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Guitar Of The Month For April


  

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First in! Hey, didn't Patrik enter a great looking guitar at the beginning of the month, so what happened?

Anyway... Some great looking guitar this month:

RAD - Great sleek look, great wood. Head shape is interesting and take it a bit away from an all to traditional look

3dognate - Clean and well buildt. Interesting electronics but very traditional build. Doesn't really get me going thou

John (Avenger) - Great look and fantastic inlays. The stain looks a slight bit blotchy in a spot or two, but that could be the wood itself.

Jessejames - cleane nice build, the small crack thing in the top is a bit distracting.

Crow - Looks like a great build. However the colors doesn't match. The white back, the maple "binding", the semi-black top, head and back cover, the maple pickup rings and truss rod cover, gold bridge with chrome studs (at least it looks like that) and black tuners makes it look disharmonic

Orgmorg - As usual I love your guitars. The only thing that can be improved (IMNO) is that I have never liked when laminated necks shows up on the front of the head. A thin weneer or something on the head have made it 100% but thats just me

Madhattr - This is perfect! Simple and elegant, clean with an almost art deco feel (at least to me) Classic but still something new. This got my vote this month

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Look out the window you might just see flying pigs. I just voted for Avenger.

RAD - you would have got the vote, but I've seen better versions of this guitar from you in the past week. Exceptional work, thought, and keep the build threads coming.

John - it's precisely because I usually think your work is sloppy, aesthetically questionable and ill thought-out that you got my vote. This is a beaut. Clean, shiny, tasteful, and excellent executed on almost every level. Bravo!

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Swedish luthier - love the brown finish on this one - looks like a well worn pebble. i would probably loose the floyd and go for the same aesthetics on both pickups, polepeices or not rather than one of each

RAD - very clean as always, nice to see a gloss one - just think that spalt could do with a little something else... which is why i ended up doing a couple of black bursts over spalted maple builds

3dognate - lovely factory quality looking build with a borg implant shoved on its ass. since this is mainly a beauty contest that thing lets it down - although i appreciate its a functional decision

avenger63 - gets my vote for most improved. love the inlays, love the guitar. Finish could be a bit more consistent, like swede says their is the odd patch which could be down to the wood. could have been solved with a darker edge burst - but i like the colour as it is

jessejames - nice woods and all... not sure you have taken full advantage of its set-neck construction, could have done something with that heel and it really does need a string through bridge... or at least the bolts trimming down on that one!

crow - stunning top, nice colour choice for that. the white back doesnt do it for me and the wenge looks like it needs some oil - but that could be the bright white washing it out

orgmorg - its almost a bit plain for one of yours - i think it needs some random old tat sticking to it :D Liking the neck join detail

madhattr88 - this was second place for me, i would play it in a second. i think this design would make a nice semi or arch/carved top design

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i would probably loose the floyd and go for the same aesthetics on both pickups, polepeices or not rather than one of each

I appreciate the feedback. The exposed pole pieces on the neck pickup is necessary to get the sound that was requested from that pickup. The bridge pickup is a slug only pickup and thus it wasn't possible to match them for looks.

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SwedishLuthier - Love the overall vibe... Definitely a guitar I want to pick up and jam out on.

RestorationAD - Beautifully clean and sharp. The fretboard is a very tasty piece of cocobolo. I think the top could have something more going on, but it's still very nice as it is.

3DogNate - The build itself is a bit on the plain side for me, but I love the midi stuff so that's awesome!

orgmorg - I love the concept and the look! I especially like the hardware.

madhattr88 - I voted for this one. Very graceful and clean, and I'm in love with the acoustic aesthetic. I would be interested in seeing this with some alternative hardware choices and configurations just for kicks, but it's awesome as it is.

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RAD - Great sleek look, great wood. Head shape is interesting and take it a bit away from an all to traditional look

You know you love it or you hate it... but it is just what I am doing __right now__. BTW I have another design that is a bit more rounded for vintage style instruments. I might try it on an upcoming build. One caveat to this design is the tip fragile... I could circumvent broken tips with a rounder end.

RAD - you would have got the vote, but I've seen better versions of this guitar from you in the past week. Exceptional work, thought, and keep the build threads coming.

Ugghhh.... beat by my own progression!

RAD - very clean as always, nice to see a gloss one - just think that spalt could do with a little something else... which is why i ended up doing a couple of black bursts over spalted maple builds

RestorationAD - Beautifully clean and sharp. The fretboard is a very tasty piece of cocobolo. I think the top could have something more going on, but it's still very nice as it is.

pffft! The pair of you are crazy... more going on? seriously? That top is sick with color, flame, and spalt. :D

i would probably loose the floyd and go for the same aesthetics on both pickups, polepeices or not rather than one of each

I appreciate the feedback. The exposed pole pieces on the neck pickup is necessary to get the sound that was requested from that pickup. The bridge pickup is a slug only pickup and thus it wasn't possible to match them for looks.

