Weird and wonderful customer creations
& ditto customers!
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When people buy my book or attend a workshop; in many cases (sooner or later) they start building something all by themselves.
If you're in the mood you could buy the books on Strat, Tele and PBass here via the webshop.
I always ask readers and participants if i can get a picture of the end result for this page and about one in ten will actually do just that,
Here is an endless variety of homegrown frankies, including some of my own.
Telecaster DIY kit and stratocaster (feb 18th 2018)
A double workshop. Gerry building a telecaster from kit and Marcel a stratocaster using my stock of parts
The green bass (march 9, 2018)
Something else for me. Gerry built this Ibanez 5 string bass clone using a kit.
The ressult was quite ok, but some setup issues remained
In the end the biggest issue was a slightly too high fret position 16.
We filed down that fret and crowned/polished it. Problem solved
Be very careful doing that. The risk is taking too much off, making the problem worse
Telecaster DIY kit (AUGUST 15, 2016)
Currently the Telecaster is for some reason increasingly popular in comparison with the Strat.
And why not., its a very versatile instrrument for large variety of styles.
So here we see Sythe playing his freshly built Tele from a kit.. As usual with the kits from this source everything fit together extremely well.
We hit two issues.
A minor one was the shape of the pickguard around the necpocket. Easily remedied with the Dremel.
A more complex issue was to figure out that the connections of the bridge pup were reversed, i.e. signal / ground connections were reversed. Sounds simple in retrospect, but it takes some time fiddling with the multimeter to establish what is wrong.
Apart from that basically a great little instrument in the end. Now take it apart again and spray.
Stratocaster DIY kit (july 2016)
For quite some time i steered clear from using DIY guitar kits. for my workshops. Impossible to build within the four hours available.
Some time ago i caved in and i agreed with a workshop participant to try one from a new source that i found. It turned out to be very well engineered requiring minimum skills to put together. Lining up the neck is a big issue in most kits; this one was 100% as it came, as you can see in the picture.
So we could spend much more time on setup, which is the most important anyway!
And the workshopper , in this case Dick, can take his new guitar home!
Telecaster DIY kit (august 2016)
Observations from the builder . I recommended not to use the black plastic underlayer for the neckplate; it has no function anyway except cosmetic. I think the end result looks quite ok! Shielding the cavities is always a good idea!
As usual here the quoted comments in doubledutch.
quote
Zoals gevraagd wat fotos van het resultaat. Ik was op zoek naar telecaster in 'cadillac green'. Dat is het niet helemaal geworden :-) maar resultaat hangt mooi tussen de verzameling. In het echt is de kleur iets anders dan op de foto.
In elkaar zetten en schroeven was eenvoudig. Het past allemaal goed. Ik heb de element ruimte en slagplaat nog met alu-tape bekleed en geaard. Connector verbindingen vervangen door soldeerwerk.
Spuiten van de body viel tegen. De body is zachter dan verwacht en ik liet er een schroefdraaier opvallen:deuk. Ook dacht ik de 'putjes' wel dicht te spuiten maar dat ging niet. Een collega van mij heeft er al veel gebouwd en noemde toch eerst dichtstoppen. Er zitten iets van 7 lagen ( metallic) lak op en 3 lagen blank erover.
Het enige dat ik niet passend krijg is de afdekplaat voor de neck. Het zwarte plastic steekt aan of de ene kant, of de andere kant uit. Al met al een leuke ervaring, ik ga dat zeker nog eens proberen! Groet, Michel
unquote
SHEs ON MARS
Here two members of a three man band She 's on Mars, style 'alternative rock' .
Maikel building a Strat, the bassplayer Martin building - what else - a PBass. Both using my stock of Fender components.
Below their comments on the workshop - in doubledutch:
" Het was een mooie en leerzame dag. We hebben veel aan de workshop gehad. Naast praktische basiskennis over de bouw / afstelling van de gitaar was voor ons de grootste winst van de dag het vertrouwen om zelf eens te gaan sleutelen aan de gitaar. Hoe tof is het dat je voor een kleine reparatie niet meer afhankelijk bent van de lokale gitaarshop en de kennis zelf op zak hebt! Dankjewel Bert!! Cheers, Maikel en Martin SHEs ON MARS
Here is a link to their demo on Soundcloud, have a go > All knives out
My ownTele nr. one
Just for a change I bought a few leather pickguards from a small shop Guitarbox in Meppel. This color is weathered gold. It gives any old Tele a brilliant new look.
They've got the PG's in all kinds odd prints including dinosaur skin. With a leather PG make certain you mount the neck PUP in the body, not on the PG as that would kill the tone.
