guitar of the month Guitar Of The Month vote - February 2016

[ProjectGuitar.com]

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Welcome to this month's ProjectGuitar.com Guitar Of The Month voting round! The winner of each month's Guitar Of The Month contest gets front page placement on the main ProjectGuitar.com website, privileged member status, a photo feature on our Facebook page, plus an (all-important) shiny member profile badge.

Good luck to this month's entrants! As usual, discuss your voting choice and opinions about the entries this month in this thread....however don't read into the discussion until you've cast your vote! 

This thread and poll automagically close on 1st March 2016

[Lawrence Reynolds]

CurtisA, "MSR6 Catalyst"

[verhoevenc]

God I'm a sucker for Original's. Especially knowing he did those covers himself!

Chris

[Prostheta]

Nothing this month is a "boring standard" build.

Boroducci, "Fresco"

Clean, crisp and simple is difficult to do. A painted top and cleared back is a subtle but unique aspect which you don't see a lot of, or at least doesn't spring to mind. Nobody can complain about you hiding the wood under paint!

Tomas Mascinskas, "Ultimega"

A technically-difficult build in many areas, and turned out nicely in spite of it being Pine and other less-desirable woods. Almost got my vote, however I can't get behind the un-ergonomic choice of scales; they're a little too "out-there" to be truly practical. I hope it works for you!

CurtisA, "MSR6 Catalyst"

It's just porn on a stick really, isn't it?

MBStudios, "Weave Tele"

I love the idea! A career carver taking advantage of the real estate around an instrument that many people often leave unadorned is always appealing. Unusual, and kind of makes me think of leather rather than apple pies. It isn't a Freudian thing, believe me.

Oxbow Guitars, "ADS Bass"

The best aspects of a Ric and an Ibanez Roadstar spring to mind, but given a life of its own. That binding, plus all the other touches here and there work beautifully without drowning the clean aesthetic or losing the wood.

Andyjr1515, "Sow's-Ear Purse Bass"

Another celebration of the wood, and an instrument I'd just have to pick up. How small are those frets?! You've just got to keep producing things Andy; if this and the others are anything to go by, each and every one in the future will be an honour to watch develop.

Brianr, "Ghost Birdseye Hollowbody"

I wasn't sure about the shape at first, however once you see it being played it makes far more sense. Fantastic in every sense, and another one I would have to pick up and play if these were all lined up!

JohnnyGTar, "SolariS"

A lot of nice incorporated features....I haven't seen a fibre optic build in a while. I think you might have tempted me to dig out my reel and start writing up something on that score....! Thanks :-D

Original, "The Redondo"

Your builds are really vibing, John. It resonates with me since I decided to tread the path of single pickup simple control instruments. They just end up being real player's instruments; there's nothing to distract you from the job you're supposed to be doing. I'm not even offended by the jackplate.

[curtisa]

Crumbs! Big ol' fistful of entries this month, and 'attack of the multiscales' to boot.

Boroducci, 'Fresco' - No frills builds always strike me as being deceptively difficult to execute. There's no hiding behind epoxy fills, crazy grain patterns or audacious styling. This one looks fantastic, well done.

Tomas Mascinskas, 'Ultimega' - For a second build you've got to be congratulated for jumping straight into the deep end. Multiscale, 7 string, aggressive styling, modified pickups...Hope we get to see some more of your work in the future around these parts.

MBStudios, 'Weave Tele' - Ingenious use of carving on an otherwise 'passive' area of a guitar body. Gives a huge lift to what could have otherwise been just another Tele build. Nice work.

Oxbow Guitars, 'ADS Bass' - Good call taking a popular body shape and restyling it to make it your own. The copper plated hardware gives a worn-in look which complements the appearance in an understated, almost Steampunk-ish way, Excellent work.

Andyjr1515, 'Sow's-Ear Purse Bass' - I normally wouldn't go for a single cut bass, but you've changed my mind this month. She's a beauty, to be sure. The timber-covered pickups are a great way of integrating those black boxes into the overall styling.

Brianr, 'Ghost Birdseye Hollowbody' - Great to have an entry where we can see and hear the instrument in action. Got a real vintage jangle to it in the clip. Would be great to know a little more about the effort that went into creating such a unique looking instrument. Stick around and tell us more about your work.

