NGD - Candy Apple Red Strat - *PICS ADDED*

[Frails]

As with anything you order from Bernie Hefner, this one is 3 months in the making. As a lefty I build my own Strat's and Tele's and have had tremendous success doing so. I keep picking up USA Fender's to compare and walk away smiling, knowing the Hefner bodies and necks are just superior. I've been down the long road of WD, All Parts, Wildwood, Musikraft and Warmoth. Trust me when I tell you the Hefner stuff is superior! It's in the tone. It just is.

Being a huge Gilmour fan I've always loved his 83' USA RI CAR Strat. But where I decided to veer was in neck shape and fingerboard radius. You see I have vintage and I have Hefner to vintage specs. I just can't get on with the 7.25" radiuses. The 9.5" are nice but really a 12" Les Paul radius is where it's at for me. So this one has a 12" radius. Also, I have found a medium V shape is perfect for me when it comes to Fender's. I seem to make the least amount of mistakes with this shape and it's just the most comfortable. But I have a few guitars with a med V and my black Gilmour Strat has a soft V which I also really love (more wood equals more tone IMO). So since I'm going with a 12" radius, I decided to go with a baseball U shape neck with the same ballpark frets 1 and 12 thicknesses as a R8/R9 Les Paul. This just might be the holy grail! A Les Paul neck on a Strat body.

Since MJTele did such a fabulous job on the black heavy relic Strat build, I decided to have them paint the body in CAR nitro. I wanted a nearly new look. Matt convinced me to go with the closet classic look. They didn't disappoint. It looks fantastic, having dings and chips in just the right places. And as with all of my builds, I went with a Callaham bridge assy. Gotoh 15:1 tuners, USA Fender nuts, bolts, string tree and buttons. Pickups are EMG SA's with the SPC control. Everything has finally arrived and so the assembly begins. Pics:

http://s1097.photobucket.com/albums/...lmour%20Strat/

[Cpt_Gonzo]

Been wondering how the quality of Hefner is - you can find positive aswell as negative stories online!

[Frails]

You can find people who thought Hitler was just misunderstood too. What's your point exactly? There are good and bad with everything in life. The point of my post is to share my build and hopefully another positive tone report based on Hefner wood. This is my fifth build with Hefner wood and hopefully it sounds as good as it looks. Maybe I just misunderstood your meaning.

[KP]

[Cpt_Gonzo]

Yes you did, I was waiting for someone on this board giving me his opinion on B. Hefner and not some random pissed off stranger on the TDPRI yelling around like a madman without any proof

It was in every way meant positive. No offense intended!

[Frails]

My apologies then. Where he really shines is with necks.

[Cpt_Gonzo]

By the way, that color is really something! Any experiences with Hefner's paintjobs?

[Frails]

Yes. He does good paint work. Exceptional really. I don't care for what I've seen from them in regards to relic'ing though. That really is such an art form. In regards to the color on this one, as you probably already know, Fender used silver as the undercoat until 1965 and then went to gold. I much prefer the silver undercoat as the finish makes for more red and less maroonish. Now I understand Gilmour's has the gold undercoat but I love Dakota red and red's in general over maroon's. PLUS, this is supposed to be a 57' where silver was used.

[benjammin420]

very nice, congrats

[slapshot]

the B stock he sells on ebay is definitely that ... maybe even C
I'd like a solid answer on he's fat tele necks cause really Im quite happy with the all parts TMO-FAT but would always be willing to try one out.

[Midnight Blues]

Congrats and HNGD!

[Chicago John]

Congratulations Frails, she's a beauty!

[lespaul01]

gor gee us

[Frails]

Originally Posted by slapshot

the B stock he sells on ebay is definitely that ... maybe even C
I'd like a solid answer on he's fat tele necks cause really Im quite happy with the all parts TMO-FAT but would always be willing to try one out.

