'62 Strato-Clone......

[phantomman]

Some pics of my latest project......

Parts include, a MIM '62 re-issue neck, a MIJ '62 re-issue body, Fender-US hardware throughout, Kluson repro single-line tuners, mint green pickguard (light-fingered from my Strat 12-string), repro "PATENT PENDING" saddles, and Fender CS 57/62 pickups. The wiring will be "straight up", ie: nothing creative, at least to start with. The only deviation from St. Leo's original Stratocaster "recipe" is, I used coil springs to mount the pickups instead of surgical tubing. The neck plate serial number is period-correct for 1962 and is formatted as my daughter's birthday (no, I ain't givin' it to her......the only thang she knows how to play is her iPod!)

[NeoFauve]

Nice.
Nice.
Very nice.

It needs strings though.

[ziess]

Cool, I like that colour!

What kind of pickups are you going with?

[Cygnus X1]

And stunning photography also!
Good work!

[NMCA_Ron]

That shore is purdy.

Nice work.


Ron

[Cogs]

Beauty! But springs insted of tubing? I couldn't abide that

[ziess]

Oh, I'm an idiot. Clearly, '57-'62s. Good choice. All your other strats are noiseless, right?

Tommy.

[phantomman]

Beauty! But springs insted of tubing? I couldn't abide that

Yeah yeah......call me a heretic!



Thanks for the kind words.

[phantomman]

Oh, I'm an idiot. Clearly, '57-'62s. Good choice. All your other strats are noiseless, right?

Tommy.

Yeah, most of 'em. I did throw a pseudo-Jeff Beck clone together recently, usin' a leftover loaded Robert Cray pickguard. Surprisingly, it sounds pretty nice -- not nearly the noise I expected (no added shielding either -- just a small piece of factory-installed aluminum tape over the control cavity area).

I like the SCN an' DiMarzio noiseless pickups but there is no disputin' that they do in fact produce a audibly "darker" tone than the traditional S/C pickups. I thought I'd give these 57/62's a whirl an' see what happens. There is a full-size aluminum shield beneath the pickguard of this latest "experiment" as per the original prototype.

Stay tooned......

[Stonefreefuzz1]

Looks like Roger's got another winner in the herd. Congrats bud, she's mighty fine lookin'!

[curt1lp]

Very nice Phantomman: I love the repro neck plate looks very accurate, I assume the Pat pends are made in USA not the German repros? The whole guitar seems like a NOS out of the 60s.

[phantomman]

Very nice Phantomman: I love the repro neck plate looks very accurate, I assume the Pat pends are made in USA not the German repros? The whole guitar seems like a NOS out of the 60s.

They're the German imports, Curt. An' I'd like to reiterate my thanks to you for your input about what height screws to use in order to make 'em work.



It's tips like this from everybody here that hepp bring my plans from an ethereal vision to palpable hardware. I don't think there's a better guitar site than the TFF, nor a better bunch of people than TFFers.

Thanks all!!!

[carbonti]

Now that is how it is done!

Looks like parchment white on the pickup covers and vol/tone knobs. I'd like to buy a set of these. IMO the aged white new stuff Fender puts out is too much cream colored.

Another winner, congrats.

[phantomman]

Now that is how it is done!

Looks like parchment white on the pickup covers and vol/tone knobs. I'd like to buy a set of these. IMO the aged white new stuff Fender puts out is too much cream colored.

Another winner, congrats.

Actually the knobs, pickup covers, etc are the Fender "aged white" set. I bought sets of just about everythang available and those provided the best contrast to the mint pickguard. The "parchment" set looked a leetle too bleached out (but will work great on my 12-string Strat with its new mother-of-toilet-seat P/G).



Thanks for the kind words, Carbonti!

[Frat Rettle]

Fantastic...well done that man.

[rudutch]

nice photots

[hippiebob01]

hey roger that guitar looks rad. is the color the same sherwood green they use for the current 62 hot rod strats?

[Stonefreefuzz1]

It's tips like this from everybody here that hepp bring my plans from an ethereal vision to palpable hardware. I don't think there's a better guitar site than the TFF, nor a better bunch of people than TFFers.

Thanks all!!!

Not to steal the thread but it's true, I post alot on the LPF as well, it's just more personable here,Great conversations andgreat advice. I'm a young guy and I sponge up so much from you guys. I was never one to make friends with people on the interweb (wasn't against it,just didn't happen) but since I've been postin' here I've met some great folks that I'm proud to call my friends.

[phantomman]

hey roger that guitar looks rad. is the color the same sherwood green they use for the current 62 hot rod strats?

Well the color was specified by the seller as Ocean Turquoise Metallic, an' there is an "OTM" inked inside the neck pocket. But it is way too greenish to correlate to Fender's official '60s Duco color chip. In person the body is a skosh more bluish an' dependin' on the lighting can almost appear to be Teal Green Metallic. An' when I ran these pics through my imaging software before posting, they sorta leaned into Sherwood Green Metallic territory. Hard to pin it down precisely......

Ergo, it is what it is (whatever that means )

The wife calls it "Tijuana Turquoise" but the best I can come up with is, it reminds me of a teal green 1970 Chrysler New Yorker my Dad usta own.

