Trynyty Posted January 20, 2008 Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 Here is a pic: You can see more pics of the guitar during the building process here. It is a custom basswood body shaped like a Steinberger GM except the edges have been rounding like a JS model Ibanez. The neck is a headless composite neck from Moses Graphite and the bridge is a TransTrem Steinberger bridge. It only has one pickup, an EMG 89 in the bridge position. It has a Sustainiac in the neck slot -- but it isn't wired as a pickup. There is no tone pot. The volume post has a push/pull as a coil split. The blade switch controls the various Sustainiac modes. There is also a momentary kill switch. The body was custom created by Rick Canton. I'll point him to this post so he can answer any questions or receive any praise. I'm a long time lurker here. This is a great site for inspiration as much as it is for reference. The artwork is a representation of the Great World Snake (or Ouroboros), which represents the infinite life/death cycle. The other snakes represent different aspects of life and are depicted as offspring of the Ouroboros by the artist. This was loosely inspired by the Donnie Hunt 'Snakes' guitar, but has really taken a life of it's own. The artwork is hand-brushed acrylic paint by a very talented artist in Santa Fe name Therese Des Jardin. The clear-coat was done by Shadoe Mckee at Beyond Custom Guitars. This thing plays like a dream and screams like a demon. I absolutely love it and wanted to share it. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goat Posted January 20, 2008 Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 The artwork is a representation of the Great World Snake (or Ouroboros), which represents the infinite life/death cycle. WOW! Thats quite a bit of work there. Ouroboros also represented in the shape of The Milky-Way Galaxy Demonic Roswell connection http://www.mt.net/~watcher/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted January 20, 2008 Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 That really is something! Excellent melding of styles there - the Voyager is a nice shape for headless, and the S/JS shapes are very sleek and ergonomic. The two work very nicely. Did you seal the wood before Therese did the artwork? It looked like it was going onto bare wood in the pics. Beautiful concept, and a great build. GOTM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trynyty Posted January 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 That really is something! Excellent melding of styles there - the Voyager is a nice shape for headless, and the S/JS shapes are very sleek and ergonomic. The two work very nicely. Did you seal the wood before Therese did the artwork? It looked like it was going onto bare wood in the pics. Beautiful concept, and a great build. GOTM? Good eye. That is a mistake she made and learned from on my guitar. This was her very first guitar paint job. She had problems with the basswood soaking up the paint and it took a lot of coats and repainting. She also had problems with the wood catching the bristles on her brushes. This did cause a problem during the clear-coat, with the heat and liquid involved in the process causing some of the lighter paints (white) to fade a little further into the wood. The end result, however, looks like it was done on purpose. I'm not sure what the long term ramifications will be. I can say that it feels solid and the tone is major cool (although that is much less of a factor with an active pickup than a passive). I originally wanted to strip a JS and have this done, but I've really been getting into Steinbergers lately and I decided to go the extra yard and make something really unique. Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted January 20, 2008 Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 I'm tempted to hand-paint a guitar myself at some point. It's been a while since i've had the urge to apply colour to a canvas and you've probably just gone and tipped the scales. How does the 89 sound with the Sustainiac? Interesting combo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted January 20, 2008 Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 I love Steinbergers, headless guitars in general, and "brave new" approaches like your 89+Sustainiac. Words cannot express how cool this guitar is to me. Amazing work JS-ifying the shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trynyty Posted January 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 How does the 89 sound with the Sustainiac? Interesting combo! They work great together. I'm still getting used to the guitar, I've only had it for a couple weeks. If you check out www.sustainiac.com, you can see some info about pairing a sustainer with an active pickup. They even offer special dual battery holders for that very purpose. Thanks! Btw, I didn't even think about 'guitar of the month'. How does one enter this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted January 20, 2008 Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 Ummm....pop into the thread which usually appears pinned in this part of the board and follow the instructions therein. I think February is still open (without looking). Just post some nice finished shots of the instrument and a potted history, and I would link back to this thread for the build info using this link: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=34154 You've most probably got my vote because I love this one, so watch I don't sneak in through an open window, down your chimney etc :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trynyty Posted January 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 Done! Thanks for the help! I added some more info in my entry for those interested: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...st&p=364254 Thanks again and by the way, I sleep with this guitar in one hand and a Glock in the other, so 'sneak' in at your peril! Ummm....pop into the thread which usually appears pinned in this part of the board and follow the instructions therein. I think February is still open (without looking). Just post some nice finished shots of the instrument and a potted history, and I would link back to this thread for the build info using this link: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=34154 You've most probably got my vote because I love this one, so watch I don't sneak in through an open window, down your chimney etc :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAK Guitars Posted January 20, 2008 Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 That looks amazing wow! That makes me want to handpaint a guitar! So was she was just using regular acrylic paints or was it something special? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trynyty Posted January 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 That looks amazing wow! That makes me want to handpaint a guitar! So was she was just using regular acrylic paints or was it something special? I'm not sure exactly what types of paint she used. She said 'acrylic'. That's all I know right now. I'll try to get more details later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TemjinStrife Posted January 21, 2008 Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 Awesome paintjob and instrument! I'm in the planning stages for a headless R-trem equipped Sustainer guitar... let me know what kind of crazy stuff you can do with that T-trem and the Sustainiac! