My Hendrix Woodstock Strat Project

[Brandon]

http://reranch.com/reranch/viewtopic.php?t=40462" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I still don't have the neck on it that I want, but there you go, half way complete.

The olympic white that I used had a slight blue in it, so when the clear coat yellows naturallly, it turns the guitar green

But it's kind of cool tho, no complaints.

[shakti]

Brandon, since you've researched this...what do you think the black Strat had for finish on the neck? Poly or nitro?

[harkkam08]

Hey man looks great. Just curious where did you get your neck?

Also how hard is it to find a vintage 60's neck? Not the reissue necks

[Tone Slinger]

Fender used poly on the necks of those 'mid/late '68 to '82 strats. Nitro was ONLY used on the face of the headstock. This was because the poly reacted to the 'FENDER STRATOCASTER' decal/logo for some reason.

That is why on many strats from that era, the headstock is darker than the fretboard. Nitro, as we all know, will darken or yellow over time, whereas poly will not.

Most guitars from this era have had AT LEAST one refret, and in most cases nitro was used in the refinish, which has made the neck more 'uniform' in color over time.

Hendrix didnt get a chance to play his long enough for any yellowing or refrets though

I love the maple on maple round lam board of those necks as much as anything. I often look down and see the top of my fretboard, and can see the slight varience in color and grain of the maple fingerboard.

I'm having problems getting pics up though, say's I've got too many pixels .

[Brandon]

Brandon, since you've researched this...what do you think the black Strat had for finish on the neck? Poly or nitro?

I can say with 100% certainty that by the wear throughs on the finger board and on the neck, his WHITE strat had a NITRO finished neck.

I can't say about the black strat, but since he bought them at the same time, and I know the black paint is definitely nitro, I would be very surprised if the neck was not nitro.

Hey man looks great. Just curious where did you get your neck?

Also how hard is it to find a vintage 60's neck? Not the reissue necks

The neck is simply a MIM 70s strat neck. Nothing special.

I've seen a bunch of vintage 60's necks on eBay, but they cost a fortune. usually between $5k-$10k. If you've got the dough, then ebay's your best bet!

[shakti]

I can't say about the black strat, but since he bought them at the same time, and I know the black paint is definitely nitro, I would be very surprised if the neck was not nitro.

You're sure the black body is nitro? What makes you think so, if I may ask?

[Brandon]

it's the wear on it, that kind of wear can only happen to nitro.

check out the backside of the strat:

http://www.electrichendrix.gobot.com/cg ... s/bb_4.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Now as far as the undercoat is concerned, that could be polyester resin... or it could be nitro, I don't know if there is a real way to know that other than looking at some other strats from the same time period that have wear throughs and see what's going on underneath there.

[Tone Slinger]

The neck on BOTH of Hendrix's strats ( whitey and blackey) had a polyurethane (looks just like nitro ) finish, except the face of the headstock, which was nitro. Not sure about the body, though I think it may have been both. CBS era strats had several aspects to them that vintage buffs disliked.

[stef]

Fender used poly on the necks of those 'mid/late '68 to '82 strats. Nitro was ONLY used on the face of the headstock. This was because the poly reacted to the 'FENDER STRATOCASTER' decal/logo for some reason.

yep

[Xplorer]

so the polyester finish actualy gets a bit amber over the time, with the light and the cigarette smoke ? as well as the cellulosic finish ? ( of course, not as fast i understand ).

Cause i have one deluxe neck 60th anniversary from 2006, in my kitchen ; ) facing the light coming from the window ; ) and i smoke in my kitchen ; )
damn, it doesn't go fast to get a darker nice color. but if/when it will, this is gonna be a beautiful neck, with a chrome logo, and blue natural dots on the board, in "nacre" you know, in my language.

I can see that the black strat has a neck that turned a bit yellow. And i've seen the white strat : quite light color.

i've read somewhere that the amber finishs of the vintage necks was a bit thanks to a little tainting, into the finish, and the rest is done with the time.
why does fender sells strats with necks so light ... ? i don't like their modern finish, and their modern butterscotch finish.

i've seen a little film made in the fender factory in the fifties, and i could compare it with a little film made in the factory today ... so much differences ... everything is made by robots now.

it's so cool to see how this guy cuts a fender body by hands, ( dangerous ! ) in 20 seconds ; )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nswcAPvH ... sL5gE60F0g" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[stef]

I think the wood (maple) itself gets amber and tanned over the time with the sunlight..

so the polyester finish actualy gets a bit amber over the time, with the light and the cigarette smoke ? as well as the cellulosic finish ? ( of course, not as fast i understand ).

[Brandon]

I used to think that his necks were poly too.

That was until I saw the neck up close and saw the wear marks on the finger board. The wear throughs on the finger board, the nicks at the heel of the neck are just simply impossible to create on poly, especially in the 2 year span that jimi owned it. Polys bullet proof in comparison.

[Tone Slinger]

I assume that the poly finish was very thin. ALL of the '90's MIJ '68 reissue's had a tinted poly (manufacturors have to pay a fine to use nitro now, but thats alright considering what Fender and Gibson are charging for thier CUSTOM SHOP reissue's ) All I can say is that I have played LOTS of late '60's to '82 era 'Big' headstock strats (I prefer the non bullet rod pre '71 models). Many of which were 100 % original. The fretboard is always lighter than the headstock on these that HAVE NOT been refretted. Nitro will darken more.

By contrast, the refretted ones (most of them have been) are more 'uniform' in color, because MOST luthiers were/still are unaware that nitro wasnt used on the fretboard , so they refinished the necks with nitro, which darkened over time.


In the '70's some of these necks recieved more finish on the fretboards. Hendrix's two strats I havent seen or played, and since they were 'transitional' in the fact of the Headstock logo, Who Knows , maybe they were sprayed completely Nitro, but if so, then that was very rare I guess.

[yngwie308]

Yeah so I just went ahead and decided to "build" my Hendrix strat.

Bought a Vintage style bare Warmoth body (2 piece alder) that was on sale, and am currently painting it with nitro cellulose Olympic White from reranch.com (probably going to do some relicing too), and also picked up the gotoh trem bridge which is A LOT better then the fender one I had (but probably not as good as the callham from what I've heard).

I already have the Lindy Fralin Woodstock '69 pickups, so those are going in there.

Then I'm going to order a neck from this guy Joe Desperato who does custom maple cap necks ('68-'69 specs 7.25 neck radius, large head stock, 2 piece maple, heal adjustment truss rod etc. etc). Glad I found him because I'm saving a ton of money then what I thought I was going to have to pay for a CS neck, and apparently his necks are quality.

Then I'm going to get a fender 69' "waterslide" decal, and spray the neck myself with the reranch nitro clear. This is also a bonus because I can't find any necks sprayed in nitro by fender CS (all gloss CS necks I've ever seen are poly), and from all the studying I've been doing, hendrix's neck is definitely nitro cellulose. Don't know how big of a difference it makes, but nitro is spongier and softer than poly (wears and dings way easier than poly), so I believe if the nitro/poly things makes any difference in tone, it would have an effect on the neck.

And it's just nice to have everything exact!

I'll post pictures and all that jazz too. I'm stoked!

Cool Lindy Fralin Woodstock '69 pickups.hallalujah!!
yngwie308

[heatpad]

The most important points in trying to get the vibe is Jimi's guitars were upside down. The fact that the bridge pu was at a different angle...the polepieces were reversed...the string length and tensions were different, all account for the vibe