Frankenstrat advice

[Eric Higgins]

I'm brand new to FRETS.NET.  This is my first post, and hoping to get some feedback from some of you folks.  I have an 1983 American Strat that I picked up a little over a year ago in a pawn shop.  It was altered in '85.  The original Freeflite tremolo was removed and replaced with a Kahler tremolo. The Kahler is a big 'ol thing and has some issues of it's own.  The shop that installed the Kahler had to route a new pocket to get it to fit and re-did the electronics by moving the amp jack to the side of the body from the front pickguard and added a second tone knob back in.  I'm not exactly sure if this was an Elite or not (I don't think so), but many of you may know what I'm talking about. Anyway, I'm thinking about putting this thing under the knife again.  I like tinkering, and have this huge urge to transform it into a hard tail with through the body strings.  I have a friend who can CNC mill a nice clean pocket with tight tolerances, and cut a block (swamp ash?) to fill in the hole.  The body is very light weight, and made of three pieces.  All of the cutting will be in the middle blank.  There will still be about 3/8"  of thickness of wood in the bottom of the pocket to the back surface, in which I'd insert the string ferrules.  I would glue it in place, and refinish the body.  I'm thinking a Fender/Robert Cray fixed tailpiece or a new Fender Hipshot. I also plan on adding the typical Strat amp jack plug-in to the front of the body and fixing the hole in the side. Am I crazy for trying to do this?  Even if I am, it might happen regardless.  Any thoughts or advice, especially from anyone who's done any repairs or conversions like this?  I've attached some pics for your viewing pleasure.

Thanks!

Eric

[Paul Verticchio]

Hi Eric & welcome.

The following isn't "advice as much as facts that may (or may not) assist you.

I've not undertaken this type of conversion*, but I know several talented techs/builders who have.

The common factor in all of their cases was the phrase, "If I had it to do over, I would've just bought a replacement body and saved myself a bunch of frustration and time."

If this is your personal instrument, do what you like.  There is nothing magical or desirable about a 1983 Strat body. The previous mod's have rendered it worthless on the used market.

If this were a customer's guitar, the cost of conversion would exceed the price of a new & finished hard-tail body by a factor of 2+.  BTW: most of us on the forum are full or part time repair folks. We charge substantial industry-standard hourly rates so time (labor) must be incorporated into our decision making.

I also add the caveat you that what you describe is extremely advanced work.  You didn't mention your experience or skill level so I responded as if you are a novice/beginner.

BTW: what you call an amp jack is actually the output jack.  The amp jack is on the amp.

Best of luck and I applaud you're wanting a hard-tail Strat. Why doesn't Fender offer more models in hard-tail?.

* I have the luxury of not having to accept guitars that have or had Floyd or Kahler floating trems. To me, they're not worth the frustration of dealing with them...or their stereotypical owners.;) Same goes for Ovations. At least we have an official "He-man Ovation Haters Club". for those ;)

[Eric Higgins]

Paul,

Thanks for the facts!  To call me a novice is way overstating my experience, at least when it comes to working on guitars.  I'm no luthier by profession or stretch of the imagination, but I am a manufacturing engineer and familiar with designing, machining, assembly and finishing.  I don't even play much, but my boy does, and it's something I'd like to fix up and eventually leave to him.  Maybe I'm a bit like Leo Fender, who didn't play either, but was constantly designing and tweaking to make his guitars better.  I enjoy the tinkering and fixing in general, and there's something about guitars that fascinate me.  I did my first fret job on this guitar over the past few days.  I don't know if it's good or bad, but I know I had a blast reading up on it how to do it, making my own fret leveler, picking out a new fret file and filing away the string marks.  It's actually been a nice stress-reliever to hide away down in my basement shop and try my hand at something I've never done before...and that is magical to me.  Maybe it's a bit like revamping an old Chevy Nova with a 350 under the hood.  Nothing really special or desirable about those either, but I knew a kid back in high school years ago that turned one into a pretty cool street rod.  Like I said, I got this urge, and I guess I need to satisfy it.  I'm not trying to pay the bills or feed my family by fixing guitars, so my motivation is a little different.  A whole new body...what's the challenge in that?  And I do say that lightly because I've got a Tele-style in the works too and it's been challenging doing all the layout, hand routing the pockets, aligning the tailpiece and neck, etc for the first time. Guess that's why I'm here on FRETS.  I certainly understand why most of you real luthiers would, as Russel says below, "walk quietly and quickly to the fireplace" (That' funny by the way.  I liked it.) but something's else is driving me down the other path.  If my pocket is square and the tolerances held fairly tight...maybe .001 to .002 per side for the glue to work it's magic, I hope to turn this clunker into my own personal street rod!  And if I do fail, maybe I'll go buy that new pristine body and start hanging the bits offa it.  Thanks for the facts...and the advice!  Now where the hell did I leave my tape measure?!  Gotta measure for that pocket.  ;>)

[Russell Vance]

Agree with Paul on this one - I shudder when I think of all the good work I could have been doing while bringing back uneconomical/non-resurrectable  pieces of wood back to playing condition - we've all done it when young and soft.   Walk quietly and quickly to the fireplace with this clunker and buy a pristine stop-tail body to hang the remaining bits offa. 

Recommend Tommy Rosamund at USACG as my go-to guy for excellent Fender replacement bodies and necks (not a plug, he is a genuine dedicated dude who delivers first time, every-time).

The latest reissue Kahlers have caused me some trouble and I'm not a fan, but, good Floyds such as genuine Floyds/Schaller/Ibanez top end stuff with hardened base-plates or separate hardened knife edges are fine and do the job for which they are designed very well; once you understand them - cheap Floyds don't even work as paperweights.

Rusty.

[Mac Walker]

Nah, tell your friend who has the CNC that you changed your mind, you want an entire body machined instead....

http://grabcad.com/library/fender-strat-type-guitar-body

Way more fun from scratch!

[Eric Higgins]

Mac,

Thanks for the link to grabcad!  VERY COOL!!!  I've got it saved as a favorite, and plan on sharing it with some designers and engineers at work.