Constraints


Other factors that may constrain your custom Fender Stratocaster build project include: budget, tools, workspace, skills, time and patience.

Time and patience are a bigger factor than you might think. If you have time, but not a lot of money, you can patiently shop ebay until you get a 'steal' on each of your parts (it is not hard to save 25%-50% off the average prices if you are diligent and clever).

If you don't not have a safe, clean, enclosed space where you can modulate the ventilation, yet control the dust, you may not be in a position to do any painting and refinishing of the body and/or neck. This might limit your possibilities to what you are able to achieve as far as you control over custom finishes, that is, unless you are willing to pay for someone else to do it for you (e.g., Warmoth).

Additionally, if you don't have some basic skills and tools, then it may constrain you options on the degree of assembly you undertake. On the other hand, non of this is too difficult, and doing so will give you much greater options on your project.
  • Soldering the electronics, at least the output jack if not all of the pots, pickups, capacitors and grounds.
  • Sanding, painting, wet-sanding and polishing the body and perhaps the neck
  • Drilling the neck for tuning machine alignment posts, string tree, possibly dressing the frets and rolling the edges.
  • Screwing together the neck/body, pickguard, attaching the tremolo and spring claw, using a wrench/screwdriver to mount the tuning machines (modern or vintage style), and securing the pots/switches/pickup to the pickguard

1 comment:

Electrostatic painting said...

Time and patience are a bigger factor than you might think.