How I Made This Partscaster for Under £200 

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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!

Man that is actually beautiful!!!!!! Great partscaster !!!! Excellent video

Been a while since I’ve done a parts guitar. You’ve made me want to do another. Great video

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

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.

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

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

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!

That's a cool Stratocaster! I respect your skill in processing it!

Hey man, just got recommended you randomly. Cool to see somebody from Northern Ireland doing this type of content. I've subbed and I'll keep watching.

Man I love this stuff. Max bang for the buck all the way. Great build. 😎

awesome video, i've just started looking for parts for my first build. i was thinking of doing the finish myself but seing the quality is probably better than i'd manage i might just get a cheap finished body too

Your videos are so relaxing. Especially with the birds tweeting in the background. ;)

Great video. Feel free to do more of these

you should do more vids like this, epic dude.

Love how the first thing you play is My Own Summer! 🤘

I've been following you in instagram for a couple months now. Igood thing you were in my recommendations, didn't knew you have a youtube channel. Definitely dothe £100 build

great build and video edit!

this such a great vid... would love to see more.

Very good job mate 👍

The best plot twist!!! I'm also a single humbucker guy! Love it

Awsome build, I put the same trem on all 5 of my strats. Well done 👏

A good job 👍 The end was unexpected 😂

great vid.. and dealing with the finish with drill bits is not easy.. sharp tools go slow.. i did hear that turning the drill backwards will help a bit as well.. when doing a partscaster.. the NECK is the best place to spend money.. Pickup next.. looks great now.. lol.. enjoyed this..

Quite a relaxing voice you got

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 🙏

Love this! Nailed it at the end too. 🤣

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 shine........ renamed to the .....Stellarcaster 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.

A rheostat switch wired in series parallel would have been an interesting solution to the second scratch plate not marrying up - could have run tone and volume from the bridge to it...anyway, just got through working on a strat of my own today, so pumped to watch vids like this. Cheers! Great work. Do an Esquire for less than a hunnert quid! Then, ship it to me. Kidding, Not really. I'll play songs on it, and post it to my tiny channel. Luv, bruv.

You really did a superlative job here. Absolutely spot on the dollar.

Nice Deftones riff!!! I heard 7 Words (different song) when it first came out on the radio but they never announced who it was so i spent almost 3 months trying to find theband name. Was a much different time. Anyway great build! Love watching your content! Thanks!!

What a well made video, thanks very much. I reluctantly sold my 2 guitars last year as I needed the money :( was just watching some Tom Delonge videos, that's maybe why this video came up not sure (the invader pickups and colour make it look like a TD signature model). Decided I'm gonna be making this over the next month or two 👍

Amazing build, I bet it stands head and shoulders above the quality of any Classic Vibe or Player Series. Shows how much Fender is up charging their products. Just one little thing I could not help but notice. You may have run into the same problem that Aaron from Warmoth ran into with the Wilkinson compact series bridge. There are a couple of videos on their channel explaining the issue. The block on some of the more modern Wilkinson bridges is only 36 mm deep compared to the full size Strat bridge depth of 40-42 mm. I believe that is why the springs are dangerously close to the cavity at the back. Swapping the block with a full size one will alleviate the issue. The short block is ideal for the thin body of a Squier Affinity Strat though!

man ! this guitar is lovely ,you have golden hands ! have good day !! Marcel from Poland

Sounds great

I would love to see a video on making the sharp fret edges smooth. I have a warmoth neck i want to put on a strat i bought, and i will, but id really like to dress the frets so the edges arent so sharp. Would like to watch a video on ot before buying any fret files. I'm sure you'd do a great video on it whenever you have time!

This is so damn cool!

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.

Sweet guitar, nicely done

The end result would have been my first choice, nice job man

Oh, and I meant to add - You do a great job of dealing with the inevitable, insufferable, RU-vid 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

Lol that neck pickup trash can is hillarious, well done sir!

thanks for the links! yes on the 100 gbp build! and yes on the giveaway

I've been building a guitar for the past month and you've used the exact same bridge and tuners! for the price, the tuners are brilliant

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.

Last two minutes were dead funny! Great video man

I did a Partscaster build out of Fender parts and whilst it's a great build, I wouldn't go down that route anytime soon because of budget. What you've done here is a perfect alternative and a challenge I'm going to try when funds allow!

This was a wonderful video! I'm one of your followers on Instagram, & I've enjoyed your content when turning guitars into one pickup guitars. You've got a subscriber here! 🤘🎸

Wilkinson makes awesome bridges ive got a brass trem and bridge on my strat

love this build, I am thinking about putting those pickups on my Strat, are the pickups & electronics okay - would you recommend them?

I think it looks awesome with both pick guards and the neck

Beautiful build!

That looked fun and refreshing.

