MuffinPunch

Great looking build! The body does look an awful lot like Metalhead28s, but Id would take that as a compliment considering his stuff always looks great. Id love to see one of these with that nutty marbleized finish!

Do it! \m/

You just went up about 5 notches in my book! Nice Monster!

before asking i would think the answer is obvious - because most PRSi have faux binding although they have started binding their necks on some models this year, which seems very anti-PRS to me Fair enough. I guess I need to school myself a little better on a subject before making such an inquiry. In reality tho, the question was more geared towards Mark due to his previous work and in an attempt to present an alternative way to accomplish a goal given the new circumstances. I admit im no PRS expert, but the addition of a flamed maple binding would both look fairly authentic and could potentially present a thicker surface for carving the top. This is all subjective obviously, and completely my own opinion. I promise I will not be offended in any way should you chose not to head my uneducated suggestion. Im basically just thinking out load here. Im loving this build obviously or I wouldn't be so involved.

Very inventive work. Glad you decided to go with the neck angle after all. I tend to appreciate it more when "copy" builds are actually built the same way or similar to the originals rather than simply being "look-a-likes". Looking really good. Quick question tho, why faux binding? Ive seen your binding work before and it seems like you could have achieved a professional looking bind very easily on this build, in which case you would not have had to worry about compromising the carve by angling the top. Wont you still have to rout a channel around the body to set the carve depth anyway? If so, I wonder if it would have been easier if you did that before angling the top. Tho I suppose you could accomplish that just fine using that handy router sled if need be. I honestly dont know, but these are all questions I would be asking myself were I doing this build, and as I have plans to build an LP in the distant future, I see many of these same questions arising.

Looks really good. I admit, I was worried about the outcome of this one after the initial pics of the carve (what happened to those pics BTW?) BUt seeing the final product I realy very pleased with it! Well done!

How did you get your hands on one of those!?!? The Japanese get some awesome guitars... Yeah, the neck will be mahogany, but I think go with a mahogany core sandwiched between ash so I can get the burst on the back too. Like I said, this will be a long time in the making so its likely I wont get started for a good few months at the very earliest, by which time a lot of my details will have changed im sure. Kinda sucks you in huh? Its the most realistic one Ive come accross, but I wish it was a real LP instead of an Artist. Close enough tho i guess. There are a few different ones on this site (click) but they are nowhere near as lifelike. There is a V but no Forest, sorry.

I gotta be honest. I was wondering that myself. It seems to me that stacking the heel like that would result in the same kind of joint you would get if you just glued the neck straight to the body without routing, albeit with a sightly longer join area on the body. Just the way my inner logic works I guess. Im sure im wrong as it seems youve done this before, as has Crow, and you both make beautiful instruments.

Once again, your wish is my command! The 'shopped' image I used for the ash top was from a flat piece of ash. The really beauty comes out when you carve into it but its hard to simulate that with a 2d image. I will have to be choosy when I pick out my board tho for sure. I think your'e right. It does look quite good without the pick guard. At least in these images it does. I also like the matching HS, but the red truss rod cover was one of my favorite elements. it would just look redundant if the HS was also red. For the sake of retaining some of the original flavor of the Dark Fire, I think Ill make the pick guard anyway and see what it looks like on and off and make my final decision on the spot. It is a really cool detail that adds a lot to the character of the Dark Fire, so in person it might look better. As might the red TR cover with a black HS if I can get a tasteful and interesting inlay design figured out. We'll see. thanks for the suggestion. Quick question tho, since I am leaning toward the ash version, would it make better sense to make the whole body out of ash? I never really considered swamp ash a "top wood", but ill be chambering the body so it will need to be two pieces anyway. That way I could do a similar burst on the back of the guitar. Just a thought.

Maybe I exaggerated with the 20 days, but you started this thread on Feb. 28th so its still been less than 2 months. And like you said, its not the only one youve been working on. Either way, super impressive work man! Good job man! Ill stop interrupting you now so you can get that thing done! Quick question though, I recall seeing some ca work for a new flat top body design you were working some time ago. Any projects coming up that incorporate that body?

looking really great man! Love your builds a lot! It seems like you work really quickly. You went from naked lumber to a finished instrument in like 20 days! And its not like you rush through everything either. Do you make a schedule for everything prior to starting the build?

I love watching your builds. The amount of detail you include in your progress makes me feel as if Im there building it too! This one should be great as always. Crow, Im assuming you are talking about angling the face of the guitar top to accommodate the neck angle. From what it sounds like, Mark isn't planning on incorporating a neck angle for this project. Instead, the neck will sit higher on the face to accommodate the bridge height. Is that right? This might affect the carve a little bit, but probably not to a noticeable extent. I suppose it wouldnt be too late to add the neck angle now, but you'd have to reshape the tenon a bit.

Your wish is my command! I decided to switch the finishes on both, so so now the ash has the black binding and the quilt has the burst. Actually I do them all on Photoshop. There are a couple of sites that allow you to design a virtual guitar, but most don't have the exact body shape or components I want to use, and the finishes and inlay options are very limited (This (click here) is the best one ive found) but to do the exact specifications I want there really is no alternative to doing it myself. Its grueling work trying to find images of the components you're going to use in the right perspective, but the outcome is always spot on. Heres one I built with the above virtual guitar builder. I tend to be drawn toward the original ash with the burst best still.... that seems to be the winner.