[chuckocaster]

you get those strings on yet? she sure does look sweet.

[elicross]

The strings are actually on in those phtots. Phantom's experimenting with an extremely light gauge.

[chuckocaster]

LOL!

[elicross]

They sound fantastic...right up to the moment when they cut literally all of your fingers off.

But you know, an artist has to make sacrifices.

[Stonefreefuzz1]

They sound fantastic...right up to the moment when they cut literally all of your fingers off.

But you know, an artist has to make sacrifices.

I can picture Roger after that happenin' and him sayin'... "Ain't got time to Bleed"

[Wilko]

That guitar looks great right down to the details like the pat pend saddles (thanks for that tip... I got my set from Germany last week)


What's up with Fender and those polepiece chamfers (bevels)?! 45 degrees and 1/64th!!??

[phantomman]

That guitar looks great right down to the details like the pat pend saddles (thanks for that tip... I got my set from Germany last week)


What's up with Fender and those polepiece chamfers (bevels)?! 45 degrees and 1/64th!!??

They're the stock CS pickup set, Wilko......s'posed to have them bevels (or so I've read).

Yeah, I was surprised how quickly them saddles got here from across the pond. The first set I bought (back in the "What Mama Don't Know" days), they took over three weeks to arrive......they musta let Wolfgang paddle hisseff across the Atlantic in a rowboat with a pair of busted oars!

[Cogs]

Most of the RI p'ups that Fender sells these days have "extreme" bevels on them. The Fat '50s & the Custom '54s are two sets that I know of that look the most like the old style p'ups.

[Wilko]

The originals have just a tiny hint of a bevel.

Like here:

[phantomman]

Most of the RI p'ups that Fender sells these days have "extreme" bevels on them. The Fat '50s & the Custom '54s are two sets that I know of that look the most like the old style p'ups.

I thought the bevels looked a leetle exaggerated too, compared to the 40-year old memories of my '66 Strat. WTF, the price was right (around a hunnert yankee dollahs)......I'll wire 'em up an' see how they sound. If'n they don't "whistle Dixie" then no biggie -- tha's why God invented the screwdriver an' Fralin VHs.



Tha's a real schweet piece of vintage issue you got there, Wilko......I likey!

[Wilko]

Tha's a real schweet piece of vintage issue you got there, Wilko......I likey!

I thank you sir. That is my baby. I'm building a clone of it from that MIM I recently scored from craigslist. The saddles I just got will go on it. I got a great set of decals for it. When I get some time I'm going to reshape the body and neck to match this one.

[phantomman]

I thank you sir. That is my baby. I'm building a clone of it from that MIM I recently scored from craigslist. The saddles I just got will go on it. I got a great set of decals for it. When I get some time I'm going to reshape the body and neck to match this one.

Ayup......I remember you mentionin' that "stage double". I've never tried correcting a body shape (or a re-fin for that matter) so I'll be watchin' your progress, an' also CJ's as he paints that '65 he picked up recently. You guys are great for sharin' the inside scoop on all this.

[Brian H]

Are those saddles the German ones or from the USA seller (F>K>E)? I just got a set from the US guy and while the stamping looks good, the holes for the height adjustment screws are football shaped, not perfectly round. Your saddles above look great!

thanks
brian

[phantomman]

They're the overseas versions (see post somewhere above).

I wish they made 'em in gold as well. I got a CAR '58 hardtail clone in the planning stage......

HTH

[Brian H]

Thanks, but couldn't find the post. I read you got some German ones (Crazyparts?) back in February but found the stamping to be crooked. Are these the same saddles or from another seller? Thanks, man.

[phantomman]

They're the same, Brian.

E-mail me off board at phantoms4ever(at)cox(dot)net for all the dirty details.

[Brian H]

Nevermind, saw it above. D'oh!

[curt1lp]

Are those saddles the German ones or from the USA seller (F>K>E)? I just got a set from the US guy and while the stamping looks good, the holes for the height adjustment screws are football shaped, not perfectly round. Your saddles above look great!

thanks
brian

imo the oval shaped ones are correct judging from pictures of real ones. (I have the German and USA ones). The shaft is round inside but the top is slightly machined to create the oval shape.

[Brian H]

I dunno, you can see no oval shape on these real deals. Just how they seem to me, at least. You know I'm talking about the holes in the saddles themselves, not the height adjustment screws, right?

http://cgi.ebay.com/1956-ORIG-5-56-F...3286.m20.l1116

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3023417...7607123723474/

http://www.members.aol.com/dtm707/stratpup64a.jpg

The USA repro ones:
http://i23.ebayimg.com/07/i/001/08/04/e914_1.JPG

[curt1lp]

Brian H you are right, I think we better ask for Wilko to have a real close look at his saddles and let us know what he thinks. I can take a closeup of one of my USA repros later.

[curt1lp]

There's a closup in my thread here.
http://www.thefenderforum.com/forum/...1&highlight=62

Here are some other pictures. Eddie Vegas's site is my go-to reference picture site.

http://www.eddievegas.com/store/deta...WARE-PARTS.php
looks like the oval shape is a newer RI Fender feature.

http://www.eddievegas.com/store/deta...INT-Saddle.php