Is It Easy to Install Everything in a Blank Fender Strat Body
Bought "blank canvas" Strat body. Vintage or 2-point bridge?
- Thread starter axejock
- Start date
- #1
I just bought a brand new Strat body purely because it is already finished in my favorite color, Ocean Turquoise (poly). I have no idea who made it, but it was low cost, is made of Alder, and looks nice. It is completely routed for SSS configuration pickups, full tremolo system, output jack plate, and "Fender dimension" neck pocket and neck mounting holes. None of the bridge mounting holes, pickguard holes, strap button holes, or tremolo claw holes are drilled. I have most all parts to put this together, but do NOT have a 2-point bridge assy. or related mounting studs, nor have I ever attempted to install a 2-point bridge. I have several traditional, 6-screw mount bridges (which I know how to install), but am wondering if I could actually install a 2-point on this thing with my limited tools and experience. What say you folks? Any thoughts appreciated!
- #2
What tools do you have for making holes?
- #3
Same as a 6 screw vintage as far as alignment goes. Bigger holes need to be drilled to accept the bushings, and they need to be straight. Other than that, I've done both and they seemed really similar. Take your time and measure a million times. If you screw it up you'll need to plug the holes and do it all again.
- #4
Two point stud post would require a proper bench drill. You want those as straight down as possible. Also there is atleast two variables on distance between the posts. For instance Wilkinson uses one measurement and Gotoh uses another.
- #5
What tools do you have for making holes?
I have fairly elementary tools like hand drills, several sets of drill bits, some specialized "stew mac" tools, (mostly for neck work), and some very good measuring devices. I DO NOT have a drill press, which would most likely be necessary for drilling the 2 point post holes.
- #6
If you do the vintage style, you'll need all 6 screw-holes sufficiently accurately placed, and sufficiently vertical, that the screws will line up with the bridge. That's a lot to align properly, not a lot of room for error. With two posts, however, there is more room for error. Once you have the first post hole drilled, you need to make sure the other one is aligned just right from there. Perfectly vertical is nice but not strictly necessary. The way the bridge will pivot on the post will be a bit forgiving with regard to verticality--but not to center-to-center distance of the posts.
Against advice--and perhaps against good judgment!--I've done this with a hand drill and when I play that guitar I can tell no difference in its feel or functionality compared to another guitar with the identical 2-point bridge mounted in holes drilled by Warmoth. My hand-drilled holes aren't as pretty nor as well aligned, but it works very well anyway. I'd have been more nervous about drilling 6 screw holes and hoping they'd all be close enough to the proper locations to work well.
- #7
The body arrived today....it is absolutely amazing in finish and detail for the price I paid. And best of all, the Ocean Turquoise is perfect in color and coverage. I have decided to use a vintage 6-screw bridge on it and would appreciate tips on how to install it....is there a template or something to make sure the mounting holes are drilled right. I also have to drill the tremolo claw holes which could be quite a chore, but I did buy an extension drill and one of those drill swivel adaptors that should help this. The neck pocket is perfect and even the pre-drilled holes for the neck bolts are properly positioned. I'll get some photos of this thing tomorrow and post them. I have also decided on a Pau Ferro Fender neck (nice, dark fretboard), and a complete Fender Player loaded pickguard, just because I really like them. I will have to remount the pickups and controls onto the mint green pickguard, but that is easy. And I also chose aged white pickup covers and knobs. This will be a lot of fun, but I need to figure out how to properly position the bridge holes as my first action. Anh suggestions?
- #8
I've installed Fender and Wilkinson two-post bridges without a drill press, you just have to be experienced at drilling.
Make sure you make a centre line on the body - stick a stripe of masking tape on the body and then draw your centre line on that.
Mark your scale length, and then align the bridge saddles so you have fore-and aft movement over that scale line. This will then give you the placement of the edge of the bridge plate, and the placement of the mounting holes. Drill pilot holes with a small diameter drill and gradually enlarge.
I always use the actual bridge, rather than measurements. It's an old habit but I prefer it to a ruler.
For the claw holes, I use long drill bits - I mean about 12" long. That allows you to get in without damaging the body. Again, cover in masking tape to protect it. You can get long drill bits easily from Amazon or ebay.
