Strathead project, or go ProMod?

[DonP]

I'm thinking of a fairly traditional strathead project. Sort of a take on a Dave Murray strat. Most importantly, I want solid maple, jumbo frets and a thin neck and a flat or compound radius. Maybe a heal truss rod adjust too. Number of frets not too terribly important either. I like the vintage 21 look.

In my inventory is a

1996 MIM Classic 50s. This is nice except the frets could be higher, the neck could be thinner, and the fretboard flatter. Maple neck black body.

1996 MIM Standard. Same as above. Bought this new in 1998 and never gets played because of the neck. Maple neck purple body.

???? Peavey Predator. Inexpensive, so why not? Maple neck black body.

1989 HM Strat. Love this axe, but it's got that damn bubble-gum pink color, and doesn't fit the "traditional" look. Maple neck pink body.


I bought an Allparts SMF neck at the time I bought my RR24M (Friday after T-Day) in order to qualify for the $100 if you spend over $699. I no longer need to keep it because Sam Ash price matched the RR24M to the website, and could start over if need be.

The Allparts neck is 22 Jumbo frets, Fender thin dimensions, and finished with a pretty thick yellow poly, no nut, truss rod adjust at the heal. It seems like a decent neck, I might prefer unfinshed so that I could give it a nitro shot, say it cost me about $150. I could get an unfinished SMO for around $125.

I'm debating whether to to build something around this neck, get a ProMod, or just throw in the towel and keep what I have. What I'd like to have is the frets and radius of the Allparts neck on the MIM Classic 50s neck, and slimmed down a bit.

I wish I could compare this Allparts neck to a ProMod neck side-by-side. It would help making the decision to go that route.

[Grandturk]

Couple things -

- Does Allparts do a "San Dimas" neck? If not, the heel is going to be traditional Fender width, not Charvel width.

- The HM strats had a different scale length - I think it was 25" - kind of like a PRS - and 24 frets - so I don't think any aftermarket neck is going to fit there.

Here's the project I would do:

A. Get rid of those Mexi-strats. The classic is OK, but if you don't play it, screw it

B. Buy a black SoCal and have the body refinished metallic burgundy like Dave's Fear of the Dark-era Jackson.

C. Get a HSH black/white/black pickguard, some Dimarzio Super Distortions.

D. Chrome floyd, tuners.

Done.

[DonP]

Couple things -

- Does Allparts do a "San Dimas" neck? If not, the heel is going to be traditional Fender width, not Charvel width.

No, only Fender 2 3/16". Mine is this width.

- The HM strats had a different scale length - I think it was 25" - kind of like a PRS - and 24 frets - so I don't think any aftermarket neck is going to fit there.

I think it's 25.1". The HM neck is perfect, no need to change. I just hate the pink body (I'd be laughed out of a Maiden tribute band), but the problem is, this guitar NAILS Maiden tones the best of any of my guitars.

Here's the project I would do:

A. Get rid of those Mexi-strats. The classic is OK, but if you don't play it, screw it

Really just the purple one. It's in mint OEM shape. Problem is, it's sort of the wife's

B. Buy a black SoCal and have the body refinished metallic burgundy like Dave's Fear of the Dark-era Jackson.

That's a pretty sweet one. I could never tell if that was a strat body or a dinky (sharp edge) body. Maybe if I wait long enough that color will come out?

C. Get a HSH black/white/black pickguard, some Dimarzio Super Distortions.

D. Chrome floyd, tuners.

Done.

Got a pair of regular spaced black Super D's.


So, the nice Allparts neck I have has no future, and I should just return it?

I hate to because it's a nice neck, jumbo frets. If I were to put it on an axe, it would have to be the purple MIM Strat, but that guitar looks "Brand Spanking New" and an amber neck on it might not look good...

[Grandturk]

My policy is this - unless Working you're with killer parts that you love, parts guitars suck. If you haven't even played the allparts neck you don't know if it's good or not. You might waste a lot of time and moneys and end up with a sucky parts guitar.

Now, that said, I have a parts strat that's killer. But the neck started out great. I had it refretted and it's now killer. And I ditched the original photo flame body which was an eyesore. But that guitar was built around a neck that I loved.