You can build a Partscaster for £200 or less!

I went a bit unhinged at the end there, didn't I?

SMASH THAT LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE IF YOU WANT TO SEE A LESS THAN £100 GUITAR!

I hope my awful playing did this guitar justice! Sorry about the sound quality, I recorded this like 5 times and then just gave up and went with the camera audio.

The total cost of this guitar ended up at £197.07 when you take off that £15 refund and then add the price of the new pickguard and the 2nd set of tuners.

PARTS LIST:

(some of these prices have changed but shop around for similar items you'll get the price I paid somewhere!)

---------------------------------------------------------

****** LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE ******
HATERS - KEEP ON HATING :-)

---------------------------------------------------------

P.S. - Pearl pickguards aren't ugly!

[endoamuse]

Okay I'm sorry.... but whoever said your pickguard was ugly is probably just a jealous you know what. I think the white pearl pickguard with the two Invader-type pickups looks absolutely amazing! That being said, the black pickguard doesn't look bad either. But honest to God, your first thought I feel was brilliant. Two Invader looking pickups with the white pearl pickguard against the sea green body~ it looks incredible. Plus, you have extra tones with that configuration that you can't get with the black pickguard and single humbucker. All in all though, it's so much fun just to experiment with different ideas and setups. So I guess there's no right or wrong as long as you're having fun, right!? Great video! Thank you 🙏

[chrissturley]

THANK YOU so much for the advice on going super slow when starting to drill the post holes for the bridge. Doing that to avoid chipping the paint is so smart. I never would have thought of that and I would have been SO bummed. You are the best.

[deweyoogwey]

Man, you made it look so easy to build this strat. Kinda inspired me to get back on track with my tele and jazzmaster projects that has yet to finish.

[nolancassini]

The pearl and aged white with that green is so nice looking. I liked the white guard but the pearl one just fits better. Great video! Love the easy to follow mod guide

[morenoteslesstalk]

I love building partscasters; it's so enjoyable, even if mine isn't perfect. It feels so personal and unique. The tone is incredible! I recently shared a video of it, connected to an obscure Italian tube amp from the seventies. The clean and drive tones are fantastic with this setup.

[chrislawlor]

Pearl looks so much better...also, I'm surprised the nick pickups lasted as long as they did 😂

[stratolestele]

Oh, and I meant to add - You do a great job of dealing with the inevitable, insufferable, YouTube jerks, wads, a-holes, haters, and the just generally miserable people who have nothing going on in their lives, then to post negative comments.

I loved the one about the Harley Benton because he assumes the quality of yours vs theirs, BUT most importantly because "it doesn't require any work."! I mean, THAT alone explains everything! Lol

[ИринаКонстантинова-ию]

i like the placement of the switches, it leaves enough space under the volume pot to turn it comfortably with your little finger.

[tippybooch]

The pearl is so much nicer! It's really impressive what you can put together for relatively cheap

[garyjohnston]

Great video, you make the process look so easy.


I'm completing a Tele build at the moment, but could be tempted to do one of these as well.

Can't wait for a follow up where you show set up steps - this'll be the hardest part for me, as I don't necessarily have all of the correct tools for the job e.g. nut files etc. - here's looking forward to some tips.

[oldasrocks]

Rub some bar soap into your screw threads, it'll help to cut those new holes, especially in the neck. And, if your body neck screws are one drill size bigger the screw threads wont grab hard and transfer the clamping force of the plate directly to the neck. If the screws are tight in the body holes the clamping force only holds the plate against the body and cant pull the neck tight into the neck pocket.

Its gorgeous!

[TheFruitMugger]

Nice to hear that those Guyker locking tuners aren't crap. I have their copy of a TP-6 fine tuning tailpiece on one of my guitars, and it's really impressed me.

[chrissturley]

You maybe should have explained the trick with the straight edge when installing the tuners. Some people may not have known why you did that and skipped it. Same goes for the tape wrapped around your drill bit to mark for depth. For those wondering, the straight edge made sure his tuners were lined up perfectly. And the tape was placed in a pre measured spot to make sure he drilled down to the correct depth. Great tricks. This video is packed with smart tips and tricks that may not be so obvious to some people. People like me. Me and my soooper entelijent publik scool edgecashin.

