Allparts Strat

would like to see more fetures offered on the neck shapes frets and body routes such pickup loading

great tones from this swamp ash strat body 2 peice center seem, trem model,I finished in high quality nitro, laquer 2 tone fender 1950s color ,maple neck soft v shape also nitro finished by my shop, installed a usa fender trem, bridge and stock fender mexico pick ups ,very suprised when tested this guitar has got the tone the all parts neck and body are of high quality and work well with good fit

the body and neck are cut very nice I did some reshaping to both neck and body to get them closer to an orig 1950s feel

this guitar should outlive all of us!

very good very pro company

I saw that there are some reviews of Warmoth and WD parts so I thought I would add a review of a guitar I built using Allparts spares. It is a solid, Swamp Ash, hard tail Strat with maple neck and rosewood fingerboard. I deliberately chose to buy the parts unfinished as I wanted to do as much of this as possible. Although I would have rather built the entire thing from scratch I don't have any of the tools necessary and live in a small flat - sawdust would get everywhere.

Anyway, I bought the parts from Pincotts (UK distributers), who were very helpful. I was limited to Swamp Ash as this was the only Strat with a hard tail. The parts arrived within a reasonable amount of time. I was pleasantly surprised to see the body was made from one piece of wood, which is very good for #110. The neck was fitted with some nice Jumbo frets and was a reasonable handful (I've got big hands so I like big necks).

I had a bit of trouble drilling some of the holes accurately as I only had a hand drill available, but got a good fit for everything in the end. I painted it using Plastikote spray paint and although the finish on the body isn't perfect it is adequate. The neck feels pretty good too.

It is wired with three Kent Armstrong humbuckers - a JB style in the bridge and two cool rails in neck and middle.

I can't really give an opinion as I bought two pieces of wood, not a guitar.

There is no better feeling than getting a great tone from your guitar and knowing that you are responsible for it being that good. I was a little heavy with some of the paint but this has given a really tight neck fit which has aided sustain to no end. This sustains better than any other guitar I've heard, apart from maybe Gary Moore on Parisienne Walkways. I can get any sound from it ranging from bluesy to rocky, to metal. It is full of harmonics and there is very little that I dislike about the guitar. The only thing that I would change would be to have two single coils in neck and middle, but I don't wany that all the time.

This is mostly down to me, but I think if the neck had been bad to begin with it wouldn't play well. As it happens it is pretty damn good. Its not perfect, and the neck sometimes feels a little sticky, but I just wipe it down and wash my hands to get it good again. Someone else had to cut the nut for me and they did a great job of this. Since then I have changed the string guage and pickup height etc. It has taken all of this very well and plays well.

Its not perfect but is very good and facilitates most playing styles. In particular bending strings with the Jumbo frets is very good.

Some of my wiring was a little iffy in places, and I think I would probably go for a more basic set up next time. In fact I really only use the volume control and generally just the bridge pickup.

This is a real workhorse of a guitar and I think it will withstand a lot of abuse. The components were well made and I used good quality hardware. I look after my guitars but think that this could stand up to a fair knocking.

I would never gig this without a backup as breaking a string can really mess up your set. However, I think that's probably the worst that would happen with this guitar.

I haven't dealt with Allparts, but they have a website. Its not that useful as quite a few pictures are missing. Pincotts, however, were very helpful and I plan to use their service in the next few weeks. They were able to find someone to route out the bridge to accept a humbucker at very little extra cost and even gave me a discount on a pearloid scratchplate because I bought so much at the same time. I've given myself a lifetime warranty.

I've been playing for about 8 years and have owned about four different guitars. I used Melvin Hiscocks book as a guide and think I know a reasonable amount about how a guitar works. Certainly enough to put one together. There was quite a bit of lateral thinking involved in this project as I didn't have all the tools required, but got a good result, which has become my main guitar. It gets played more often than the #1000 Fender USA Strat Deluxe which I bought a few summers ago, and don't really need any more.

I am planning on building another one in the next few weeks and think I will use this company again.

BUILD YOUR OWN GUITAR!