The adventure begins - new parts day!

[Aahzz]

I have finally decided that it's time to build a parts caster - have wanted to for years. I was poking around on Guitarfetish and saw they had Paulownia Strat bodies for $43. I figured what the heck, it's worth the crapshoot. The body arrived late last week, and I was immediately not happy - the neck holes were clearly misaligned, and it had tape marking it as a 2nd. They said these were a bulk buy, not 2nds...and not returnable. Still, I figured it was worth a shot, so I contacted them, and to my surprise and pleasure I had a return label within 30 minutes, and they sent the new body out once the original showed motion on tracking. So, I'm giving them serious points for customer service.

New body arrived today, looks great. They aren't kidding when they say the Paulownia is light weight - it weighs 2 pounds.

In the meantime, I also ordered a neck from a Squier Classic Vibe 60s Strat, with the tuners - that also arrived today, and fits very nicely in the neck pocket of the body.

Next up I'm turning Mrs Aahzz loose on the body with paint - she's quite good at painting things, very artistic, and she's going to do her thing - so, there are interesting things to come.

Still deciding on what electronics....

 

[FragileThunder]

Cool, look forward to watching it come together.

I have an "in parts" 'caster. It has been in parts for about 7 years now!

 

[JasonE]

Be careful with putting screws into the body and anything that puts pressure or stress on it. Paulownia tends to be very soft. It dents easy. I know that some manufacturers that use it drill holes in the body and fill them with maple or another hard wood dowel for areas like trem posts so that they don't end up becoming loose or unlevel in the future due to the pressure on the bridge from the strings and springs. I have even seen this done for the pickguard screws so they are much harder to strip. For these same reasons you will want to use a good sturdy neck plate when you mount the neck.

 

[aamefford]

I’m watching this in interest. I think partscaster tele is in my future.

 

[JasonE]

I’m watching this in interest. I think partscaster tele is in my future.

For a Tele you have to go with Ash or Alder for the body and all maple for the neck. Also make sure you use a legit Tele style bridge that is a nice thick plate. That will give you a great base for a good Tele.

 

[nac]

Parts casters are fun and you get a completely personalized guitar at the end. I'm looking forward to see how this turns out!

 

[aamefford]

For a Tele you have to go with Ash or Alder for the body and all maple for the neck. Also make sure you use a legit Tele style bridge that is a nice thick plate. That will give you a great base for a good Tele.

Thanks! I was gonna prattle on, but this is Aahzz’ thread!

Edit - I’ll start one when the time comes.

 

[Aahzz]

Thanks! I was gonna prattle on, but this is Aahzz’ thread!

Edit - I’ll start one when the time comes.

Feel free to prattle

 

[aamefford]

Feel free to prattle

Lol, ok. My retirement is imminent, +/- 6 months. I think a partscaster tele will follow soon after. It seems like a good way to get a classic in the little flock, and a hard tail. I’m really enjoying learning how to work on guitars. I really need to spend more time learning how to play them.

 

[deepender]

I have finally decided that it's time to build a parts caster - have wanted to for years. I was poking around on Guitarfetish and saw they had Paulownia Strat bodies for $43. I figured what the heck, it's worth the crapshoot. The body arrived late last week, and I was immediately not happy - the neck holes were clearly misaligned, and it had tape marking it as a 2nd. They said these were a bulk buy, not 2nds...and not returnable. Still, I figured it was worth a shot, so I contacted them, and to my surprise and pleasure I had a return label within 30 minutes, and they sent the new body out once the original showed motion on tracking. So, I'm giving them serious points for customer service.

New body arrived today, looks great. They aren't kidding when they say the Paulownia is light weight - it weighs 2 pounds.

In the meantime, I also ordered a neck from a Squier Classic Vibe 60s Strat, with the tuners - that also arrived today, and fits very nicely in the neck pocket of the body.

Next up I'm turning Mrs Aahzz loose on the body with paint - she's quite good at painting things, very artistic, and she's going to do her thing - so, there are interesting things to come.

Still deciding on what electronics....

I like it

 

[FragileThunder]

I suggest that MrsAahzz check out The Fool for inspiration: Clapton's "The Fool" guitar

 

[jak3af3r]

I've built a handful of teles from Paulownia and they're all super light. Like mentioned above, the wood is pretty soft and I would find a way to put a hardwood block for the bridge screws on a strat just in case.

Another wood that doesn't get a lot of credit is Cypress. That stuff weighs next to nothing and rings like crazy but it's also very soft.

 

[Stephen J.]

I built a guitar body out of poplar in the mid ‘90s. Everyone told me it was too soft and the guitar would never hold up. They said the pressure of the neck would cause it to warp. For what I paid for the wood, I didn’t think I had much to lose. It is still just like it was when I finished it.

Have fun with the project!