Von Herndon Custom Gibson Scale Stratocasters:

Get a ZOOT Robert
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Busy week...and Im glad to see Satuday. Wife is a little less than thrilled with all the guitars everywhere....
 
Project Update:

Gary Standefer at Tone Man emailed today to advise the new wire harness for "Number One" was finally completed. We used the smaller volume and tone pots, instead of the great big ones, just to have a bit more room in the cavity.

We stuck with the K40Y Russian tone capacitors - a .033uf bridge and .015uf neck - that has worked so good in my other humbucker equipped guitars.

After 30 years of lugging around a 10.6 pound 1987 Squire Stratocaster, the 4-1/2 pound, solid mahogany
StudioCaster feels almost ridiculously lightweight. With my old 4" leather strap, you can't even feel it on your shoulder.

The basic guitar has exceeded all my expectations and then some. The combination of the fat 50's style 12" x 24.75" neck and the comfortable Stratocaster-shaped body make this a very versatile guitar.

For me, it truly is the best of both worlds. I wish I would have done this 30 years ago.

So, now that its back from being on loan its modification time... :-)

Originally, the pickups where "spread" (4.450" center-to-center between the bridge and neck humbucker mounting screws) to make room for a middle humbucker. But, since my pickups weren't finished, I decided to stick with twin humbuckers.

A buddy gave me a funky 9 hole, single ply pickguard with one humbucker and I added the second bucker-hole and holes for 3 pots and a switch.

I plan on having an 11 hole made with the "revised" pickup locations.

I also purchased a Tremolo Stop that I want to mess with in the interest of making the guitar more reliable in a live performance situation.

I'm going to plane the frets down lower and re-crown them. I have found low frets is a big part of my playing.

I spent years working with my hands. I wear a size 14/15 glove and last year, I was still able to burst an aluminum soda can with one hand. During physical therapy, the doctor had me test my grip strength and I was able to peg a 200lb meter with my right hand and 160lb with my left, that is when the numbness in my left arm isn't flaring up.

My point is, when I start playing, I tend to pull my notes very sharp through my aggressive attack. Having the strings on the wood helps so much.

Going to shoot for getting the roller string trees installed later today....

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Nice thread - I especially like the red tele.

I've been saying for ages how that Incheon factory makes good stuff at affordable price.

I have had a couple of guitars out of there and played many in the shops - they put some bigger name brands to shame, imho.

Also, the Fella here in Bkk makes some lovely handmade instruments for $1000 - there is value to be found in the guitar world if you look.

Good luck with your guitars, Robert.
 
Mr Grumpy said:
Nice thread - I especially like the red tele.

I've been saying for ages how that Incheon factory makes good stuff at affordable price.

I have had a couple of guitars out of there and played many in the shops - they put some bigger name brands to shame, imho.

Also, the Fella here in Bkk makes some lovely handmade instruments for $1000 - there is value to be found in the guitar world if you look.

Good luck with your guitars, Robert.
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Thanks, Grumpy...its been a lot of fun to do these projects. My oldest Son really had the vision for a partnership with WMI and mass production, whereas I ultimately decided to stick with my snail's pace builds from Warmoth/B.Hefner/Musikraft parts.

Of course, having a USA made guitar means much higher production costs, but I think its a cool thing in today's age too.

A few locals have asked if I am going to tool up and start making my own parts and I really don't know. That would mean a dedicated shop facility, paint shop, EPA certification, etc.

Seems that might take the fun out of it...:-)
 
That's a nice looking start. &, if you can get some 'normal' strat sound out of it too then it must be very functional and flexible. I'm not a strat guy but the clean neck sound and the Dire Straits sound are ones you'd want available, aren't they?
 
Mr Grumpy said:
That's a nice looking start. &, if you can get some 'normal' strat sound out of it too then it must be very functional and flexible. I'm not a strat guy but the clean neck sound and the Dire Straits sound are ones you'd want available, aren't they?
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A brighter tone is easily obtained with a coil tap.... but keep in mind that this is Gibson scale length....that totally changes the sound.

Following this prototype, I built several for private clients (from Warmoth and Musikraft parts) with the "Jimmy Page" style 21 tone feature, some with single coils and some by request with a 25.5" scale neck...and I built some custom solid mahogany Telecasters with twin humbuckers and set necks with 24.75" scale...and they sound very unique.

You can't tell by looking at the photo, but the entire 24.75" scale Stratocaster is slightly smaller that a standard Stratocaster...more like a 7/8 scale you could say.
 
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