Skullsession

LOVE it. Man...I've become quite a sucker for Tele's over the last few years.

I like that analogy....because - have no doubt - even if I could give you a thousand reasons why I think she's not my type, in the end I'd still put my 1/4" plug into her if she gave me the chance. I'm excited to see this one finished up. And Scott...this time, we'll have to get this one over here when it's done so we can record some samples to post. Especially since these pickups are part of the "PGF family".

Man..that's a sweet, sweet top! Sorry. Couldn't help myself.

MAN! That thing is beautiful. Riffle....can you hear the gears turning in my head??

It's still a shame that we had to lose that "gorilla skull" because it was too wide.

Look...it's a family portrait!

I'm only ribbing Scott...he knows that. FYI: He brought a piece of that walnut by today for me to see, and it's not nearly as dark as those photos make it look. I can't wait to see it....getting so close now!

3 Grand? Pshh...I'm thinking beer. He LOVES beer. The problem with that is that I'm quite sure I could never keep up with him to get him drunk enough to give it away. Bahh....stupid walnut. It's just too dang dark.

Holy crap, Scott! This one's a beauty, for sure. I STILL think the top is too dark. But the lines and overall shape of this one is killer. Pickups look sweet. Pretty stealthy looking unit. Mind you, none of the "problems" I've mentioned will stop me for one second lookin' cool as hell on stage with it. (hint...hint). It's so cool to have a guy with skills like this just 10 minutes away.

Sweet man...that Ranger SOUNDS killer too!

No...I couldn't make out that stamp either.

Both pots: 250K 032367 A-1377329 Yeah...it looks like a red ink circular stamp in the neck pocket, but I can't read any of it. I tried looking up the HERB G stamp to see if it meant anything....found nothing. I take it you've seen that one before? I know it's not really something that's sought after by collectors, but it's a pretty sweet little guitar. I think we're gonna put single coils back in it, put some Fender machines back on it, replace the hack-job pick guard, level and crown the frets....could be a fun little guitar once it's in good playing shape. It feels pretty good as it is now, so in the end, not a bad freebie my buddy scored here.

Here's another series of shots I just took. I really can't read ANY of the stamps completely, except for the Herb G stamp. Just too faded. I know that's pretty normal. The neck doesn't appear to be reliced on purpose. It's in decent enough shape - a few good dings here and there. Frets show wear, but not deep enough that it couldn't be leveled and crowned. The rosewood (?) lam on the neck is still in awesome shape. Looks like the neck was shimmed with part of a concert ticket stub...can't tell what concert it was, but it was general admission! You can't see it in the photos, but on the front and rear of the body, the clear is cracked in long straight lines like I've seen in Fenders from the era. I don't notice anything in the paint that looks oversprayed. There is some orange-peel in the clear on both the neck and the body...but doesn't look suspect to me.

Telegram for Mango.... Dude. That's a nice lookin' piece.

A friend of mine was given this Fender Music Master. The best I can come up with...looks to be about 1973/74. (Haven't taken the neck off yet.) My understanding is that this guitar came BLUE. But, as you can see, the finish is more like Avacado Green. Mr. Riffle and I have gone over it very carefully...and we're fairly convinced that this is actually the original paint...and that it's aged wonderfully/horribly - depending on how you feel about these things. It LOOKS like this is purely clear aging/dirt/smoke mojo. Pretty cool little guitar. Ignore - if you can - that somebody routed the dang thing out like a 4-year-old and put in some cheezy humbucker. Sigh... Anyway...anyone seen this finish go THIS GREEN? I can't find any pics on line where it's THIS GREEN. Not even close in any pics I've seen. 413419

Lookin' good, Riffle!!

I was prouder of you when you did it all by hand. THIS...jointer business...is just lazy.

"This was actually inspired by my sucktastic artistic ability. I wanted an Octopus-looking bass - all carved up n stuff.... I started to draw it, realized I couldn't execute it and went for this - - "shape"..." I can see where you were wanting to go with the whole OctoPuss/Bass carved thing. Head in the upper left corner...tentacles draping down and the one that reached all the way to the headstock. That would have been pretty dang cool. In fact...you should commission Mr. Riffle to do that in the future. The man has a way with wood.

I know you said no knobs...but you gotta at least put one or two of those big 'ol stove kobs on there somewhere....or maybe the stove timer.

I have a feeling this is just going to make me want another one. Dammit....

Testing complete.....

Good progress...it was nice to hold it in my hands this weekend with the neck attached. He still has quite a bit of work left to carve out the back, but here are some shots of the neck joint and the back as it currently exists: And here is a shot of the front as he begins the sculpting...pretty rough now, but will look sweet in a few days!

Routed out the wiring channels: Glued on the top: Routed out the pickup holes:

This is just a beauty!

Then, he set the neck. I'm giddy now...just can't wait to see this thing done!!