Members Vince Posted December 9, 2008 Members Share Posted December 9, 2008 I've been umming and ahhing about building a strat for a while now, well, I've been wanting to do it for ages but haven't had the cash. But now I do! Anyway, so with Christmas only a few weeks away I don't think I'll go out a buy all the bits right now, but I've got the first few parts - some knobs, a deluxe strat neck plate (the rounded ones) and some Wilkinson locking tuners. It's going to be an alder body finished in surf green with a fat rosewood neck on it.Haven't decided on the pickups yet - there are too many to choose from on the GFS website. I want to be able to cover Jeff Beck to David Gilmour tones (is this even possible?) - any suggestions?I'm also going to put in a switch to bring in the neck pickup (a la gilmour) but haven't quite decided on a bridge - I'm still open to both vintage or modern. hmm... Oh well, I'll be posting in here more as things progress (slowly), and if anyone has any bits they don't need or are selling and think would be useful, please let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vince Posted December 16, 2008 Author Members Share Posted December 16, 2008 Just got a bargain alder body from ebay - here and the tuners, neck plate and knobs have arrived... the saga continues! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vince Posted December 26, 2008 Author Members Share Posted December 26, 2008 Well the body arrived a couple of days ago, but I'm not happy with it.The contours are very small and not very deep. They make a 70's strat look like a 50's!!! Also, there is a hole between the bridge pickup route and the trem cavity caused by over zealous routing. I'll try and take some pics over the next few days to show what I'm on about. That is all for now, carry on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vince Posted December 29, 2008 Author Members Share Posted December 29, 2008 As I said before - I'm not happy with the body, and I've attached some pictures. You can see that the contours (forearm and tummy) are very shallow - I prefer my strats to be much curvier. This is supposedly a 1962 strat shape! More important, are the deep routes in the pickup cavities, leading to a hole from the bridge pickup cavity to the trem cavity. The last picture shows the grounding hole for the bridge, so please don't say it's for that! I bought the body from ebay - what would you do? I don't really want to send the body back because of the extra postage cost, unless the seller can resupply me a body that is correct at no extra charge to myself. I would accept an amount of money off the total I paid because I can fix all these problems but they will be a faff. Do ebay even offer partial refunds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members linthat22 Posted December 29, 2008 Members Share Posted December 29, 2008 Yea, I'd contact the seller, because the pics on the Bay don't resemble what you got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vince Posted December 29, 2008 Author Members Share Posted December 29, 2008 He offers returns. Return it. Get on the phone. Now. You're running out of time, you should have let them know you weren't happy immediately. The terms in the listing are clear, he may offer to supply another, but according to the listing (which is a contract you agreed to) he's not obligated to pay postage, and very shortly you'll have no options at all. It's between you and the seller, eBay will not take responsibility for what you bought not being what you want. I did let the seller know as soon as I received the body that I wasn't happy with it, I've only just got round to taking some photos and posting them here. As for it not being what I want, it is not what I bid on; I bid on a copy of a 1962 strat body, and as far as I'm concerned that is not what I got. The pictures in the listing do not match what I received, and I have not seen any other strats with such severe routes, nor have I seen a 60's strat with such minimal contouring (talking about the body I received, not the body shown in the photos on the listing). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bizze Posted December 29, 2008 Members Share Posted December 29, 2008 I'll keep checking this one, I want to make a strat in the future too.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vince Posted December 29, 2008 Author Members Share Posted December 29, 2008 So, what was their response? Their response was:"Thanks for your message and happy Christmas Eve. Neither of the aspects that you have raised issue over are flaws and neither are cause for concern: the hole you see extending between the upper side of the bridge pickup and the rear tremelo cavity is for ground wiring - and the most common placement for this, particularly during this era - and not a result of over-zealous routing. The contours on the body are templated from an original 1962 body - it is possible that you are confusing the depth and extent of these with earlier 1950s models which were more deeply contoured. However, the edge radius of all of our unfinished bodies are left at a slightly higher diameter - this is to avoid the edges becoming overly rounded during the customer's final sanding and preparation stages to paint." I then pointed out that there were actually 2 holes present in the trem cavity, 1 of which was obviously the grounding hole, the other an error. As may be, eBay gives you a little recourse in the way of feedback, and you may have some from your method of payment, but, basically, they're not going to take any more responsibility for it than a newspaper would for a classified ad... for similar reasons.We can debate your intent and what happened all you like, but the listing, in effect the letter of your contract with the seller, is clear. If it's not back to them within seven days, it's yours, end of story. If they do anything beyond that, they're doing you a favor. I'd start by insisting on the return anyway, it puts you in a better negotiating position- but posting here and waiting for opinions while you sit on it is clearly a losing strategy. I emailed him the photos this morning, so I'm not sitting on it and waiting for opinions. If I was doing this, then I agree, it would be a losing strategy, which is why I made sure I emailed the seller through ebay as soon as I received the body. