New Hardtail Strat Body Day

[martinw]

Just finished reassembling my Start with a new body from the guy I got my Tele body from. I decided I wanted to try out a hardtail body, as I don't use the trem.

I've always believed that the trem is part of the Strat sound, even when not used, and don't like them flush with the body. However, having them floating is a major pain for gigging when you have to change tunings.

So, £84 and a few hours later, I've discovered I might like hardtail Strats! The wood is American Western Red Alder like the Tele, and I've oiled and waxed it. All the parts, apart from the bridge (which is a genuine Fender US Standard item), are from my Highway 1, whcih I've always thought was the best Strat I've had.

The body is slightly heavier than the Highway 1, but the guitar has ended up exactly the same weight as the Highway 1 at 7.25 lbs. It sounds better than my Highway 1! I'm very pleased.  :)

[Ian Price]

Like it! I'm not normally in favour of natural strats but that looks pretty good to me.

[Sifu Ben]

Cool, I just bought an HSS trem body :)

[_tom_]

Very nice :) There need to be more Fender hardtail strat models available. I still want a Tom Delonge one!

[Twinfan]

Nice work mate!

[38thBeatle]

Looking good.My main Strat is a hardtail and I love it.

[Philly Q]

Another hardtail fan here.  Looks good!  :D

[gwEm]

interesting guitar - looks good, not too bling. i wonder how the sound is, i like the s-s-s thing alot, but wonder how a different wood (korina, mahogany etc) would sound, might give extra thickness to the tone.

[shobet]

it's got quite a nice 70s vibe to it Martin. I like the look of that.

[martinw]

Thanks all.  :)

Sound-wise, it sounds like a really good Strat. There's a bit more "firmness" to the sound, but it still retains all the twang and spank. My concerns about losing the trem were unfounded. I have a theory that the trem might have a acoustic effect that doesn't transfer to the amplified sound. Who knows.

I'm not a fan of "thick" guitar sounds, but this is still beefy when required. But it's still recognisably a Strat, which is the sound I love. Check out some of those Phil X vids for a taste of how a good Strat should sound (Sorry Phil!  :lol: )

BKP Treachery Alert: The bridge pickup, as you'll probably have noticed is a Dimarzio. It's a Virtual Vintage Heavy Blues hum-cancelling jobby, and it's superb. I'm now a big fan of these, and can't believe how they've managed to get such great sounds from a hum-cancelling pickup. When I can afford it, I'll be putting Area 58's in the neck and middle. Maybe this is an area that BKP need to look into?

[Philly Q]

BKP Treachery Alert: The bridge pickup, as you'll probably have noticed is a Dimarzio. It's a Virtual Vintage Heavy Blues hum-cancelling jobby, and it's superb. I'm now a big fan of these, and can't believe how they've managed to get such great sounds from a hum-cancelling pickup. When I can afford it, I'll be putting Area 58's in the neck and middle. Maybe this is an area that BKP need to look into?

I don't think they have any intention of doing so!

I quite like stacked "single-coils", I have a couple of Area 58's and an Area 61 which I will get round to fitting one day.... I also had a Virtual T set in my Thinline for a while, and I've got a few Kinmans.  They may not sound exactly like the real thing, but they get very close, and more importantly they sound good.  I think they suit the modern, slightly smoother sounding, more hi-tech, Strats and Teles, I possibly wouldn't use them in a vintage type. 

[dave_mc]

very nice. I always thought that about trems too (affecting the tone), but then I use the trems anyway, so...

[tomjackson]

That's really nice Martin,  very classy.  Looking forward to trying it at some point.

Does the guy do bodies to order, or is it just what's on ebay?

[Matt77]

Nice
Lots of new guitars being posted at the moment. I'll dig the camera out and post my recently finished partscaster in the next day or so.
I went for the same style scratchplate

[martinw]

That's really nice Martin,  very classy.  Looking forward to trying it at some point.

Does the guy do bodies to order, or is it just what's on ebay?

Thanks.
Yes, he does build to order as well.