SSS Strat Partscaster build diary

Part 1:

Since I’ve been on this forum, I’ve been really impressed with some of the partscaster builds I’ve seen posted by other people in the Community.

So after making some mods to one of my guitars and making a cabinet for my Vox amp, both of which went well, I’ve decided to build a partscaster. I am intending that most of this will happen over the xmas break to treat Xmas GAS and also because I will be in France where I have access to a friend’s workshop (not a guitar workshop, but with high quality professional tools).

So my plan is to build a Strat type partscaster, SSS pickup configuration and modern - not vintage and not reliced. It’s going to be vintage white with a roasted maple neck, with rosewood fingerboard. I originally intended to have a tortoiseshell scratchplate and back plate but when they arrived, they were not nice and so I’m searching for better quality and possibly even something a bit different.

I’ll do a full listing of the specs of all the parts in a subsequent post. I was intending for my first post in this diary to put a photo of all the parts laid out on the floor unassembled. Unfortunately, because I had to return a few parts (e.g. scratch plate and a couple of other parts) I can’t do that yet. So I will try and do a full parts listing and a photo very soon, once I have all the parts.

This is going to be a challenge for me. I have never done a project like this, so I’m hoping to get some advice from the Community when I have some difficulties. I’ve literally watched hundreds of videos on partscaster builds. What I’m expecting to be the most critical steps are 1. Drilling the holes in the correct place for the neck (the body is pre-drilled). 2. Drilling the holes for the 2 posts for the bridge/tremolo (it’s a Gotoh 2 point trem) to be sure it’s in the right position and centred, and 3. Correctly inserting and cutting the nut. I have most of the tools except for cutting the nut slots, so I’m intending to take it to a luthier I luckily recently made contact with to get the nut fixed in at the correct hight and cut correctly - That will be towards the end of the build.

Since I’m waiting for some of the other parts, I’m going to start preparing the neck first. It’s an All Parts (MIJ) roasted AAA maple neck with 22 jumbo frets and a rosewood fingerboard. Looks lovely already before finishing and smells smokey!! Holes are pre-drilled for modern tuners. I’m going to sand it a bit more although it’s quite well sanded already and then apply a couple of layers of Tru Oil and then give it a wax finish to get a smooth satin feel. I’ve checked the fret heights with a fret rocker and a couple of the frets need to be filed down a bit and crowned. I don’t think I need to do a full fret level. Then I will polish all the frets. The edges of the fingerboard are really sharp, as are the fret ends so I’m going to have to smooth the fingerboard edges and finish the fret ends properly to make it comfortable. I’ll post pics as I do it.

One thing that worries me a little is that I don’t have a strat and no experience with tremolos, so I don’t have an assembled strat to refer to. Because of this, I did consider making a tele style partscaster, which would be easier, but as I have 2 teles, it would be a bit redundant .

That’s it for now until my next post.

Ian

5 Likes

It sounds like a fun project. I’m looking forward to seeing your progress.

Hey, building is fun have a blast, good luck!

Cool Ian, and good luck give me a shout if you need any help Cheers Hec

1 Like

Indeed Hec, I might need some advice along the way. As I mentioned it’s my first build (which is also why I got an already finished body, which cuts a lot of work) and I’m not very familiar with Strats. Luckily there’s a huge amount of info online with some good videos of builds.

2 Likes

Hey Ian!
Excited for you to be building your own guitar!!! That is one of my “Bucket List” things to do in the future! What/where did you get your body & neck?
I can’t wait to see pics!!!
Good luck!

Tod

1 Like

Hi Tod,

The body is Hosco which is made in Japan and the neck is All Parts (also made in Japan, although I think they make some in the US too). I live in Switzerland and I bought this combination of body and neck because there’s a guy in Switzerland who has an online shop and who also makes a lot of partscasters from the parts he sells. I had a good exchange with him by mail in order to choose the parts and he told me that the All Parts necks usually fit nicely to Hosco bodies without any issues.

But I bought these because they will be easy to return in Switzerland if there are any problems. Returning things abroad is a pain because it’s difficult to get back the import duty.

I think that if I was in the US, I would probably have bought Warmoth as there are a lot more custom options and they have a good reputation.

3 Likes

Did you post a photo in another thread? If I remember correctly, that was that cool green one.
Sounds like a fun project. Cant wait to follow the progress.

Yes that’s right I made the green cabinet for my Vox. I’m really excited about this new project.

1 Like

If your fret ends are sharp while you’re sorting it out you could consider making a slight rolled edge on the fretboard at the same time, the Sire Strats and most of their other guitars have this and it really makes them comfortable to play!

Hi Darrell,

Yes I will definitely have to roll the fretboard edges. They are quite sharp.

2 Likes