"The hoarder self-medicated with things the way other trauma survivors self medicate with drugs or alcohol."
― Randy Frost
Yeah, yeah ... another Stratocaster!
I recently spotted a U.S.-made olympic white Stratocaster body with a matching rosewood fretboard neck on eBay, bringing back memories of my very first Stratocaster—a 1988 American Standard. Unfortunately, that guitar is long gone, lost in a purge that left me with my 1995 American Standard as my only electric guitar. Oh, how times have changed. Here's a photo of me, likely from around 1990, playing that '88 Strat in a garage band I was in:
So skinny! Note the Pink Floyd t-shirt with Cyrillic text.
The body was an open-box item with a minor blemish:
I was able to wet-sand and buff it out—you can't even tell it was there.
For pickups, I decided to go with Seymour Duncan's Classic Stack Plus setup:
The build hit a brief snag when I realized I was given the wrong pickup wiring diagram. I reached out to Seymour Duncan online, and they quickly emailed me the correct one:
Their Liberator potentiometer requires very little soldering—wires plug directly into the pickup connector stations and are secured into place with a set screw. The only necessary soldering was done to the ground on the tremolo claw and the wires to the output jack.
Already on-hand, I had options to install vintage tuners and bridge saddles or modern ones—I've accumulated a lot of guitar components. The original '88 had sported modern versions, but I prefer the vintage look, so that's how I set it up.
Here's the finished headstock:
And the complete Strat:
Pretty, eh? I just love it.
While the body and neck are from a Professional II series Stratocaster, I built it from parts, which saved me quite a bit of money. Did I really need it? Not at all, but it's a fantastic guitar and a joy to play. It also brings back memories of my first Strat. One day, I'll probably part with most of my collection, but for now, it's staying.
All images © 2025 Mike McDowell