ScottR

I expect he was pretty happy with that job.

SR

Verrrrrrry tasty Paulie.

I had forgotten what the back looked like, so I had to backtrack to see it again. I saw your wife's wedding strat and a really nasty beat up broken acoustic on the way. So my point is I got another look at the original dye job, before it faded. I like this one much better. This is gorgeous. It took forever, but, you got a lot done in this thread.

SR

Why, thank you very much Mike and Henri, I'm glad you like it. I've been enjoying yours as well Henri. There's way too much ingenuity going on over at your place for that build to turn out anything but great. And I see that You've got something in the works too, Mike. Take your time and keep us posted, the build threads are almost as much fun as the build itself.

Cheers,

Scott

Nope, no problem what-so-ever.

SR

I like this a lot. I'm not normally a big afan of offset shapes, but this is nice. I love the fretboard and markers, love the headstock shape. Are you going to cap it with some of that cherry?

The cherry top is awesomee--I would not get any black dye anywhere near it. The cherry will darken with time as it is, I'd be afraid you'd lose sight of that gorgeous figure. I'd maybe seal it with amber shellac to warm it up and deepen the figure and then clear it. If you are set on translucent black, you could add some tint coats to yoour clear. Personally, I wouldn't go further than a very subtle transparent light burst. That cherry is too nice to cover up!

SR

I´m already suffering from update withdrawal.

Well......I can't say I'm sorry to be finished, but I do miss having something new to post and talk about each week. It's been a real hoot!

SR

Everybody ought to have a tele body and neck on hand for emergencies. And pretty dang nice looking at that. I'll bet it sounds great with P-90s.

Very cool.

SR

the back of the body will be carved quite heavily.

I'm looking forward to seeing that! I love carved backs.

SR

Stunningly beautiful.

SR

It´s beautiful Scott. And that guy´s playing is top notch, it brings out the guitar´s personality.

Thanks Joe, and Paulie.

It may be ho-hum old hat to a bunch of you guys, but the recording of that was a real treat for me. I've been around a couple of times while Hook was recording, but this went so fast and smoothly, not to mention it was totally impromtu, with a guitar still getting tweeked and an amp I got off of craig's list a couple of hours earlier, it was amazing to me. Let me see if I can capture it:

Joel picks up the guitar and starts noodling on it. "What kind of music shall we play?"

Me: Some of it's got to be blues.

Joel: We can do that.

Hook: Let me pull up a rhythm track.

Joel: You got anything slower than that......slower......slower......you got anything slower than that? OK

They go into the sound room and mike up. Joel plays some rhythm for a couple of minutes.

Hook: You gonna put a change in there or just keep playing those two chords?

Joel: It's coming...

Plays for a couple of minutes more.

Hook: Ok let me loop that and you can play a lead over it.......ok.

Joel plays for three or four more minutes.

Hook: Ok that's good.

Me (giddy): I can't believe that sound is coming out of my guitar and amp! Did he just make that up while I'm sitting here?

Hook: Yeah.......Ok let's try something a little harder through one of these other amps.....

And that was pretty much it. Hook picked start and stop points and added a couple of the things he mentioned but it was one take- that fast and good to go. Joel probably feels like it sounded like one take to him, but it sounds great to me. I love it.

SR

Neck glued up.

That looks like epoxy.

SR

Now those are cool.

SR

I like the way part of the stems are F holes and part are inlay.

SR

because we havent seen that before *cough cough* hehe

looks good so far

Well, technically it's the third one I've seen, and I liked them all. Yours is the only one that carried the inlay across the fretboard though.

Ahem, carry on 82cabby, don't mind us, this is going to be great!

SR

That chip is not very deep at all. Just sand it out and blend the curves back into the tele shape. You'll never be able to tell any difference. I like the way part of the stems are F holes and part are inlay.

SR

I love your resourcefullness (that's probably a new word) in building tools and jigs. I expect good things from this build.

SR

"Leroy"

First the specs:

body: African mahogany

top: claro walnut crotch

neck: jatoba long tenon

fretboard and HS cap: cocobolo

bridge: Schaller

pickups: P-90 set made by Guitar Logistics (RAD)

tuners: Gotoh 510 minis

Scale: 25"

22 medium frets, nickel steel

Build Thread

That makes a lot of sense. As far as for the way they look, I think the familiar iconic shapes like a strat look a bit odd reversed just because we are so used to seeing it the usual way. I think less common shapes look fine reversed.

