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I was thinking that it be pretty inexpensive to get a strat if I bought all the parts seperate and put it together myself but I had a couple questions. When youre putting the neck into the neck joint do you put it in from the top of the body or do you slide it in from the back? Also, how tight do you make the screws? How do you put the tuners in? How do you tell if the neck is alligned right because when I put back together my cheap guitar after repainting it it buzzes out at some frets now where it didnt before? Would there be any other things that I would have to make sure that I did?

A couple more questions. Where would a good place to get a body and a neck from be? Could I get them on ebay or would that be a bad idea? And what are some good trems to get, I was thinking of the vintage style trems because I hear that they sound better than the floyds but what if I got a floyd and didnt float it? Im not really sure how floyds are set up but could I put a vintage style trem block on it to get better tone and if I did those two things to the floyd wouldnt it sound the same as a vintage style?

For the buzzing from the frets, the neck may have bent or unbent because it had no tension on it from the strings. For bodies and necks I have heard good things from warmoth.

In most cases, you will end up spending as much or slightly more to build a guitar from parts than you will just buying a Strat. Warmoth and USA Custom Guitars both make top-quality parts, but it will not be a cheap project unless you just pick up some MIM parts on Ebay and piece together a Strat that way. Custom guitars are fun to build, but it's not the type of project you should undertake with a very limited budget. The advantage is that you will be able to specify just about every aspect of the design...neck thickness, nut width, fret size, electronics, etc.

Screws should be tight, but don't keep turning them once they've stopped. As far as the tuners, Warmoth will drill the main holes for the brand of tuner you're using, but you'll need to drill holes for the mounting screws. You shouldn't have any problems with neck alignment if you're using quality parts that are made to precise specifications...there won't be any extra room for the neck to slide side-to-side in the pocket. I always put the neck in from the top, rather than sliding it in.

As for the bridge, Floyds and vintage style bridges are completely different units, their parts are not interchangeable. A Floyd will require a neck that is designed to use a locking nut, while a vintage bridge will require a traditional nut. You'll also need to find someone to wire it up for you, unless you want to learn to do it yourself.

Ryan

Get the Guitar Player Repair Book and it will help you get thru a lot of the steps you are asking about... is a pretty standard source for quality parts.... has some cheaper pre painted bodies and necks.... Plus you can also order the Guitar Player book thru Stew Mac as well...

Thru Warmoth most of the time you order the holes predrilled for the bridge of your choice... so that route makes life easier someways. The neck is fitted from above as it is most often too tight to slide a neck into it's pocket.... I use a clamp to clamp the neck in place and then pre-drill and screw the neck on. I think Warmoth will even predrill their neck's heel for the screws... In this case it is a lot easier...

In cases where you have to figure out where to mount a bridge to a body with no predilled holes, that is a lot more involved and you will need a lot of preplaning to get started... get all the books, talk to some techs for help and sometimes if it's a good shop they will not mind you taking your parts in for minor advice if you do not take up a techs time too much. I would even say get the Stewmac video on putting together kit guitars.. It gives you a good overview of how to put strat and teles together....

After you get the neck and body together you will need to set it up and sometimes new necks need minor fret dress's to play right... Warmoth says that their necks should have a minor dress before install..

Good luck

WhoFan


Originally Posted by rspst14In most cases, you will end up spending as much or slightly more to build a guitar from parts than you will just buying a Strat. Warmoth and USA Custom Guitars both make top-quality parts, but it will not be a cheap project unless you just pick up some MIM parts on Ebay and piece together a Strat that way. Custom guitars are fun to build, but it's not the type of project you should undertake with a very limited budget. ....

1. I went the eBay route (MIM body, Mighty Mite neck, parts from eBay shops) for my first project guitar mainly to avoid spending weeks finishing wood then screwing up the assembly. I did end up spending more on it than a MIM Strat would cost but I learned alot about setting up a guitar from the experience.Originally Posted by WhoFanGet the Guitar Player Repair Book and it will help you get thru a lot of the steps you are asking about...

1. Great book although I had to get help here for aligning the neck and drilling the screw holes into the neck.

What would the difference be between a 1 piece body vs a 2 or 3 piece body? Also, what is the difference between a 1 piece maple neck vs a maple cap neck or quartersawn maple or any of those other kinds of necks?

A 1 piece body is exactly what it sounds like, where as a 2 or 3 piece body is made up of different pieces of wood that are laminated together.

A 1 piece body is likely to be a bit more resonant, cause you dont have any glue in there to muck up your tone.

I'm scratching my head on what you mean by quot;maple cap neckquot;. A maple cap on a guitar body is just a layer of maple on top of a guitar body...Like in a Les paul. The back is mahogony and the cap is maple. Do you mean a two-piece maple neck?

If thats the case, then the same basic rules apply as with the guitar bodies, but a two piece maple neck tends to be a bit more resistant to warping than a one-piece.

Quartersawn maple is just a different cut of maple, It tends to be a stronger cut of wood. However, quartersawn maple is a bit more expensive, because you get a smaller yeild from a tree with quarter sawn wood than with flat sawn wood.

In addition to what everyone else has already said, you want to slide the neck down into the pocket from the top, as neck pockets/heels are often angled.