"SRV Like" Guitar project

[DrakeZero]

Hey guys I have said it a lot in other threads, but have yet to come up with some answers. Even though I have 4 guitars I am itching to try my hand of building my own guitar and was wondering if anyone knows a good place to get a Fender nitro finish strat body? The only good source I seem to find is reliablefender on ebay but his bodies are up at the 350ish range and I wouldn't be keen on relicing those nice bodies.

Or should I consider using a squirer body and spend more money on the neck, pickups and tuners? And as the title says I am going to try and do a SRV like guitar but also add in my own taste to create a custom hyrid so to speak.

So any advice would be most appericated.


Oh and finally a little off topic, but about strings. I know SRV used .11 and .13 gauge string. As I have been playing with.9 gauge string going straight to those wouldn't be much fun so would you suggest I bump up to .10 gauge and slowly get myself in his range? Thanks again

[G-Minor]

Really I wouldn't go abouve 11 as you will have bad tendonitis when your older.
Maybe start with a squirt to try your hand at it.

[r9in09]

Stevie played with 9's and 10's before he died. His fingers had already taken the toll... a local blues legend (SF, CA) who played with Stevie and knew him used to give me lessons and divulged this info. No one wants to believe it but it is in fact true.

[DrakeZero]

Originally Posted by r9in09

Stevie played with 9's and 10's before he died. His fingers had already taken the toll... a local blues legend (SF, CA) who played with Stevie and knew him used to give me lessons and divulged this info. No one wants to believe it but it is in fact true.

I never knew that, but I shouldn't be surprised as I have seen a guitar with .13 string and could imagine the pain of trying to bend those. Well after that said I'll aim to .10 gauge.



Do some of the squire bodies come in a nitro finish, G-Minor? Reason I ask is I prefer that finish over the poly finishes. Sounds nicer to my ears.

[Kate033]

Nope, the Squiers don't come in nitro. Even some of the Fenders in nitro are nitro sprayed over a poly coat - don't know if that will factor into your relicing. Have you considered buying a blank body and just spraying it yourself? You can find nitro in aerosol cans online at reranch or stewmac. If you're going to be removing a lot of the paint anyway, maybe this would be an easier way to start.

[DrakeZero]

I suppose so, I think that would be last resort as I am trying to get one with a sunburst on it as that was the way SRV's number 1 was. I was told by another relic maker that nitro guitars are easier to sand. The Poly ones are like hard shells and make relicing very difficult.

[r9in09]

... when attempting to 'relic' a guitar I'd advise against too much "sanding" or any at all if you can. A naturally aged guitar will - likely - never have been sanded in its life. You could use lacquer thinner for instance to achieve areas of worn paint. The key is to not allow the "sanding" to spill over on to the non-worn area and that is tough if not impossible with sand paper.

Before you get started on this project please understand that is an extremely time consuming effort to, in fact, produce a realistically aged instrument. Not for the faint of heart or those without a LOT of patience.

[DrakeZero]

Yeah I do understand the time factor and like I said it's something I want to do monthly. I do have a workshop to work in, but as you might guess I lack the knowledge. Thus far I have been refering to a few DIY SRV guitar sites for my question, but like I said some of there info is incomplete or don't have the answers to some of my question.

Today I found a 20th aniversey squire on ebay. So far no bids have happened and it's only 90 bucks. Not bad if I am just using the body, but would an american neck fit into a squire or do I have to worry about conversions like you have to with the epiphones to Gibson parts?

[capt_goodvibes]

I'm doing a similar project, thought this might interest you

click here ---------> SRVguitar.com

[DrakeZero]

Thanks, already have that one on my favorites.

Recently I located a Squier on ebay that's mint for 90 bucks (starting bid) Sadly the seller doesn't know what kind of wood it's made out of or what the finish is. It looks like poly to me, but could be wrong.

FENDER SQUIRE STRATOCASTER 20TH ANNIVERSARY GUITAR on eBay.ca (item 310176437513 end time 28-Oct-09 19:13:24 EDT)

[TeleDog]

Nowadays everything has to look aged or vintage or worn. I bought an SRV strat back in the early 90's. Played it for a bit, still inside that tweed case where it's been for years. I don't know, never crossed my mind to go sand the guitar to make it look older!

[DrakeZero]

Well I found a guitar body on ebay, it appears to be an old highway one body with nitro and I won it for $200US. Good Buy? Or did could I have gotten something better?

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...382464649#shId

[dennistruckdriver]

Originally Posted by DrakeZero

Well I found a guitar body on ebay, it appears to be an old highway one body with nitro and I won it for $200US.....

Those are nitro over a poly base coat. I know....I tried to sand one.

[SG Lou]

I built one a while back.
I finished it in 3 tone burst, with nitro lacquer and when it was good and dry i beat the hell out of it using the SRVguitar dot com's template.

This is it finished. Sorry I'm in the picture holding it



and here is the link to the build pictures

SRV Strat pictures by brucewayne131 - Photobucket

You may also want to check out this place:
G R Guitars

They sell prefinished Strat Bodies that are already distressed along with aged parts

[DrakeZero]

Very nice SRV Lou, I did manage to find a body though on ebay for about $200 US. Any reccommendations about the necks I could use? I'm wanting to use a 60's ressiues neck, but also a few mexican necks like the artist sig of jimmie vaughan have come up. Would those fit a highway one body or are they pretty much standard?

