Silver Mist Hardtail Strat

[Mark Crenshaw]

Basswood back with a maple top, 2 piece maple neck, 2-way truss rod, vintage style tunes and hardtail bridge. Hand wound A2 pickups.

The finish is silver metallic candy base with EM6000 top coats.

Peace,
Mark

[Bill Graham]

Mark, that is a really sweet guitar! What fingerboard radius do you use?

Never mind, just made a note to stay away from this particular forum! ;) I get in trouble when I start looking at nice guitars. I'm not even gonna think about thinking about asking if it's for sale....

Great work!

Best,
Bill

[Mark Crenshaw]

Mark, that is a really sweet guitar! What fingerboard radius do you use?

Never mind, just made a note to stay away from this particular forum! ;) I get in trouble when I start looking at nice guitars. I'm not even gonna think about thinking about asking if it's for sale....

Great work!

Best,
Bill

Thanks Bill! It's not for sale so you're safe. :)

The radius is 9.5". Last year I built a swing arm belt sander that does the job rather nicely. It will do 12", 9.5" or 7.25". I don't remember if I posted a thread here at the Sawmill about the sander build. I may do that.

Peace,
Mark

[Steve Milito]

Thanks Bill! It's not for sale so you're safe. :)

The radius is 9.5". Last year I built a swing arm belt sander that does the job rather nicely. It will do 12", 9.5" or 7.25". I don't remember if I posted a thread here at the Sawmill about the sander build. I may do that.

Peace,
Mark

Can you do compound radii or only fixed?

[Mark Crenshaw]

Can you do compound radii or only fixed?

Only fixed on the swing arm...I would need some sort of u-joint to do compound radius. I might look at it someday.

[Greg Savage]

Mark....Did you modify the headstock shape? I'm sure you know that Fender gets all worked up when you place your logo on their headstock shape. They defend their trademark like a mama bear defends her cubs.

Several years ago Fender took a couple dozen boutique luthiers to court over the usage of their Jazz Bass body shape (Roger Sadowsky was among them). The builders all changed the headstock design, though. The judge deemed the 50+ year old bass body shape generic and since no trademark was ever filed for the body, the ruling was in favor of the boutique builders.

Just be aware that fender is very aggressive in going after people for placing their logo (decal) on a Fender-style headstock.....Even if the guitar in question is not for sale.

[John Coloccia]

Only fixed on the swing arm...I would need some sort of u-joint to do compound radius. I might look at it someday.

Hey, Mark. All you have to do is set each arm at the length you want.

[Mark Crenshaw]

It wouldn't work on my rig. The portion that swings is a rectangular frame...the side heights don't move independent of each other.

[Mark Crenshaw]

These days I think they care more about their logo and brand than the headstock shapes. The Telecaster.com website is full of builders who put custom decals on Tele and Strat headstocks and Fender is a major sponsor for the site's give-away promotions. And mine are almost always nicked by the router or band saw and I have to over sand in some areas so they're not at all to spec.