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted January 21, 2008 Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 Very cool guitar. Looking over the links to the sites, it looks like you rounded up some very talented people. Did you assemble the neck, body, hardware, electronics, and do all the set up? Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trynyty Posted January 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 I relied heavily on Rick Canton for this project. This post is for both myself and him. We are both long time lurkers at Project Guitar. When I posted this, I pointed him to it and I think he is going to register. He is hoping to take his building career from just a sideline to a full-time profession and is going to invest (or already has invested) in a CNC. If he doesn't post, I'd assume he is waist deep in technical manuals and wood shavings by this point. I have a fabric finish Ibanez project that I'm doing myself and hopefully will get to finish it some distant day in the future. For this one, though, I didn't want it to be a learning experience. I knew this idea was big and felt it deserved better. I've been very happy with all of the positive response towards it. Everyone has been very nice and I appreciate that. Thanks! Very cool guitar. Looking over the links to the sites, it looks like you rounded up some very talented people. Did you assemble the neck, body, hardware, electronics, and do all the set up? Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted January 21, 2008 Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 Just one simple request... Take the guitar out in the sun again, and snap some more pictures. I like to have a better look at this thing. Any nice pictures of Satriani's original snake you have are also welcome. I googled it, but not that many pics showed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trynyty Posted January 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 I'll post a ton of pics that were taken after the clearcoat but before the electronics tonight -- I'll post after I do. I'll also look for any others that are useful. I have a TON of pics of the guitar 'in process'. I probably won't be able to get my own pics done for a week or two. I'm very busy at work and on weekends right now and the sun is gone by 5:30 which sucks. Just one simple request... Take the guitar out in the sun again, and snap some more pictures. I like to have a better look at this thing. Any nice pictures of Satriani's original snake you have are also welcome. I googled it, but not that many pics showed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trynyty Posted January 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 Some people have requested more pictures, so I put more pics in my picasa folder of the body at various stages after it was clear-coated. Soon, I will try to have some more pics of the full guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtmullet Posted January 22, 2008 Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 Just one quick question did you by chance get the ouroborus idea from red dwarf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trynyty Posted January 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 No, thankfully I am not my own father. Just one quick question did you by chance get the ouroborus idea from red dwarf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtmullet Posted January 23, 2008 Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 No, thankfully I am not my own father. Just one quick question did you by chance get the ouroborus idea from red dwarf Good to see a fellow smeghead on the forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott from _actual time_ Posted January 23, 2008 Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 "Beyond Custom" is right--that is awesome! well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_canton Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 Hey Group, I just wanted to stop in and see if anyone has any questions with The Ouroboros. The build was unique to me in a few ways. Mainly I am into either complete custom builds or headless/custom builds... that part of this project was very enjoyable. The uniqueness came more from Trynyty`s ideas with the melding of the JS with a GM body along with the electronics configuration... obviously the stellar art work by Therese was unique in itself. I have never installed a Sustainiac before and have never used one before. The wiring looks overwhelming at first but was fairly straightforward and the results were very powerful blending with the EMG 89, the killswitch just added a lot of "fun" to the build especially during "testing" time, that part seemed to go on for an extra hour Feel free to ask any questions, I`d be happy to talk about anything guitar. Regards, Rick Canton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 Hi Rick! Very good of you to drop in. I was wondering how you created the JS-style radii around the instrument....purely by hand, or did you create some machining method? As I understand it, the radii change constantly around the JS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_canton Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 Hi Rick! Very good of you to drop in. I was wondering how you created the JS-style radii around the instrument....purely by hand, or did you create some machining method? As I understand it, the radii change constantly around the JS. Hi Prostheta, Basically, after the routing was done for the T-Trem, H/H & neck pocket, I fine tuned the outline shape to where it needed to be. From there I used a 1.5" roundover bit/ with 1/2" shank. This felt like the router could have taken me on a flight, so I made very shallow passes with the router until it the bearing was flush against the side of the body. This left the body with very rough shaped corners. I then hand filed & sanded the rest to even everything up until Trynyty gave the go to stop. The end result is an even radii with no body/belly contours needed. From there I filed and sanded the neck/heel extension & contouring. I would do it the same way again, basically you use the roundover bit to get the bulk of the wood out of the way & then it is carving/shaping from there. I hope this answered your question, Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 It did - thanks Rick. I used pretty much the same method of rounding over on my Zeta build, but I haven't gone to the same lengths of carving as yourself. You're so right about the large roundover bits....seeing the grain appear as the bit takes a 3D contour out of the sides is almost hypnotising which is a pretty bad thing considering how a bit like that can propel a workpiece across the room if too much is being taken too quickly! A couple of mm at a time for something that size when getting near to the full depth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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