I like it... and I hate trying to match up all slug pups and pole/slug pups. But IMHO from a tone perspective I prefer a pole/slug in the neck position. I know it is mostly voodoo (cause I have a badarse set of blades that prove you don't need pole/slug in np) but that is just what feels right to me.

First in! Hey, didn't Patrik enter a great looking guitar at the beginning of the month, so what happened?

Ummm... Huf left the building... PM me if you want to know more.

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Swedish luthier - Excellent. I hate to point anything out as it is a very fit piece. I would like to see a bit more purpose on lower horn edge cut away thing. I like the lines of the guitar all the way around but the cut away by for upper fret access looks really soft... I think keeping the same roundover throughout would have worked. Love the tuners, pickups. Only thing I might add would be a piece of black foam in the trem recess (that is the old skooler in me)

3dognate - The fact that it looks like a factory guitar says all that needs to be said. Bravo. Not my taste but all the respect for such a clean build.

avenger63 - Best work yet. I would own this one. The spray equipment really paid off. I even like the inlays.

jessejames - I would play this one. I like them simple with as few bolts as possible. I really dig the set neck (I so hate screws in my necks) and think it works with the traditional heal. Nice top. Please fix the control cavity cover (recess it).

crow - Not my favorite from you but still very well done. I don't like PRS guitars (at all). But if I was going to get one I would have you build it for me.

orgmorg - What can I say... you are an artist. The neck heal is smashing. The stripes in the headstock are distracting. I would gladly own it.

madhattr88 - This is a very nice simple guitar with a hidden spice of a veneer. Good work, nice lines, excellent accents. Look forward to more from you.

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pffft! The pair of you are crazy... more going on? seriously? That top is sick with color, flame, and spalt. :D

True that. :D I think it's just the unspalted outer areas causing my usual disinclination toward clear-coated unaltered maple tops to kick in. Even so, it's an awesome build that likely would've gotten my vote if madhattr88 hadn't taken it. B)

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pffft! The pair of you are crazy... more going on? seriously? That top is sick with color, flame, and spalt. :D

maybe i am crazy - but i clearly like what a blackburst does to spalted tops

v1.jpg

d14.jpg

(oh, and they are both GOTM winners :D )

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Very excellent month indeed! I was nervous about putting my guitar on here because it wasn't going to win next to all these other excellent entries, but I wanted to go through trial by fire.

Swedish - Very clean! Not a big fan of that long upper horn, but I like the finish and headstock and the scarf accent.

Restoration - Gets my vote. I don't buy guitars anymore, but I would buy that one. It's just 100% clean.

3Dog - Like the all mahogany body, I'm not a fan of the small dot inlays, but you did a really good job with this.

Avengers - I followed this thread, you did really good work, especially with those inlays, not a huge fan of that top, or the burst, but you did awesome with the clear coat on this. Looks like a mirror.

JesseJames - You're a douchebag.

Crow - Love this build too. I like the white back on that black topped guitar. I would have liked this guitar more if it had a better top, this one is nice, but there is almost no figure in the very middle. Just doesn't "pop" to me. But I like your overall design of it.

Orgmorg - Cool theme, nice back wood. Just doesn't really speak to me personally, but top notch work.

Madhattr - I remember this build too, EXCELLENT job on it. Definately my 2nd choice. Super clean work.

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RAD - Great sleek look, great wood. Head shape is interesting and take it a bit away from an all to traditional look

You know you love it or you hate it... but it is just what I am doing __right now__. BTW I have another design that is a bit more rounded for vintage style instruments. I might try it on an upcoming build. One caveat to this design is the tip fragile... I could circumvent broken tips with a rounder end.

Don't get me wrong, I like that the head makes it look different from "yet another superstrat"

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RAD - Great sleek look, great wood. Head shape is interesting and take it a bit away from an all to traditional look

You know you love it or you hate it... but it is just what I am doing __right now__. BTW I have another design that is a bit more rounded for vintage style instruments. I might try it on an upcoming build. One caveat to this design is the tip fragile... I could circumvent broken tips with a rounder end.

Don't get me wrong, I like that the head makes it look different from "yet another superstrat"

I got what you were saying. For me right now it is about the brand.

It is almost impossible to build a unique Super Strat these days.

Another point to make is building a brand is different from building a guitar. I have built a lot of different remakes of my favorite guitars and fixed the little things I didn't like about the original along the way... I feel that is a lot easier than coming up with something unique. Once you do come up with something it becomes about consistency, retaining the unique qualities, and the ability to reproduce the same quality every time.

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I went with Madhattr's entry, superb! I usually don't like forearm contours that cut through the top, but it really works nicely here.

Very close seconds were the Northstar and Helios. Both very nicely done.

The wood and finish on the Northstar really compliment the shape well.

Only thing I don't like about the Helios is how far the tuners are from the nut. I love Wez'z blackbursts, but this looks great just as it is, suits the guitar nicely.

