I'd love to make a SUPERSTRAT!

...but I don't have any carpentry/luthier skills and need to know where to start. This is just a dream for down the line. I have the Tom DeLonge Fender Strat, and my biggest question/concern was this: it's only got one pickup, but is there a way I could cut up the pickguard to put in a second humbucker and route a pickup switch to them both on my own? And how exactly would one install a pickup switch? I guess I just want to know if any of my dreams are possible. It's also a bolt-on (I think neck) so I was wondering if I could install a 24 fret neck on it.

If you don't have woodworker skills then I would recommend you to bring it to a luthier for your request.

For a do-it-yourself project, it will require a router, suggested router bits and templates. Unless you are planning assembling kit guitars in the future, then this is not a feasible if its a one time project.

A 24 fret neck will run through the "sweet spot" where the neck pickup should be so your "neck" pickup cavity would be more like a middle position pickup.

Otherwise your request are pretty much typical modification a luthier could do. Once the cavities are router, they are finish with clear lacquer, no whole refinishing require. Routing is very clean.

note: I've been assembled, modifying guitars for buddies and myself using parts from Warmoth and USA Guitars and others. Now I'm getting into scratch build. So what you want is quite easy if you have the skills.

Please feel free to asks more questions. :wink:

So true...

I would love a super strat with the following...

Ibanez Jem 7VWH neck
Solid Ash or Alder body, with Jem body, but without the monkey grip
Ebony 21 or 22 fret, using 6105 jumbo frets
One volume and one tone pot...might not use the tone pot
No paint, just an oil finish
No pick guard
Five way switch wired for Jem specs
HSH config
Not sure about hardtail or Floyd Rose bridge

my USACG strat project



USACG custom strat #2 (2nd version, more on that at end of post)



Original version:


tall version:
http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/9003/fullsideedit.jpg



(headshot)



(side headshot)



(jackplate)



(bill lawrence pickups, and the hipshot trem)



(backshot)


guitar shielding:



USACG body and neck.

body: lightweight Alder 2-piece, with a contoured heel, side jack, tummy route, fall-away cut out on the back side of the bottom bout for upper fret access.

neck: hardrock maple neck, with a pau ferro fingerboard. 6150 frets, 1-5/8" nut width. small fender-style headstock.
--Gibson scale length neck, 22 frets, fingerboard radius, of 12". the shape of the neck is a thin "C" shape, with a .78" neck thickness at the 1st fret, up to .85 at the 13th, mother of pearl dot inlays.
vintage truss with access at face of headstock.

headstock: tiltback design, 13 degrees, graphtech nut.

Bridge:Hipshot 6 String US Contour Tremolo Chrome with stainless tone bar.

pickups: humbucker-single-single, Bill Lawrence L-500L and L-280s (n & m)
Q filter for master tone, and a master volume. (500k pots)

Scratchplate: done by Warmoth, it's a slightly custom shape, with the 1st volume knob hole removed, and my luthier cut the hole for the Lawrence pickup (not a standard size) to match.

Paint: originally done by a local luthier. later slightly damaged in a flood.

the lighter version, done by USACG custom guitars, it's all NITRO, and very very thin. I instructed them to make it as thin as possible, wear is not a concern to me.

cost breakdown:
neck-$246
body-$170
pickups-2x40 + 1x50=$130
Q filter- $20
bridge w/steel sustain block-$120 (luthier's price)
custom warmoth scratchplate-$35
odd hardware- $40
custom finish-$300
Sperzel tuners-$65
sheilding - $20
__________________
$1146

if you'd like to hear it, go right here:

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=59817

You could always build a superstrat using goodies from http://www.warmoth.com

This is beautiful! I really like USACG's bodies and necks. I assembled a Tele with a neck and body from them and put a USACG neck on my Strat. Not only are the parts great, Tommy was great to deal with.

gonzo said:

my USACG strat project



USACG custom strat #2 (2nd version, more on that at end of post)

Original version:

tall version:
http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/9003/fullsideedit.jpg

(headshot)

(side headshot)

(jackplate)

(bill lawrence pickups, and the hipshot trem)

(backshot)


guitar shielding:

USACG body and neck.

body: lightweight Alder 2-piece, with a contoured heel, side jack, tummy route, fall-away cut out on the back side of the bottom bout for upper fret access.

neck: hardrock maple neck, with a pau ferro fingerboard. 6150 frets, 1-5/8" nut width. small fender-style headstock.
--Gibson scale length neck, 22 frets, fingerboard radius, of 12". the shape of the neck is a thin "C" shape, with a .78" neck thickness at the 1st fret, up to .85 at the 13th, mother of pearl dot inlays.
vintage truss with access at face of headstock.

headstock: tiltback design, 13 degrees, graphtech nut.