[JeremyKendall]

That thing turned into such a mean machine at the end. I can't wait to see the setup video. Nice work!

[normalwhitedude]

Maybe running the drill backwards to start the holes in the paint would help with chip out. That's how you get the hole started in gel coat usually.

[mrjportman]

Really enjoyed watching this. I’m an admirer of your work as seen on Instagram - getting an insight into how you do it was great. Keep ‘em coming dude!

[stenmartens]

loved this. would be awesome if you could showcase your lessons learnt in terms of part selection. i've been thinking of doing something similar but im always hesitant of buying a body and neck from different sources. i dont mind doing some sanding like you've done here but having the neck and body remotely fit would be a very big step to make this process less tedious

[FingalPersson]

And i bought a Fender Strat for 960 dollars, Fender locking tuners for about 100 dollars, pickups Seymore Duncan Hot rails, DiMarzio Air Norton S, DiMarzio Pro track 520 dollars, Fender 500K pots for about 51 dollars, and a Fender Professional II scalloped neck, rosewood 810 dollars. and might switch the pickguard to Fender pearl white like the one you have there that cost about 60-70 dollars. Have not changed the pots, put in the pro track nor the swapped the neck yet as I'm waiting for the pickup to arrive and the neck. Lastly have to buy string tree / guiders but but those are pretty affordable between 16-22 dollars. That's how i personalize my guitar. I also have a Squier Affinity Telecaster that got the Fender Strat tuners, has a DiMarzio chopper pickup, going to swap the pots to 500K and change the neck pickup to either fast track or cruiser neck, will swap the neck to a US telecaster neck and set locking tuners on it, swap the bridge to a US Fender one with 3-point saddle and that's it for the Tellie.
Also bought a LA gear4music guitar for about 120 dollars, which I put the Fender single coil pickup in, and will not change pots on that one at least until they have to be replaced but then will keep that one at 250K pots, going to put the Fender neck on that one, will require some adjustments and alteration as I had to do with the Squier headstock when installing Fender tuners because of the measurements not being the same, and put a Fender bolt on plate on it just because why not.. some like to spend as little as possible and get the best result a budget guitar can give them where I am the oposite and want the best and that doesn't come cheap! I'm also swapping bass pickups on my fretless fender j bass to either EMG-J or Fender noiseless and I have a Chicago guitar4music bass with a J and P pickup that I also will swap to some high quality pickups! Not gonna swap out the electronics on either one of the basses, unless I'm convinced that doing so will be better with the pickups i choose. I'm hooked on modifying my instruments and it makes my instrument feel way more personal, specially since I'm doing all the work! Not a luthier but I've learned to solder in school in 2004, and just was surprised over how easy it is do do modifications my self. Also learned how to setup string gauge action and how to intonate my instruments here on YouTube and how to do do a service on my instruments! So far I've not messed up my instruments and I'm quite happy!

[KennethCrickmore-ti]

Mine started as a Starcaster Strat by Fender wjich I stripped completely of all but the trem plate and neck backing plate then ended with many replaced and upgraded parts and electronics.. all costing a bit more for this build.... including 3 P/P 500K vol Pots for coil split on 3 quad rail humbuckers , 3 -500K tone pots 6 chrome knobs, 3 -.047 tone caps a 6 pin sp/st toggle switch to activate the bridge and neck p/u regardless of the 5-way switch position. added a brass full sized trem block roller saddles ans string trees locking tuners A custom hand made stainless steel extended pick guard held to the body by black screws to mount all the extra pots and switches including the relocated output jack. also black strap locks then a custom stars and planets, space theme paint job on body and head stock with a 2K clear coat fine sanded and buffed to a glassy renamed to the It cost a total of less than $400 USIf ordered from anywhere else would cost a few thousand at least. O did it all myself to my personal desired specs...lol the original guitar was under $100 used and the rest of it bought on Amazon.. all but the spray paint used from the can for major painting or and used in an airbrush for the finer details, decanted into a small container for use in the airbrush... all mine... very cool and completely unique.

[kyfisher]

Great job, when your drilling put tape on it and drill through the tape, it's way less likely to rip the paint up 👍