1980s/2000s Partscaster Stratocaster Electric Guitar




This slick, distressed, mystery Strat is a partscaster brought in by a friend of mine. He liked everything about it but wanted me to refret the 7 1/2" radius fretboard with a custom, compound radius and frets of his choice.

We're both not entirely sure what this guitar is, but the nitro-finished body (originally Lake Placid Blue, maybe?) appears to be aged naturally to its worn-out, faded-out, finish-checked, beauteous state. Our guess is that the body is some sort of '80s-era product (as well as the older pickguard) while the neck looks like a newer, aftermarket piece with its plastic-lined truss access near the nut.

Components are good-quality if a little ambiguous, though the Fender USA bridge and trem-block at least speak to what spec the hardware is from the outside. It has a very classic Strat voice, though most of the "quack" is in switch position 4 rather than 2.

Work included: a board reshape and compound-radius refret (from 7 1/2" to 12") with Dunlop 6105 frets and a setup. The owner wanted me to keep the strings a little "in" from the neck edges and also keep as much fret "shelf" area as possible to the edge of the neck, too. Thus there's barely any beveling to the fret-ends but there is a lot of rounding-off. It's currently setup with extra-slinky hair-under 1/16" action at the 12th fret.

Specs are: 25 1/2" scale length, 1 5/8" nut width, 1 3/8" string spacing at the nut, 2 1/16" spacing at the bridge, 12 1/2" lower bout, 11" upper bout, and 1 3/4" side depth. The neck has a slim, C-shaped rear profile and a compound-radius board.

Materials are: unknown body wood, maple "skunk stripe" neck with rosewood fretboard.

Condition notes: worn-in, weather-checked body finish, areas of use-wear and mixed scratches/nicks in the finish, antiqued neck and decals, mild rust on some hardware.



The headstock has seen a couple sets of tuners at least -- with one set that chipped the edges of the tuner holes for sure.



The pickups are vintage-style with flat poles.






Kluson Supreme tuners are a nice nod to keeping it retro.




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