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Guitar Of The Month For June


Guitar of the Month for June  

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This was REALLY hard. I think visually, MetalHead you take the cake. But when I see a guitar that pushes the contemporary boundaries as much as Ola's guitar does... I have to give it the vote. That said, I would have put one of the other ergo guitars up here instead of the wenge one personally.

Also, Mary Ann, if I remember correctly this is your first build right? HUGELY impressive!

Lastly, NotYou, your guitars are always super cool in my book. However, being so totally different from the other guitars here in the GOTM contests, it's hard to rate them in the same contest. Your guitars have SO much character it's unbelieveable! I think they would be a GREAT instrument for statement making on stage... especially with someone like Jack White, etc.

Chris

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Our Souls inc. - "Zulu" Great build here, love how the art work and flee market wood turned out. A+ on that score. however it didn't get my vote.

pauliemc - FREAKY GREEN SATRIANI Great work once again for Paul here but once again didn't get my vote, I'm a wood porn guy I guess. A+ work though.

crow - PRS Custom 22 COPY Fantastic build took a long time to see you get it up here. I love the colour and the inlays to match it. this is my #2 vote.

RestorationAD - Diablo This is it for me This one takes the cake in my book. I wanted it from the first time I saw the neck. and would be the first one I would

pick up in the store. I would buy this guitar without ever trying it. like I said I'm a wood porn guy.

madhattr88 - "the Rascal" Great build, clean work.

avengers63 - MIRRORED ICEMAN this is one of those your going to love it or hate it builds, I don't like the mirrored finish, but thats me and still a great build.

Hitone - The Jazz Skeleton Concept Now this got my 4th place vote, I love the concept but not a fan of the Lexan body I wish it was an archtop made from wood.

Strandberg Guita... - second installment in the Ergonomic Guitar System Cool concept guitars, but for me I wouldn't pic it up based on the fact that it doesn't look

like a guitar to me with out a headstock, Very clean work, just not for me.

NotYou - "Ain't got a Name" killer looking guitar, as Stated above I can totally picture Jack White playing this thing.

Metalhead28 - "GINGER" Fantastic build and workmanship all around. I love this body shape, but the shape has gotten my vote before. I love your neck

thru's. this was #3 for me.

AccidentalChef - Mary Ann I love the use of the woods you used in this build. very good work for your first build. keep them coming.

Great work to everyone that entered. your all winners.

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This month has some amazing entries! I'd own almost all of them. But it came down to one *DUN DUN DUN*

Our Souls - I'm diggin the explorers! its pretty creative with the drawers. I would have tried to do a better job hiding them or making them flow with the body though. I can't say they're not innovative! I do like the concept and the whole idea for the guitar though. Making something awesome out of something you found at a flea market is pretty sweet! This guitar has a good story :D

pauliemc - The Freaky Green Satriani is awesome! I love the brushed on grain look of the entire thing, and the mock chroming on the back! The jack being on the control cavity cover - though convenient - would bug me though... Well, I don't know if it would bug me... I go into the cavity a lot, so I don't know if having it tethered would bug me or not.

crow - This is the guitar I'd own. Its the only PRS i've ever seen that I'd own lol. Its smooth, curvy, grain popped, kinda dark, sexy, and I love the carved/burnt in logo! I'd buy it right now if i had the money! joo g0tz M1 V073!

RestorationAD - This is the guitar I would have voted for if the grain had been emphasized just a little bit more. I absolutely love this guitar, but I really would have liked to see some more depth in that beautiful grain. It looks like it has potential for it!

madhattr88 - This guitar isn't my thing, but there's some obvious time put into it, and I do thing it deserves a thumbs up for craftmanship!

Avengers63 - This guitar is pretty freakin sweet! But when I look at the closeup shots, i see your little nics here and there... No disrespect intended, as binding, neck pockets (especially new and invoative ones!) and mirror tops aren't exactly something I'm good at working with lol. But overall, very cool. I wouldn't mind showing this to everyone at all!

Hitone - Interesting concept... It looks more like an art piece than a guitar to me though.

Strandberg Guitars - I absolutely love your ergonomic guitars, and I hope to own one one of these days!

NotYou - I like the craftmanship, and I give you praise for all the time you put into this... However, I haaaaaaaaaaaate steam punk...

