Partcasters - Your experiences

dean111music

Hello

I was all set in making an order with Musikraft to get a top quality body and neck. Nothing out the ordinary telecaster with a swamp ash body and rosewood/maple board.

There was a few reason for choosing this route but the main thing is the cost for a custom fender would be 2.k-3k. I wanted to a V shape neck with no finish on the neck and a really nice this nitro finish on the body.



When i talked to my friend about this before i hit the buy it now he put me off. He said that after i put the guitar together it will be rubbish and will just sit in the corner of the room and won't be worth anything to sell even though you spent time and money putting it together.

I'll be buying the best quality parts i can. Musikraft body and neck, callaham, gotoh hardware and lindy frailin or Klien pickups.

My thinking is, its a telecaster, its two bit of wood stuck together how hard can it be?

Do i re think my wood selection to start with Swamp Ash can be different in weight and tone? Alder more consistent and a safer bet with the rosewood/maple neck?




Whats your experiences with a part caster. Buying quality parts should i worry? When buying a neck from one place and a body from another and buying cheap parts be the cause of a bad playing sounding Part caster?

I will of course get it setup by a pro! (suggestions around West Sussex area would be great)

Am i worrying too much or should i rethink i ideas and buy a guitar off the shelf. Choosing the one that speaks to me.

Whats your experiences? Have you built a bad part caster? An amazing one because of the parts etc Any help  would be great!

stimpsonslostson

I love my partscaster, it was a learning experience for me- I finished the body, cut a new pick guard, learned to solder the harness etc and set up a guitar. 

Ive ended up with a really nice guitar for not many pennies, BUT I know it won't be worth the value I'd place on it should I decide to sell it (I won't- I'm sentimentally attached). 

Regardless of of the quality of the constituent parts the guitar will never be a Fender (even IF you apply a decal to the headstock) and as such it'll never be worth anywhere near a comparable production model. 

To make money on selling a partscaster you have to part it out and sell the components individually. 

WezV

It takes some skill to put even the best parts together, but it's still something anyone can do with all the tutorials and video guides out there.

axisus

I'm a fan of partscasters, but bear in mind that you will sell the parts for a big loss should you ever choose to move it on. Nobody pays big money for a bunch of good parts.

BGG

Quality parts and put together by someone that knows what they are doing can mean a great guitar indeed.
I bought an MJT body and neck, some quality electrics and local builder/pickup maker but it together for me and installed his pickups and it's great, and a keeper

matone

Built two teles with quality Warmoth/Musikraft parts etc.Went together perfectly and are great instruments.Far more interesting than `off the shelf` stuff to my mind and FAR more reasonable cost wise spec for spec !

stickyfiddle

I have three - my old strat, which has been put together over many years, my Cabronita, which was made from a single, intentional plan with a USACG neck and @WezV's expertise in finishing and fettling, and my Jazzmaster which is a Musikraft neck and MJT everything else. All are fantastic instruments at a fraction of the price it would have cost to get them from Fender.

But to get that you obviously have to be quite confident in terms of what specs you want, and what will work well together in terms of woods, parts, etc. 

Megii

I've built 4 guitars from parts, and they all came out great, if I do say so myself. I think you need to source good quality bits to make the guitars, and then be prepared to take some time, thought and care about putting them together - it generally took me 3 months or more to get from starting to plan the build to having the finished instrument. Yes, you are "just" putting parts together, and it is do-able, but it is surprising how there are lots of little elements and details that need to be done right to get a good result. For me, this was all common sense, but it does help to be a thoughtful person, and also to be prepared to take a bit of time over things, and not in a rush. I do look at some partscasters on the web that seem to have been put together a bit slap dash, and that totally ruins the result for me.

So good parts, time, care, thought, attention to detail - you'll get a nice guitar!

koss59

I built one recently wth MJT body and a Baja neck and it was better than most custom shops I've played. And held its own against my Nocaster.
I guess there's no Guessing how good it will be though. Pot luck.

Megii

Forgive me for linking to Photobucket pages, but I did take pics of the progress of some of my builds, which due to their change of policy I can't now show on the forum, but for what it's worth, if of any interest:

Walnut strat build: http://s1153.photobucket.com/user/Megi99/library/Walnut%20Strat%20Build?sort=3&page=1

Swamp ash strat build: http://s1153.photobucket.com/user/Megi99/library/Swamp%20Ash%20Strat%20Build?sort=9&page=1

Both of these builds were natural wood Tru Oil finishes on the body, and used bodies from guitarbuild.co.uk, who I would be very happy to recommend. The walnut strat has a Mighty Mite neck, and the swamp ash one a neck from Axesrus, though sadly they don't sell these any more. GSPBASSES on this forum also makes obviously excellent necks and bodies, though I haven't used those myself.

dean111music

That's good to hear. I'm no expert in this, but on paper Is using swamp ash as a body wood hit and miss? Is alder a safer bet? 

Megii said:

I've built 4 guitars from parts, and they all came out great, if I do say so myself. I think you need to source good quality bits to make the guitars, and then be prepared to take some time, thought and care about putting them together - it generally took me 3 months or more to get from starting to plan the build to having the finished instrument. Yes, you are "just" putting parts together, and it is do-able, but it is surprising how there are lots of little elements and details that need to be done right to get a good result. For me, this was all common sense, but it does help to be a thoughtful person, and also to be prepared to take a bit of time over things, and not in a rush. I do look at some partscasters on the web that seem to have been put together a bit slap dash, and that totally ruins the result for me.