My ownTele nr. two
Here my other Tele, the mother of all Frankies but very nice. I love the natural finished body with this slightly weathered black leather PG.
When its not in use for a workshop, my son plays this one in his reggae band (in the meantime its permanently nicked). The sharp tone of the bridge pup is eminently suited to emphasize the reggae beat.
The pups are Stewmac vintage set - very affordable, great bang for the buck. The set features a humbucker mode when both pups are selected. The body is massive two piece alder, quite heavy, with a nice grain. The neck is of hazy origins, it says Fender but probably isnt.
Surprisingly everybody agrees that the neck plays very well. So all in all you create a very good instrument in this case at low cost!
The only thing i still have t change is to make the bridge and body string thru. Get a good bridge and drill the 6 holes.
My fave Strat
This is my favourite Strat intended initially for the workshops, but i decided to use this one live an not take it apart again..
Great Fender USA neck, Hendrix white MIM body, EMG active pups, extra heavy inertia block giving great sustain, bridge saddles with little wheels.
.
Les Benson - choco strat
Les Benson from down under created this completely mad chocolate box guitar. I love it.
Eric Ordelman - skateboard Strat
Another slightly mad example is this Strattish (whatever) guitar created from a skateboard.
Just something different!!
Christiaan Klanderman - a nice Stratocaster example
Chris's comment in full and in Dutch.
As we discussed at the workshop, Chris fully shielded all cavities, so in combination with the anodised alu pickguard this makes a very silent no-noise guitar. I like the Bladerunner bridge, new to me so another must have soon.
quote
Hoi Bert, hierbij wat foto's van de stratocaster die ik heb gebouwd na de workshop. Na intensief op marktplaats te hebben gezocht, vond ik de meeste onderdelen. Alleen de body en de brug zijn nieuw, iets gesjoemeld dus. De body heb ik van piet joosten uit oosterhout. Zij verkopen fenderparts, ook halzen en bodys. Bytheway, die ronde uitfresing in de body is waarschijnlijk een positiepunt voor mallen tijdens de bewerking. Alleen mexicobodys hebben die als ik t goed heb.
De brug is van supervee, een bladerunner. Hij is vast op de body gemonteerd en via een bladveer beweegt ie. De sustain is erg goed. Ook heb ik een geannodiseerde aluminium slagplaat van een squier erop gezet met standaard fender singlecoils.
Natuurlijk alufolie gebruikt om de boel af te schermen en hij is muisstil. Ook als ik vlakbij b.v. een lamp met lichtdimmer zit, met overdrive en compressor erachter. Klinkt als een klok, ben er erg content mee. M.v.g Christiaan Klanderman.
unquote
A nice blonde - OLDNO7
My last black leather pickguard was acquired by Ilse as present for her friend who plays guitar in a cover rockband. This is the one, and looks much better than with the original white PG. Actualy the very last black leather PG stays firmly on one of my own Tele's.
Have a look at the guy's website and setlist here - just the right guitar for the purpose.
Henny Lamper - Roger Waters style Precision bas
Hierbij de link naar een .pdf file met compleet verslag van de bouw van dit basje..
Hans Brinkman - twelve string Tele
A creation by itself, a twelve string Telecaster. It proves that if you set your mind to it , anything is possible
E.P Steijvers - Precision Bass
In double dutch by builder:
Aan de hand van jouw boekje heb ik die basgitaar in elkaar geknutseld. Weliswaar is de body een Squire model maar alla, om te oefenen. Het kostte mij ook maar een paar tientjes.
De hals is van maple (nieuw) gemaakt. De brug, mechanieken, PU Seymour Duncan en knoppen uit Duitsland laten komen.
Alleen wat gepriemel met solderen aan de potmeters daar ik geregeld mijn bril af moet zetten om het beter van dichtbij te zien. Ouderdom en ik moet om een nieuwe bril.
Decal van Fender heb ik gevonden op Speurders maar moet het er nog op doen. Al met al ben ik er wel een beetje trots op. Trouwens het boekje was heel duidelijk met die foto's erbij.e
Eric and Jetse Mooij - Telecaster
From real life (sorry for doubledutch) after the workshop of 17/12/2011:
oi Bert, daar is ie en dar was ie. De gitaar is erg goed gelukt, speelt als een droom en fantastisch geluid, met dank aan gfs pickups, echt de moeite! Helaas was ik gisteren op een verjaardag van een erg goede vriend, gitaar mee, opscheppen natuurlijk ;-)
Hij was zo onder de indruk en enthuosiast dat ik hem, na overleg met Jetse, weggeven heb!