Metalhead28 - Very cool! :D

AccidentialChef - Also very cool! Not too sure if I'm into the choice of colors in the laminate mix though.

Very good month for everyone! Best of luck to all of you B)

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oursouls - really like this on the whole - definately a talking point guitar. i'm afraid the access panels do spoil it a bit for me.... but i like it more than i expected to

paulie - this particular fabric doesnt do much for me... i think something with stronger colours would look better i also think the neck join needs more development... for a very curvy guitar it has a square neck join :?

crow - a lovelly build, i really like the finish but think it wouldbenefit from being much lighter on the horns for extra contrast. i am also not generally a fan of woode pickup rings

RAD - i love the woods and construction on this, carving in the horns doesnt quite flow as smooth as the rest, or really its just highlighted by the accent line.... needs some colour :D

madhattr88 - this is a really nice simple and professional looking design. If it was off white with a plain black scratchplate it would look absolutely stunning, the wooden guard distracts from the design for me. i would be sorely tempted to try a simple black plate instead

avenger - its clever, the colour choices really work quite well. i like the changes to the iceman body shape, not so sure about the headstock changes

Hitone - i really would have liked some sound clips on this

strandberg - my favorite this month, the wenge had me sold on it. i have not been keen of the look of the lace pickups so far.... but they match this perfectly. everything is pretty much spot on

not you - lovelly stuff. the rust really works well although i would have maybe had more of it on the front

metalhead28 - a close second for me. looks as good as we have come to expect, the shape has really grown on me and i even dont mind the p-rails or wooden pcikup rings on this one

accidental chef - the constuction is really nice. it has the proper alembic vibe and i really like all those layers. i think it almost needs to be a bit more shapely to show them all off

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Another great month!

Our Souls- I really like the vibe this has, the only niggle I have is the hidden covers for the jack etc seem to not fit that greatly

Paulie MC - I LOVE the finish! The brush strokes on the top look great and really add texture, the back could do with more of a buff though

Crow - The carving and finish is outstanding! Really great job, I'd like to see it with chrome covers though - just a preferance thing

Restoration AD - Man thats a beautiful top! I love the skarf joint and the pinstriping, this would have gotten my vote

Pinker Guitars - Great take on a student classic- I really like the maple scratchplate, great little guitar

Avengers - I have a huge softspot for Icemen, I love the mirrored top and the back looks amazing with the contrast of wenge in that deep pocket, not a fan of the red binding though

Hitone - Awesome!! Your logo looks really great on the clear body. I'd be really interested in hearing some clips of it

Strandberg - I really love what you're doing, Ive shown your blog to a bunch of guys and everyone (even non guitarists) find it really interesting and innovative so I guess thanks for thinking outside the box

Notyou - Im digging the overall vibe your builds have, some real cool features, the only thing I dont like is the bridge- Im not sure how well that will intonate

Metalhead - Dude. Thats seriously one of the most drool worthy builds I think I've ever seen. Mad Kudos, I would be proud, eveything about it is breathtaking - you got my vote

Accidental Chef - The build quality looks great and a nice use of woods, Im not that keen on the overall body shape though

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I'm still kind of undecided. There are lots of great guitars this month. Hitones is a great concept, but I'd need to hear it. Actually, I'd love to hear it. AccidentalChef's is probably my favorite. I can't get past the gold hardware though. I love everything else and I know the hardware is replaceable, but I still can't overlook it. It's just a preference, though. I love the binding and the top and back wood.

The others are all great too. But those were my top picks. Great work everybody!

And, hey, how 'bout NotYou's guitar? :D Eh? Eh?

BTW, I just wanted to clear this up:

Notyou - Im digging the overall vibe your builds have, some real cool features, the only thing I dont like is the bridge- Im not sure how well that will intonate

The intonation almost perfect. All of the strings are dead on except the A and B strings which are sharp by less than 5 cents, which, in theory, isn't perceivable to the human ear.

Edited by NotYou
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Blistering good talent this month. :D

RAD got my vote.

Maybe not because it's the best, I don't think there actually was a 'best', there were so many top shelf builds here this month, every single one showed much talent, but it was my favorite...it was most like what I would build for myself, with Metalhead coming in a mind-screeching close hair-splitting second, but seriously, hats off to everyone who entered.

