Vol. Knob

Just completed these. The Thinline began its life as a MIJ '69 Thinline back in the '90s. The Pickups are Reed James Custom Telewoodies with Pistacio wood bobbins. The Pickguard is from Artisan Guitar Repair, the laminate wood is Pau Ferro. The body is from my old Fender MIJ '69 Thinline RI, refinished with tung oil. Goncalo Alves knobs from Exotic Wood Knobs and Guitar Parts Karosa Neck, Goncalo Alves with Marblewood Fingerboard. The Bubinga (thats what I'm calling it until I come up with a better name) is my first project building a guitar. From parts, that is. The body has a Bubinga top, Mahogoany back, two F-holes, etc. From Warmoth. The Pickups are Reed James Custom P-90s with Cocobolo covers. Karosa Neck, Goncalo Alves with Indian Rosewood Fingerboard. Cocobolo knobs from Exotic Wood Knobs and Guitar Parts After much sweating, tweaking, fixing, breaking, fixing again, panicing, and more tweaking... I'm pleased to say that they both actually work and stay in tune. And they sound great and play easily. The Bubinga is amazingly light. The Thinline is a great deal heavier. The Mahogany on the Bubinga was white before I finished it. I originally thought Warmoth screwed my order up. But no, it is indeed Mahogany. Once I finished it, it darkened to the light brown you see here, and I'm pleased with that. I'd like a whole guitar made from the same light mahogany, its kinda pretty. And what do I play on these? I play in a semi-professional cover band, 7 Mysteries. Cheap Trick, the Beatles, Grateful Dead, Stray Cats, Slade, The Sweet, REM, and tunes from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. They both hit all the tones I needed and then some.

Check out their website. Not as expensive as they could be, on par with some of the more booteekie parts out there. $345 for a set like mine with mounting rings from the same wood, and thats the most expensive setup he currently sells. Compare a Duncan Antiquity, its $142 from Warmoth, $284 for a pair without mounting rings. Reed James are $150 sings, $300 for a pair on American hardwoods with no rings. $162.50 or $325 on Exotic without rings. Not that much more. I think the price is pretty reasonable given how they're cut from exotic woods and made one at a time by one guy who'll make them to your specs. Well worth the price of admission for their look, sound and lack of plastic. Just my opinion. I've thrown larger wads of cash more foolish endeavors. I have a set of P-90s with wood covers on the way, I have a Warmoth body on order to load them in. I'm expecting a tele set for my thinline soon. Perhaps after tax time I'll do a strat up. I've gone through lots of pickups, Duncans, antiquities, Dimarzio, EMG, GFS (they came on a guitar I bought) etc. These are the first humbuckers I've ever really been pleased with.

She's a recent Epiphone, plays like a dream. It had EMG HZs in it when I got it. Then I got my hands on a set of Reed James Custom Cocobolo Woodbuckers. Mind you, they look really outa place on a black guitar, I think they'll end up being placeholders until I get more suited looking pickups for this guitar, and build another ax around the woodbuckers. As far as sound, they're wound for a more "vintage" (I hate that word, but everyone uses it...) sound. Very clear and detailed. There's a chime to them that I associate with single coils while still remaining a humbucker with humbuckery characteristics. I've honestly not been a fan of humbuckers until now. http://www.reedjamescustom.com is their URL.

Very Nice. Bigsbys lend themselves well to singlecuts. How does she sound? Do you go jazzy with her or are you a rockabilly player?

I'm new here.... Been playing for over thirty years, hack-guitar-ruining-mod-hobbyist for just about as long. I bought a Karosa neck a few weeks back for a project guitar I'm building. Bought it on a whim because I was curious. It came right away, while my Warmoth body is weeks from being done. So I bolted it onto my trusty thinline. From what I can tell on various guitar forums and HC user reviews, you either love 'em or you hate 'em. But as I dig a little deeper, it seems their bad reviews are earlier builds. I could be wrong. But mine is a good one, it seems. I still have some finalizing to do on setup, there's one string that still buzzes on one fret. But it sounds great in every other spot. Anybody have any experience with these necks? Their URL http://www.handbuiltguitarnecks.com