advice on strat buy(tomorrow morning)

[mathd]

Hi,
A few month ago i started a "project strat" i bought a neck from musikraft, but didnt go ahead with the project for lack of funds.
Now i came across an adds for a used YJM USA strat with (what appear to be) DiMarzio pickups wich looks in great shape 675$CAD.
picture here
I didnt see it "in person" yet, but i plan on going ahead and buy it tomorrow morning.

Seems like i really want to buy this strat as it fit my budget, try it as is and then maby swap my musikraft in.
What you guy think i should be doing?
1.Buy the strat and leave it as is, keep the musikraft neck for later use
2.buy it and change the neck
3.Dont buy the strat wait and later buy a body+hardware from warmoth(should i avoid this strat for hendrix tone?)

One more question, what should i be looking for on this guitar before to buy?(this will be my third time buying a guitar and my first time buying used)

Thanks,
Mathieu

[Xplorer]

i'd buy a nice two points trem body, but with the american standard bridge, same as on the early jeff beck strat. you should by the way probably buy one of the excellent jeff beck strat bodys ... and fit your neck or another one on it. ( i'd choose a nice fende for it ) and get some other pickups. be patient and build a nice strat, you'll be happy with it all your life. it doesn't cost more than a standard strat , new. i've made four like this over the years, and a fifth strat this way ( a bit different ) and they're super strats. Don't worry, you won't have any problems to get some henrix tones out of it. and jeff beck tones too if you know you to tune the bridge right, and the springs right, and the height of the strings ... put a 09 42 fender pure nickel in it. slider's pickups 69 perhaps ... V60 LP suhr pickups ... but put good pickups. a nice cap .. a little work on the bak of the neck to remove the sticker ..
and you'll have your super strat.
my personal choice is to get some nice genuine fender parts, and tune it right.
t'es Français non ? Franchement tu peux t'en tirer pour 1000 $ à la louche. sauf que t'as déjà acheté le manche, donc un peu moins . disons 600 $ pour le corps fender jeff beck ( une merveille ) 100 $ pour le bon bridge ( attention, pas le jeff beck récent, mais le modèle deux points, pareil, mais american standard. y a une légère différence, et une tige différente plus agréable ) . et des sets de micros dans les 200 $ c'est bon t'y es ... et elle sera magnifique. perso j'adore les gros manches des jeff beck 91 , très rares. produits 'une seule année.

au passage, je crois qu'en attendant tu devrais peut-être prendre celle que tu montres, mais personnellement juste question esthétique, je ne parle pas du son , de la jouabilité ... je n'aime pas les manches très clairs, je les aime ambrés. Et j'aime le jaune vintage, mais pas sur celle là, ou alors c'est la photo ... et je mettrais des boutons blancs, pas jaunis. j'aime que mes strats ne soient pas seulement des super strats qui sonnent.

[mathd]

Thanks for the advice, i think i will buy it, i still have a few more questions.
Is there a particular online store i should look at for bridge, body, pickups?
Any link for stratocaster/guitar setup that can be usefull you want to share?(this site look to have good info for strat, its the only good strat site i have so far.)


Et oui je parle français(en quelque sortes je suis quebecois), je crois que je vais garder mon autre manche pour un projet futur

[Xplorer]

ebay for the parts.

to tune the guitar, i'd say that there are known things out there, and this site is perhaps good, but at some level, it's a matter of experience, adjusting the bridge nicely, the strings ... some tiny little 1/10 mm make a difference. but for the big lines, for my tastes, i talked about it and it looks a bit like that : the bridge is floating, but it never gets out of tune. it's not stuck to the body, it's about 6 mm of space, between the edge of the bridge and the body. the two points are deep screwed. i set the truss rod with a slight curve : it doesn't really make the strings higher from the frettboard but it helps for some notes and some bends. adjusting the saddles is difficult to explain. the springs are set differently : the one for the thicker strings is screwed a bit more into the body. c'est une histoire d'équilibre tout ça !
i adjust the neck pickup quite close from the pickguard. i used to play on some 11 52 but now i really prefer light strings and pure nickel fenders for example, or d'addario. 10 46 also.

i couldn't find the particular bridge io like, among the others that look the same. ( it's not the one of the actual fender jeff beck strat ) it's just the one of the american standard or perhaps the strat plus, with 2 points. later i'll get a steel block cause it's an important part. some may prefer 6 screws but i prefer the two points.

this is one of my favourite strat bodys :
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2011-USA-Fender ... 53e7843017" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

also in this shop ( though it went more expensive over the years ) you can buy many bodys and necks, and parts. and you can find all the parts you'll need on ebay to make your dreamed strat.

i have the olympic white version but i'd love this green one too ..
and my early JB strat has a yellow body. i also have a black one. all two points bridges. i touched things and changed things sometimes but now i'm ettled i have what i needed.
just experiment and be patient.

cheers

[mathd]

Hey, thanks for the advice, and thanks for taking time to answer me. thats worth alot to me .


I finally bought the guitar, she is home now and she was in "brand new"state, unplayed with plastic on it.
What bother me is.. she has a 3 position switch, shouldn't these have a 5 position switch?
Anyway i will play her as-is this afternoon and i will change the switch(except if someone advice against doing so) and do a tune-up tonight(once my tools are at home)

[Xplorer]

yes, you could work on the circuit and the switch properly. take a look at seymour duncan's pages about different circuit wiring, it's well explained.
yes, for this price it surely wasn't a bad choice to get this one anyway.
have some nice playing now ^^