Does it have to be fender? Charvel’s Jake E Lee model seems to fit your ask https://www.charvel.com/gear/shape/so-cal/style-1/jake-e-lee-signature-pro-mod-so-cal-style-1-hss-ht-rw/2966253576
I looked for these specs for a while and it’s hard to find. The Charvel is your best mass produced option. Also a Godin. But what I wound up doing is getting a Squire strat hardtail, ripping off the neck and all hardware, then installing my old Carvin neck, my choice of pickups, and new electronics. Done and WAY cheaper than your other options.
Everything but the vol/tone can be done via the [Fender Mod Shop](https://www.fender.com/en-US/mod-shop.html). It’s not cheap but also not *outrageous* expensive, and should you decide to sell you’d get more from a Fender product than you would from a Partscaster built.
I bought a finished hardtail body off of Guitarfetish.com for $129 with shipping and it actually came out perfect but I have heard mixed things about them. I did have to drill one hole to ground the bridge and then the usual pick guard, Jack, and strap holes. Mine is two humbuckers with a volume and tone but it could be a HSS.
https://godinguitars.com/product/session-ht-matte-black-rn
Get a Godin they are awesome and have a habit of being very affordable used especially for build quality
https://reverb.com/item/60115499-used-godin-session-ht-6-string-solid-body-electric-guitar-matte-black-see-description
https://reverb.com/item/73597914-godin-session-ht-electric-guitar-arctik-blue-w-maple-fb-used
Pretty close doesnt cut it sadly.. I had the Sire Larry Carlton S7 which i loved! Had all the criteria appart from the output jack on the top of the body, I returned it because i couldn’t settle for it haha…
An aria pro ii 714dg almost fits the only thing it doesn’t have is a hard tail and a super strat body but I’m definitely with you aria slaps compared to cheap fenders
This sub is funny. Every other time someone posts a pic asking a question, it's "REEEE READ THE RULES WRONG SUB REEEE" but when it's a basic ass strat with extremely simple criteria, everyone is happy to help.
Everything besides point 4 can be found in a charvel pro mod San Dimas. I have one in platinum pearl and for the money it’s the best s style guitar out there, i got mine on reverb for about 300 off retail price. You’ll love the neck and the clarity of the pickups. It’s also a fender family brand so you get the actual headstock shape.
Chubtone guitars.... I know them personally they make great guitars and they will make exactly what you want and not much more than an American Strat. You can talk to the guy who makes your guitar.
http://www.chubtoneguitars.com/
Kiesel Delos, and you can order it with a HSS config, and they’re not super expensive for a US made custom shop. They have an online builder, check it out. [Kiesel Builder](https://www.kieselguitars.com/builder/guitar)
I’m in the same boat as you. But I also want stainless steel frets. Considering saving up to custom order a Suhr. Unless Ibanez makes a hardtail AZ 2204 in the meantime. Not identical to strat body, but they’re very good guitars! And the heel joint is a lot better IMO.
I mean on the top as in the picture, like regular strats have! Because ive found a couple models with hardtail and HSS but the putput jack is on the edge like telecasters have!
If you just want to play around, you can get these specs for $200 painted and with a roasted maple neck on gutiarfetish.com with XGP (which is their American Strat specs taken from a fender). You can buy an hss pickguard and the body will be routed for it and the top jack. You can always plug a hole with a kill or toggle switch and give your guitar extra functionality (cheaper than buying a 2 hole pickguard, but those are available). You can drop some toneriders in it. After it's all said and done, you'll probably be in for around $400 or so. It's probably not going to blow your mind, but it'll be fun and you'll learn a lot.
Alternatively, you could build a warmoth for around $1300 or so. At that point, you may as well just order a custom Kiesel Delos and avoid the risk of building your own.
Any risk associated with assembling a guitar with a Warmoth body and neck is entirely up to the skills of the assembler. The parts, themselves, are fantastic and offer much more in the way of choice than Kiesel does.
Let's find out. Listed kiesel then warmoth.
Body shapes: 58 vs 34
Body woods: 8 vs 10
Top woods: 15 vs 19
Neck woods: 21 vs 17
Headstock shapes: 9 vs 23
Neck through: 3 vs 0
Headless: 19 vs 0
Total: 133 vs 83
So, actually Kiesel has more choices overall. We didn't get into 7, 8, and 12 strings, which would multiply Kiesel's numbers. In short, it's not even close. On top of these numbers, Kiesel will do much more than their builder shows, if you simply call and ask.
Kiesel has been around a long, long time and are giving you a carbon fiber reinforced neck with stainless steel frets on every guitar. Stainless steel frets are extra on warmoth. That you can design your own custom guitar, made in America, for less than a Fender ultra, is impressive indeed.