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GarysBlues Posted December 29, 2008 Members Share Posted December 29, 2008 I built a few Partscasters. The Sam Ash here carrys All-Parts body and necks. Its a much safer process to buy in person. Not that a Good E-Bay build can't happen. But I started with a neck I feel in LOVE with. I have built a few Partscasters with this one the most recent. matter of fact last night I really finished it by adding the GFS Rails which really sound great. But from my experience I start with the neck I really really like. Then build the rest of the Strat around it. Its good to get a list together of exactly what parts you want. Split Top TMs an all Steel Vintage Trem, Bone Nut etc etc. The other issue is resonance and weight and FIT? I wanted the body to be under 3.8lbs to keep the TOTAL Strat weight under 7lbs. I have made ths mistake in the past. But this baby is 6.5lbs. Neck pocket fits GREAT. Came out very nice. I love it. Any problems come up? PM me and I'll help you where I could. GARY I'll show ya the photo's of the Trio of Humbuckers I added last night. Will add photo's later. Have a really nice Warmoth build also if you want to see? The Warmoth parts especially their Pro Series are very good quality...but expensive. The build using all Warmoth could easily exceed $1200 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Melody Maker Posted December 29, 2008 Members Share Posted December 29, 2008 I'd return that body in a heartbeat! That is not even close to anything resembling a Strat, let alone a vintage one! The pictures they show in their auction are taken at angles to hide the fact that there are no contours. File a claim if you have to, that is false advertisement all the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vince Posted December 29, 2008 Author Members Share Posted December 29, 2008 Oldfinger, these are all good points, and I see why you would send the body back asap, but I don't particularly want to just yet. If they agree that they are at fault and offer me a substantial discount, then I'll be happy. If they don't, then I think I've got a pretty good case for filing a dispute with ebay under "item not as described." If anyone here thinks I might be wrong on this, then please let me know :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ihavenofish Posted December 29, 2008 Members Share Posted December 29, 2008 sloppy routing. the pic in the abay ad also shows sloppy routing. for the price you paid, you should be getting much better i think. if the body "works" you coulld try to work out a deal. otherwise id just send it back simply stating you arent happy with the quality. no need to file a claim or assert false advertising unless he wont give your money back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BG76 Posted December 29, 2008 Members Share Posted December 29, 2008 Not sure what you paid, but with a palm sander you could contour the guitar more in about 10 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vince Posted December 29, 2008 Author Members Share Posted December 29, 2008 Not sure what you paid, but with a palm sander you could contour the guitar more in about 10 minutes. Yup. If he agrees to a discount, this is what I'll do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vince Posted December 30, 2008 Author Members Share Posted December 30, 2008 A bored couple of hours on the internet has resulted in the following; pots, jack socket (and plate), wire, switches, pickguard and screws being added to my credit card. As for the pickups, I'm now starting to shift away from my original option of GFS greybottoms as I'm hearing more and more good things about tonerider pickups. Bugger. If only I was decisive :confused: All that's left to get now is a neck, the trem (on order locally), some paint and to resolve the issues with the body... Stay tuned :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vince Posted January 3, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 3, 2009 The rest of the bits (well, pickguard, knobs, switch etc) arrived this morning and after much deliberating I ordered a set of Tonerider City Limits pickups.Still no word from the seller of the body - his shop might not open up til Monday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vince Posted January 5, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 5, 2009 Allparts SRO-FAT neck is now on it's way!!!! Just need to order the paint now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vince Posted January 8, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 8, 2009 Still no word from the body seller - when should I take it up with ebay? I don't want to piss him off too much, but I don't want to hang around too much longer. Also, the pickups arrived yesterday (Tonerider city limits), the paint arrived today and the neck was sent yesterday. Going to pick up the trem later on today!!! Looking forward to building this :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vince Posted January 14, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 14, 2009 I started a paypal dispute with the seller (of the body) and he's come back to me. In his first message he completely ignored the routing issues and refused a refund. Just got off the phone with paypal, and I'm getting a full refund when I send the body back. Now to go and find myself another strat body :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vince Posted January 19, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 19, 2009 So I was in London at the weekend, and made the obligatory trip to Denmark Street. On my way there I passed by Macaris on Charing Cross Road and what should they have by the counter but 2 strat bodies! One in Fiesta Red and one in a sort of vintage white/yellow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vince Posted January 20, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 Hmm. Is it drilled for a 6-screw trem? Sounds like a MIM body. If it is, the trem screw spacing is a bit different. I don't think it's a MIM body as the guy said he bought them as parts and the one I took away came unsealed from a box before my eyes. It had a lot of paint build up in the neck pocket so it doesn't look like it's been fitted at all yet. As for the holes, there are none drilled for any trem at all. I live just round the corner (literally) from www.overwaterbasses.com and have spoken to them about coming in and using their drill press for the pivot stud holes or what ever you call them so I'm sorted on that front Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vince Posted January 20, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 Clearly it's from a parts supplier. Are the neck mounting holes drilled? Yes they are. Or rather were - I filled one of them with a piece of dowel as I'm fitting a Jeff Beck/Deluxe strat curved neck plate and it was in the wrong place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vince Posted January 20, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 Right. I've finished sanding the paint of the body, I just need to smooth it out a bit with some finer sandpaper. The neck has had it's second coat of nitro and I'm now about to sort out getting a decal for the headstock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vince Posted January 20, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 very true, but seeing as I'm going to be putting my logo on it (see attached and my website in sig), I am claiming that I built it myself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members solderjunkie Posted January 20, 2009 Members Share Posted January 20, 2009 very true, but seeing as I'm going to be putting my logo on it (see attached and my website in sig), I am claiming that I built it myself! Righteous:thu: Everybody is building Strats right now (myself included:)) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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