Bill's blog

When I first set out to do the mod on my Strat, I had a tough time finding out info so i thought I would write down my experience.

Years ago I picked up a Mexican made Strat at the local Banjo Centre for a really good deal. I once had a 76 Strat that I sold for $300 which now would be worth a ridiculous 3 grand but that's another story. The Mex cost less than $300 new with a case and played better anyway.

After a while though, the tone was a bit lacking so I replaced the stock pickups with Fender Vintage Noiseless. Tone was way improved, buzzing somewhat less but not enough.
Next I shielded the entire electronics cavity with some supplies from Stewart Macdonald and instructions on Gear Nuts. The guitar was 99% buzz free!

Somewhere along the way I picked up an Austin Chinese Les Paul copy for $180 on ebay with shipping brand new! These guitars are amazing deals. I ended up playing it a lot. So much so, I got used to the shorter scale and when I would go back to the Strat, it wasn't as comfortable.

I spent months cruising the net and trying t decide what to do until I eventually ordered a new conversion neck from Warmoth. I took a few risks as I opted for a rosewood fingerboard, guessed at the fret size, gambled on the compound radius option. I installed locking tuners - shoulda done those a long time ago.

When I got the neck, I took it to Ralph Luttrell, who's a great luthier in the ATL area. He did an amazing set up and the guitar plays as well as ANY guitar I have ever played!

I also swapped out the cheapo zinc trem for a Callaham package which turned out to be wonderful. Much more tone, a tremolo bar that actually makes sense, great manufacturing quality.

At first I thought there was a problem with setting the intonation as it seemed the screws were too short on a couple strings.Turned out to be not so. The vintage style saddles on the Callaham have an overlap that looks like the end of the saddle but there is actually another 1/4" or so.

Lastly, the doggone thing kept falling off my strap so I put on some Schaller strap locks.

The only original stuff on the guitar now is the knobs and the body. I've actually thought about replacing the body too and rebuilding the original Mex Strat but will probably part it out on eBay and build one from scratch at some point.

It's amazing how you get opinions on the net and they come in totally opposite. I saw a lot of praise for Warmoth and a lot of harsh criticism. I had pretty good luck though and no major problems.

I have to say, the guitar now plays better than any PRS or top shelf Strat I've ever picked up.

A friend of mine and I were talking about whether or not it makes sense to put 600 bucks into a 300 dollar guitar. Makes sense to me if it comes out right and is a customized monster that I won't ever sell!