tparker Posted September 14, 2020 Report Share Posted September 14, 2020 This is my first build and has been a project on and off the past year. It's been more of an experimentation of style and mechanics rather than a set plan. So lots of attempts at things and then redo, redo, redo, etc. Artistically it evolved into something that, to me at least, brings the America of 1930's together. Earthy farmer worn to the raw bone dressed in the niceties of the gilded art-deco of 1930s refinement. Something akin to a Chicago barren that has achieved his version of the American dream. For the pickups I decided to hide the Jazzmaster in the neck position and only have the Filtertron showing. I gave the Jazzmaster pickup adjustable pole pieces and move the TVJones Filtertron up a bit from the bridge. This was done to give the guitar a visual center of focus. The thumb wheels in the upper horn are micro pots to help save some weight. They control the volume in the neck pickup and tone for both pickups. The chick-head nobs control the volume of the Filtertron and are two blender channels. Thanks to those who came up with this suggestion on this page. The pickup selector is hidden in the lower horn sound hole. This double pole switch selects which blender pot will be in use. As such the guitar switch does not have a middle position. When playing you are either in rhythm or lead mode. My concept for this was to prevent the player from accidentally switching to the wrong pickup setting. My hope was that this would make switching pickups fast and without the need to look down at the guitar.Photos.app.zip 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted September 14, 2020 Report Share Posted September 14, 2020 Hee haw! That's a nice piece of fake history you've got there! Just for clarification the above is meant as a kudo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonMay Posted September 14, 2020 Report Share Posted September 14, 2020 I don't know what a Chicago Barron is , but it could be a farmer who struck oil on his land and is really enjoying his new riches, as in new oil money, Beverly Hillbilly style. Is the gold on the back of the neck inlaid or decals? I think it's a great first build. How well does it play? Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted September 14, 2020 Report Share Posted September 14, 2020 I like the way you finished the pine. Very edgy. Getting pine to look good with color is tricky stuff. Nice work! SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tparker Posted September 14, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2020 Ron, The gold on the back of the neck is actually a stencil I made with frog tape and a laser cutter. Used spray paint on it and the pick-guard. Lots of poly on both to protect them. Plays great. Meant to be my guitar so I did what ever was going to work best for me.. The neck was too thin so I added veneer to it (first picture with yellow cord.) Then reshaped it to match my Gretsch that I love. The E string on the high end is a little too close to the edge of the fretboard for my liking. I want to move the neck to the right/down a bit. Not sure how to do that and keep a flat surface in the neck pocket. Maybe the think to do is just shave it off the guitar neck heel. Then shim the left/top side of the guitar neck? Last question. I decided to use linseed oil on the frets instead of lacquer. I like it this way in that it doesn't create a slick surface. On the lacquer surface my fingers would slide sideways pushing the notes out of tune. Kind of a fat guy on ice problem. The neck feels great now, but shows the dirt. Not a problem in that its my guitar and who cares. But know of any way to keep it a light colored neck and not be slippery? Maybe poly or urethane would be better for me than lacquer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayT Posted September 17, 2020 Report Share Posted September 17, 2020 Very cool! This really has a lot of great layers to it, both in construction and aesthetics. Love the hidden pickup switch too, goo idea. What's this puppy weigh in at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted September 22, 2020 Report Share Posted September 22, 2020 noice. makes me want to build a jazzmaster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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