ScottR

49 minutes ago, Asdrael said:

I really like the pickup choice actually. I think it's a nice combination. I just have never been a fan of the classical tele hardware, I think it hides too much of the top. Just a matter of taste really, some people swear by that. The gold in on point with the stain though, so hats off for that!

I agree with you about the hardware, I especially do not like the old bridges with the barrel saddles for two strings at a time.

I don't even like gold hardware as a general rule.......but this top... in this color....is just begging for it.

SR

3 hours ago, Asdrael said:

Great work (and nice pictures to boot!). Two thumbs up, and that's only because I only have two hands.

 

There are some choices that I would not have made but that makes it even more of a personal instrument and the end result looks awesome so that's what counts. It oozes personality

 

(Side note: how are you liking the p-rails? I am tempted to have a build around those at some point...)

Thanks Asdrael!

It does indeed have personality.....junkyard dog maybe?

I'm presuming the choices you'd had made differently are the pickups and tele hardware?

The P-rails are nice, quite good even. I like different aspects of them than I expected to. I like them in humbucker mode more than either single coil. The humbucker in series is hot and will push the amp nicely, and in parallel it is sweet and clean with some nice growl with a heavy attack. The P-90 and rail are fine but I've heard better. The green one I just built for example. As far as all the combinations you can get out of both pickups at the same time, I just don't hear enough differences between any of them to make it worth the effort.

SR

51 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

Ahh... I was wondering how a crack like that would be possible in a dual layer body.

An axe maybe?

If you take another look, you might notice that your images are from opposite edges of the body, which would take be an even larger mishap to create.

SR

6 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

The huge crack in the upper lower bout looks frightening but apparently you've stabilized it with epoxy or CA.

This one:

 

 

 

Aw Biz.

These first shots were taken on my back patio table under the umbrella.

What you are seeing is the reflection of one of the ribs of the umbrella.

No worries and no cracks.

SR

And these are noticeably in direct sunlight.

SR

Older brother got dragged into the situation.

The tops on both of these came from the same board. The bodies are cut from the same pattern. Any subtle differences beyond that are due to the needs of the hardware and the fact that they are hand carved and sanded, so every thing is slightly unique.

These shots were taken in full shade, but obviously with plenty of reflected light around.

SR

I got my final pix taken.

I'm going to post a ridiculous amount, because we are all acting bored and there needs to be more pictures to look at.

I'm doing my part dammit!

SR

On 4/20/2024 at 11:32 AM, Mr Natural said:

looks great Scott!

Whats the verdict on the Lollar? Which p90 wind did you go with? and maybe I missed it- whats the bridge pickup? 

Cheers Scott!

The initial verdict is WOWZER!

I went very unconventional here, and I guess a bit of an explanation is in order.

My original intention was to go with a combo I had tried and liked in the past. Klein fat tele in the bridge and high wind P-90 in the neck. I'd gone to a Steel Woods concert whilst mentally designing this thing and they play a lot of teles with P-90s in one or the other or both positions and I was really enjoying the tone. My nephew now owns my Les Tele I built with that combination, so I no longer had one of my own. I placed my order on line with Klein and they accepted my money. But I never heard back. The website was active and my order is registered with a not shipped yet status. Email inquiries went unanswered, except there is a blurb on the website describing lead times with a notation the multiple emails inquiring will cause the address to be flagged as spam. To be fair, Klein has always had a long lead time, but also has been responsive to email inquiries. And the pick-ups have always been worth the wait,,,,even if the wait caused a several month delay in my build.

I've come to the conclusion that the dude succumbed to covid and no one remained that could run his business or manage the website, and it was just functioning on auto pilot.

Eventually I gave up and explored Lollar pick-ups, having noted that some of the artists I follow that use Kleins, also use Lollar.

Staying with my original plan I put a Lollar tele J street bridge in it

https://www.lollarguitars.com/lollar-telecaster-pickups/tele-j-street-bridge

And a Lollar P-90 high wind soapbar bridge in the neck. That is the closest thing to the Klein I had ordered, and I did say unconventional

https://www.lollarguitars.com/lollar-p-90-pickups/p-90-soapbar-high-wind-bridge-only

The P-90 is fat warm and punchy and pushes the amp pretty good. That's a pretty good description of the tele bridge as well except it doesn't push the amp quite as hard and high attack brings out the tele twang while high attack on the P-90 makes you think more of a vintage PAF tone with P-90 bite. Together in series they really push the amp into a great sounding overdrive. I have an Oak Grigsby four way switch in it so the fourth position is together in parallel which doesn't sound all that different than the bridge alone to be honest. Of course with both pups wound in the same direction/polarity, the humbucking ability is lost (but not that I notice) and supposedly they are out of phase, and so the series/parallel aspect may be all out of whack too. I like what I hear so far, but that hasn't been extensive yet. I could discover something I don't like and replace the neck with a conventionally would neck instead.....

