The Cost of Building Your Own...

Sp8ctre said:
...is not cheaper, but you get what you want.

I just tallied up the bill for the Black Hole Stratocaster and it was over $1000. Granted I used some good parts, but what started out as a cheap guitar ended up
being upgraded to a not so cheap guitar.

I started out with a slightly worn Squier body, a Korean neck and some low cost pickups. As we all know upgrades commenced.

I ended up with a brand new MIM replacement body, a brand new Warmoth neck, a set of expensive Mojotone pickups, an upgraded bridge and the list goes on!

What I now have is a super nice guitar that I will NEVER be able to sell for near what I have in it...good thing I love it!

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Definitely all about getting your desires fulfilled. It can be done...if you know what you want...these days, it seems that anything is possible.
:beers:

gball said:
Got to tell you, I am not that surprised. I've found that pickups like the SLE-101's, that are such slavish "PAF" clones, don't work that well with high gain. They get mushy. I like more of a "hot PAF" kind of thing for a more old-school sound, but even those types don't work as well as more modern style pickups for high gain/metal IMO.

Buddy of mine dropped some Manlius Asphalts into his Les Paul, and I gotta say, they are the best compromise I've heard yet...they can do metal all day without losing any punch or detail, and if you roll the volume back a bit they drop right back into a more "vintage" kind of tone profile. So good, they have me rethinking my no-mods stance.
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I have two guitars in my sig pic...they both have Manlius Asphalts in the bridge position now. Much love from me for them. Mick is a great pickup maker.

smitty_p said:
Your experience with your Strat is similar to mine when I built up my Les Paul Studio.

In the end, I don’t really think I saved any money versus just buying a complete used guitar. But, the guitar has what I wanted in it, the way I wanted it.

Beyond that, there is just the enjoyment of going through the process.
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I can definitely mirror your stance on this @smitty_p ...the two in my sig pic were purchased as empty husks. I wound up around what I could have purchased them for on the used market...then I had to buy a case for each one. My only lucky part to report, so far, is that the V has apparently gone up in value over the last few years...so there is a chance that I could do ok IF I decided to get rid of it. But I don’t see that happening.
 
Sp8ctre said:
This is the deal for me too. I wanted something special made the way I want it! And I wanted something unique that no one else had. I mean everyone
has a Strat, but not everyone has a Black Hole!
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Thats why I’ve been doing the Warmoth builds. I’m taking a break from them while I build a rehearsal studio in the new house. My last buy was this $800 custom order neck for a matching body I have. It will be my 3rd Purple Heart fret board build.

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So, I could have either of these built by Fender’s Mod Shop for $1800.00 ($1799.99). I would get all the components in it that I’d probably choose, anyway...including Fender’s Generation 4 noiseless pickups.

Hmmmm....

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The silver burst idea is growing on me.
 
If one has the skills and the tools. Cost doesn’t matter. The pride in the finished product is what it’s all about.

My G400. Purchase used at a decent price. Over the next couple years I replaced just about everything but the wood and the plastic knobs. At the end of the day I probably have north of $500 in it. For that, I could have bought a used Gibby. But I wouldn’t have had near the fun. I learned a lot about set up, etc. Along the way, I ended up with a pretty nice guitar. That coming from several of my way smarter guitar player friends that’s said it’s an awesome guitar. Play nice. Sounds great.
 
Robert Herndon said:
I built a Super Strat....24.75" scale, Tuxedo Theme with a Floyd Rose...

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....Now, I know i can do it, but i don't have the desire to build anything else - it interferes with my practice and performance regiment.

But, i do love my custom double neck with my stage name on the headstocks and custom serialization...

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But from here on out, I would much rather buy a quality instrument that I can perform with immediately without needing to devote time to repairs/customization...
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Are you making your own headstock decals Robert?
 
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Here's my Frankenstrat. It began life as a 2016 white MIM. Put on a 24.75 scale Warmoth neck made from birdseye maple with Indian Rosewood fretboard. Moon glow dots for fun. Used Fralin bues pups. The only remaining Fender parts are the body, trem plate, springs, claw and output jack housing. I haven't bothered to figure out the cost. It doesn't matter. Now I'm working on a complete Warmoth bass build.
 
smitty_p said:
The silver burst idea is growing on me.
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Robert Herndon said:
Quilted Top Silverburst!!!!!!
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The quilt idea is kind of cool.

Don‘t know if I’ll go that route, though. We’ll see. I have plenty of time to make a decision!

But, I do need to see a silver burst Stratocaster in person, though. It looks terrific on my Les Paul, and it looks good on the Fender graphic. But, sometimes a guitar will look good in a picture, but no so good in person, and vice versa.

I could even buy a Fender body (as long as it is two-post body) and refinish it to my own taste.

We’ll see...
 
smitty_p said:
The quilt idea is kind of cool.

Don‘t know if I’ll go that route, though. We’ll see. I have plenty of time to make a decision!

But, I do need to see a silver burst Stratocaster in person, though. It looks terrific on my Les Paul, and it looks good on the Fender graphic. But, sometimes a guitar will look good in a picture, but no so good in person, and vice versa.

I could even buy a Fender body (as long as it is two-post body) and refinish it to my own taste.

We’ll see...
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I like the quilt idea SOOOO much that I have started a build based around this:
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