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Joe Bonamassa Forum → Joe's Guitars, Amps and Gear → Joe's Gold Strat...
... I'm building one. ;-)
Others hang posters on their wall - well I build guitars of my guitar heros - especially if they play Fender Stratocasters.
Well I am going to play it too. It's going to sound very cool with those Fralin pickups (I hope).
I am still waiting for the Fender gold trem that is already ordered. And I am still busy finishing the neck with nitrocellulose lacquer...
http://www.koehrsen.de/roland/dsc03812.jpg
http://www.koehrsen.de/roland/dsc03813.jpg
Lookin' good, Mandrake. Can I ask what kind of parts are you using, and where did you get them?
Lookin' good, Mandrake. Can I ask what kind of parts are you using, and where did you get them?
Thanks ;-) It will be a lot easier to build than my SRV #1 ;-)
I won't be able to replicate the lacqer cracking though...
The Parts:
Sparkle gold Mighty Mite body I found on Ebay USA (Ash wood)
Pickguard: very unusual 8 hole 3-layer white-black-white pickguard, you can't buy this!, I made it myself out of a parchment blank (no holes) pickguard by Allparts (www.guitarpartsresource.com)
Pickups: Lindy Fralin Hot Vintage Pickups I got from www.acmeguitarworks.com
Vintage wiring, pots, orange drop capacitor, switch, aged pot caps, strap pins, jackplate: all from www.guitarpartsresource.com
Pinup Decal: I got this from a German Rockabilly Online Shop http://www.stray-cats.de/rockabilly_onl … info_id=70 It's the correct one, not easy to find ;-))
Neck: At the moment I have a cheap Vintage one by www.wdmusic.com I stripped it and refinished it with nitro lacquer. But it has a modern 12" Fretboard radius, maybe I am going to replace it with an Allparts neck www.guitarpartsresource.com with the correct 7 1/4 " radius (plays better, too, for my taste)
Gold Tremolo: will be a vintage Fender tremolo with steel block, ordered it at www.thomann.de, will take a week or two until I get it
Gold Kluson Double Line Tuners, Gold Neckplate, Gold Stringtree: www.rockinger.de
Vintage Bone Nut (still have to carve it): www.rockinger.de
Strings: will be 11/52 Dean Markley ;-))
Mandrake, wow!!! That is going to be some awesome sounding guitfiddle! Sounds like you have the right parts. So you have a SRV #1 replica as well. I have always enjoyed the way those sound. A friend of mine had a flying V custom built and it has an amazing sound too.
mandrake - i was planning on doing a gold metal flake paint job on an extra, beat up strat i have laying around, what paint did you use for the body?
The body was already painted.
I think metallic or even more flake paint jobs are not easy to do anyway...
What model Fralins did you order?
I ordered the "Vintage Hot" model. I'm going for the Joe Bonamassa tone - but of course "Tone" is in your fingers... (especially in Joe's)
Cool with the Fralins. What make and value cap are you throwing in there? Good luck with the project, fire up some photos and audio when you get done. It'd be cool to see how it comes out. I learned alot building a guitar. It's fun (and frustrating at times) and you'll grow alot.
Yeah it's fun.. And fustrating. You learn by mistakes. I have made a lot of mistakes, lately with nitro-finishing the neck - man you need some patience, I tend to sand too early.
Talking about the capacitor? Sprague "Orange Drop" 715P 400V .047 uF
Just a small update on my project.
Completed and installed the neck, applied the correct '64 decal, completed the electronics - waiting for the tremolo.
http://www.koehrsen.de/roland/dsc03818.jpg
http://www.koehrsen.de/roland/dsc03820.jpg
http://www.koehrsen.de/roland/dsc03822.jpg
http://www.koehrsen.de/roland/dsc03824.jpg
Together with 2 other Strats I have recently assembled with quality parts: http://www.koehrsen.de/roland/dsc03827.jpg
Hey, it looks pretty cool! What kind of (I don't know the word for "Mechaniken", but as you are from munich you'll know what I mean) are these?
Hey, it looks pretty cool! What kind of (I don't know the word for "Mechaniken", but as you are from munich you'll know what I mean) are these?
Grüß dich Lui! Those are Kluson "double line" tuners. (Mechaniken = tuners / machine heads)
Great looking guitars. This sounds like a interesting hobby.
I'm presently rebuilding a Peavey Patriot. Long process when I only dabble with it when the mood strikes. It takes patients when you want it done right.
Keep up the great work. How did you finish the SRV body? Looks like the original thing. Wow!
Sun
Wood: Yea...I picked it up in a used in a shop. The finish was a ugly Robin Egg Blue and scratched. Great neck and pickups though! I refinished metallic Royal Blue and it looks great. Just had to clean up the neck it didn't need anything more. The Patriot I've been told is predecessor to the EVH.
Anyway. I sure like what this guy Mandrake is doing with his guitars! Wonder if they play as good as they look? Keep us updated Mandrake....
@Sun: I took a finished 3 tone sunburst alder body for the SRV and "relic-ed" it by hand. I also changed the bridge routing so the lefthand tremolo fits in. Darkened the exposed wood with water based wood stain.
It was my first project. Could have turned out better but on the photo it looks quite OK I think.
@wood: what color did you choose for the EJ Signature?
I read about that guitar - who was or is eric johnson? never heard about him...
You guys amaze me. Not only can you play guitar but you can build them too! Is there no end to this madness?
Lui,
Eric Johnson is one of the guitar gods!
Wow, amazing!! thanks for telling me! I think I know the song, but indeed I 've never heard about Johnson...
Yes, where did you learn to build guitars? Did you just try? The gold strat looks great!
Well actually it is not that difficult, the most difficult thing might be finding and buying the right parts you need on ebay or elsewhere in the world at a reasonable price. As long as you can handle a drill, a screwdriver and a soldering iron everyone should be able to build a Stratocaster to his custom specs. Painting/finishing bodies/necks is a bit more difficult. I have lacquered some necks with nitrocellulose now and it's a lot of work but fun.
(seems to be more difficult to make an error-free post I don't have to edit 3 times at least ;-))
Joe Bonamassa Forum → Joe's Guitars, Amps and Gear → Joe's Gold Strat...
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