Wel een tweede projectje op stapel staan. We zijn nu begonnen met een blok maple, inmiddels hebben we openingen en routing gefreesd ( ongelooflijk griezelig, had ik nog nooit gedaan)
De body is gevormd ( tele natuurlijk) en geschuurd en we heben een halsje op de kop getikt. Verder veel klein spul bestelt uit hongkong en de elementen zullen we wel weer bij GFS of Ebay halen.
Afijn we hebben er heel erg veel lol aan. Overigens solderen ging fantastisch! Ik heb slechts 1 keer vol in het metaal gerepen, mensenvlees stinkt!
Joe (Victory Glass), USA - the works
Didn't do step by step photos but here's the finished project.
All brand new parts except for the body. Body is solid alder squire. Everything else is Fender/mighty mite.
Also attached a pine body I did made from a 5/4 table top I bought at home depot (glued two together to make 2" thick and planed to 1 3/4). Working on an ash Tele now I plan to complete and then on to Mahogany. Also did a Strat Ash Blank.:
Recycling a pine table top, cool.
Strat Leslie Studholme
I quote Leslie's email which speaks for itself and reflects very well what the first time builder has to go through.
Hi Bert, After searching for parts, a bit of filing, filling and redrilling poor neck holes, filling and redrilling body holes due to pickguard not fitting, snapping tremelo claw screws and learning electrics from scratch I have finished my first guitar project and thoroughly enjoyed it. To make it even better the guitar sounds excellent, much better than some strat style guitars that I have had from new previously. All the best Les
PS The 'set up' section of the book was excellent.
Telecaster Leo van Lippen
This is a nice blonde tele with very luxe bindings.
Here'what Leo has to say (doubledutch, sorry): Hier een paar foto's van mijn telecaster die ik met behulp van jouw boek heb kunnen maken. Het was de stekker erin en spelen maar. Ik heb veel hulp gehad om zaken op te zoeken en de goede volgorde van werken aan te houden. Ik heb de body, nek en de rest van de spullen los gekocht. Nek was van een strat en deze heb ik aangepast. Lak en aflakken heb ik met de hand gedaan en niet met de spuitbus ivm het koude weer.h
Frank Rouveroy Golden Strat
I'm always surprised what people create either after buying a book or directly after attending a workshop.
Frank attended one of the workshops and came up with this beauty. No further comment needed, other than that it plays well too. Now Frank has to do something about his guitar playing technique, which was uh, non existent? - the guitar is well worth it.
Peter Tuin's Strat
Peter joined one of the workshops and after that he built this nice Strat, using Warmoth stuff. Looks great.
See the little added switch giving additional combinations between the PU's. We had quite a discussion about the type of finish to be used.
Eventually Peter obtained blank nitrocelluse from an antique shop. You have to be careful with the stuff (use in well ventilated space) but it is nicer than the carpaint often used.
Tele by Bob Holland, UK
Here is the first Tele built on basis of my new book, which is the first of the Tele collection.
Experience shows that roughly 1 in 10 readers, actually build an instrument. Bob gives some detail below.
The jack cup (with retainer clip) on the body was somewhat loose as can be expected, but he managed to straighten the clip slightly and tap it back into place, without the Stewmac tool. He then fixed the cup a bit better with glue.
quote
Here's a Tele I have put together courtesy of your book.
It is
- A 1984 Squire Ash body Early Tokai Breezysound pickups Late 80's Fender Japan Bridge etc, control plate and knobs which I have completely rewired with better pots and switch and finally,
- A brand new Fender "roadworn" neck and aged klusons from an ebay powerseller in the USA which cost me about 118 Euros.
Every item was bought on Ebay apart from the pots which were from Allparts. The guitar weighs 6lbs, light as a feather and is perfect.
Bob unquote
The Eagle
Stefan Nowak in the UK built this guitar using craftfully inlaid parts from the far east. You can find them on eBay. I'm tempted to do a similar one.
Boyz from Brazil
Ronaldo Boyz NL built this one from a beautiful body from exotic hardwood that I imported from Brazil. Regretfully the guys stopped the sale of these bodies soon after. Ronaldo sold this one right at the first jam.
.
Bonar Law's creation
Bonar Law's creation Bonar Law built this one for his son, that's a father! Bonar wrote: Having now completed my Frankie, although as all the parts have been soursed and matche by year and country it is almost a perfect clone!!
Here are the photo,s of the main parts of the guitar build, including the insulating with copper foil, the cavities. There is one small change in that the middle pickup is now not a vintage rails but an sdbr duckbucker, while the neck is a lil 59 and the bridge a screamin demon, all seymour duncan. view his site for info on strat pickups.
