DIY Fender MIM parts-caster!

 Once I found a heavily used Fender Mexican-made (MIM) strat neck on the market. I bought it cheap, cleaned it up, leveled the frets and now it's a pretty nice C-shaped 21-fret neck with a maple fretboard. So, here's how this new fender parts-caster strat project began.
 Mexican made standard strats are value for money guitars. Their necks are pretty playable, the bodies are solid and the hardware is okay. I am not a big fan of the classic S-shaped tremolo saddles but I don't really use the tremolo much, so that's fine.
 The electronics are not that good combined with the stock wiring but they are Ok for vintage stuff (not heavy metal of course). Be sure to check out the MIM series named "Classic Player".
 Now there's a new line of fender strats though, the "Modern Player"series. These are Made in CHINA (MIC) guitar and priced close to MIM guitars... Of course, their features are different but so is their production line, their quality standards and labor costs. They look good of course, but how do they play or sound? Are they worth >500$? That's the big question.

 I've tested out two MIC "modern player" fender strat guitars and I can say I was not impressed. I totally prefer MIMs and some Squiers to these new fender MIC series. For starters, the neck humbucker of the above H-H STRAT was the same as the bridge pickup, simply flipped 180 degrees!... Therefore, its pole-pieces were way off  and not aligned with the strings. Also, the tone of the neck pickup was way too muddy. The bridge pickup was Ok. Needless to say those pickups were built exactly like Squier pickups with ceramic magnets (not alnico) and cheap tape around their bobbins. The setup and fretwork were not even up to squier standards... There were buzzing notes scattered all over the fretboard. We had to level the frets and trim their sharp edges a bit. This is not worth 500$. Maybe their telecaster-MIC modern player series are way better but the stratocaster range was not that good. If you want to get a fender guitar, buy a used MIM guitar like the standard strat for less or simply build it yourself!

The "MIM" Project: 
  Once the neck was ready, I bought a nice solid alder body finished in sunburst color on Ebay. It's got a pool rooting so I can use any pickup combination and pickguard without problem. The body is exceptionally good, it's a bit heavy and it's made from solid alder(not plywood or particle wood). I compared it to a new squier affinity body and this body is much thicker, heavier and the finish is better. The mexican neck fitted right in the neck pocket and the project was going well!
Still, I had lots of work to do in order to finish my strat project:

 -Hardware
   I bolted a set of Dixon 10mm closed type tuners on the neck that cost around 25Euros and a nice Wilkinson vintage 6-point tremolo on the body (cost~40Euros).

http://www.jhs.co.uk/wilkinson.html

www.thomann.de/gb/dixon_tuning_machines.html?partner_id=73786

- Electronics
   The pickguard that came with the body was made for an SSS pickup configuration. It was made from a single-ply white plastic. It looked good on the guitar and I didn't want to replace it with something that wouldn't fit or look right. So I used a set of two ceramic single coil pickups for the neck and middle position plus a "dual rail" (aka "hot rail") type humbucker for the bridge position. The pots installed are rated at 500kOhms. 500k pots are known to sound a little brighter than 250K pots but that's exactly what I was looking for! A "treble bleed mod" circuit for the volume control would also be a good addition.

http://www.guitar-mod.com/rg_diag_treble_bleed.html

 - Setup and go!
 The final step in every guitar project is a proper setup and tune up. I installed a fresh set of coated 0.09" strings on the guitar and adjusted the action, neck relief and intonation. The guitar plays and sounds amazing and I surely prefer this modified MIMI parts-strat to many all-original fender ones. Plus, it cost me less than a high end Squier strat to build...
  So, next time you spot a nice fender neck and/or body on eBay, build a decent strat or tele parts-caster for yourself!  It's not that hard and it'll be as playable as a fender guitar if done right. The neck is the Alpha and Omega in every guitar project. And remember that a "cheap" project isn't always "nasty".

Here are a few photos of this project:

Cheers,

Thanos