The guitar is finally done and boy is it fantastic! We had to make a few changes to our original plan, but the guitar turned out really well in the end. Of course, the MJS Custom Pickups that we put in sound amazing, and we were able to turn a guitar that was not bad, into something that sounds like a custom-shop instrument. Smitty suggested using Alnico II magnets in these pickups, and they ended up sounding very warm, balanced, and open with a softer attack. I compared this guitar to another Strat that Smitty has with Alnico V magnets in it, and his guitar had a much sharper attack. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but to me our guitar felt a little more forgiving, allowing me to play a bit harder without it ever sounding harsh.

Once again I was able to go to Smitty’s workshop to watch him in action and to take some pictures while he worked, which you can see here. This is always such a treat me for me because I learn so much about the inner workings of a guitar, and why certain problems arise and how to prevent or fix them. With over 25 years of guitar-building experience Smitty has seen it all and has a few tricks up his sleeve that he was willing to share with me.

The guitar we used for this project was a black Fender '50s Road Worn Stratocaster. I had initially wanted to get a ‘60s Road Worn model (mainly because I prefer the look of a rosewood fretboard) but unfortunately one wasn’t available. This didn’t end up being a problem however, as the finished product ended up looking like one of Fender’s early Eric Clapton signature Strats, which is not a bad thing at all! We had initially intended to use a capacitor from RS Guitarworks, but unfortunately weren’t able to get it in time so at Smitty’s suggestion we decided to use an Orange Drop cap. This cap is not a paper-in-oil cap like the RS cap, but it sounds just as good.

We also decided to make a few adjustments to the switching and wiring on this guitar. In addition to the standard 5-way switch Smitty suggested adding what he calls an override switch. This switch enables the player to use the neck and bridge pickups together, as well as all three pickups at the same time. These modifications make the guitar even more versatile, allowing the player to get some Telecaster-style sounds. I also got Smitty to wire the bridge pickup to the bottom tone knob, which allows the player to roll a little bit of top end off of the bridge pickup (which can be notoriously bright on a strat).

Finally, we topped it off with some really great Sperzel locking tuners and a custom-cut bone nut and setup both done by Smitty. We decided against replacing the stock strap buttons with locking ones as the stock ones are aged and look really great.

Keep your eye on our website for a demo video of this guitar, which should be online shortly. Or if you’d like, come on down to the store and try it out for yourself! This is a great opportunity to own a very cool, one-of-a-kind instrument.