It looks and sounds great so am very pleased.the tone is more rounded than my US strat. Much of the credit goes to Bert for his superb booklet on the trials and tribulations of guitar building ,hence the copying of photos to him.
Hoekse Recycled Guitar
This obviously is doubledutch. Harry Haverhoek from Holland built this nice lady using the green HW1 body he got - ah well, bought then - from me.
Quite a looker, and - as Harry Haverhoek wrote - she plays and sounds great.
A Strat dedicated to a football player
Mark's note speaks for itself.
Dear Bert, Just completed my project Strat with the help of your excellent book. The specs are: Body- Fender üÿMex body finished in "Midnight Wine". I'm a fan of Burnley Football Club and this is the nearest finish to "claret" that I could find. The guitar is called "Jimmy Mac" after Burnley's greatest ever player, Jimmy MacIlroy.
Neck- Fender USA neck sourced on eBay Pickups- Fender Custom Shop '57 Scratchplate + trem cover- Fender's own "mother of toilet seat" Hardware- all Fender gold-plated. She plays really nicely and cost about half of what I would pay for a basic USA Strat.
The pickups in particular are awesome- really deep, twangy tones. Best wishes, Mark Griffiths
You can indeed with patience and skill build a guitar AND save cost!.
The Paulocaster
Here a guitar "The Paulocaster" made by the famous Dutch builder Paul.
quote
Je boekje is echt helemaal geweldig! Was een enorme hulp en ik heb het dan ook in één ruk uitgelezen later vaak weer ingekeken. Zo'n beetje alles wat je wilt weten staat erin en ik moest ook regelmatig grijnzen om je droge humor. Ik zag dat je "Frankenstein" niet meer mag gebruiken? De gitaar: Hals is van Harley Benton, een B-merk maar hij is recht, mooi gevlamd en mooi honinggekleurd.
Geen Fender, ik weet het maar die zijn echt niet te betalen en voor een eerste keer? De body is een elzen Boston aftermarket exemplaar, door een vriend met een autoschadebedrijf zwart met parelmoer gespoten. Gekocht op Gitaarmarkt.nl De ambergekleurde spiegel slagplaat vond ik op eBay. De elementen zijn hotrails van Axes 'R' us. Mechanieken, tremolo en andere hardware heb ik ook op eBay gekocht Ik ben nu nog volop aan het fijntunen en afstellen tot ' ie echt helemaal naar mijn zin is. (gebeurt dat eigenlijk ooit?) Hier leer ik echt van zeg! Ik heb het nooit eerder aangedurfd om overal aan te gaan draaien maar nu moet je wel en ik moet zeggen: leuk en super leerzaam! unquotz.
Thijs Kivit's creation
This one's built bij Thijs Kivits who made a complete photo report of the process, which speaks for itself. The link to his story is added below.
Chads '58 Buddy Holly
I leave the stand to Chad who created this dream guitar, there is more material available for anybody who's interested in this specific guitar - pse shout.
Also see the mp3 page for a link to Youtube, Chad and sons rocking away with an SRV cover. thanks!
THANKS FOR THE RADIUS GAuGE'S!!!! WHAT A NICE SURPRISE!
I'm including pics of the project. It turned out great and sounds wonderful. I was hoping to capture in sound and looks a copy of Buddy Holly's last Stratocaster. It features a "Deluxe Series" neck from 1998 (Mexican), a loaded 2000 pickgaurd from a 50's reissue (US), a 2007 highway one 3 color burst with satin nitro finish body (brand new - US), vintage style Fender tremolo (new - Mexican), jack plate from a 1957 reissue (US). Neck relief was set @ .10 and string height followed the 9 1/2 radius with both e strings set slightly higher than factory specs. I've adjusted the intonation a couple of times.
The aged looking neck really sets it off and the body really resonates nicely due to the thin finish. I'm attaching also a document showing some details of Buddy Holly's last Stratocaster. In my version, of course I had to include the pick that was discovered under Buddy's pickgaurd! And the name of my new guitar; Why, "Buddy" of course!.
Armand's 'Stratje'
Totally agree with Armand's own view of this creation, it is a beauty:
quote
Ten eerste wil ik je nog bedanken voor het advies dat je gegeven had voor de afstelling van mijn elementen. Het bleek allemaal in orde te zijn volgens de schema's van Fender(kwam ik pas achter toen ik alles een keer of 5 open had gemaakt). Ach ja zo blijft men bezig. Maar met behulp van jou boekje en je advies ben ik tot een zeer gaaf exemplaar gekomen van een strat.(tenminste dat vind ik zelf dan ) En een geluidje dat er in zit !!!Echt kei gaaf. Je had gevraagd als ze klaar was of ik dan wat foto's zou willen doorsturen,dus bij deze.
unquote.