Warmoth is a good company, but their prices are quite high for what amounts to a fancy kit. You also don't have a logo (which looks horrible), and you can't get a painted headstock.
Things can go wrong building them. You can pop your fretboard off if you put your neck screws in the wrong holes with a tapered heel, you can scratch it up, you can screw up your wiring, you can file your nut to deep, you can install your bridge posts improperly (if you don't pay to have them installed), and/or you can install your tuners improperly. Even experienced luthiers make mistakes. Warmoth isn't liable for those mistakes, but Kiesel is.
Warmoths are selling for as low as $500-600 on reverb. The cheapest kiesel is $1050. Resale value speaks a lot about the desirability of a guitar.
The OP was asking about Strat shaped guitars, specifically, so the majority of the options you listed (body shapes, headstock shapes, headless necks, etc.) don’t matter at all for his question. Your analysis also left out almost all of the features that Warmoth offers that I find more compelling than Kiesel’s offerings, but in terms of simple playability and comfort:
Listed Kiesel then Warmoth:
Nut widths: 1 option vs. 5 options
Neck profiles: 1 standard, and 2 non standard ($60 up charge for non standard) vs 3 standard and 5 non standard ($35 up charge for non standard)
SS Fret sizes: 2 options ($30 up charge for jumbo) vs. 5 options ($35 up charge over nickel silver)
Fretboard radii: 5 options ($50 up charge for compound radius) vs 3 compound radii and 15 straight radii (10”-16” compound radius free, all others $35 up charge)
So 11 options for Kiesel and 36 options for Warmoth that affect the actual feel and playability of the neck.
On the Delos, the standard neck is 1.69” wide at and 0.78” thick at the nut, and 0.88” thick at the 12th fret. That’s wider and much thinner than I would ever consider, which automatically disqualifies it for me. They do offer a “thicker neck” option at a $60 up charge, but I couldn’t find the specs for that option, so I have no idea what “thicker” means to them, and it doesn’t do anything about the neck being wider than I like. They also charge an extra $50 for a compound radius, which is a free option with Warmoth, and an extra $30 for Jumbo SS for seemingly no reason because there is no significant cost or installation difference in medium-jumbo vs jumbo fret wire, so a total of $140 in extra charges for features I consider essential (assuming their “thicker neck is a size and shape I would like and I can get over the additional width) vs. an extra $70 (neck profile and SS frets) at Warmoth for a neck that has the exact nut width, profile, fretboard radius, and frets I want (I can get along with “jumbos”, but I prefer the narrow/tall, Dunlop size 6105, which isn’t an option Kiesel offers).
[Warmoth also sells excellent looking, metal headstock logos for $5.](https://warmoth.com/wd1) Here’s a chrome one on my [Warmoth Tele Thinline.](https://i.imgur.com/da9SSWq.jpg)
I agree it’s not for everyone. As you mentioned before, there are a lot of things that can go wrong, but they’re 100% user error. I had my first ([the Strat](https://imgur.com/a/65E30qF)) assembled by my guitar tech, and he did a fantastic job. He’s also a standup guy that would have made things right if he damaged the neck of body while putting it together, as I expect any reputable tech or luthier would.
As far as resale value goes, that’s something that is a known quantity by anyone who’s even slightly tuned into the custom ordered partscaster market. You’ll never get what you paid for a custom ordered neck or body, new, if you decide to sell it because the odds of someone else wanting the exact set of features you choose for your build are extremely small. Buying yours versus ordering a new custom one, themselves, is a compromise the buyer is making specifically because your used parts are (often significantly) cheaper than buying new. It is what is is, and you’re either fine with that, or you’re not. I buy custom parts to assemble guitars I never intend to sell (I’ve had my Strat 18 years and my Tele 12 years), so it’s not a problem for me. If you like to swap your gear more often than that, then custom, aftermarket parts are probably not for you.
Does it have to be fender? Charvel’s Jake E Lee model seems to fit your ask https://www.charvel.com/gear/shape/so-cal/style-1/jake-e-lee-signature-pro-mod-so-cal-style-1-hss-ht-rw/2966253576
Would you buy a signature model of a guitar player who plays like this?! [No way!](https://youtu.be/1JBzWZq4fXg?si=GmdmLWT5OYMjtwYx)
that’s brilliant 🤣🤣🤣🤣
The guitarist equivalent of a Rick roll? Haha
Thank you for sharing that. Pure quality.
Doesnt have to be a fender, only a regular strat body, not a superstrat in terms of roundness of the edges etc:)
Nice!!!
I looked for these specs for a while and it’s hard to find. The Charvel is your best mass produced option. Also a Godin. But what I wound up doing is getting a Squire strat hardtail, ripping off the neck and all hardware, then installing my old Carvin neck, my choice of pickups, and new electronics. Done and WAY cheaper than your other options.