I will even give big hat to avengers ( :D).

I loved that Bloodwood fretboard!

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Our Souls inc. - "Zulu" : I don't know what to think of this one. I really like the fact that you made a guitar out of that piece of sculpted wood, but at the end of the day, it's an Exporer that you wouldn't really suspect anything about unless you turned it over, I don't know HOW, but it seems there could have been some way to work a little more WITH the art piece at hand.

pauliemc - FREAKY GREEN SATRIANI : I like this one. The body shape, neck joint, and the finish all make one good looking and original guitar. I think that it's cool that the fabric texture stays with the finish.

crow - PRS Custom 22 COPY : Very tasteful reproduction with just the right blend of the original PRS vintage vibe and the more modern headstock and pickup treatment. The inlays are also very nice because they are more subtle than if white pearl or abalone had been used, yet there's enough contrast to tell what's going on. Very well done!

RestorationAD - Diablo : Another very tasteful build with a nice selection of woods, and I love the back of the neck.

madhattr88 - "the Rascal" - I like this one too. It's a very nice interpretation of a classic design. It's taking it a step further and making it your own. Very well done, too!

avengers63 - MIRRORED ICEMAN - I also like the change made to the body design. I like where you seemed to be going with the headstock, but it seems you weren't there yet ;-) I also like the bolt-on in the back neck joint. I saw one on a friend's Italian guitar a while back and thought (and still think) it's a really cool idea, and I don't min the red binding. However, the close-up shots get me thinking you need to pay more attention to detail and the finishing touches and/or preparation. It seems you've been building a truckload of guitars, so this shouldn't be as much of an issue as it seems to be here.

Hitone - The Jazz Skeleton Concept - Voted for this one. Okay, so it might seem like a novelty guitar, but it's a damn fine one. I would love to see more close-up pictures of it. I would also love to play it. It is really a designer's guitar. I love it!

Strandberg Guita... - second installment in the Ergonomic Guitar System : Of all the guitars this month, this is definitely the guitar that I would most like to own. The ONE thing I would change on it is the neck plate... This guitar deserves something much more modern and ergonomic than that 50's chrome Fender neck plate!

NotYou - "Ain't got a Name" - Another fine art piece.

Metalhead28 - "GINGER" - A nice "wood porn" guitar. Love the color, and pretty much everything else... And it looks SO clean! How did you manage the transition between the body lacquer and the oil neck finish?

AccidentalChef - Mary Ann - Very nice "woody" guitar. I think I would have found it too woody brown had it not been for the flashy padauk stripes. It ties it all together. Very nice!

Cheers,

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Metalhead28 - "GINGER" - A nice "wood porn" guitar. Love the color, and pretty much everything else... And it looks SO clean! How did you manage the transition between the body lacquer and the oil neck finish?

Thanks!

I masked off the neck up to just shy of where it meets the body wings and the edge of the heel, and afterwards I sanded to feather out the edge of the lacquer so you couldn't feel it before applying the oil.

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How did you guys know which guitar to vote for....there were no blue flame maple guitars! :D

I voted for Hitone - always love something a bit out of the ordinary.

I absolutely love Not You's finishes, but didn't like the shape of this one as much as his other masterpieces.

Nothing to add about the others that hasn't already been said - truly a bumper month of winners all round.

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The Strandberg got my vote; superb, sleek, well thought out design, aesthetics are toned down but spot-on, and the whole thing just 'works'. It's perhaps not my favourite of this line of models, but it's a fantastic guitar in its own right.

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Lots of choice this month. made it a total bitch to pick a winner. But here are my toughts anyway.

Our Souls ZUZU

Nice explorer, I realy like the grain in the front, & the carving being retained on the back is a nice touch. I would have liked the cavity covers to be a cleaner fit, But thats easily fixed.

Crow Custom 22

I like this. The flame is not too heavy & works well with the gradiated finish. Excellent inlay work & love the headstock.

I think a stronger contrast in colour is needed for the fretboard inlays, But still - cool.

Overall a realy nice guitar, should be my No. 1, But something is bugging me about the photos, cant put my finger on it, just a gut thing :D

RESTORATIONAD Diablo

Excellent build, as usual. Nice lines, Realy cool top wood.