The Mockingbird looks great. I really like the inlay design a lot, and it goes very well with the rest of the guitar, but it is a bit rough in places, and the filled in dot holes are very noticable. Otherwise, as others have said, everything fits together visually and I'm glad to see it doing so well in the polls.

I also like Crow's PRS, the white/grey scheme is a bold move, and looks awesome. I still hate PRS control covers, though. I know it's meant to be a copy, but that is one detail I would have changed.

I was interested to see how folks would react to my headstock. I don't normally like seeing laminations in the face either, but I really like how this turned out. I have done a couple of these headstocks with overlays, but interestingly, they were both solid necks.

Wez- maybe I will stick a bunch of chicken feathers all over it :D

Thanks all for the feedback!

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I was interested to see how folks would react to my headstock. I don't normally like seeing laminations in the face either, but I really like how this turned out. I have done a couple of these headstocks with overlays, but interestingly, they were both solid necks.

Wez- maybe I will stick a bunch of chicken feathers all over it :D

Thanks all for the feedback!

I prefer it like it is vs. chicken feathers. :D

Saying anything about this months builds is tough. It is very hard to be critical on such well done pieces. Props to all.

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Cool stuff this month. There's nothing blue and shiny this time, though. :D

I'll try to keep these short.

SwedishLuthier: Your craftsmanship is amazing! There wasn't anything about the design that stood out to me. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though. It still looks unique and well thought out. Ironically, its subtlety stands out. Great work!!

RestorationAD: Great looking wood! it looks like a very solid design all around and well executed.

3DogNate: I love this one. I like that you installed the Rolland, but it's all I can see when I look at the guitar. I love the finish too. I'm not much for glossy, but this one has just the right amount of gloss. Very Nice.

avengers63: Got my vote. I love everything about this one. It's actually not to my tastes at all, but I still love it. That's probably the biggest reason why I voted for it. B)

jessejames: I love visually simple designs. This one really nails that. The top looks like some type of polished stone, which is pretty awesome too.

crow: Nicely done. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but I like how the grain isn't too flashy. Personally, I'm terrible at faux binding, so I really respect the clean lines in that finish!

orgmorg: ***? I had no idea you were behind Dismal Axe. :D I guess I should have paid more attention. Cliff and I were actually talking about your work a couple weeks ago. Anyhow, I love this guitar. The thing that kept me from voting for it over avenger's was the bridge. I absolutely love Baby Grands, but I think it's a bit out of place on that rugged looking guitar. That's just me being overly picky, though. I absolutely love the wood on this, especially the back. Very, very cool guitar.

madhattr88: Nicely executed all around. I love how it keeps the simplicity of the design even with these lam stripes. Very elegant.

Edited by NotYou
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well out of all of them it came down to Orgmorg and John for me. and usualy org's guitars have my vote but this one just seems a little not the norm for him and well just didnt do it for me like the others im still a huge fan your still one of my favorite builders and i guess its good to do something diffent but then agian thats what you do diffent. so John you got it probably your best work to date.

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SwedishLuthier - The NothStar Speedster / That's a solid build, the open grain works on this one with the satiny finish. The Pickup covers look great. The Tuner installation is nasty tho... big strike on design there. I'd have used a different tuner rather than cram those on since they didn't fit, doesn't look intentional. Still the overall is a high score build.

RestorationAD - Helios / Looks Good... your builds are always clean... this one for some reason is a bit unexciting as some of the simialr builds you do. I like the "almost a carved top" look on this RG-ish body. Ready for you to do something crazy original though. High score build here to for the high level of execution... headstock is way cool... Still it gets my vote this month being such a solid good looking build.

3DogNate - / Great looking guitar... what the hell is thing on it? Dear God man! Get it off before it's assimilated!!!

avengers63 - / I'm a sucker for a Mockingbird I like what you have going on overall... not the inlay so much... and the finish falls a bit short. Now that you are spraying... I look forward to you stepping your finishing skills up to the next level. It's a long expensive road to get high level finishes that are factory glossy and hard... Build more.

jessejames - / Like the build, the woods... hate the el-cheapo bridge, and hate the control cover even more... knobs aren't doing much for me. Not convinced that the set neck and squre heel work for me either.

crow - PRS copy / Good overall job... finish looks to fall short of what your usually see on the PRS and Copies.

orgmorg - Barnstormer SC... / I like "EVERYthing" about this guitar except for that Baby Grand Bridge. It might be that I just hate that bridge on a whole range of levels on all guitars.. not just this one If that guitar had a basic wraparound... it would be worlds better to my little eye.

madhattr88 - Rinker Guitars - "R5" That's a really good looking build Solid and cleanly executed.

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This is the first time I've voted in a long time, but my hat's off to maddhattr88. Elegant, traditional, and wildly original. Just an altogether well-executed build. However, since at this instance he's tied with John, I'd be really happy to see either of them win.

David

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