I couldnt help myself. Ive wanted to sit down and plan out this project for some time now and I finally stayed up all night to do it! I was never really a big LP fan until the release of the Dark Fire robot model. I dont care that its a robot, all I care about is the gorgeous blood red flame top with the black accents. The faux carbon fiber on the pickup covers and neck inlays is kinda cheesy, but the overall theme is amazing. More recently I fell in love with the PRS 25th Anniversary Swamp Ash Special for much the same reason. Then I figured, I need a classic design in my guitar build repituar, so why not combine elements of both of these guitars to make one bloody work of art that will challenge my skills as an amateur woodworker (poser)? So here is the pitch: carved top LP style chambered mahogany body Set mahogany neck 24 3/4" scale length ebony fingerboard with jumbo frets dark smoked acrylic pick guard black hardware EMG 81 Bridge 85 Neck tune-o-matic bridge with piezo saddles Graph-tech (Tusq) nut 2 vol 2 tone , three way toggle switch black pearl block inlays Here are the 2 proposals I am submitting. The first is inspired by the PRS 25th Anniversary Swam Ash Special and features a blood burst over Swamp Ash. The second features a quilted maple top with black binding a la dark fire (the Dark Fire uses famed maple) The headstock inlay needs to be worked out still but I dont plan on going any further with this design for a good long while as I have plenty of other projects baking at the moment, but I just need to get these out of my head! Let me know what you think anyways.

How about that! I don't really follow the whole Ramstein scene so I never would have come accross this otherwise. Cool stuff!

I was super impressed by the addition of Chris Broderick to the Megadeth lineup a couple of years ago, as he is one of the most proficient guitarists out there. He started using a couple of custom made Ibanez RGA 7 with ZR trems, one of which has this gorgeous transparent white finish. What do you suppose his control and electronics configuration is, based on the fact that he has 2 DiMarzio Deactivator (passive) humbuckers connected to a single pot, what appears to be a 3 way toggle switch and a mini toggle? Ive searched around but the info isnt out there. The video makes it apparent that one of the toggle switches is a kill switch but I could be wrong. The single pot could very well be a push/pull, but I dont know one way or the other. How would you configure it using these components for maximum diversity and control?

Sorry, no. whats that about?

I was referring to the shape made where the neck transitions into the HS on a vintage Strat. If that were to be bent at a 11-13º angle, I imagine the result would look very much like the Gibson style volute from the early 70s you mentioned. Very insightful info there. Thank you for that. Also, I imagine that retaining a significant amount of wood for a volute could make it difficult to fit a locking nut...

Really like the way this build is coming together. Nice wood combination. Just out of curiosity, is there some kind of structural advantage to having a big volute, or is it just a preference thing? I typically prefer a flat one. Probably because Ive been playing on Wizard necks for so long, but I figured volutes like this were derived mainly from Fender style necks where there is no HS angle. I dont know, which is why im asking. Im relatively new to this, but it seems kind of redundant if it adds no structural advantage, in which case doing it simply out of preference is completely acceptable. Just thought you guys would probably know...

Well done man! This guitar is freaking awsome! Nice way of avoiding body routs putting the cavities on the side like that. Very clever, and well executed!

+1 Gotta admit, that "scarf joint" scares the crap out of me! The headstock shape is interesting, but your tuner placement doesnt make any sense. It looks like you just drilled some arbitrary holes for the sake of being "different" and it looks like it would be difficult to turn most of the tuners. Im kinda diggin the body shape, but those horns are WAY too spread apart for my taste. It makes the "butt" of the body look tiny in comparison. and makes the whole design look unbalanced. Just my 2 cents... good luck with the build.

You might be right, but Id much rather wind those strings in slow motion using the tuning machines than sacrifice a good looking headstock. Not that either of those are the best looking HS you've ever seen... I took you advice Prostheta and reversed the first one. I also decided to see what it might look like if I tried a six in-line. Im trying to keep in mind that this HS design will also carry over to the Crimson King Bass design ive been working on as it shares the same basic silhouette.

Am I the only one who thinks this is the most gorgeous finish of all time?!!? I dont think Ive ever seen swamp ash look this good before. Is this a relatively common finish that Ive have just been ignorant to, or is there some kind of trick to achieving this kind of richness that most people shy away from for fear of screwing it up? I almost feel that if I were to go look for this guitar at the dealer I would find that the "production models" look nowhere near this sexy. I have always been a big advocate of quilted and flame tops, but this beats the best of them IMO.

I had a few minutes this evening to throw together a couple of sketches of some new headstock designs. Im not sure I like any of them very much, but I may be heading in the right direction with 1 or 2 of them. Ill get some more done tomorrow. I wanna get this design nailed down. Only a couple more weeks to go! For reference, heres the guitar these will fit to:

Im not gonna lie to you dude. I actually kinda like the original shape better. Not so much the finish, but the warlockesque shape looked a lot more unique to me. kinda like a warlock and a Moser Arachnid had a baby. Im not really a BC Rich guy, but they do have some rad looking guitars. The revision is cool too tho. It just looks kinda tame to me but Im sure thats exactly what you were going for. Ill be following this one.