Nic James Posted September 6, 2008 Report Share Posted September 6, 2008 (edited) Ok here it is guys, this is my first guitar and its finally done. If your a fan of Guitar Hero like myself then you might recognize the Johnny Napalm paintjob from the first game. I really wanted something crazy that would stick out so this design is perfect I think. It's 25.5 in. scale length with a full 24 fret scallop. Hold onto your pants Here is the whole guitar although outside in the sun the colors look a little off but you get the idea. pic 2 In case you were wondering I use metal picks so I put a magnet in before I painted so I don't lose'um pic 3 Heres my favorite part, the scalloped neck (which took forever) pic 4 Thats My name!! pic 5 Thats the guitar from the game if your not familiar with it. I'd love some feedback on this, compliments, criticisms (of the constructive type of course), suggestions, whatever. Also if you have any questions about it I'd be happy to answer them cause I'm sure I didn't cover everything VIDEO here you can see it in action -Nic James Edited September 27, 2008 by Nic James Just one pic per post, please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djhollowman Posted September 6, 2008 Report Share Posted September 6, 2008 Haha, I like it! Did you make it from scratch? Or is it modification? Not a fan of the game - tried it hated it - but this is kinda cool! What's happened to the bridge pickup pole pieces??? Your scalloping looks very nicely done too. I once tried a Malmsteen Strat with the scallops, couldn't play it at all!! Like the staggered ferrules as well. Is that your initials inlaid just after the last fret? Sweet! ....and I love green..... DJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted September 6, 2008 Report Share Posted September 6, 2008 I like the look of this build. The scalloping looks very textured because of the grain of the wood. It's a nice effect. Genius on the magnet placement, btw What kind of pickups are in it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic James Posted September 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2008 Haha, I like it! Did you make it from scratch? Or is it modification? Not a fan of the game - tried it hated it - but this is kinda cool! What's happened to the bridge pickup pole pieces??? Your scalloping looks very nicely done too. I once tried a Malmsteen Strat with the scallops, couldn't play it at all!! Like the staggered ferrules as well. Is that your initials inlaid just after the last fret? Sweet! ....and I love green..... DJ Sup DJ, yea its from scratch, red oak neck and then poplar for the "wings" to be specific. As for the pickup I thought it'd be cool if it matched so I painted and laquered it so the pole pieces are in there somewhere. Yup those are my initials (I went a little initial and name crazy but whatever). Haha, it's funny that you don't like scallops cause now I hate playin guitars without scalloped frets! I appreciate the imput, peace dude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic James Posted September 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2008 I like the look of this build. The scalloping looks very textured because of the grain of the wood. It's a nice effect. Genius on the magnet placement, btw What kind of pickups are in it? Thanks X I love the texture to. It looked pretty radical before I scalloped it too, LMII has great fretboards! As for the pickups, I think there crappy old hammer pickups lol. Honestly since it was my first build I figured I'd ruin it before I even needed pickups so I bought some cheep ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted September 6, 2008 Report Share Posted September 6, 2008 (edited) Oh man what a nice board! I'm surprised the dots stayed in when you scalloped. When I hacked apart my Ibanez, the scalloping removed most of the dots. ::EDIT:: That looks like a ton of space between the angle of the headstock and the fretboard. Even more than needed for a locking nut. Is it camera trickery? Edited September 6, 2008 by Xanthus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted September 6, 2008 Report Share Posted September 6, 2008 i agree, it looks like there is about 3" of flat space above the fretboard, like it was positioned way too low. you took a huge chance using oak for a neck. oak is the most wild unpredictable wood ive ever used. did you get any splinters? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElysianGuitars Posted September 6, 2008 Report Share Posted September 6, 2008 I like the look of this build. The scalloping looks very textured because of the grain of the wood. It's a nice effect. Genius on the magnet placement, btw What kind of pickups are in it? Thanks X I love the texture to. It looked pretty radical before I scalloped it too, LMII has great fretboards! As for the pickups, I think there crappy old hammer pickups lol. Honestly since it was my first build I figured I'd ruin it before I even needed pickups so I bought some cheep ones. i refuse to buy from LMII. their prices are absurd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted September 7, 2008 Report Share Posted September 7, 2008 abusurd? 9 bucks for a rosewood blank is absurd? they are about half of stew mac! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic James Posted September 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2008 i agree, it looks like there is about 3" of flat space above the fretboard, like it was positioned way too low. you took a huge chance using oak for a neck. oak is the most wild unpredictable wood ive ever used. did you get any splinters? Haha ok, I'll adimit I kinda messed up there. It's actually about half an inch between the end of the board and the start of the angle on the neck but that was just poor planning on my part. As for the oak I didn't have any problems with it but I gotta say it's way too heavy and for any future guitars I'll use something better, got any suggestions?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 I kind of like the paint work...I think it needs to have the colored buttons along the first five frets though to look "authentic". There are some unusual things going on here that really undermine the thing in my eyes but you got to learn along the way. The long area between the nut and tuners, a little odd; the pained pickup, strangely odd...what's up with the bridge... looks like it's glued on or something...odd... Still...an interesting idea, art imitating art, imitating life imitating art, imitating life imitating... Some things you appeared to do pretty well, and then others...not so...but a very good first go and with difficult wood and features like scalloping that would trip up even more experienced builders pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 i too would like to know why the area under the bridge looks like that. also, why the heck would anyone use a metal pick? that would shorten your string life by about 75 percent! i cant imagine wanting to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted September 10, 2008 Report Share Posted September 10, 2008 tell that to Brian May Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted September 10, 2008 Report Share Posted September 10, 2008 does he use a metal pick, or what? whats the idea of that? it seems like it would pick up the sound of metal on metal when you pick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted September 10, 2008 Report Share Posted September 10, 2008 He uses a coin...personally they don't agree with me and you can get a metalic attack, but perhaps that is the point. At one time I read someone used these little "so called" jazz picks...tiny things so I tried and tried, but never really got the hang of them either...each to their own, fender mediums for me generally...or fingers! Santana uses some huge bass pick or something! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted September 10, 2008 Report Share Posted September 10, 2008 yes, a sixpence coin that hasnt been in circulation since the 70's. they have a serrated edge. Brain may using fingers for light playing, the sixpence when he wants to dig in a bit more and the serrated edge of the coin for the occasional string scrape. i found one in my piano and tried to use it but it didnt work for me... but the point is that some people will like that sound and be able to use it effectively. I think you got one if you brought his digitech pedal. i used brian may as an example because he is one of those guitarists who people spend a lot of money trying to emulate... he has such a distinctive sound Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted September 10, 2008 Report Share Posted September 10, 2008 Pete, I was using Jazz picks for some time, green Dunlop ones. I like the feel of being "in touch" with the instrument, closer to the wood, the strings, whatnot. I especially liked the sharp point of the Jazz picks, and how easily techniques like harmonics jump out. Well, after moving back from college and getting into some more technical playing exercises with my guitar lessons, I realized that I was fumbling too much with the tiny pick. So I've moved back to regular green Dunlops and changed my technique a bit to suit. So yeah, that's my story. Also, playing with a quarter can be fun! though not string-beneficial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Preston Swift Posted September 10, 2008 Report Share Posted September 10, 2008 I REALLY like the paint job and the guitar as a whole is very nice. This is wayyyy better than my first ever could have been. How does it play? How did you go about doing the scalloping? How did you paint it (paint types, # of coats etc...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic James Posted September 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2008 I kind of like the paint work...I think it needs to have the colored buttons along the first five frets though to look "authentic". There are some unusual things going on here that really undermine the thing in my eyes but you got to learn along the way. The long area between the nut and tuners, a little odd; the pained pickup, strangely odd...what's up with the bridge... looks like it's glued on or something...odd... Still...an interesting idea, art imitating art, imitating life imitating art, imitating life imitating... Some things you appeared to do pretty well, and then others...not so...but a very good first go and with difficult wood and features like scalloping that would trip up even more experienced builders pete First off thanks for the comment bro. To clear things up thats actually a piezo pickup I made under the bridge. I saw an