pappawookee

Building from scratch is a bit of a pain in the arse!!!! I much prefer modding howlers!!! As far as STrat copies go I can't see past the Westfields. They have a decent weight to them and need no realigning of screw holes or anything to just drop in proper Fender parts. THere are some cracking alternatives to the expensive brands as well. Mighty Mite stuff (fender licensed) can be picked up for buttons on e-bay and Catswhisker and Iron Gear are a couple of great pickup brands that are really reasonably priced. Geting a 'crappy' cheap guitar for about 50-100quid and then spending another couple of hundred on mods can make a piece of junk sing like an off the shelf beast!!!

mmmmmm interesting. In my (limited) experience an LP neck break (or any neck break for tat matter) should never just be glued.............you need to get some dowels in there too because the strength and stability of the neck has now been MAJORLY comprimised. If the headstock is actually pulling considerably then some luthiers would actually take it and.....wait for it.......snap it right off!!!! That way they can get 'into' the crack and drill some holes to strategically place some pegs and then glue. Most pros will tell you that a neck break is not really worth the money to fix unless it is of great cash or sentimental value. A bolt on neck should just be straight replaced and a fixed neck, ala Gibsons, well........it ain't ever going to play or sound quite like it did. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news man but the guys in Aberdeen I knw that do it will charge considerably more to fix a neck break. I've heard nothing but good things about the guy in Manchester but at that price.......glue and paint alone do not a good repair make.