I would like the pups to be a darker wood than the fret board. But that said, id probobly buy this. Cant say much better than that.

madhattr88 Rascal

Talk about keeping it simple. Not much to say here realy, Nice wood choices, Nice pickup choice. Id change the bridge, But other than that its perfect.

avenger Mirrored iceman

The white with the mirror works realy well. Although im not sure about the red. Its cool in some piks but seems more orange in others. Most likly the camera so no worries. Freaky neck joint, Nice build over all.

Hitone Skeleton

This is excellent, Realy like this one. Its almost toooooo far out there. I kinda wish there was more going on inside it, but that would probobly ruin it.

SOUND CLIPS ? we need some, have to hear this thing B)

strandberg Egronomic

My number 01. Love this thing. The grain on the top looks like its bunched up around the funky bridge. I generally hate headless guitars but not this one. The body shape reminds me of a pelvic bone or scapula from a dinosaur for some reason :D

Not you Aitn got a name

Realy cool. as usual. I can never tell if your builds are approached as a musical instrument, or as Art.

metalhead28 Ginger

Freaky clean build. Nice top, Cool neck, Nice finish, Even like the pickups. Only reason you lost out to Strandberg is I hate lots of switches.

accidental chef Mary ann

Nice build. The claro walnut was a good choice. Bigger tummy cut would make those layers realy jump out on the back. Realy nice guitar

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One of the best months.

If I were to vote seeing these for the first time, I would probably go with Metalhead28's Ginger,

but watching these progress day by day I had to go with RAD's Diablo.

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Tough month. Incredible builds from everyone.

Once again I hate to say anything bad about any build here. All the things I found were so minor I probably shouldn't talk about them. But here is my constructive and somewhat useless opinions.

Our Souls inc. - "Zulu" : Best build I have seen from you yet.

pauliemc - FREAKY GREEN SATRIANI : This is a solid guitar. I could see it on stage every night working hard. I like the work it is clean and professional. I like the fabric although it is not my cup o' tea. I am not sold on the neck joint although it looks like it has great access. The only area of concern for me and it could be the angle of the pics is the distance between the string-through ferrels and the bridge. Also I tried the jack in the control plate and will not do that again. Excellent example of innovation within the constraints of a satriani model.

crow - PRS Custom 22 COPY : I hate to even bother trying to say anything about this guitar as it is excellent (and I don't like PRS) Amazing work on the carve and the dye job. Excellent inlays. Take aways for this one and they are minor... the pickup rings just don't feel right and the inlays do not stick out enough. I might like to see a little more contrast. Still excellent guitar. I may be copying the dye job in the future!

RestorationAD - Diablo : This was supposed to be a black everyday shredder...

madhattr88 - "the Rascal" - Classic with nice clean work. Excellent. I like the home grown feel of it. (Shoulda used one of my pickups :D ha ha ha)

avengers63 - MIRRORED ICEMAN - Nice Iceman you got there John. Best guitar to date. I like the way this guitar feels like an Avenger guitar yet it is refined. The fret work looks good. The choice of colors and woods is spot on. Looks like you have perfected the back bolt technique. The mirror top came out nice. Good headstock. I know those pickups are happy in such a fine guitar. Break out your KISS Army jacket... Star Child would be jealous. Nice work! (Thank you for not being naked when you took those pictures :D )

Hitone - The Jazz Skeleton Concept - Excellent innovation. I am enthralled with the headstock. The only thing that is hard to tell from the pictures is the sound hole. I would play it. I bet cutting the acrylic was tough.

Strandberg Guita... - second installment in the Ergonomic Guitar System : The wenge top is the best of the bunch. I like the body shape and the trapezoid necks. I have been experimenting with a similar shape ever since I saw an example on Rick Toone's Blog. Very clean and Professional.

NotYou - "Ain't got a Name" - Excellent again. I hope you have enough rusty mesh left for another one. Is the screw holding the trussrod cover on a car interior screw? I like the bridge and the knobs. How did you do the knobs? As great as the rust and the build is (I like all your work) I didn't like the shape as much as some others you have built. Still I could see a bunch of guys sitting around playing blues on that thing. Cool indeed.

