XGP Stratocaster Guitar Fetish GFS Demo and Review

So here's the finished partscaster -- an XGP Stratocaster body from Guitar Fetish (GFS) with a Korean Squier Stratocaster neck from the mid 90's, along with Tonerider Alnico III Surfari Strat pickups harvested from a Squier Classic Vibe 50's Strat.

Overall the build went without a hitch...but there are still a few issues with Guitar Fetish claiming these bodies are white poplar when they are in fact basswood. What do you think? Listen to the tones at the end of the video and weigh in in the comments section!

[AprilFools]

I put a GFS paulownia body on a wenge Warmoth neck. It plays and feels pretty well, I was pleasantly surprised!

[maxpower]

Amazing videos, great explanation, thank you so much!!

[stratmagic]

I love GFS they were super helpful to me when I bought stuff to mod my strats-Stan at GFS answered me back right away and gave me great advice-I took a Squier surf green vintage mod surfcaster which has an unbelievable neck on it and put on a white parchment pickguard with GFS pro 59 vintage strat PU's with crème covers and got crème knobs as well and now I have a custom shop looking strat that plays and sounds amazing-I was so happy with them that I bought an Xaviere strat in seafoam green(see avatar) and got a mint green HSS pickguard and trem plate and put in a GFS pro 59 vintage humbucker got aged white covers and knobs and kept the Alnico 2 staggered single coil PU's that came with the guitar because they sounded really good and wired the back tone control to the humbucker and middle PU(blend) so I have control over the tone of the humbucker in the bridge -I got a vintage tinted strat neck on amazon(mighty mite) and found a site selling Fender vintage headstock decals and now I have an awesome looking playing and sounding guitar that looks like a custom shop Fender all for ABOUT $700  with a new tweed case from GFS that is great-I also bought Pearloid tuners from GFS and put those on the seafoam green one as well-they have great product and prices-just found your channel and subbed -I like your vids-thx I forgot I also changed out the pots and caps as that is crucial to get the most out of the pickups and getting a great tone

[dsnagel]

Great job Matt.  The guitar looks & sounds great!  Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and comments.  Rave on!

[bombarde]

I've ordered a dozen things from GFS in the past few months. They're only about 30 miles from me so everything comes overnight via ground shipping. I haven't had very much email contact with them although they have responded within an hour or two when I did write. Very happy with them, they're a bare bones operation selling warehouse direct at wholesale prices, not retail at all. I bought two Xaviere guitars from them and the quality is quite good. Also bought some things for my two partocasters.

As to the woods used, I've noticed several places where two different woods were cited in the same description. It's a common problem in other industries as well, so much for proofreaders, it seems to be a lost art.

[edwinkern]

The wood that a strait style body is made of is much less important than other styles of guitars. One of the best sounding Strat clones I've ever played was Marine Plywood! The reason is that the pickups are not hard-mounted to the body. The pickups are hanging in the pickguard, so resonance comes from other places.

[glennevans]

Looks and sounds good..can't beat that price factor.thanks for review it was helpful

[MindsEyeVisualGuitarJourney]

I just did a GFS Alder strat body with a Stewmac neck... and aside from needed a stewmac shim for the neck, it went together perfectly. Oh and on the Poplar... I was just talking with a student of woodworking, who said they wouldn't use poplar for anything. They had some for some furniture and it was just awful. Your probably way better off with the basswood.

[kirkscobey]

Great video... I like your thoughts and views on GFS morality. It sounded well thought out and mature for a person your age. I’ve bought many items from these guys and although they have been good with me on returns if no alterations have been made or pictures required, I agree sounds shady! I have quit buying from them recently just because of the pickups and their new system of wiring.... but I digress... great vid and love your playing. You just added a subscription! Thanks

[ApeLikeCreature]

Hey Matt, I'm so glad to see THE EXACT GUITAR I want to build! I want to create the same style 1960's Daphne Blue Partscaster. I was looking at the exact same body to purchase from Guitar Fetish, it's a beauty! But now I'm not sure if I trust them. I hope you will give an update on whether or not GFS actually sold you a Basswood body or not. BTW, the guitar sounds fantastic and you have a really nice playing style.

[dartman]

I think it looks great. I've ordered from GFS several times and never had a problem. Personally I would rather have basswood than poplar, but I guess that's just a personal preference. I think you have a really great guitar there...if you like it and it feels and plays good, I wouldn't worry about the label on the box. Just play the hell out of it! Nice work! It does get addictive! I'll be keepin an eye out for future build videos!😀

[Magik]

Great build man. Axe looks and sounds balls. That sucks about GFS screwing you on the body. Ive been eyeing a white poplar/spalted maple top XGP strat body for my current build. The A3 Toneriders can't be beat. I have 2 sets of them. The A3s break up really good and get incredible blues and rock tone.

[drksd]

Matt:

Wonderful video!  Great work!  Couple of questions:

1. What was the most challenging part about assembling the guitar (aside from the soft wood)?
2. In terms of drilling, what did you do to get the trem and bridge to line up properly?  I noticed there are no holes drilled for the bridge piece

Again, Nice work!

[russellhayden]

I bought a few different things for 2 of my guitars. I have an 89 squier 2 strat and a 96 ibanez tc420. I bought a handwired pickguard with the 63 over wound pickups in it and I bought a tele 2 humbucker harness along with a pair of the zebra crunchy pat humbuckers. The only issue I had was with the pickguard. I ordered vintage white but when I got it it was just regular white but it was no big deal and the neck route of the pickguard was a hair too small but the dremel tool took care of that. Other than that I've gotten all my orders pretty fast. All within 3 days

[agmanipulation]

how low are the strings to the fretboard

[MrAllinclubs]

Nice job. I was thinking of purchasing a set of vintage strat pickups and a set of humbuckers from Guitar fetish (GFS). Seems like they get good reviews too bad they never replied to your inquiry.

[andrewmoran]

any pick up review in the pipeline thanks

[MattTheGuitarGuy]

UPDATE:

Guitar Fetish has responded to my initial inquiry. Here's what they said about the "basswood vs. poplar" issue:

"Thank you for your email. I am sorry that it has taken so long for us to reply. Your email got lost in the shuffle here. I realize that there was a review on Youtube as well.
So I am emailing to assure you with 100% certainty that the bodies that we are selling as poplar are indeed poplar. They are NOT Basswood. These bodies are manufactured overseas, and occasionally they are not labeled correctly. This is what has happened. You can see that the quality on these is exceptional. Basswood is much lighter. We regret any confusion, but we would in no way promise our customers one type of wood and substitute for another. These bodies are well over 4lbs. Basswood is much lighter and softer.
These are poplar."

Personally, I'm still not entirely reassured. I've been playing guitar long enough to have a relatively good knowledge of wood types, but because I'm not sure -- Next up -- off to one of Louisville's best luthiers to get his take on the wood used here. I'll post a second update after I get a second opinion! 

[jchavins]

I've built 3 guitars using GF bodies but only one XGP. The XGP is my least favorite guitar that I own because it is so heavy. I used paulowania for the other 2 and they are noticably lighter but my lightest guitar that I own is a Strat partscaster made of basswood. There's no mistaking the two, the basswood extremely light and soft. I suspect you body IS poplar but keep in mind the wood names are used around the world but are different species of wood with different characteristics.

[Voxboy]

I've ordered things like brass trem blocks, cables, pickguard blanks, the vintage tuners and a few of the pickups they offer. For the money...excellent. Fast shipping. Good vid and nice build. I would have followed up on the email issue before ranting on Youtube. Sometimes company;s make mistakes. Its not the mistake that matters but how it is followed up. What is the update with the luthier??