2 Custom Strat Builds (Stratele and Hendrix style)

PhilKing

I've had these together for a bit, but both of them were waiting for a couple of parts.  The Stratele wanted a better scratchplate than I had (a cut out original strat). and the Hendrix Strat needed the bridge pickup sorted.  Thanks to Glen Havlock (Axion Custom Works in Bury), I have a great looking pearloid scratchplate (he's also cut me another for my current project, I've included a picture after the strats).

This is the Stratele:



It's a Shell Pink hardtail Strat body with a Tele bridge and neck.  The pickups are McNelly T-Bar and S-Bars.  They sound great and the 2 switches allow me to have any pickup or combination (including all 3).  It's a StewMac Tele neck that I lacquered in nitro, with some stain in the mix to age it a bit.  The reason it is gold hardware is because I had some bits already (including the Sperzels), so I just went with it.  At this point though it looks good, and the brass saddles blend in nicely.  btw, the decal is Fecker not Fender, courtesy of Glen Ellard at plankspankerdecals.

The other Strat is a Hendrix style, with reverse stagger magnets on Bare Knuckle Irish Tours.  The body is blonde, and the neck is a Warmoth roasted maple with a Bocate fingerboard.  

PhilKing

This is the current project, it's a Jazzmaster with Jaguar control plates.  Again thanks to Glen Havelock for siszing it and getting it cut.  It's all just sitting on the guitar at the moment, as I have to do some routing and filling to get everything to fit.

WezV

Looking nice.  

I guess the pink, gold and pearloid wouldn't be top of most lists but it works well.  Not totally sold on the tele bridge though, I think I would have gone for a cut down bridge and TSS strat plate.


love the Hendrix strat though.

PhilKing

The tele bridge was a whim, that turned out to be a real pain.  The body was originally drilled for a hardtail strat, and I hadn't realised that the string holes need to be in different places.  It took a lot of fitting to get it done.  I wouldn't do it again.  However the sound it different to having a strat hardtail.  I think the 3 brass saddles makes a difference to 6 steel ones, though you wouldn't think it would be so much.  It really sustains a lot, and the McNelly's do give more of a Gibson sound, perhaps like a melody maker, rather than a P-90, but still a good sound. 

Hendrix strat is something that I've been wanting to do for a while now.  Of course Fender brought one out after I started this, but I had a lot of the bits around.

WezV

Yeah, have you tried @juansolo ;; stratele?    I put a cutdown 3-saddle tele bridge on that with the TSS pickups on a modded strat plate.  Part of me wanted to use the cut off part of the tele bridge upside down under the plate but if didn't quite fit without a lot more work and I wasn't convinced it was worth the effort.

 I seem to remember one of the 90's hellecaster CS guitars had a similar idea. Looked like a strat but had a hidden steel bridge plate extending under the guard.  I think it was more strat than tele, had a trem.

i think the hardtail stratele idea has a lot of mileage.  I am surprised we don't see more.  I don't need a trem and it solves the strat bridge pickup issue.  I suppose fender went the other way with Nashville teles

PhilKing

I have tried it.  That was what I was thinking of with the hollow strat.  The Ibanez Talman is a bit like this, but with more tele stuff.  Yes, the only think with the Nashville Tele's is that they still have a Tele body!  This was a bit of work, also fitting the neck to a strat neck joint needed the end reshaping.  However it really does sound great, so all the work was worth it.

marktheharp

Cool. Also love the hendrix strat  and nice idea with the jazzmaster/jaguar. I still have to get myself a jazzmaster