Body And Pickguard Specs

Been a little bit since my last post, but, I managed to order both the body and the Floyd Rose bridge together.  It made the most sense since Warmoth offers to install the FR's studs into the guitar—no other pieces are assembled, of course.  The neck plate is also on order.  It was an inexpensive part that would have allowed me to assemble the body and the neck together immediately, although I wouldn't be able to string up the guitar until I order the Schaller tuners.  I realized that although I described nearly all of the body specs throughout this blog, I hadn't put them all down in one post like I had with the Neck's Specs post.  I won't talk about how much my order cost; it definitely wasn't cheap.

Google image search: inside Warmoth's factory.  I would love an opportunity to take a tour through there, as I'm in Seattle and they're based in nearby Puyallup, Washington.  Some dude there might be looking at a color palette right about now to choose that seafoam green on my order that I want so badly.

Orientation: Right-handed

Core Wood: Maple
Heavy and bright with as much sustain as possible.

Laminate Top / Unique Choice (Optional): None
Because SEAFOAM GREEN.

Control Cavity: Top Rout
This was a serious consideration described in detail in my third post.  I want the controls to be mounted to the pickguard, not through a rear rout.

Pickup Routs: Humbucker / Strat Single / Humbucker
The obvious choice for a dual humbucker Strat.  I'm interested in placing the Sustainiac's circuit board in the center single-coil pickup rout if it will fit and not cause interference with the electromagnetic field.  That circuit board would be unseen as it's tucked underneath a pickguard cut for dual humbuckers only.

Bridge Rout: Recessed Original Floyd Rose Tremolo
There's a second option in this category to "use studs from bridge on order".  Bingo.

Input Jack Rout: Strat Top Jack
Because a Strat just isn't a Strat without it.

Neck Pocket: Strat Shape, Standard 4 Bolt Mounting Holes

Body Contours: Strat Style, No Contoured Heel

Battery Box Rout: Single Battery
Sustainiac needs juice, you know.

Finish: Solid Color, Seafoam Green
My favorite feature for the body, along with the maple construction, is long-awaited.

And for the pickguard:

3-Ply Black/White/Black
NO pickguard should be single-ply!  Every pickguard should be three-ply or more with a beveled edge!  Stop cutting up the knuckles!

Humbucker / None / Trembucker Pickup Routs
But of course.  Sustainiac circuit board to be covered up by the middle section of the pickguard...?  I'm happy that Warmoth offers a proper wide Trembucker rout option for the bridge position.

Floyd Bridge Cut

11 Mounting Holes
I'm not a vintage cat.  Gimme the standard eleven holes, not old school eight.

Standard Countersink
The SRV countersink option adds countersinking to the pickup and pickup selector switch screw points.  I just don't think I need it.

Tone, Tone 2, 5-Way Selector Switch Routs (NO volume)
No volume control rout, as described in the Liberating The Fingers post.

I'm a few months late to the party, but this new song from Sunny Day Real Estate is incredible.  Jeremy Enigk's vocals are like those of a ghost of an old sailor with old stories to tell.

EDIT 10/15/2014
The custom black/white/black pickguard and rear trem cover are now on order.  The only change I made since this original post was to add the SRV countersink.  I decided that the mounting holes for the pickups and the pickup selector switch were a go, since the work done is free of charge and the required undercut screws are available to order on Warmoth's site.  I also ordered two dozen pickguard mounting screws (need 17) and the Strat recessed jack plate, which comes with two of its own screws for mounting to the body.

I did not order a jack to go with the jack plate yet; some research will need to be done to pick the right one, both for the size of the body cavity and the type of jack.  I wonder if I need a stereo jack to activate the battery when a cable is plugged in.  Remember, the Sustainiac remains active even when its sustaining function isn't turned on.

Copper shielding and wiring are also available to order on Warmoth's site, but I will address those things when I can focus on ordering all of the electronics stuff together.  I'm well over halfway through this project in terms of cost.  Smaller steps—Schaller tuners, Duncan TB-6, potentiometers and selector switch, knobs, battery box, Sustainiac—from here until the end.  I might have all of the materials by the end of the year, which is better than I had anticipated when I started this blog.  Then two months of assembly and testing, and Big Riff should be fully operational by my 30th birthday in March.