Dream Stratocaster build
Details
What’s better than making a beautiful musical instrument that you can enjoy for the rest of your life? Making it with one of your closest friends.
I can’t really take any credit for the amazing outcome of this project except for providing a clear brief. I wanted a versatile instrument that had a similar tone to the Pre-CBS ‘63 slabboard strat I’d recently sold but with modern playability, and thought the Latte color of my now-deceased Fiat 500 would look great.
In 2020 I had the chance to visit Tom (pictured above) while on a work trip to Melbourne, which gave me an opportunity to have a hand in the build. We were able to shape and rout the body together while I was there, the rest is all him.
Here’s the spec:
Body
Wood — American Alder
Finish — Mirotone catalyzed lacquer over acrylic Fiat Mocha Latte base. Cavity shielded with aluminum foil tape.
Neck
Wood — Quarter sawn Romanian Curly Maple
Fretboard — Australian Ringed Gidgee, Jescar narrow tall fretwire, mother of pearl dot inlays
Finish — Tru Oil polished with Birchwood Casey Gunstock Wax
Truss Rod — StewMac Hotrod 2-way truss rod
Nut — Bone
Specs — 1.650” vintage style nut width, vintage C neck profile, 7.25”-10” compound radius.
Headstock is slightly angled back which when combined with the staggered machine heads negates the need for a string tree.
Hardware
Bridge — Callahan vintage-spec 6-screw bridge with bent steel saddles
Machine heads — Gotoh staggered locking machine heads
Strap buttons — Schaller strap locks
Electronics
Pickups — Curtis Novak vintage 60s-style pickups
Switching — Oak Grigsby dual blade 5-way super switch plus 3-way toggle switch for custom switching to allow position 1 (on the 5-way) to be: bridge pickup only, bridge + neck, all pickups
Electronics are also star-grounded to ensure shortest path to ground for all components, and the dual blade super switch allows the custom switching to be implemented in such a way that avoids more than one tone pot being activated at any time.
