Building A Super Strat Out Of A $75 Guitar. Sharpen My Axe

#knowyourgear #sharpenmyaxe #mcknightrepair

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Tools used in this video
The Snark tuner I'm using in this video (Silver Snark)
Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb
Sure Sm57
Radius Gauge with slots
Fret Rocker
Precision Notched Straightedge
The Music Nomad gauge I use
Digital Caliper
Digital Multimeter
Clip On Tuner in this video
My Favorite set up tools
Here are some other products from a dealer I trust and buy from online

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LED Magnifying Lamp with Professional Lens

[jgmopar]

The good thing about Cheap guitars its fun to mod them and not worry about ruining a good guitar

[kilroy]

A tip I picked up from another commenter on a different video- before taping the fretboard, run one long continuous piece of tape along the length of the fretboard on the side of the neck, then tape the fret board. That way, when you're done, you can peel off the one long piece and all the little ones will come off with it.

[budgetguitarist]

For anyone thinking about doing a level/crown on your guitar, WATCH THIS VIDEO and bookmark it. This is a really, really good tutorial that shows all the steps. It took me a long time to learn this stuff on my own - this is great advice!

[valuedhumanoid]

I saw a brand new "Strat" for $88. It's made by a company called Indy Guitars. The pickups are just steel slugs with kitchen magnets taped to the bottom. The electronics are so piss poor that they went into the trash can. The body has 6 seams, meaning six pieces of wood were used. The fretwork is nonexistent. They will draw blood they'e so sharp. And the list goes on. But I am doing the same thing Phil is doing here. It's actually going to be finished with the EVH striping pattern. I have a Super V Blade Runner bridge I am going to use, with a prebuilt pickguard that has three single coil sized humbuckers. A JB Jr. in between two Hot Rails. It's the Dave Murray of Iron Maiden's signature pickguard.

[stephbets]

“...and you know, everyone has a first day on the job.”

[choimdachoim]

I lived 3 blocks from Hollywood and Vine in 1976, 1977 and many musicians off the street flowed through my house and one of them convinced me to remove everything from my guitar except the pick-ups and to wire them directly into the out-jack. ...the sound was phenomenal. Completely different, much stronger. All my guitars were stolen when I took a one-month out-of-state job. I forgot about all that until I was viewing your great video. I appreciate how you don't waste time in it.

[talknrock]

Can't decide if I like the guitar or the orange pants better 🤔🤣 great video phil!

[perihelion]

Bravo! Good job. Every serious guitarist needs to learn this stuff. It's fun and very satisfying.

[dannyconcarne]

Great video Phil! I recently helped a family member move across the country to AZ and had your podcast playing the whole time I was driving the truck, I was happily entertained for the entire drive. Great channel! Please keep up the amazing work!

[blaineadams]

I upgraded my 92 j steele starter guitar and had all of the same problems on the body. I also found out that the body of my guitar was made of plywood. I don't know if I should be proud of that or sad since it sounds really nice with its new clapton style lace pickups and mid boost.

[adriandelacroix]

Love these videos Phil, thanks for the info.

[brucelangsteiner]

Lots of good tips, thanks!! For fret polishing I use a Dremel buffing wheel with Jeweler's Rouge. Less chance of damaging the fret board and polishes the frets to a mirror finish.

[RockabillyRagsdale]

Hey Philip! Loving the superstrat series so far!

[michaeledmonson]

You may want to double check the size of dowel and drill bit used to drill out/fill the holes for the bridge. I am pretty sure that that was not 11/16 inch diameter dowel. 11/64 inch is a better bet.

[Russell_Optics]

I built a strat from a kit about 6 months ago because I wanted to learn all this and it was a very cool experience. I wish I could have watched this video back then because it would have saved me a lot of time researching methods. Funny thing is I spent more money on good quality tools than I did on the guitar even after upgrading a bunch of the hardware, but they are an investment and should last a lifetime. Building your own guitar is educational as well as great fun and really rewarding when you finally get to play it and say " I built that " .

[frthlvfchrt]

I need to order some pots and stuff for mine. Like an f-spaced humbucker (because I don't want to start chopping up the body if I can avoid it), the electric gubbins, and then... it'll be ready for me to play terribly.

[iloveguitars]

I just did this with the Monoprice Indio Classic. The body of the Monoprice is not compatible with a "Fender or Squire" neck, but that didn't bother me as the neck was quite comfortable for me to begin with. I pretty much kept just the body and neck and modded everything else. The big Pro with the Monoprice is that it has a swimming pool routing so you can use any configuration of pickups you desire, its also deeper than a squire so a "Fender" bridge will fit properly.

[schrenk]

That was the best demonstration of fret care I've ever seen. Thank you!

[felani]

I just got mine and I can't wait to upgrade the pickups and tuners and nut and neck and pickguard and body and bridge and strings and neck plate and tremolo system and strap buttons and jack and wiring and switchplate and knobs and gig bag and bubble wrap.

[justinrayguitars]

I was almost afraid you were going to go with a two point trem. That soft wood sure wouldn't handle that. Gonna be a cool build!