I do so enjoy being unconventional though!

SR

I agree with @Andyjr1515!

SR

Thanks guys!

18 hours ago, komodo said:

I can see that switch is parked in the smokin' gear. 
It's so organic, and once again has a surface you can dive into.
Awesome stuff buddy!

It sure is!

Thanks man, that's exactly what I was going for. I'm glad you like it.

SR

2 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Gosh.  That is utterly stupendous.  And battery just about to die or not, those are lovely photos of the finished beauty.

I love all of your builds, Scott -  but this has to be my favourite so far.

Wow Andy, how very kind of you to say so.

This is my favorite so far as well.

But then, my favorite is always the last one I built.....

SR

Camera battery died.....and the backup battery was even deader.

More pics to come.

It's done. It looks great (to me) and sounds awesome ..... sorry I don't have the ability to record and share.

It's got two bridge single coils and an Oak Grigsby 4 way switch. I'm sure I have it wired to match the diagram, but not sure it is working exactly as it it should, I was in the same position the last time I tried one of these (Justin's Guitar) and that time I pulled it out and put in a standard tele three way. I always remember loving the way what I did get sounded before I changed it out. Same here. It sounds great regardless of whether it sounds like it's supposed to.

SR

On 4/10/2024 at 5:10 PM, avengers63 said:

I love me some P90s also. They live in a sweet spot between a HB and a SC - a little beef and a little twang. In fact, I recently bought a custom Chibson SG with 3 P90s. In the near future, I'll be getting a set of Lindy Fralins to put in there.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on those once you get them. This one is a Lollar, and I can't wait to hear it.

SR

1 hour ago, avengers63 said:

I'm sure this was covered early in the thread. Not that this has ever made anyone go back and look for the info. That's just not what we do.

Why did you go for a P90 in the neck instead of a Tele neck pup?

Well John, had you gone back and looked, you'd have found all kinds of stuff but not the answer to that question.

Yours is actually the first mention of pickups in here at all.

The answer is my all time favorite guitar tone is the one made by a big ol' fat, warm, barkin' bitin' growling whisky voiced P-90 in the neck position.

SR

On 4/6/2024 at 7:54 AM, Bizman62 said:

And for my liking not shiny on the neck!

Yes, I much prefer the feel of an oil finished neck.

SR

On 4/3/2024 at 2:02 PM, henrim said:

I’ve been postponing this one for some time now. Because every time I coat a guitar body I tell myself I need a better way to support the body while spraying it. So far I’ve been hanging them from a ceiling hook, but it’s difficult to have a good access around the body in the limited space I have.

So, I finally decided to build a fixture that allows me to rotate the body in every direction. I have done some drawings, but I think I’m going to improvise a bit. I found this used Volvo wheel hub I have saved for the last ten years waiting for a situation like this. Bearing still works well enough for rotating a guitar body. Now I just need to dig my storage a bit more for other pieces and do some welding and stuff.

I'm really looking forward to your solution here!

SR

On 4/4/2024 at 2:13 AM, Asdrael said:

And the rosewood as a neck feels awesome

I totally love the feel of a rosewood neck!

Looking good.

SR

On 4/1/2024 at 10:04 PM, JAK said:

It’s all nice, of course, but really love that back wood, especially now that it’s under glass. 

 Stunning stuff, mate!

On 4/2/2024 at 2:09 AM, Asdrael said:

Shiinyyy. Looks great. I really like the front of course, but the back is the highlight for me, I really like how it turned out. I guess I have a soft spot for black limba

Thanks guys!

You know, I don't think I've built a single guitar that didn't get that comment at least once. My backs usually all get the same treatment: darken the pores and subtle black burst after the carve. I guess after seeing the expected glamorous wood featured on the front, the classier rear is a pleasant surprise....I don't know.

SR

37 minutes ago, Mr Natural said:

sweet!

Thanks Scotty!

Mr. Natural raises his head and glances around!

SR

2 hours ago, ADFinlayson said:

Almost looks like yellow is the main colour in from some angles, you've really captured the figure in that top, stunning mate. 

I know, right? I did have to add some yellow to the green to pull back the blue tint it had, I didn't use any straight yellow in the dye of the wood or in the the tint. That is the wood showing through. My phone refuses to take an accurate picture. All it sees is browns and golds, with the faintest green and then black fade.

Thanks for the figure comment. My main goal was to highly contrast the figure without killing the chatoyancy and end up with a green guitar.

SR

The carve, transparency and angles of reflectance make this thing difficult to really tell what it actually looks like.

SR

Now for all the different looks from different angles.

SR

Shiny!

That's sanded all the way to micromesh 12000.....twice actually. I went back to 2400 and ran through the grades again chasing scratches. Then Meguiars  buffing compound.

SR