Bridge:Hipshot 6 String US Contour Tremolo Chrome with stainless tone bar.

pickups: humbucker-single-single, Bill Lawrence L-500L and L-280s (n & m)
Q filter for master tone, and a master volume. (500k pots)

Scratchplate: done by Warmoth, it's a slightly custom shape, with the 1st volume knob hole removed, and my luthier cut the hole for the Lawrence pickup (not a standard size) to match.

Paint: originally done by a local luthier. later slightly damaged in a flood.

the lighter version, done by USACG custom guitars, it's all NITRO, and very very thin. I instructed them to make it as thin as possible, wear is not a concern to me.

cost breakdown:
neck-$246
body-$170
pickups-2x40 + 1x50=$130
Q filter- $20
bridge w/steel sustain block-$120 (luthier's price)
custom warmoth scratchplate-$35
odd hardware- $40
custom finish-$300
Sperzel tuners-$65
sheilding - $20
__________________
$1146

Click to expand...

I would say if you don't have woodworker skills you're doubling the learning curve required to pull this off. I've been a woodworker for 16 years and have just recently started making guitars. I couldn't imagine how hard it would be if you're unfamiliar with the power tools required and how wood actually responds to being tooled. For someone who has experience with it, it shouldn't be too tough to do these things. It'd just be a matter of making some templates and mostly routing.

I don't know how much I buy into the whole 22 fret vs. 24 fret debate. The thinking goes that the neck pickup on a 22 fret strat sits right where the vibrational node of the string is, and this is referred to as the sweet spot. People claim that this is the most resonant location for the pickup to be, and if you add the 2 more frets to make it a 24 fret, the sweet spot then occurs at the 24th fret, and not above the pickup.

However I think there are two things wrong with this logic. First, the vibrational node is actually the area on the string having the least vibration and second, this vibrational node shifts up the strings as soon as a note is fretted. This "sweet spot" only occurs when the string is played open or fretted at the twelfth fret, and even then it can be debated as to whether it's truly more resonant or less resonant a location of the string.

I think the most important things are making sure the neck is properly fit with zero slop, and selecting pickups that give you the tone you want.

With the neck the goal is to make the neck and body act as one piece of wood, any airspace or separation between the two elements can lead to a place where vibrations are dampened which will leave the guitar feeling flat and lifeless. This is often the difference between a guitar that feels like it wants to play itself and one that just feels like a struggle to play. The response of the live feeling guitar is because of the neck joint.

With the pickups, well that's purely subjective and I can't help you too much with that. The best advice I could give is to think about some of your favorite guitarist's tone, and try and find out what they use. There are tons of sound clips on pickup manufacturers websites, and a ton of stuff on youtube.

If you're going to go that far too I'd also recommend upgrading the electronics. Swapping out the pots and jack can have a huge impact on the tone of the guitar.

I really like USACG's bodies and necks. ......... Not only are the parts great, Tommy was great to deal with.

Click to expand...

+1.

i have found the USACG stuff to be superior to the warmoth

deaconschwaz said:

...
I don't know how much I buy into the whole 22 fret vs. 24 fret debate. The thinking goes that the neck pickup on a 22 fret strat sits right where the vibrational node of the string is, and this is referred to as the sweet spot. People claim that this is the most resonant location for the pickup to be, and if you add the 2 more frets to make it a 24 fret, the sweet spot then occurs at the 24th fret, and not above the pickup.

However I think there are two things wrong with this logic. First, the vibrational node is actually the area on the string having the least vibration and second, this vibrational node shifts up the strings as soon as a note is fretted. This "sweet spot" only occurs when the string is played open or fretted at the twelfth fret, and even then it can be debated as to whether it's truly more resonant or less resonant a location of the string.
...

Click to expand...

You don't have to buy into it.