article online about using the piezo elements form buzzers to make pickups (I can't remember where exactly but I'm sure y'all could find it). I decided to try my hand at making my own so thats what that is glued onto the bottom of the tune-o. Incase your wondering it works pretty well unless you are close to a really loud amp cause you get some killer feedback. Colored buttons would have been a nice touch I gotta say but owell, there's always next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic James Posted September 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2008 i too would like to know why the area under the bridge looks like that. also, why the heck would anyone use a metal pick? that would shorten your string life by about 75 percent! i cant imagine wanting to do that. I actully haven't broken a string yet so although its prolly not great for the strings, it doesn't seem too bad for them. It helps that I get every pick I make awesomly smooth before they even touch a string. P.S. You have a killer quote dude, inspiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic James Posted September 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2008 I REALLY like the paint job and the guitar as a whole is very nice. This is wayyyy better than my first ever could have been. How does it play? How did you go about doing the scalloping? How did you paint it (paint types, # of coats etc...) Hey thanks dude, I appreciate the comment. I really like playing it and the scalloping feels great although the neck is a little thicker than I like normally . I gotta say scalloping was a pretty horrible experience lol. First I put tape on all of the frets and then started with a round file on the smaller frets. I used a rasp on the bigger frets and then hand sanded with sandpaper to get everything lookin nice. I think overall it took almost 8 hours start to finish to scallop the whole thing. As for the paint I used car paint and then laquered over that. I did one color at a time and taped off the others each time I painted. I used way too many coats I know that and I had to fill in alot of little places to make the lines crisp. Rock on man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidlook Posted September 21, 2008 Report Share Posted September 21, 2008 i too would like to know why the area under the bridge looks like that. also, why the heck would anyone use a metal pick? that would shorten your string life by about 75 percent! i cant imagine wanting to do that. Does your strings usually break around your picking area? ...mine don't PSW: I used to use those jazz picks for a long time, really liked them but now I'm playing with the transparent dunlop's for some reason. Also tried some different coins and found that the 20c aussie dollar worked surprisingly well for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted September 21, 2008 Report Share Posted September 21, 2008 As an Australian, I have to defend our aussie dollar...it has to be worth more than 20 cents surely?! Both the aussie dollar and 20c coins are about the same thickness and serrated...the less you can buy with money they replace the notes with coins that get ever thicker and smaller...the $2 coin is tiny but twice as thick...I can only imagine if someone comes out with a $5 coin it will be a very small cube or something. An Aussie 10c would probably be more Brian May approved...although, he might not like our wash and wear holographic plastic money...the queens head washes right out!!! I think metal pick success really depends on your technique, how tight you hold it and the angle you strike the strings...I have never got a good sound out of them...still, a lot of banjo players use those razor like thumb and finger picks on very light strings without a problem...so as always...each to their own! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted September 21, 2008 Report Share Posted September 21, 2008 i never said they did. i just mean by string wear that it would wear them out where the pick hits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidlook Posted September 21, 2008 Report Share Posted September 21, 2008 As an Australian, I have to defend our aussie dollar...it has to be worth more than 20 cents surely?! Both the aussie dollar and 20c coins are about the same thickness and serrated...the less you can buy with money they replace the notes with coins that get ever thicker and smaller...the $2 coin is tiny but twice as thick...I can only imagine if someone comes out with a $5 coin it will be a very small cube or something. An Aussie 10c would probably be more Brian May approved...although, he might not like our wash and wear holographic plastic money...the queens head washes right out!!! I think metal pick success really depends on your technique, how tight you hold it and the angle you strike the strings...I have never got a good sound out of them...still, a lot of banjo players use those razor like thumb and finger picks on very light strings without a problem...so as always...each to their own! Tried most australian coins but liked the 20c the best...maybe it's the platypus-appeal. But yeah, the 10c would probably be closest to what Brian May uses though. Those notes suck though...I've never encountered more ripped notes than in Australia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.