I've built one Tele from Hefner wood. Here it is. Fender 1952 Butterscotch Telecaster pictures by frails - Photobucket

One nice advantage of the Hefner stuff is that every piece is custom built to order (believe me, the waiting is the hardest part) and made in N Cali, whereas All Parts bodies and necks are made in Asia and they just grab one off a shelf. I once spoke with a luthier about the Tele I was doing at the time. He hadn't heard of Hefner and was really impressed with the tone of the Tele. In his words, (not mine) he said he's getting tired of having to order a few necks to find "the one". Now granted, All Parts aren't custom ordered. So you get exactly what they say they provide. But considering every neck I've ordered from Hefner has been "the one", I think it's worth it. And to be honest, the price, unfinished, is about the same.

[Hairless_Ape]

I don't mean to alarm you, but it appears that your guitar was put together...upside down.

[AngryHatter]

Originally Posted by Frails

You can find people who thought Hitler was just misunderstood too. What's your point exactly? There are good and bad with everything in life...

I'd love to hear the positive side of Hitler.
People who like Hitler are assholes. Any questions?

There are absolutes in this universe. This is not a question of degrees or opinions.

And please post clips.
It looks like a left hand red strat.
You are extolling its virtues, so provide examples of why this is better than an OEM strat.

[Frails]

Originally Posted by AngryHatter

I'd love to hear the positive side of Hitler.
People who like Hitler are assholes. Any questions?

There are absolutes in this universe. This is not a question of degrees or opinions.

And please post clips.
It looks like a left hand red strat.
You are extolling its virtues, so provide examples of why this is better than an OEM strat.

Fly away troll, fly fly away. Fly fly....

[Cpt_Gonzo]

As his name implies, he's angry. Let him be

At least he's right with one thing, no positive sides about Hitler.
(The first Autobahn was built in the Weimarer Republic!)

[leftyguitarman]

As someone who has played all of Frails' Hefner guitars, except this one, I can attest to the quality of B Hefner's products. They're all excellent guitars!

I still think the neck on your black Gilmour is the best neck I've ever felt.

[Frails]

Agreed. And this one resembles that one very very closely. Only differences being shape and radius. But both have a lot of wood so I'm hoping they have the same killer tone.

[leftyguitarman]

What's the radius on the Black Gilmour?

Somewhere I have the specs that you emailed me, but I'm not sure which email account they're in... I gotta go look for those because when I reneck my Strat, I'm ordering that neck.

[Mule Train]

Nice guitar. I'll bet it is as fun to play as it was to build! I myself would like a fatter neck on my Tele.

[Frails]

Originally Posted by leftyguitarman

What's the radius on the Black Gilmour?

Somewhere I have the specs that you emailed me, but I'm not sure which email account they're in... I gotta go look for those because when I reneck my Strat, I'm ordering that neck.

The radius is 7.25" (vintage), shape is a soft V. I'm doing the nut today. Wasn't getting a reply from Beck in time of me leaving for Napa so I ordered some blanks from Stew Mac.

[Frails]

Guitar is finished. Cut my first bone nut last night and did a setup. Great learning experience. Haven't played plugged in yet as I like to spend some time with them unplugged. Very happy with it in this regard.

[Frails]

And as a blast from the past, here is the black heavy relic Hefner Strat build. MJTele did the finish and aging on this one too. Brazilian fingerboard, Callaham bridge assy, Fender Custom Shop pups from the USA Hendrix Voodoo Strat, Fatboy plastics.

http://s1097.photobucket.com/albums/...t%20Brazilian/

[blues24]

Killer!!! I own one of Frails Hefner builds, and it second to none...

I must say your Candy Gilmour is killer...

Can't beat Hefner!!! Frails, very nice job...

[Barker]

That looks killer Frails... ! I can't wait to hear a tone report once you've spent some time with it. Congrats.... !

[Barker]

Originally Posted by Frails

And as a blast from the past, here is the black heavy relic Hefner Strat build. MJTele did the finish and aging on this one too. Brazilian fingerboard, Callaham bridge assy, Fender Custom Shop pups from the USA Hendrix Voodoo Strat, Fatboy plastics.

Heavy Relic Strat pictures by frails - Photobucket

As you know, I really like this one as well... !

[coldsteal2]

thats a sexy looking guitar

[Cpt_Gonzo]

Oh boy that looks good.