Love your pickguard comment lol!! And the guitar of course:) Did you dismember the pickguard and put it in that little bucket of trash you threw away at the end?

That middle position sound so cool, a bit like a jaguar’s middle position 18:44

Great video. I really want to do something like this but it's a little scary. I have an inherited Yamaha Pacifica from a friend that is ancient. I'm a beginner so it's OK for me now. I like the feel of the body and neck but the electronics need replacing. I am thinking of buying a cheap HSS loaded pickguard for a fender from Amazon and swapping it into my guitar. I would love to know if you think the sound in the cheap pickups are good enough.

Reminds me of the Tom Delong model. Nice work man!

love the final outcome. I would appreciate knowing how easy it was to transfer the pick ups and wiring over from the pearl guard to the black one.

Amazing! Tempted to have a go myself...

I built a 7 string strat but had issues with the ground noise. Got pretty frustrated with it and left it in the corner of my room. Your build video is really inpiring, might finish my work finally.

Just knew the pickup removal was coming. Stay true to what you like!

It would look cool with a matte black body and a clear guard that you can see the copper through it.

Gorgeous

If you go to the trouble of adding copper shielding to the cavity, is that not an opportunity to save yourself soldering onto the claw? Just run a wire to the cavity and screw it in place, or even have some insulated spade/crimp connectors so that it's easily removed and reattached?

First of your videos and that pickup removal got me wondering why I'm looking for a HSH strat with splittable humbuckers when I've actually only played bridge pickup for the last 30 years.

Gorgeous build. Love what you chose to do with it. I'm a weirdo and still would have shielded the painted cavity too lol

Great build. Preferred the pearl pickguard.

Brilliant! I luv it!!👊🏾👊🏾🎶🎶👍🏾👍🏾

Looks really nice.

Awesome video! I'm looking at building a t-style guitar at the moment. Out of interest can I ask why you are not a fan of Wilkinson parts in general? Been looking at their pickups and tuners, for the price looks tempting

I got guyker tuners on my 30" baritone. And they are incredible

Answer to strap lock button issues: 1. buy 2x bottles of Grolsch. 2. Drink beer. 3. Remove red rubber washers from bottle re-seal cap mechanism. 4. Affix strap on guitar. 5. Lock strap on with red rubber washers recycled. 6. Buy more Grolsch. 😅

This video is a big inspiration, I'd want to try building something like this in the future. How do you find those pickups? They have a really cool aesthetic, the whole pickup assembly with the switches is really nice, very versatile setup. This is what I could find out about the pickups based on a reverse image search: Magnet: Ceramic. D.C. Resistance: Neck: 10±0.5 Bridge: 12±0.5

damn that is a beautiful neck. nice guitar. i liked the pearl pickguard better, but i can take or leave most neck pickups. haha...

I didn't like the pearl pickguard either. Glad I watched to the end, it looks absolutely killer now.

10:01 Really great tips! 👍

Kewl Bananaz Smeg approves 🤘😎 (does it come in BLACK?) hehe

This guitar looks awesome, apart from the fake orange tan on the neck! It is hard to buy a Fender or a Fender copy without these tinted necks these days, the only guitar I have seen with a natural maple neck is the Squier Bullet

Nice color

Great video, will you do any videos about electronics, haven't touched that part yet 😅

this guitar looks so fun to play

😅😅😅I knew what you were going to do as soon as you said there was a problem with the guitar!

You made a comment about the strap buttons being too small near the start of the video. I like to use tall bass string retainers as strap buttons (example: Gotoh RB30). You almost don't need straplocks with a pair of them.

When scoring the paint at about 10:10, I have had good luck running the drill on reverse, it has a much duller "grab" on the finish.

To prevent the paint chipping, instead of going excruciatingly slow i would have clamped a scrap of wood over it. Also running the drill in reverse before drilling helps to prevent tear out if you decide not tu use the wood

SHIT with black it was awesome! Pearl was cool too, but I'm a metal guy myself hehehehe and you got urself a Perry the Platpus color scheme, I don't know if it was intentional but it looks really cool hehehehe

I know you said you're not a fan of Wilkinson stuff but you should give their EZ-Lok tuners a try, I've used them on a few builds and they're rock solid tuners for a budget price.

is that a matte black pickguard because the black pickguard has white lines on the edges?

Nice , I have those invader knockoffs in a mexi tele, heavy AF

Too many guitars already but it's made me want to finish my jazz bass 🙂👍

Please do a giveaway, the guitar looks so cool with that pearl pick guard.

The black pickguard looks sooo much better. Made it louder.

nicer before the guard change, but its your animal! cool build.

Not sure why you remove the neck pickup sounded like it needed a height adjustment I just ordered the same Pickguard with a single coil middle pickup. Hope it sounds as good.