Your next Guitar Should Be A Vintage Partscaster

Baxter and Jonathan talk about vintage Partscaster's and why they are a fun and more affordable than a pristine vintage guitar. We love them and you should give them a chance too!

[hailmaryrecordings]

My dad left me over 70 guitars when he passed. One of just about everything.

I *play* a Mexican Telecaster he bought me before he died, because it’s awesome. It just feels and sounds perfect to me.

I’m out on what someone else thinks about my gear. I use boss pedals too.

[yksierra]

AVRI neck + MJT body and high end electronics is bliss.

[fordhammie]

My 38 year old Ibanez RG is such a joy to play; dry wood has such character.

[danletter]

I bought a partscaster for my son. His first “real” guitar. The guy who built it is a local legend. It really is the best strat I’ve ever played. The strings sit so low I cannot believe that they don’t buzz. You barely have to press the get the notes/ chords to ring. The nuances just come naturally. It’s a beautiful copy of an SRV without the lettering. Like the guitar srv got before he decorated it. Cost me less than a thousand, and as far as strats go, it’s the best one I’ve played. And I’ve handled some big money ones at one of our local shops.

[dadnelson]

I read somewhere that that's the reason Leo designed the Strat and Tele the way he did, so the the average player can fix them when they broke or wore them out, they're meant to be dicked with and modified, that's why there designs are timeless

[roebuckmckinney]

I bought a used 1997 PRS back in 2001 as my first "nice" guitar. One day in the foreseeable future, it will be a vintage guitar, and it'll be cool to own a vintage guitar, but I was playing it last week, and I realized that it's an amazing guitar now. I'm just happy to have an amazing guitar now.

[IrishBog]

My Tele is a late 52 neck. A refin 52/53 body. The bridge pickup is early flat pole 50s. The neck pickup is 50s but hard to know which year. The tuners are late 50s but the shell has been replaced with no line to look the part of a 52. Controls and switch tip are early 50s. Pickguard is the only modern part and it does have the circle mark on the underside which is a bit sneaky as a lot of people might think it’s vintage. Amazing guitar. Paid 15k for it but far far cheaper than a no issues 52

[ActionGuitars]

For years I have built partscasters for folks that wanted vintage or copies of thier guitar heroes using parts they requested. Some of these clients are recording artists that play the guitars on the road all over. They want the look and as close as they can get with the sound as close too. They are not collectors but players who don't have the money for vintage instruments. I play parts casters all the time. Don't knock um until you try them.

[ginolamendola]

Thank you for always putting out great videos! Also love the ZZTop tee shirt !

[andrewcerecedes]

I have 3 Strat style parts casters. Each are different and contribute to a specific need. My main one is my HSS parts caster, which was the first one I ever got. The beauty of such guitars is that you can experiment/swap with different parts and it won't cost you an arm and a leg (unless you're willing to do that 😂)

[brittboyette]

My go to guitar is a Partscaster. Hardtail with a MIJ 62 neck, heartwood body with the jack on the corner like a Les Paul. Plus the headstock was autographed by Dick Dale, I love that thing!

[msspi]

Good point. Purity may be important to Norm, but I can't help thinking that all those super clean vintage guitars were that way for a reason.

[craigthomson]

I use Fender Player guitars for modding. I am a lefty so it is not a always possible to get certain specs off the shelf. I have HSS, HSH and HH Strats (all converted from SSS). The Humbuckers are Fender Tim Shaw Shawbuckers. I also have a Strat with two Gibson P90s fitted. The pots and wiring have all been upgraded and all have locking tuners and Graphtec nuts and Stringtrees. I also have a Fender Player Tele with a GOTOH in-tune bridge, Fender 51 pickups and a six way switch. Admittedly non of these guitars are in anyway vintage, but they are partcasters.

[paulmckeown]

Getting a vintage Partscaster assembled sounds like a very interesting project!

[somebodyelseuk]

Makes me chuckle when people talk about Clapton and Gilmour's black Strats. What gets forgotten is that for the majority of their careers, Clapton has been playing brand new Custom Shop Strats and Gilmour used a couple of 80s AVRIs with EMGs fitted.

[jjulch]

Clarksville, TN. My home for three and a half years with the 101St Airborne Division. Friend of mine bought a rare Gibson acoustic in black. Looked like a J45, but that was before I knew anything about gear. The base had a rec center that had Gibson Les Paul Standards donated from Gibson…. It’s been 22 years since I was there last, but cool indeed. Pawn Shops were plenty and cheap gear was easy to find…

[killer]

The neck is the heart and soul of a guitar. If you’re building a vintage partscaster always get a vintage neck, and if you can swing it pickups. My main guitar for the past decade is a vintage parts Strat 66 Coronado neck 66/65 mustang pickups, ultralight swamp ash body made for me by mjt, all part pickguard and all other parts are from 63-66. Best guitar I’ve ever played.

I went through 4 bodies, including a 63 and a 74, and 3 sets of pickups including an original 57 set before landing on this configuration.

[cautiousoptimist]

I have two partscasters, a strat and a jazzmaster. Love them both. They are guitars that I could not have purchased from Fender without going to their Custom Shop, and as a hobbyist I can't justify spending that much. You really have to love to tinker and problem solve to assemble your own.

Regarding Gibsons, I have always loved the way Les Pauls look, but I didn't like their weight, tone or price. And, I didn't want to attempt to build a set neck. Thankfully, Epiphone produced the Les Paul Modern, chambered body, alnico 2 pickups which sound great when split, locking tuners, quality nut, and affordable.

[Nugmania]

Niw back on topic, I’m a huge fan of build your own using vintage parts It’s always about the neck

[thealchemisttiger]

I bought a partscaster copy of a 58’ strat, Mary Kaye blonde, my buddy who is a phenomenal player tried to talk me out of it for a $1000, I bought it off of a music producer who had it made for him at 3 times the cost so he could fund a vintage strat, well I brought it home and bought and relived gold hardware and made it my own Mary Kaye, well my guitar hero buddy played it and now tells everyone what a mistake he made trying to talk me out of buying it, it was made buy a luthier in Toronto from parts and he hand winds the pups…..I loved it so much I had a matching Mary Kaye Tele made, 2 best guitars I’ve ever played….