Strat by Bobby Cox, The Galaxies (LA)
Bert, Yes, you can use the picture. I would be very honored. Also, I üÿwould like to purchase your book. It would be a great resource for me. This guitar is very much a player. But I'm still having some neck issues. Its the angle, or maybe a neck relief prob, I'm not sure. Your site and your book will help! Hey, let me send you my band's CD. We just finished our album. I'd be glad to send you a free copy. Rock on! Bobby
Jelle' s bass
And Jelle is progressing, after a fairly standard bass see this new 5-string bass:
De 5 snaar is klaar, ik stuur je de foto mee. Ik had het geluk een 5 snarige body te kunnen kopen voor schappelijke prijs. Loaded ook nog, een MM model met een enkele pickup, een humbucker bij debrug. Een hals was werkelijk onvindbaar behalve op de US ebay, met een chinees ding.
Ik heb een hals gekocht bij de Bassgallery in Beilen, zeg maar huismerk hals, en die pas gemaakt. Er was niet veel voor nodig om het goed te krijgen.De Bassgallery, heeft veel, goede en voordelige spullen voor bassen. Tuners en zo heb ik daar gekocht. Die fretloze bas heb ik verkocht, deze hou ik, speelt werkelijk erg goed en het geluid is prima. Nog bedankt voor de inspiratie.
Big Red PBass by Dennis Woodruff
I enjoy playing my Fender Hwy 1 model P-bass, but I’ve always wondered if I was missing some tone by not having the J-bass pickup at the bridge. I started thinking about buying a P-bass Special. Unfortunately, Fender only makes it now with active electronics and I prefer passive.
As I was looking for one on e-bay I came across Bert’s book. Even though I've never done this before, I thought this would be a fun way to make a guitar exactly the way I wanted it. I was able to find a body and neck on e-bay. I replaced the gold anodized pick guard with a white pearloid one and the control knobs with ones made of chrome and black pearloid.
I bought a set of EMG P-J passive pickups and used their wiring diagram. (basically the same but a little unique because of the way they are wired) I like the Badass II bridge on my other P-bass so I decided to use the same bridge on this one.
One addition that really enhances the tone is the Sprague “orange drop” tone capacitor I used. It turned out great! Not only does it look good, I also get compliments from the fat, rich tone it produces.
The other guys in the band love it. I accomplished my goals with this project; I have a bass guitar that is exactly what I want it to be. (thanks Bert) To check out the band visit this web page:
Jasper's Tele
Took some fiddling with the electronics but the endresult may be seen. The alder body is oiled, which gives this nice effect.
A glorious vintage Telecaster Bass (John Kok)
This is one of these beasties I really would like to lay my dirty hands on. It has the slab body of the early Telecasters, before they were sculpted into what is now the Precision. The headstock clearly shows the genetic relation to the Tele For purists though 1968, although old is not really vintage (pre-CBS is before '65). Serial nr. 246099, build 1968 Very much like the early slab (hard edges) body Precision bodies with the same Telecaster form headstock. Single coil split pickup.
A countrystyle Tele
An old friend from way back early sixties builds and collects guitars.
This is a real beauty for the country folks.
I think Humph made it for a country singer. See the spalted maple fretboard. Nice.
My own favourite frankie
This one is used as reference model for the workshops, its also my favourite Strat for various purposes.
Its a MIM body, very nice USA neck and i installed a set of EMG active pups. The inertia block is replaced by a very heavy bronze one and the saddles with bearings. Sometimes it has this Clapton sound, but for jazz its also eminently suitable. The action is very light, far below the factory standards!!
My Hofner 470 - 1966
Not built by me, but a nice instrument for the gallery. They dont make'm nowadays anymore.
My preferred axe when playing jazz.
Down memory lane - 1959
Perhaps only interesting to myself, here our '59 setlist that we performed in the schoolparty circuit.
People liked the classics like Apache, Wheels and so on but I found that a compostion of ourselves - Huppeldepuppel, by want of a good name - became known in the Hague by word of mouth.
It was a deadsimple 12bar blues in G and we could keep it going for at least 30 minutes.
The pic below the setlist sees us in action somewhere 1959/60, I played a nice Framus archtop at the time.
GUITARS RECYCLED - CONTACT
Use the webshop or the following link to send me an email, ask a question or order one of the books: