Is there any incentive to make a strat body anymore?

Sambostar · February 2016

Considering the cost of wood and the fact that you can pick up a decent one for around £60.

The only reason I can think of is if you wanted to be anal about a '50's arm contour or wanted some exotic wood or something.

Other guitars, like Charvel Stars, Jackson Firebirds, V's, through necks etc, and whatever you want sure, but Strats?

WezV · February 2016

I have long felt that way about fender style bodies and necks... Still seem to make a lot of tele's though

paulnb57 · February 2016

Agreed, there is so much choice of wood etc, it makes making your own pretty much redundant, there's a lot of work in a Strat body.....

WezV · February 2016

I should say I am not against it completely

its good to know how to do it and the parts cost is relatively low so they are a good style to learn Its also good to have the skills to take the fender style and do something different with it

But for bog standard fender spec I just can't be bothered now

Sambostar · February 2016

Yeah, this was my feeling too. I have a sheet of green MDF and found myself tracing a Strat body on it from a blank, but also need to do a load of small engine repair. You can't really do woodwork and mechanics at the same time as your hands are covered in oil. I suppose it's worth making some quality templates so I can fix bodies that are a bit off with the routs. Can't see myself making a strat body much though, I mean unless I had some free timber.

WezV · February 2016

Still well worth having a strat body template, it doesn't have to have the traditional strat routes

TTony · February 2016

My next build is probably going to be a Strat.

Well, a Strat-shape anyway.

I've got the graphtech acoustic & midi kits which will be going in. And I think a nice top on top of a fairly well chambered body. Perhaps with f-holes.

XWulfhere · February 2016

I enjoy doing it!

Sambostar · February 2016

Well I sawed up the MDF to make a strat shape front and back, I'II trim it more accurately later from a blank body, just wanted to get rid of the big sheet of MDF that had been sitting around forever, it will be for a V trem Strat.

Also did a Charvel Star which I'II modify with a 2 1/4" neck pocket instead of 2 3/16".

I'm thinking I may make another couple of front and back Charvel Strat templates with the remainder as I haven't anything with a Charvel rear rout nor Floyd Posts or the larger 2 1/4" neck pocket and get some more for the Jackson Firebird as I'm still working out the shape on that.

So that's 4 strat templates in all after all the moaning was said and done and the sheet is gone. The fecking carb and ignition module they set me doesn't fit the Stihl either, but it does fit something else and my hands are tingly numb and blue and the neighbours are pissed off with my tuning and revving two stroke engines and jig sawing at 10am. Although truth be told, they are pissed off at any time and I don't make any noise ordinarily although they are perfectly fine for me to come around and trim all their hedges for peanuts. Kind of pisses me off because the weekend or after 6 or 7pm is the only time I have to do this stuff and I'm not exactly obnoxious.

I don't know how you people get away with it, especially router tables, they have to be the loudest.

I think most people in this country, just want you to be quiet or piss off and die and everyone is so selfish and short tempered. It never used to be this way. Only the last 20 or 30 years or so. I think the idea is, you should work quietly away in an office, then get home, make no noise what so ever, then sleep, then get back to the office and if you need anything done, pay heinous amounts of cash to someone who is coping business rates to do it and god forbid you have a commercial vehicle. I think society and the government basically are trying to emasculate as many people as possible into a tax paying, unskilled, soap opera addicted, banal existence. Still it's better around here than most. I know the local charcoal burner moved though and the residents are doing their best to get him to sell up as his operates his chainsaws all day. It's kind of what country suburbia has become these days, it's sad to be honest.

Anyway, so 4 strat templates on the way then, that is a bonus instead of moaning.

WezV · February 2016

I used to use my spare bedroom in a mid -terrace as my workshop. Probably did that for about 10 years with routers and hoovers going at all hours.

I still cant figure out why the neighbours never complained.

axisus · February 2016

There is another reason to do it, and it's the reason that I am going to make one at some point - so that you have a personal hand-built guitar. Ultimately I can see me only playing guitars that I have built myself.

ICBM · February 2016

I've never seen the point. Fenders were designed from the ground up to be mass-produced, and capable of being made by machine - although initially there was still quite a lot of hand work.

You can buy almost any configuration of Strat body you want off the shelf, and if it's unfinished you can far more easily mod it to your own requirements than making one from scratch. Unless you're extremely skilled a CNC'd one will also be more accurate.

Danielsguitars · February 2016

That's why I'm only doing set neck strat and tele styles, a normal bolt has no appeal to me whatsoever.
That's why I thought a set neck kit would work for people looking for something different to make.

Winny_Pooh · February 2016

Strats no, teles yes because very few bodies come with binding and that is the best tele look IMO.

Danielsguitars · February 2016

Binding is easy to do on a tele, it's a flat top, just buy the body you want there's enough out there.

GuitarMonkey · February 2016

Not if it has the edges radiused, you need a square edge for binding.

Danielsguitars · February 2016

I thought tele's are flat, mind you I don't really look at any of them so just guessing.
I'm sure you could order what you want, unless it's made with some different woods then getting a custom made makes sense.

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Is there any incentive to make a strat body anymore?

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