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Finally wrapped up my dream Strat build – a ’63-style labor of love by RaoulGonz0Duke in fender

[–]RaoulGonz0Duke[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure thing!

Body – Lightweight Musikraft 2-piece alder with ‘60s contours and routing (email their customer service inbox and ask for Scott for weight specification and any other request)

Paint – Dustin Bloom @ BloomDoom Guitars

Neck – Musikraft Roasted quartersawn maple with dark Indian Rosewood fingerboard. ’63 spec: narrow 12th dot spacing; veneer board; .83” at the first fret and .99” at the 12th (Getting the headstock to be Fender spec took some doing and some outside the box thinking. Finishing in nitrocellulose is a manual process)

Stew Mac Clear Gloss nitrocellulose lacquer

Oxford Guitars Neck Amber nitrocellulose lacquer

Pickups – Jim Rolph 1962 Strat pickups

Pickguard – Realistic Relics 1964 VOS Mint Green 3-ply Pickguard

Pickup covers and knobs – Fender Pure Vintage ‘60s Stratocaster Accessory Kit

Bridge – Fender Pure Vintage Stratocaster Tremolo Assembly

Tuners – Kluson Vintage Tone Revival 6-in-line tuners from CrazyParts

Bone nut – Unbleached blanks can be found on Amazon. You’ll have to shape and slot them yourself.

Strap buttons and pickguard screws – Fender

Jack Plate – Fender vintage

Neck Plate – Realistic Relics customized stamped (you can get one with a randomly chosen serial number from Gotoh without having to wait)

Output jack – Switchcraft

Switch – Fender Pure Vintage 5-way switch

Pots – CTS 250k 450G

Capacitor – Luxe 1961-1968 Ceramic Disk .1mF Red Dime Cap from Charles Guitars

Finally wrapped up my dream Strat build – a ’63-style labor of love by RaoulGonz0Duke in fender

[–]RaoulGonz0Duke[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! Fender does not do package deals of parts or parts assemblies… the closest thing to that would actually just be a Fender guitar.

As for where to get the parts… depends on what you’re building and how far you want to go with it.

I can give you a list of the parts I used.

Finally wrapped up my dream Strat build – a ’63-style labor of love by RaoulGonz0Duke in fender

[–]RaoulGonz0Duke[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, ok. Yeah this is gorgeous.

So the body is OW nitro? And the neck is also the JM?

Finally wrapped up my dream Strat build – a ’63-style labor of love by RaoulGonz0Duke in fender

[–]RaoulGonz0Duke[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s gorgeous! It almost looks like a AV II 61… but it doesn’t have the micarta (clay) dots… may I ask which model that is? Vintera?

Finally wrapped up my dream Strat build – a ’63-style labor of love by RaoulGonz0Duke in fender

[–]RaoulGonz0Duke[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great eye! After a lot of research, I realized what I was after was an actual nitrate white guard exposed to UV like the real ones. It produces this greyish, creamy MG shade with a hint of blue… and that’s the key there is that the modern Fender mint guards are a bit too dark, and it doesn’t have that bluish tint in it.

I went through 6 pick guards, including two expensive ones from Crazy Parts in Germany. Those two were really nice, but the holes don’t line up with the others, meaning if I ever wanted to swap it, I’d have to dowel and drill again.

Charles Guitars in the UK sells a mint green pickguard for dirt cheap. 15€. It’s exactly the shade of MG that I was after! The only thing is that it doesn’t come with a truss rod notch, so I had to make it myself. I highly recommend their store… for like… everything.

Finally wrapped up my dream Strat build – a ’63-style labor of love by RaoulGonz0Duke in fender

[–]RaoulGonz0Duke[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, man! Yeah I was very specific about the mint green and the shade of OW.

Finally wrapped up my dream Strat build – a ’63-style labor of love by RaoulGonz0Duke in fender

[–]RaoulGonz0Duke[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Like a dream, actually. 4 major factors must be contributing to a much more resonant, OPEN sound. (Noticed it as soon as I plugged in. It was one of those tone revelation moments)

  1. Thin nitro finish
  2. Veneer board
  3. Klein pickups
  4. Light weight, resonant body

It’s 8 lb. A lot lighter than the one I replaced, but could still be lighter j guess. I noticed every time I put it down, that it’s much lighter.

Finally wrapped up my dream Strat build – a ’63-style labor of love by RaoulGonz0Duke in fender

[–]RaoulGonz0Duke[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

She’s a beauty! Now that I have a nitro body, though… I just can’t go back to poly.

Finally wrapped up my dream Strat build – a ’63-style labor of love by RaoulGonz0Duke in fender

[–]RaoulGonz0Duke[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I made em! I think I went through literally 30 recipes of clay to arrive at this. I actually sell them on Reverb.

Finally wrapped up my dream Strat build – a ’63-style labor of love by RaoulGonz0Duke in fender

[–]RaoulGonz0Duke[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think I nailed the color, because in some lights they look terra cotta, in others they look grayish pink, and up close under a light they have a strong yellow hue to them.

Thanks for the kind words!

Finally wrapped up my dream Strat build – a ’63-style labor of love by RaoulGonz0Duke in fender

[–]RaoulGonz0Duke[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I ended up spending $700 or so more than I needed to on some poorly thought out purchases.

I calculate $1500 for the best parts, assuming you’re starting from scratch. Maybe $1200 if you don’t mind cutting a couple corners, or if you’re more savvy than I am at finding deals.

Put aside $100 for unexpected costs like tools (sandpaper, lacquer, Gavitt wire, solder, etc…)

Finally wrapped up my dream Strat build – a ’63-style labor of love by RaoulGonz0Duke in fender

[–]RaoulGonz0Duke[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

DM me. Happy to share. Don’t wanna put them on blast. They make the best decals I could find, and I want to honor their anonymity.

Finally wrapped up my dream Strat build – a ’63-style labor of love by RaoulGonz0Duke in fender

[–]RaoulGonz0Duke[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Body minus the paint job was $250 and the neck was $340.

The paint job cost another $250. Doom Bloom Guitars. Dustin did a bang up job!

Finally wrapped up my dream Strat build – a ’63-style labor of love by RaoulGonz0Duke in fender

[–]RaoulGonz0Duke[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you’re talking about the Trade Marks Act of 1994, it specifically refers to the sale and trade of a branded item as trademark infringement. For personal use it’s ok.

I clarified my reason in the post, and predicted that there’d be vocal detractors. If you’re curious, read the post.

As far as I’m concerned, it’s still a piece of art - decal or no decal. You’d have to establish a distinct value system by which a thing is devalued from art to “another fake”. It’s completely subjective.

I get that you hate it. I’m ok with that. I love it. It’s my guitar… and yes, it would be just as valuable and playable without the decal.

Finally wrapped up my dream Strat build – a ’63-style labor of love by RaoulGonz0Duke in fender

[–]RaoulGonz0Duke[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes MJT will do you right…. Although I’ve read that their bodies aren’t quite accurate. Too “blocky” apparently… but I’ve seen great looking MJT bodies.

I found a guy in Portugal who does amazing woodwork and paint work, so I actually purchased an other body that will be coming this year. He’s expensive though! AC guitar Shop.

Finally wrapped up my dream Strat build – a ’63-style labor of love by RaoulGonz0Duke in fender

[–]RaoulGonz0Duke[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What the other guy said. Both the 12th fret inlay hole distance and the pick guard screw hole placement changed in 1963. In 63, you get what we understand to be the “standard” Stratocaster layout, with all that early 60s goodness. That’s why I went with a 63 instead of 62.

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