If you have time read this article. It explains pickup placement and other information. It even discuss about fretted notes not just nut to bridge string length.
Response Effects of Guitar Pickup Position and Width

RR said:

deaconschwaz said:

...
I don't know how much I buy into the whole 22 fret vs. 24 fret debate. The thinking goes that the neck pickup on a 22 fret strat sits right where the vibrational node of the string is, and this is referred to as the sweet spot. People claim that this is the most resonant location for the pickup to be, and if you add the 2 more frets to make it a 24 fret, the sweet spot then occurs at the 24th fret, and not above the pickup.

However I think there are two things wrong with this logic. First, the vibrational node is actually the area on the string having the least vibration and second, this vibrational node shifts up the strings as soon as a note is fretted. This "sweet spot" only occurs when the string is played open or fretted at the twelfth fret, and even then it can be debated as to whether it's truly more resonant or less resonant a location of the string.
...

Click to expand...

You don't have to buy into it.

If you have time read this article. It explains pickup placement and other information. It even discuss about fretted notes not just nut to bridge string length.
Response Effects of Guitar Pickup Position and Width

Click to expand...

Interesting article, though I still don't see how it contradicts what I said. It also shows how at certain frequencies on the string the neck pickup can get blanked out as a node appears over the pickup. Further it goes on to show how when mixing pickups you can actually end up with the two pickups reacting to frequencies that are out of phase resulting in lower overall output by each.

There is a pretty cool applet that was linked at the bottom that allows you to mess around with scale length, fret numbers and pickup location. Right above the interactive section the J. Donald Tillman, the author, states:

The applet does not show the effects of the pickup's electrical parameters (inductance, capacitance, loading, etc.) or instrument's body resonances, which are certainly at least as important.

Click to expand...

Here is a link to the applet so you can play around with it yourself.
http://www.till.com/articles/PickupResponseDemo/index.html


If you're moving the pickup to accommodate going from 22 to 24 frets you're talking about moving the neck pickup down about 3/4", which according to the data does not seem to be enough to estimate a severe drop in output with the pickup. What I did was keep the scale length at 25.5", typical fender strat scale length, and switch between 22 and 24 frets. The location of the neck pickup with a 25.5" scale length, and 22 frets was put at 6.375 inches from the bridge. You can see that the peak output of the pickup fits nicely with the rolloff of output coming just at the tail end of fretboard. When you take the numbers and switch it to 24 frets, and then move the pickup 3/4" closer to the bridge or at 5.625", you can see that the peak still sits nicely above the range of notes on the guitar scale. It's not perfectly centered as it appears to be with the initial setup, but this shouldn't matter. As long as it can cover the notes that the guitar produces where the pickup has the highest output it shouldn't matter to the left or right too much.

Additionally, I believe all his data used the same pickups in different locations which is appropriate for this experiment, but isn't how a set of pickups is made. As you move closer to the bridge the output for the pickups increases in a matched set so the output doesn't significantly drop. Of course increasing the output means adding more winds to the pickup which will change the overall tone of the pickup which can explain why there is a noticeable change when the pickup selector is switched.

I'd agree there is data to support the conclusion that pickup location matters, what I was disputing is by how much it matters and whether this small of a change is really so blatantly observable, or whether it's a matter of expectation producing a subjective analysis.

I'm starting to make my own guitar's and I've read a ton of contradictory info on this subject. I'm really glad you linked that page because I think it's the most compelling data I've yet seen. However when I set out to build my first guitar I decided that I was going to build a 24 fret, not because I wanted to play that 24th fret too much, but because it made it easier to access the 21st and 22nd frets. I decided that for me, the discussion about moving the pickup due to the longer fret board was not compelling enough to make it a hard and fast rule that would drive my designs.

I'd also like to add that I am by no means and expert and really I'm just getting into the nuts and bolts of guitars in the last few years. I'm just going with my best understanding of the data I've seen. It's possible that I'm just not understanding something here too!

I HAVE (3) 24 fret guitars...

and (2) 22 fret guitars

i love all 5 of them....

and they all give me exactly what i want.

the 24 fretters are [email protected]" scale length, and (1) at 24" scale length!!
LOL

and i have zero issues with 'nodes' or dead spots or any issues of any kind.

i have 28 years with one of the 24 fretters, and 26 with the other....
and i can tell you for sure, there is nothing to buy into.

Wow the last few fret spaces on that 24" must be microscopic!

This is just one of those polarizing topics, I don't think it'll ever be settled. In the end, if it works for you that's all that matters

usually all i have to do is play this thing for folks, and they instantly become de-polarized!

Noice!