SR

The System 3 stuff is for finishes... it is really thin and is supposed to soak deep into the wood and harden (think filling and finishing).

Sooo, did you stabilize this burl before cutting on it? Or is this burl solid enough to get shaped and the epoxy is just to level up the surface for the finish. If you have and voids or cracks that go below the surface a bit, and it looks like you do, you should probably fill them before carving just to keep pieces from breaking off. As they say, don't ask me how I know.....

SR

It's fascinating to me to see how you get such an obviously 3 dimensional carve ouf of such a thin top. That was roughly a quarter inch thick (maybe up to .36") when started right? It's a great top.

SR

Wez, thanks for putting up that photoshopped piece. I like the black even better now.

then at least my input/meddling was helpful

Absolutely! I value your opinion greatly. I've been taking advantage of your expertise wherever I find it.

Beyond that all opinions and input or criticisms are welcome here. The more viewpoints I'm exposed to the more I learn.

......cool, your next post showed up under this response box. I hadn't seen that happen before.

So yeah that shot in the direct sun was pretty harsh on the pups. I was paying more attention to the wood color in that lighting and didn't notice.

SR

Here are the audio links:

Track 1:

Rhythm: Blues Junior Combo

Lead: Blues Junior Combo

Mic: Beyer Dynamic M-160

Preamp: Daking

http://www.skullsessions.com/audio/riffle/01%20Riffle%20-%20Slow%20Blues.mp3

Track 2:

Rhythm: 1977 Marshall JMP 50

Lead: First edition Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier

Cab: 1977 Marshall 1960a (original 25watt celestions)

Mic: Beyer Dynamic M-160

Preamp: Daking

http://www.skullsessions.com/audio/riffle/02%20Riffle%20-%20Funky%20Blues.mp3

Note: Drums were not live. We just picked pre-recorded drum loops and let them fly.

We spent no time in mic placement…just dropped it in front of the amps and pushed the red button.

After laying down basic rhythm tracks and looping them, Joel did a single pass on each track for lead guitar. (He would appreciated that disclaimer, as he’s actually a much better player than this might reflect!)

Guitars recorded clean…delay and chorus added after the fact.

(note from Hook)

Personally I hope to be able to play that well when I grow up.

SR

All the polishing time and effort is paying off. That finish is a mile deep. In fact it's so easy to lost in the finsh, you lose track of the fact it's a one piece guitar (with a top).

SR

Man this rocks. Good to see ole bear makin an appearance.

The finish came out brilliant. I have to admit to being wrong about changing the black hardware for chrome, as it seems to keep everything toned back enouge to realy let the top take centre stage here. Its not often I see something & think "man, I wish I had built that"

Now go have a beer with bear. I rekon you deserve one

High praise indeed Paulie. Thank you. Bear and I did hoist one....or six.

Thank you all for your kind words and input. Wez, thanks for putting up that photoshopped piece. I like the black even better now.

Amiee, I'm afraid I can't find the pic of the pickup that's bothering you, but rest assured there's no rust on them. Probably plenty of finger prints though. I'll wipe them off as soon as I get home.

RAD, all your input thoughout the build was much appreciated and I love the way the pups sound. The link to the audio should be ready shortly, and you guys can judge that for yourselves. And you and Osorio are spot on: it is harder to take decent pictures.

Chad, consider ol' bear's tummy rubbed. I told him it was from you!

SR

i think its the look of the black hardware that slightly holds it back - chrome would work better, for me at least. i would be interested in seeing cream P-90 covers as well, creamy colours work well next to walnut in a chocolate/vanilla kind of way

I cannot explain why.....but I've always liked black hardware, and, have never been a fan of cream covers or rings or bobbins.

Having said that, cream covers would balance out the bone nut.

Hmmmmm.

If I keep building these things, I can see I'm going to have to explore other hardware options and new colors, just to be sure there's not something out there I like better.

SR

oh em gee, I love the finish! Its so... clear! You get the shine, but you can still see the grain pores. I love how your logo sort of matches the sweep of the lower horn into the heal as well.

And your bonsai is very pretty

If I had to pick something I didn't like about it, it would be the "look" of the P90s. They need to be... cleaner... less old looking I guess.

I can't say if I'd call this guitar a modern looking design; I don't think it really a vintage design, so I can see how vintage type pickups might look out of place.

Unless you just mean I should have wiped them off before taking these pics.

SR