Partcasters - Your experiences

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  • ricorico Frets: 1220
    Tell your mate he's quite incorrect. 
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  • riscadoriscado Frets: 180
    edited July 2017
    My musikraft blackguard (finish as whiteguard by MJT) is one of the most tonally balanced guitars I have.



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  • RoxRox Frets: 2147
    Putting together a partscaster is a lot of fun, and don't let anyone tell you different.  :) 

    I'm in the midst of making my second Strat partscaster and it won't be my last.
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  • rossirossi Frets: 1699
    I usually find i sell parts for roughly what I paid for them .Maybe a profit if they are Fender .
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  • jimificationjimification Frets: 160


    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 think if that's what you *really* want, I'd save up for it.



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  • Jez6345789Jez6345789 Frets: 1756
    Again a big fan of parts casters.
    your friend it a bit of a Debbie downer.

    personally I would get a body from guitarbuild all mine have been good work, his cheaply eBay ones are ideal unless you must have highly accurate blackgaurd specif you want to know the weight before buying.

    i think throwing the best of everything is a waste on money.

    all mine I used Wilkie son tuners or hand wound stuff I did or something like OCP which are great value and a lot of bang for not too much buck.

    the real trick to me is fit and finish thats what makes it more than the sum of its parts. So lots of fret rolling, buffing the shit out of the neck by hand to give a played in feel. 

    It wont be worth the cost of the parts but you are making your own special version. So it has to be a keeper.

    ultimately the best tell in the world is still just a simple bit of work designed to be put together by moderately skilled labour not master lutiers


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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14324
    I prefer my self-assembled Warmoth La Cabronita Telecaster Especial over the 2011 Fender Tele-bration model.

    The parts were gathered together entirely randomly - mainly pre-owned. I chose the body from Warmoth's clearance deals pages. I thought that I had ordered an alder body, routed for single pickup, finished in Dodge Charger Green. When the carton cleared customs, it included a handwritten note, apologising for the fact that the body was actually mahogany.  Shame! :)
    Be seeing you.
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  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12649
    edited July 2017
    The difference between a Fender Telecaster and a partcaster is...

    It was assembled by someone in a different place. Oh and you can have a Fender logo.

    Seriously, guitars are assembled by semi-skilled workers and then set up by techs - that was Fender's genius, he broke the manufacturing process down to tasks so it could be taught to anyone. Much like Henry Ford with cars. 
    CS stuff (especially the Masterbuilt stuff) is a little different but if you believe that the Fender (or any other Guitar factory) is full of highly skilled artisan luthiers crafting guitars from scratch then you are wrong. Having visited (and QC checked processes) guitar factories I can tell you, it's just people working in a standard production environment.

    So I'd say your friend is wrong.
    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

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  • prowlaprowla Frets: 4896
    I've got a partscaster comprising a Fender MIM body, a Warmoth neck, Fender ironware (trem bridge, rolling nut, machines, neckplate), HSS pickups (IronGear Tesla Shark and Tonerider City Limits).

    It is a seriously good guitar - really good!

    I've also got two basses made from parts, both of which are also really very good.
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  • FuengiFuengi Frets: 2849
    What sort of cost are you looking at for the parts? 
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  • paulnb57paulnb57 Frets: 3044
    All but one of my electric guitars are Partscasters....Partscasters allow me to do what mainstream manufacturers don't, wood choice hardware pickups pots etc are my choice and I love them all. They are worth nothing like what they cost to build, but thats not the point, I get what I want.
    I say go for it, but not if you think you will sell it, build YOUR dream instrument, in your choice of colour hardware etc... 
    Stranger from another planet welcome to our hole - Just strap on your guitar and we'll play some rock 'n' roll

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  • NeilNeil Frets: 3594
    I'll be the solitary downer then.  ;)

    I have never been interested in bitsas.

    You buy a load of parts without knowing how it will sound or feel until its finished. 

    I prefer to buy something I can try out that is real, not pie in the sky. Something that has a value if you get fed up with it not something you have to disassemble again and try to hawk off the bits. 