Measure twice, cut once...
- #9
The body arrived today....it is absolutely amazing in finish and detail for the price I paid. And best of all, the Ocean Turquoise is perfect in color and coverage. I have decided to use a vintage 6-screw bridge on it and would appreciate tips on how to install it....is there a template or something to make sure the mounting holes are drilled right. I also have to drill the tremolo claw holes which could be quite a chore, but I did buy an extension drill and one of those drill swivel adaptors that should help this. The neck pocket is perfect and even the pre-drilled holes for the neck bolts are properly positioned. I'll get some photos of this thing tomorrow and post them. I have also decided on a Pau Ferro Fender neck (nice, dark fretboard), and a complete Fender Player loaded pickguard, just because I really like them. I will have to remount the pickups and controls onto the mint green pickguard, but that is easy. And I also chose aged white pickup covers and knobs. This will be a lot of fun, but I need to figure out how to properly position the bridge holes as my first action. Anh suggestions?
Make sure you use some sort of punch to make a divot for your drill bit. Otherwise it will wander, especially if you're using a hand-drill. I second the suggestion of using the actual bridge to make your marks.
- #11
Nice! Can I ask where you got it and price? Have you tried fitting your neck to the pocket yet? Is it a Fender neck?
- #12
Sure. I bought it from Stratosphere on a night when I was just browsing their site and they had about 5 of these pop up, but all in different colors. I grabbed the Ocean Turquoise one before I even read the description fully! It was listed at $139.99 and that's what I paid. After then reading the description more thoroughly, I learned it was made of Alder, was full thickness with "exact" fender neck pocket dimensions, and now that I actually have it, it is really tough to see any difference on it from most any real Strat body. The finish and attention to detail is amazing for that price!! I suppose it is some Chinese knockoff or something, but I do expect to find a few "manageable imperfections" as the build progresses. And a Fender neck seems to fit perfectly, but I have not bolted one on yet.
I just looked and they still have metallic red, natural, butterscotch. and sunburst examples left as well as quite a few Telecaster versions at the same price and various colors.
I just looked and they still have metallic red, natural, butterscotch. and sunburst examples left as well as quite a few Telecaster versions at the same price and various colors.
- #13
Finally making some progress on this "build" I got the tremolo claw screw holes drill quite easily by using a hand drill and a swivel connector between the drill and the bit. This worked extremely well. I then installed the strap buttons (easy to do), and then bolted the neck into place. It fit nicely, but stands a little higher on the body at the pocket than normal....may have to remove it and see if there is some obstruction between the neck and the body neck pocket. But it aligns well, so I taped two lengths of dental floss at the high and low E nut slots and used them to position the bridge saddles so that the strings would be centered on the neck. After also measuring the scale length about 8 times, I positioned the bridge properly, marked the mounting hole positions on a piece of masking tape that I had put on the body, and then drilled the holes using my hand held "linear drill motor" which was held straight and vertically correct by a common right angle scale (the base set the perfect vertical position, and the scale allowed holding the drill motor in the perfect angular position). It really came out nice. The only thing I seem to have screwed up on this fitting is that I didn't have the saddles in "perfect position" when measuring the scale length which moved it forward slightly such that the pickguard is a tight fit to the bridge plate. I'm not going to plug and re-drill the bridge mounting holes for this minor problem, but rather I will file a small amount of material off the pickguard at the bridge contact point....should be easy. After that, it's off to electronics installation and set-up. Yeah!
- #14
I finished this project up today, and the end result is amazing. I'm going to start an NGD thread on it over on the main site because it essentially is a new "custom built" Stratocaster (partscaster?) and it seems like it fits better there. If that is not the right forum for this, I'm sure the mods will move it which is OK.
- #15
If anyone likes this "Ocean Turquoise" color as much as I do, I see that Stratosphere has restocked this item and has at least one of them available at $139.99. It's not a Fender approved item but is labelled as a "replacement body" for use in a custom build. It's actually an amazing value at the price!!
Source: https://www.strat-talk.com/threads/bought-blank-canvas-strat-body-vintage-or-2-point-bridge.564482/