Guitar bodies

Ray

G'day
Like so many others, I have been thinking about putting together a guitar. Kit or whatever. I was thinking about an acoustic guitar but jukkel stukkel, that looks like graft hey!? Anyway, there is another thread going where people are comparing their privates an' all and I noted that two okes have guitars with Warmoth bodies so I went and took a look. Some nice bodies and I have seen similar on Stewmac as well. Just something I am not sure of. Actually a helluva lot I'm not sure of but right now I dont know why there is a distinction between top routed and rear routed. I guess it is easy to work out that the channeling and stuff is either on the front or the back of the body, but which is the way that Fender does it? Is there any benefit to either?
Cheers -Eddie

aja

haha you should write a novel, always entertaining to read your posts...

AlanRatcliffe

Fender use top routing. Top rout requires a pickguard to suspend pickups and controls, rear rout shows more wood:

My top route Strat:

Rear route Strat/Tele:

On the rear rout, the controls are accessed via a relatively small cover with nothing fixed to it:

Gearhead

Back routed is when you don't want a pickguard to cover up your wiring (or rather, show your top wood). Leo Fender did not use fancy wood so he routed from the front on both the Strat and the Tele. The benefit of front routing is that you don't have to drill holes for the controls to an exact depth; the Strat type pup selector for instance is a pain to saw cleanly when back routing. On a Strat, almost all the wiring is on the pickguard side so that makes it easier to wire up.

Ray

Thanks fellas. I'm looking into a tele maybe and seems like the top tout is the way I will go, if and when I go. Just looking at all the bits it seems that it doesnt really work out to be much of a cash left in pocket exercise. Still on the subject of bodies, I see that the Squier teles spec is a pine body. Now, isnt cedar and spruce sort of types of pine? Is this like pine in tomato box wood?

MikeM

Pine has gained popularity over the past couple years but I vote you'd be better off with a light ash or poplar (It's about half the price of ash.)

Gearhead

If you stumble upon some ash that is less than 0.6kg/litre and/or you feel is easy to work with, give me a shout. All the ash I've seen locally is this European 'oak' type, hard as nuts and heavier than Mahogany. You are actually alright with poplar, just don't dent it.
Likewise, if you stumble upon a stash of Cedar of straight grain and half body width size, let me know.

selbydoodl

Here's is a teaser for you all: -

If you assemble a guitar from Fender parts (neck, body, electrics etc...) is it still classed as a Fender???

AlanRatcliffe

That one has been much debated elsewhere. I don't think so - assembly and setup are part of how well the guitar plays. But then, strictly speaking that means that Clapton's Blackie, SRV's #1 and Gilmour's black Strat are not Fenders, but merely partscasters.

[deleted]

It has been debated elsewhere, Alan, but in the dirt-street shootout outside the tavern you infuriatingly had that silver dollar in your breast pocket! ? ? *shoots again*

If I buy a Fender Strat, disassemble it to do some work on it, and reassemble it...does it cease to be a Fender Strat? Also, it may have been assembled by Big McLargehuge at the Corona factory, or by me...but does its ontological nature change depending on whose hands it went through? *checks for blood* ?

(Selby was talking about strictly bona fide Fender parts, after all. And also not swapping out original parts.)

AlanRatcliffe

But assembling a Strat from Fender parts, you usually end up with a specific "model" Strat that Fender has never made, so it would not be perceived by many as a "real" Fender. That affects the collectability and the value.

There was someone on Gumtree selling a good quality partscaster made from all US Fender parts a couple months back. Took quite a while to sell and he sold it pretty cheap for what it was (probably quite a bit less than the parts cost). I had to admire his honesty in saying what it was and taking the hit because of it - a lot of guys would have kept quiet and sold it as a Fender-made instrument.

[deleted]

You've upgraded to bullet-proof vests now. :'(

Bob-Dubery

Stratisfear wrote: If I buy a Fender Strat, disassemble it to do some work on it, and reassemble it...does it cease to be a Fender Strat?

If you take it apart, put it back together again, maybe tweak the truss rod you're OK. The moment you resolder anything, change any of the hardware (even strap buttons) it starts to lose value.

So the market says it is less of a Fender than it was.

There are some famous partscasters around that would fetch or have fetched a lot of money, but they do so because they have an association with somebody famous, not because of their intrinsic authenticity and value. Clapton's "Blackie" would be an example. If it were mine it wouldn't be worth nearly as much.

AlanRatcliffe

Personally, I don't care if there are any Fender parts in a "Strat" and pretty much ignore the name on the headstock, so for me it's more of a philosophical debate anyway. ?

BTW - I believe the most effective defence against bullets is not being shot at in the first place, so running away and/or hiding is a perfectly acceptable compromise. ?

Bob-Dubery

Yip! Always remember the old saying: He who runs away lives to run away another day.

selbydoodl

I found this debate very interesting.

Thanks for your answers lads.