Stratocaster Compatible Guitar Body Hardtail - Candy Apple Red

Our Strat-Compatible Hardtail Body is a top choice at Northwest Guitars. Its fixed bridge design offers enhanced sustain, making it appealing to guitarists who want stability without the need for locking tuners, which are often required for tremolo-equipped guitars. Additionally, installing a hardtail bridge is significantly easier than a tremolo bridge, adding to its popularity.

Alder Guitar Body

Our guitar bodies are crafted from 2-piece American Alder, a wood favoured by major manufacturers like Fender. It’s a light to medium-weight wood found in the northern hemisphere, including varieties like red, black, and European Alder. It's light colour and close grain make it ideal for solid finishes, while its closed-pore structure delivers a resonant, balanced tone with excellent sustain and attack. These qualities, along with its ease of use, make Alder one of the most popular woods for guitar bodies.

Neck Pocket

All of our guitar bodies are designed for complete compatibility, ensuring that neck pockets are perfectly sized to fit most guitar necks. The snug fit, combined with pre-drilled holes, makes installation straightforward and ideal for pairing with genuine Fender necks or other aftermarket options.

Routing

We route all of our guitar bodies for your electronics, with pre-drilled cavities for pickups, controls, and some hardware mounts to help you get started quickly. However, we do not pre-drill bridge mounting holes due to the wide variety of bridge types available, allowing you the flexibility to install your preferred option.

String spacing

Just like the original Fender Hardtail Strat, our bodies have a string spacing of 11.3mm (56.5mm E to E), making them compatible with the Fender Original Hardtail Bridge, and the Hosco T105P.

Poly Finish

All of our guitar bodies are finished with durable Polyurethane, the preferred choice for modern guitars. Polyurethane requires fewer coats than Nitrocellulose, speeding up the build process, and it offers superior durability, staying shiny longer and resisting scratches and dings. With years of experience, we’ve earned a reputation among builders and luthiers for producing top-quality wood products. Our Stratocaster Hardtail Compatible Body is an excellent choice for your next guitar build project.​