better..."

3-3: "It's a tone turd."


Wh-wh-wh-what??!?

well. I apologise. Its obvious I am given to overeaction and am too quick tojump to rash conclusions.
I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle between "better than a deluxe" and "tone turd"
Last night i compared my Walnut Strat with the Dimarzio YJM neck to my ash Start with the antiquities neck. I immidiatlly thought the DiMarzio YJM sounded alot better, and proceeded to dub my Ash Strat, pictured here, a "tone-turd", in large part because i thought the Duncan Antiquities might not be as good as the YJM .
I messed with the pickups on the Ash strat, which were all the way down ,later ; and it brought a good deal of tone back . It still plays really good. Its a keeper, but i dont think it sounds as good as I initially percieved. I got a little carried away I think. Nor is it a "tone turd" as I had a sudden impulse to call it last night.
One thing is the pickups might be part of the the reason I became quite suddenly disillusioned. I was comparing it to the glassy sound of my Walnut Strat with the Dimarzio YJM in the neck. One thing about the YJM, and (Dimarzios in general) is that it is a pickup that in my opinion would sound the same on a 58 Strat or a block of concrete-glassy in *this instance. Its like a guy who smiles all the time or frowns all the time..cant be trusted.
IMO the Duncan Antiquities is more organic..tells you what the wood is saying. If you have toneturd, it'll say so..but if you have a tonemonster, it'll also be the first to express that. Thats what it seems like anyhow. So that may be part of why i wrote the "toneturd " thing last night. I really dont think The ash Strat gets that great woody sounding old vintage tone that even my Peavey T-60 gets to a degree, but it still has a good deal of merit. After further review, officials have overturned the call on the field...

Awesome guitar...............Go to Ebay and get a decal for it (just to add to the look). They are available for around the $20.00 range.

It would really look good.

Happpy Trails