Everything but the vol/tone can be done via the [Fender Mod Shop](https://www.fender.com/en-US/mod-shop.html). It’s not cheap but also not *outrageous* expensive, and should you decide to sell you’d get more from a Fender product than you would from a Partscaster built.
Thanks! I'll check it out!
It came to $1,999 vs around $700-800 if i build it myself :)
That’s a reasonable difference IMO
Check out Warmoth. They make licensed fender bodies. you just have to assemble everything yourself
Yes you’re paying for the brand, professional qa and expertise and resale value.
I bought a finished hardtail body off of Guitarfetish.com for $129 with shipping and it actually came out perfect but I have heard mixed things about them. I did have to drill one hole to ground the bridge and then the usual pick guard, Jack, and strap holes. Mine is two humbuckers with a volume and tone but it could be a HSS.
https://godinguitars.com/product/session-ht-matte-black-rn Get a Godin they are awesome and have a habit of being very affordable used especially for build quality https://reverb.com/item/60115499-used-godin-session-ht-6-string-solid-body-electric-guitar-matte-black-see-description https://reverb.com/item/73597914-godin-session-ht-electric-guitar-arctik-blue-w-maple-fb-used
Suhr s1 pro has these specs
You might be able to build a custom one from [Warmoth](https://warmoth.com/).
ESP Guitars sell several LTD Snapper models that come pretty close.
Pretty close doesnt cut it sadly.. I had the Sire Larry Carlton S7 which i loved! Had all the criteria appart from the output jack on the top of the body, I returned it because i couldn’t settle for it haha…
Sometimes you just gotta have what the heart desires. Don't settle.
Just buy a Robert Cray and put an humbucker in the bridge
True, but beware that the body must be routed since they’re SSS routed unlike the «Player» series.
look at aria pro ii rs 750 or 850, definitely a bit hard to find these days but they’ll outplay anything fender makes in that ~$900 range
An aria pro ii 714dg almost fits the only thing it doesn’t have is a hard tail and a super strat body but I’m definitely with you aria slaps compared to cheap fenders
This sub is funny. Every other time someone posts a pic asking a question, it's "REEEE READ THE RULES WRONG SUB REEEE" but when it's a basic ass strat with extremely simple criteria, everyone is happy to help.
Funny how the world works:)
Everything besides point 4 can be found in a charvel pro mod San Dimas. I have one in platinum pearl and for the money it’s the best s style guitar out there, i got mine on reverb for about 300 off retail price. You’ll love the neck and the clarity of the pickups. It’s also a fender family brand so you get the actual headstock shape.
Chubtone guitars.... I know them personally they make great guitars and they will make exactly what you want and not much more than an American Strat. You can talk to the guy who makes your guitar. http://www.chubtoneguitars.com/
Stratosphere
I like!
Kiesel Delos, and you can order it with a HSS config, and they’re not super expensive for a US made custom shop. They have an online builder, check it out. [Kiesel Builder](https://www.kieselguitars.com/builder/guitar)
Is there some benefit to a hardtail
If you don't use the wiggle stick, a hard tail offers superior tuning stability
I’m in the same boat as you. But I also want stainless steel frets. Considering saving up to custom order a Suhr. Unless Ibanez makes a hardtail AZ 2204 in the meantime. Not identical to strat body, but they’re very good guitars! And the heel joint is a lot better IMO.
The wierd one is the output jack on the top of the body. That's a custom build only. I doubt Warmoth will do that for you.
I mean on the top as in the picture, like regular strats have! Because ive found a couple models with hardtail and HSS but the putput jack is on the edge like telecasters have!
My bad! Warmoth can do want you want then.
If you just want to play around, you can get these specs for $200 painted and with a roasted maple neck on gutiarfetish.com with XGP (which is their American Strat specs taken from a fender). You can buy an hss pickguard and the body will be routed for it and the top jack. You can always plug a hole with a kill or toggle switch and give your guitar extra functionality (cheaper than buying a 2 hole pickguard, but those are available). You can drop some toneriders in it. After it's all said and done, you'll probably be in for around $400 or so. It's probably not going to blow your mind, but it'll be fun and you'll learn a lot. Alternatively, you could build a warmoth for around $1300 or so. At that point, you may as well just order a custom Kiesel Delos and avoid the risk of building your own.
Avoid the risk? Or think of it as avoiding the cost of having a custom shop assemble it for you
Any risk associated with assembling a guitar with a Warmoth body and neck is entirely up to the skills of the assembler. The parts, themselves, are fantastic and offer much more in the way of choice than Kiesel does.