[dennistruckdriver]

MIM and MIA necks will interchange. MIJ necks are a smidge wider, and won't fit without some work.

[DrakeZero]

That's good to know so I'll avoid MIJ necks. The jimmie vaughan neck "V-neck" is built out of mexico, but does anyone use a V-neck and could you tell me the difference between the standard C neck that are on the highway ones?


Also what should I be looking at for wiring equipment? Any standard I should follow?

[A string bounce]

Hi DrakeZero' that highway body's a great choice as a doner, that's what I used!

[DrakeZero]

That's a beautiful guitar! Hey by any chance what neck and electronics did you use? Also know any places I could get the left hand trembolo for a decent price?

[A string bounce]

Hey Drake' The neck is a US Fender 62 reissue' C shape' I also have an SRV artiste model' great guitar but to be honest just dont like the big neck? The electronics funny enough are also from an SRV model, I got the complete wired harness off of ebay from 'reliable fender' in the US, as was the LH bridge.

[DrakeZero]

Funny enough that's the guy I'm looking at buying from. Was close to getting a set of texas specials but was outbidded. How's the radius on the 62? I read it's 7.5. I'm use to playing with the 9.5 hwy one strat.

[A string bounce]

The 62 necks got a real nice feel to it' I've got big hands but it feels very natural for me?
I've never had any probs with 'reliable fender' they are what they say........reliable!
Do yourself a favour Drake and go for a set of the gold/pearl Schaller tuners that Stevie used on his, there's a guy selling some now on ebay? check the link. I used them on mine' they really finish the guitar off! not too many #1 replicas if any at all with those on??

Fender Elite Gold & Pearloid Tuners for Strat Tele SRV on eBay (end time 17-Nov-09 15:58:45 GMT)

[DrakeZero]

Expensive but so nice! Yeah I remember those tuners, he chnaged over to those close to the time of his death. I have big hand as well so I'll probably settle on the 62 neck. He has a few on sale I believe, one of them is 30 bucks off so can't lose.

Are those actually pearl in those tuners? Btw how well does it stay in tune? I was thinking of doing a replica of number 1 when SRV was just starting out. He used a nickel bridge with vintage tuners.

Btw what did you use to make the hole for the LH tremolo, and how much of screw do you have to put into the body when installing the claw part?

[leftyguitarman]

Originally Posted by r9in09

You could use lacquer thinner for instance to achieve areas of worn paint.

I don't think lacquer thinner will remove poly. I tried it once and it didn't do anything.

[A string bounce]

Originally Posted by DrakeZero

Expensive but so nice! Yeah I remember those tuners, he chnaged over to those close to the time of his death. I have big hand as well so I'll probably settle on the 62 neck. He has a few on sale I believe, one of them is 30 bucks off so can't lose.

Are those actually pearl in those tuners? Btw how well does it stay in tune? I was thinking of doing a replica of number 1 when SRV was just starting out. He used a nickel bridge with vintage tuners.

Btw what did you use to make the hole for the LH tremolo, and how much of screw do you have to put into the body when installing the claw part?

The 'pearl' is actually plastic 'faux pearl' and tuning stability is spot on!
I tend to have the trem pretty much flat down to the body anyway.
I used a 20mm ( I think? cant remember' I'd have to have a measure) Forstner bit, set up in a pillar drill to take out the wood for the trem' then just squared the rad off for the glued wood fillet. I used a piece maple for the front' and alder for the back.
By claw part' do you mean the 'spring claw? again cause' I have the trem pretty much a 'hardtail' their in quite a way' plus I have five springs on as well.

[DrakeZero]

Yeah the spring claw. The body I am getting has no hardware whatsoever installed into it so I was curious as to how much of two screws do you put into the body or how much clearance. So you used a piece of maple to cover up the hole and just used wood glue? All this info is so handy I am actually writing it all down as I am still waiting for the body to arrive. lol

[DrakeZero]

Originally Posted by DrakeZero

Yeah the spring claw. The body I am getting has no hardware whatsoever installed into it so I was curious as to how much of two screws do you put into the body or how much clearance. So you used a piece of maple to cover up the hole and just used wood glue? All this info is so handy I am actually writing it all down as I am still waiting for the body to arrive. lol

Another question, I heared from another person saying there is a difference in
string spacing on the mexican necks from the US tremolos. Is this true and if so will I have to buy a mexican tremolo so the string spacing is the same?

[captcoolaid]

Not much of a differance but some. I have seen many strat bridges on Ebay for really cheap. they have the specs on them and most are from great sellers with much experience give them a call before you buy.

[DrakeZero]

String Bounce, did you have trouble putting in your US 62 neck? I came across one on ebay that I think would be perfect, however the seller tells me the heel of the neck is 2. 1875 inches which of course in mm is about 55.56. I took measurement of my hwy one body and it came out as 55.84mm (2.1984 inches) will this be a problem or can it just be fixed by sanding the body slightly. Thanks

[captcoolaid]

Sand the body slightly.