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An Exercise In Elegance


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I know I should have started this thread a long time ago but I've gone thru some MAJOR changes in my life. Too many to list and they don't even belong in this section but I assure you they are all for the better and I feel that my life has been greatly enriched (and NO I HAVE NOT been converted/subverted by some religious cult :D ). On to the subject at hand...

Here is where I'm at so far...

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And here are a bunch more pics...

http://www3.telus.net/Alsplace/Current/

Honduras mahogany neckthru with holly laminates. Basic hardtail strat with a mustang/jaguar look. It took me about a year to think up, decide on and commit to that shape, thats the hardest part of building a guitar IMO. These custom jobs also mean having to make your own templates. Neck profile was routed using my old mdf tele neck template, I winged it on the body, still have to do a lot of shaping. I made a pickup/control cavity template (for stock strat) out of 1/2" plexi, very handy for later guitars. I'll also be making a custom pickguard, the design stage for that is going to be fun on ACAD.

The neck is still a square block, lots of fun ahead there and will keep you posted. I'll be going with a single action truss rod, already made one from 3/16" stock. We're looking at a dog's breakfast for pickups. I hooked up with a guy at work who wanted to unload his inventory, he only likes to make oilcan guitars now so I bought over $1000 worth of everything (tools, parts materials, etc) he had for a mere $200. Too much stuff to list but I got a good assortment of pickups eg. stock strat, SD quarterpounder, lipsticks, some homemade single coils rating around 6KΩ etc. so I'll mix 'n match so see (or hear) what I like..

EVERY BIT of hardware , even got the knobs, is going to be gold...well, IN gold. I will have to buy some Grover mini's, hard to believe the mini's cost 20 bucks more than the full sized ones. :D I'm also going to make a brass nut, polished to a high shine and then clearcoated. I have a brand new gold hardtail bridge as well. I could probably get my fretwire gold electroplated at work but it wouldn't last very long. The fb is a prefab that my friend picked up off ebay, probably one of those thin Asian jobs but I think it works. B) Considering whats going into this guitar I'd say it will cost me about A HUNDRED BUCKS to make. I just peg it down to luck and resourcefulness.

I'm going to leave the mahogany natural and can get a friend to apply a good marine poly clearcoat. I might dye the holly to some other color, why? because I CAN :D But I haven't decided yet. Anyway, thats how she looks so far. I think it will look good hanging off a beautiful lady, what ya think? B)

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Since this seems to be very much an "art" piece, I'm going to throw in my vote for making this a fretless build. That's one impressive board! Much more classy than the Vine-o-Life, imo.

What are you thinking for a headstock design? It looks a bit on the skinny side where you have it now.

Check Warmoth if you're that sold on gold fretwire; I'm almost positive they have it. LMII might too.

And if I might take a guess, it sounds like you already have a beautiful lady in mind to hang this one on :D

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I'm going with a staggered 3/3 arrowhead shape, my first guitar has that and I enjoy playing it very much. No fretless for me, I'm lost enough as it is WITH frets. :D ...sometimes, we all have our moments.

And if I might take a guess, it sounds like you already have a beautiful lady in mind to hang this one on
Sure wish it were true, but maybe it will attract such a lady. :D Edited by Southpa
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