So good parts, time, care, thought, attention to detail - you'll get a nice guitar!

Sassafras

Your friend sounds a bit of a downer.

dean111music

Sassafras said:

Your friend sounds a bit of a downer.

He likes his fenders

Sassafras

dean111music said:

Sassafras said:

Your friend sounds a bit of a downer.

He likes his fenders

So do I but there's no reason you can't have a comparable guitar if you use Warmoth or Musikraft parts.

Megii

dean111music said:

That's good to hear. I'm no expert in this, but on paper Is using swamp ash as a body wood hit and miss? Is alder a safer bet? 

Megii said:

I've built 4 guitars from parts, and they all came out great, if I do say so myself. I think you need to source good quality bits to make the guitars, and then be prepared to take some time, thought and care about putting them together - it generally took me 3 months or more to get from starting to plan the build to having the finished instrument. Yes, you are "just" putting parts together, and it is do-able, but it is surprising how there are lots of little elements and details that need to be done right to get a good result. For me, this was all common sense, but it does help to be a thoughtful person, and also to be prepared to take a bit of time over things, and not in a rush. I do look at some partscasters on the web that seem to have been put together a bit slap dash, and that totally ruins the result for me.

So good parts, time, care, thought, attention to detail - you'll get a nice guitar!

3 of my builds used swamp ash bodies from guitarbuild.co.uk - I can only speak for those, but I really like the stuff as a body wood - the guitars are lovely and resonant, and with a nice presence and chime to the tone, without being harsh. I've never used alder so can't really compare - I guess it might be the better choice if you're going for a smooth solid finish, as the swamp ash does tend to have a marked grain texture - but I liked that personally, and went for thin Tru Oil finishes that made a feature of the grain and tactile feel of the wood. Plus Tru Oil has the advantage for me of being easy to do at home without any spraying equipment or anything.

TheOtherDennis

dean111music said:

That's good to hear. I'm no expert in this, but on paper Is using swamp ash as a body wood hit and miss? Is alder a safer bet? 

Megii said:

I've built 4 guitars from parts, and they all came out great, if I do say so myself. I think you need to source good quality bits to make the guitars, and then be prepared to take some time, thought and care about putting them together - it generally took me 3 months or more to get from starting to plan the build to having the finished instrument. Yes, you are "just" putting parts together, and it is do-able, but it is surprising how there are lots of little elements and details that need to be done right to get a good result. For me, this was all common sense, but it does help to be a thoughtful person, and also to be prepared to take a bit of time over things, and not in a rush. I do look at some partscasters on the web that seem to have been put together a bit slap dash, and that totally ruins the result for me.

So good parts, time, care, thought, attention to detail - you'll get a nice guitar!

I built this from a three-piece swamp ash body from guitarbuild.co.uk and a Might Mite neck, three Oil City Texas Blues pick-ups and I forget where I got the wiring harness from.

http://www.denniscopy.co.uk/img/GreenStrat1.jpg  

Even before I set it up, someone from this forum (I forget who, sorry) said at a forum get-together "That is the best sounding strat I have ever played, and it looks great too."

I'm not saying that to big up my construction skills (cos they're not worth bigging up) but to say that if I can put together a partscaster of that quality, you most certainly can.

I recommend that you have a go and prove how right you are and how wrong your pal is.

usedtobe

Partscasters are fun to make, and you can end up with something really different and individual. They can also be a great learning experience.
They're more expensive to make, than an equivalent would be to buy, most likely, and you'll lose money, if you ever sell it.

Depends on what you want. I like em!

Megii

usedtobe said:

Partscasters are fun to make, and you can end up with something really different and individual. They can also be a great learning experience.
They're more expensive to make, than an equivalent would be to buy, most likely, and you'll lose money, if you ever sell it.

Depends on what you want. I like em!

I'm not sure about the more expensive that an equivalent to buy bit to be honest - my parts guitars generally came in at around the £400 to £500 spend mark, and imho would happily take on guitars with price tags in four figures. Could I get that sort of money if I sold them? - absolutely not, I'd probably be doing fairly well if I got £350 ish. So as a financial proposition, building a partscaster makes no sense. But as a way of getting a great guitar for less outlay than it would cost to buy an equivalent new guitar - I think that's plausible. Of course, I'm not factoring in the time it takes to build the guitar I admit...

Jack_

I feel more attached to my Partscasters than any of my other guitars, being able to spec all the right parts from all the right places, and then the satisfaction of knowing you built it.

Danny1969

Generally they are a piece of cake to put together but a lot of folk including myself aren't great at setting them up properly. 

Even if you build it yourself, intonate it yourself and set the action consider  getting  an expert to do the nut .... that makes a massive difference 

redrighthand

I put together a Tele, Strat and Jazzcaster with zero experience. Here's the thread. I sold the Jazzcaster but the Tele and Strat are still here and I love them both. The Strat now has a new neck (USACG).  I did get them all set up by a luthier once I'd assembled them which I guess helped - but all other assembly was by me.

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/142/my-first-build-s-mjt-content#latest

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7378/9094464459_b25e8d6016_c.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/EW2q0y7.jpg