Metalhead28 - "GINGER" - What is to say. It is excellent. I am going to steal the color for a build later this summer. Top notch.

AccidentalChef - Mary Ann - Excellent veneer coming from someone who likes veneer. I really think this is an excellent build. Very Alembic. That said I am not a fan of the way the horns turn in and the belly cut could have been deeper. Body shape aside everything else is amazing. Look forward to the next one.

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pauliemc - FREAKY GREEN SATRIANI : This is a solid guitar. I could see it on stage every night working hard. I like the work it is clean and professional. I like the fabric although it is not my cup o' tea. I am not sold on the neck joint although it looks like it has great access. The only area of concern for me and it could be the angle of the pics is the distance between the string-through ferrels and the bridge. Also I tried the jack in the control plate and will not do that again. Excellent example of innovation within the constraints of a satriani model.

Glad you liked it. was an interesting experiment. Your right about the neck joint, Absolutly savage fret access.

The heel was intended to give some semblance of a traditional feel but ended up being even less noticible than an aanj.

As for the strings, I wanted to try out the whole vaulted string thing, It makes for some funky tones in acoustic instruments so i figured id try it here.

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pauliemc - FREAKY GREEN SATRIANI : This is a solid guitar. I could see it on stage every night working hard. I like the work it is clean and professional. I like the fabric although it is not my cup o' tea. I am not sold on the neck joint although it looks like it has great access. The only area of concern for me and it could be the angle of the pics is the distance between the string-through ferrels and the bridge. Also I tried the jack in the control plate and will not do that again. Excellent example of innovation within the constraints of a satriani model.

Glad you liked it. was an interesting experiment. Your right about the neck joint, Absolutly savage fret access.

The heel was intended to give some semblance of a traditional feel but ended up being even less noticible than an aanj.

As for the strings, I wanted to try out the whole vaulted string thing, It makes for some funky tones in acoustic instruments so i figured id try it here.

I imagine the strings chime like a piano. I had a short scale S470 back in the day that this reminds me of.

I would have liked to see the neck joint recess line rounder... I think it is the square shape that is throwing my eye.

Otherwise props!

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pauliemc - FREAKY GREEN SATRIANI : This is a solid guitar. I could see it on stage every night working hard. I like the work it is clean and professional. I like the fabric although it is not my cup o' tea. I am not sold on the neck joint although it looks like it has great access. The only area of concern for me and it could be the angle of the pics is the distance between the string-through ferrels and the bridge. Also I tried the jack in the control plate and will not do that again. Excellent example of innovation within the constraints of a satriani model.

Glad you liked it. was an interesting experiment. Your right about the neck joint, Absolutly savage fret access.

The heel was intended to give some semblance of a traditional feel but ended up being even less noticible than an aanj.

As for the strings, I wanted to try out the whole vaulted string thing, It makes for some funky tones in acoustic instruments so i figured id try it here.

I imagine the strings chime like a piano. I had a short scale S470 back in the day that this reminds me of.

I would have liked to see the neck joint recess line rounder... I think it is the square shape that is throwing my eye.

Otherwise props!

I agree on the heel, But the guy i built it for prefers a square heel.

Cant complain realy, i was let go to town on the rest of it :D

The sound is very very clear, kinda jumps out at you. I suppose chime is a good description now you mention it.

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A big part of me really wanted to vote for the Jazz Skeleton, but in the end, Diablo stole my heart. Lots of really GREAT builds this month!

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I'm number 11! :D

:D

I didn't expect this kind of guitar to get far here, to be honest. I'll be entering a shiny wood porn guitar next month, though.

I duno man. Your guitar looks like something from southpark, you know, or a prop from a pixar movie. Not ment in a bad way. I fookin love it B) , The front is very plain looking but that only helps exagerate the look of it. All the hardware just pops out as big bold shapes. It almost looks like a miniature in that first pik.

It may be that its so far off the traditional concept of what we are used to seeing here that its getting overlooked. Its just not the norm.

I mean look at the back of mine. Somebody taught it was foe-chrome, Someone else said polished pewter. But its just a crap load of poly polished to livin hell.

Its the same with yours here, Its done so well that the freaky genious of it is getting missed.

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