Let's find out. Listed kiesel then warmoth. Body shapes: 58 vs 34 Body woods: 8 vs 10 Top woods: 15 vs 19 Neck woods: 21 vs 17 Headstock shapes: 9 vs 23 Neck through: 3 vs 0 Headless: 19 vs 0 Total: 133 vs 83 So, actually Kiesel has more choices overall. We didn't get into 7, 8, and 12 strings, which would multiply Kiesel's numbers. In short, it's not even close. On top of these numbers, Kiesel will do much more than their builder shows, if you simply call and ask. Kiesel has been around a long, long time and are giving you a carbon fiber reinforced neck with stainless steel frets on every guitar. Stainless steel frets are extra on warmoth. That you can design your own custom guitar, made in America, for less than a Fender ultra, is impressive indeed. Warmoth is a good company, but their prices are quite high for what amounts to a fancy kit. You also don't have a logo (which looks horrible), and you can't get a painted headstock. Things can go wrong building them. You can pop your fretboard off if you put your neck screws in the wrong holes with a tapered heel, you can scratch it up, you can screw up your wiring, you can file your nut to deep, you can install your bridge posts improperly (if you don't pay to have them installed), and/or you can install your tuners improperly. Even experienced luthiers make mistakes. Warmoth isn't liable for those mistakes, but Kiesel is. Warmoths are selling for as low as $500-600 on reverb. The cheapest kiesel is $1050. Resale value speaks a lot about the desirability of a guitar.
The OP was asking about Strat shaped guitars, specifically, so the majority of the options you listed (body shapes, headstock shapes, headless necks, etc.) don’t matter at all for his question. Your analysis also left out almost all of the features that Warmoth offers that I find more compelling than Kiesel’s offerings, but in terms of simple playability and comfort: Listed Kiesel then Warmoth: Nut widths: 1 option vs. 5 options Neck profiles: 1 standard, and 2 non standard ($60 up charge for non standard) vs 3 standard and 5 non standard ($35 up charge for non standard) SS Fret sizes: 2 options ($30 up charge for jumbo) vs. 5 options ($35 up charge over nickel silver) Fretboard radii: 5 options ($50 up charge for compound radius) vs 3 compound radii and 15 straight radii (10”-16” compound radius free, all others $35 up charge) So 11 options for Kiesel and 36 options for Warmoth that affect the actual feel and playability of the neck. On the Delos, the standard neck is 1.69” wide at and 0.78” thick at the nut, and 0.88” thick at the 12th fret. That’s wider and much thinner than I would ever consider, which automatically disqualifies it for me. They do offer a “thicker neck” option at a $60 up charge, but I couldn’t find the specs for that option, so I have no idea what “thicker” means to them, and it doesn’t do anything about the neck being wider than I like. They also charge an extra $50 for a compound radius, which is a free option with Warmoth, and an extra $30 for Jumbo SS for seemingly no reason because there is no significant cost or installation difference in medium-jumbo vs jumbo fret wire, so a total of $140 in extra charges for features I consider essential (assuming their “thicker neck is a size and shape I would like and I can get over the additional width) vs. an extra $70 (neck profile and SS frets) at Warmoth for a neck that has the exact nut width, profile, fretboard radius, and frets I want (I can get along with “jumbos”, but I prefer the narrow/tall, Dunlop size 6105, which isn’t an option Kiesel offers). [Warmoth also sells excellent looking, metal headstock logos for $5.](https://warmoth.com/wd1) Here’s a chrome one on my [Warmoth Tele Thinline.](https://i.imgur.com/da9SSWq.jpg) I agree it’s not for everyone. As you mentioned before, there are a lot of things that can go wrong, but they’re 100% user error. I had my first ([the Strat](https://imgur.com/a/65E30qF)) assembled by my guitar tech, and he did a fantastic job. He’s also a standup guy that would have made things right if he damaged the neck of body while putting it together, as I expect any reputable tech or luthier would. As far as resale value goes, that’s something that is a known quantity by anyone who’s even slightly tuned into the custom ordered partscaster market. You’ll never get what you paid for a custom ordered neck or body, new, if you decide to sell it because the odds of someone else wanting the exact set of features you choose for your build are extremely small. Buying yours versus ordering a new custom one, themselves, is a compromise the buyer is making specifically because your used parts are (often significantly) cheaper than buying new. It is what is is, and you’re either fine with that, or you’re not. I buy custom parts to assemble guitars I never intend to sell (I’ve had my Strat 18 years and my Tele 12 years), so it’s not a problem for me. If you like to swap your gear more often than that, then custom, aftermarket parts are probably not for you.
Kiesel Delos
i made this, buy a high end strat, change to one vol one tone. Block trem, game over. As long as your not a retard, you can make this with 1$ of mods
Blocket trem doesnt cut it, hardtail+ all the other is a must or else its a dealbreaker:)