JohnnyGTar, 'SolariS' - For a first build you have to be commended for tackling such a challenging branch of guitar construction. I don't reckon I would have had the guts to attempt a fanned-fret instrument as my first creation.

Original, 'The Redondo' - Surfs up! Great take on a retro style, made all the more special with custom moulded plastic components and the split single coil pickup. The way the white grain filler pokes through the blue even looks like waves rushing by.

Fantastic work by all entrants.

[KnightroExpress]

Wow, this month's GOTM is jammed with great stuff. Whenever I'm here in the GOTM section facing a tough decision, I always think- what would I love to see on my guitar wall? Unfortunately, this month had too many excellent entries to use such a simple metric, so I'm going to talk about my favorite bits of each entry.

Boroducci 'Fresco'- As the others said, this is a great example of a solid, well executed build. I love that it's so clean and understated.

Tomas Mascinskas 'Ultimega'- I've been watching this one on the Electric Guitar Builders' Resource FB page. The name suits this build well! This guitar is totally bananas (in a good way). 

CurtisA 'MSR6 Catalyst'- Every element of this just works for me, it's stylish and packed with great little details. The hypermodern style with little retro elements is something I personally gravitate to a lot.

MBStudios 'Weave Tele'- I think I've seen you on the same FB page as Tomas, right? What a cool take on the classic Tele. This guitar is a fantastic blend of form and function and I hope you stick around PG and show us more in-progress shots!

Oxbow Guitars 'ADS Bass'- I've always loved the classic Rickenbacker 4000 basses and I think this is a fitting tribute. I like the vintage copper hardware and wood choices. I especially enjoyed the multi-laminate neck, it's just delicious to look at.

AndyJR1515 'Sow's-Ear Purse Bass'- I'll admit I'm not a single-cut bass lover either, but this looks ridiculously comfy to play. Everything just flows really well and the finish is great.

BrianR 'Ghost Birdseye Hollowbody'- It's great to hear an entry as well as see pics! I wish there were more pictures, as this looks like a really cool piece. As above, I hope you build more and take us along for the ride.

JohnnyGTar 'SolariS'- This is quite the ambitious first build and I think you pulled off a lot of complicated elements very nicely. The planet inlays are my favorite part, they remind me of an old fresco painting for some reason. Well done!

Original 'The Redondo'- The name is very fitting here as well, it's very Cali cool. The custom pickup and white grain peeking through the blue finish are great details. When I look at this guitar, I just hear some heavy reverb, a la classic surf rock.

 

 

[Original]

It's really cool seeing so many first timers in the contest this month! 

Boroducci: I love the clean simple look. Uncluttered, and down to business. It looks like it has excellent upper fret access. It must be really fun to play.  The black hardware's contrast to the cream colored top is striking, and all the embellishment this guitar needs. Very well done Mike!

I hope you don't mind if I borrow that gorgeous 3 x 3 snake head design.

Tomas: I saw this guitar on the facebook page also. A very complicated guitar for a first time project, and you pulled it all together in a short time. Impressive work! It's all together unique. You not only stepped out of the box, you kicked the box off of the cliff

CurtisA; Simply Amazing! This months obvious winner. There is so much right about this one. That top! Holy crap, what an awesome  piece of wood. The ivory binding is beautiful, and I love  the German carve on the horns. The scale lengths, and orientation are very similar to mine, so I know that it's really fun to play. Your meticulous attention to detail is obvious. Out of all this months entries, it's the one I'd most like to play, and it's also the prettiest. Super Nice!

MBStudios: That thing's cool! It really makes me want to carve some wood.

Oxbow Guitars: I surfed across some pictures of this guitar a couple of months ago, and was so impressed, I saved them to my computer. Your craftsmanship is impeccable. I enjoy taking familiar shapes and lines, and making something unique. Everything is so tastefully done. I love that hardware.

Andy: I'm sure that Bass' new owner is quite proud. I love the way the carve looks with the layers. It's hard to find multiple species of wood that balance well together under a natural finish. Very elegant with not a lot of frills.

Johnny: Another First timer! Cool stuff. I can't wait to see the next one.