    BTW you never hear any stories of bitsas that turn out a load of crap, they always seem to be at least Fender custom shop quality.  ;)
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  • ellwoodellwood Frets: 1113
    The Partscaster tele I bought off here absolutely snarls - fantastic guitar. I have an SC relics body and neck on the way, which should make for a stunning strat. About half my strats are mix n match - makes for some great guitars. Go for it!
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14324
    Neil said:
    You buy a load of parts without knowing how it will sound or feel until its finished. 
    This is true for anybody who constructs a musical instrument from wood.
    Be seeing you.
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  • NeilNeil Frets: 3594
    Neil said:
    You buy a load of parts without knowing how it will sound or feel until its finished. 
    This is true for anybody who constructs a musical instrument from wood.
    Indeed it is, but I prefer not to be the guinea pig and try something finished that I can accept or reject. 
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  • usedtobeusedtobe Frets: 3841
    Neil said:
    I'll be the solitary downer then.  ;)

    I have never been interested in bitsas.

    You buy a load of parts without knowing how it will sound or feel until its finished. 

    I prefer to buy something I can try out that is real, not pie in the sky. Something that has a value if you get fed up with it not something you have to disassemble again and try to hawk off the bits. 

    BTW you never hear any stories of bitsas that turn out a load of crap, they always seem to be at least Fender custom shop quality.  ;)
    None of mine are fender cs quality!  :)
     so if you fancy a reissue of a guitar they never made in a colour they never used then it probably isn't too overpriced.

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  • ChalkyChalky Frets: 6807
    Neil said:
    I'll be the solitary downer then.  ;)

    I have never been interested in bitsas.

    You buy a load of parts without knowing how it will sound or feel until its finished. 

    I prefer to buy something I can try out that is real, not pie in the sky. Something that has a value if you get fed up with it not something you have to disassemble again and try to hawk off the bits. 

    BTW you never hear any stories of bitsas that turn out a load of crap, they always seem to be at least Fender custom shop quality.  ;)
    Your "pie in the sky" phrase means 'imaginary', but putting together a half-way decent body, neck and set of pickups is far more real and predictable than that.
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8592
    Neil said:
    Neil said:
    You buy a load of parts without knowing how it will sound or feel until its finished. 
    This is true for anybody who constructs a musical instrument from wood.
    Indeed it is, but I prefer not to be the guinea pig and try something finished that I can accept or reject. 
    You learn a lot about guitars from assembling your own. You can also get a configuration and finish that doesn't exist in any standard model. If you decide that you don't like some aspect of it, or your taste in guitars changes, then you can modify it without losing re-sale value.

    On the question of economics, partscasters are generally in the £200 to £400 range, which is what you'd pay for a Far East import. After you've modified it twice you might have spent £300 to £500. If you'd bought three imports you'd have spent around £900. If you managed to sell two of them at £200 each (66%) then you'd have spent the same, and learned less.
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12649
    Neil said:
    Neil said:
    You buy a load of parts without knowing how it will sound or feel until its finished. 
    This is true for anybody who constructs a musical instrument from wood.
    Indeed it is, but I prefer not to be the guinea pig and try something finished that I can accept or reject. 
    Same with a Partcaster - except when you try your 'finished' instrument, if there is a part of it you don't like, you can swap it out for something you do without fear of 'destroying' a 'real' guitar. One of my bitsas has only the body left - I've changed all the other bits on it at least once and frankly, the body may well change in the future. Thats much cheaper than buying and selling full guitars, plus if you buy secondhand you don't lose as much money...
    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547

    usedtobe said:
    Neil said:

    BTW you never hear any stories of bitsas that turn out a load of crap, they always seem to be at least Fender custom shop quality.  ;)
    None of mine are fender cs quality!  :)

    There are loads that turn out crap - just like most CS fenders will be crap until they are set-up properly ;)

    If you build a partscaster and you are not happy with it, its worth having someone else take a look as 9 times out of 10 its a really easy fix to make it great.  


    The problem for me is parts manufactures like warmoth advertising on out the box playability.  It sets unrealistic expectations

    They do a good job of it, but I have only met one warmoth neck that didn't benefit from a bit of extra attention... and I have done a lot of warmoth builds.  


    The same is true of any brand, so that's not a dig at warmoth, I truly think they do an excellent job.  Allparts stuff is good quality, but very factory fresh - it needs decent fretwork and a rolling of edges to get the most out of it - you can take it from MIM to CS level just through the extra work you do on it.

    If doing a partscaster please either learn, or budget for, nut/fret work.... don't expect it to be perfection out the box.  Don't settle for "playable".



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