Custom Strat build with GK3

[dead3t3rn1ty]

Just sharing with you this partscaster project I just finished.

Some specs:

• Fender American Standard Body 2009
• Fender American Standard Neck 2001
• Fender branded locking tuners (I think they're made by Schaller)
• Wilkinson VS100 Bridge
• Roland GK-KIT-GK3
• Seymour Duncan TB-4 JB bridge pickup
• Seymour Duncan SH-1 Jazz neck picklup
• Push pull volume knob for coil tap
• DR Strings DDT 13-65 for A# F A# D# G C tuning (2 steps below drop D)

Here's the body as I got it, slightly relic (better, I feel less guilty if I scratch it...):


And the kit:


Drilling and routing for the new 13pin jack:



Testing if the electronics fit the cavity:


I replaced the 2 buttons (up/down) with a momentary switch (on)-off-(on) which I got from RS:


Drilling the pickguard, I tried my best but the dremel slipped out of my hands with an horrible result:


Just one string to test if all the electronics and switches are working properly:


My cat helping me (because we're on the internet and we always need cat pictures):


Final result!



I'm using it with a Boss GP-10, in 4 ways:

• Using COSM amps and FX for the regular magnetic pickups
• Sending the 6 audio signals (one per string) to NI Reaktor, using them to hardsync some oscillators and build different guitar synths out of it
• Using modeled Synth sounds on the GP10 itself
• Sending midi notes to MainStage to control all my sample libraries

Despite the horrible work on the pickguard I'm very happy with the result!