THE SPIRIT BEHIND BUILDING A PARTS GUITAR
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The Fender Bullet was first designed in 1981 by John Page at the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation in Fullerton, California. The guitars were
introduced as student guitars to replace the outgoing Fender Mustang and Musicmaster models. The design was all about putting out a good guitar at
a reasonable, cost saving price.
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But John Page wasn't satisfied with the quality of the Bullet instruments coming back from Korea and decided to produce the first guitars in the
U.S.A. with left over parts from the soon to be closed Fullerton, California factory. The Fender Bullet from it's concept was about putting good
parts together, and making a good guitar, for as little cost as possible. The biggest reason they were able to sell the first Bullets at a
reasonable price, for what was really a very good instrument, was because the unused parts were already on hand.
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With the advances in computerized technology, being able to afford a well-crafted guitar that was made with precision machinery is now possible.
Guitars built overseas are made with inexpensive labor, and inexpensive electronics and hardware, but crafted with precision; and then assembled
quickly and put on the market. Squier Bullets are a popular guitar to modify because of its inexpensive cost, but precision made bodies and necks.
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Some musicians like Eddie Van Halen and Brian May have built their own guitars to get the sounds they heard in their heads in their hands. Eddie
Van Halen's Frankenstrat was constructed by Eddie using a flawed ash body, an average maple neck, along with Gibson pickups he gutted from his
ES-335. And soon after, the classic Red, white, and black paint job was added. Brian May's Red Special was built by May and his father. The Red
Special has been used on every Queen album since their beginning. The neck was made from fireplace mantle wood. The name “Red Special” comes from
the fact that it has been repeatedly stained with many layers of Rustins' plastic coating.
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In the1970s Eric Clapton was browsing a Nashville guitar store called Sho-Bud, when he came across three used 1950s Stratocasters in the back of
the store and bought all three of them. "They were so out of fashion you could pick up a perfectly genuine Strat for two or three hundred dollars
even less! So I bought all of them. I gave one to Steve Winwood, one to George Harrison, and one to Pete Townshend." Eric Clapton said.
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Eric took the parts he liked best to create his ideal black Stratocaster. Eric took a black 1956 body, and a 1957 neck, and the pickups from the
third guitar to put together his guitar. Clapton didn't reassemble the vibrato arm. He blocked the vibrato behind the bridge and the vibrato
springs were tightened to keep the sound solid. He named the guitar Blackie.
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YouTube Video - "Building a Partscaster Guitar"
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