Eljaroli

Part time lurker, one-time kit-builder here. I've moved over to pedal building as it's more my skillset. Anyway I know Akula from the local scene. We both gigged last night at a small bar in town and I watched him play this weapon. Thought, man that's a cool guitar, what brand is it?! I was blown away by the detail and the subtle binding. Bloody nice work, mate!

Update, The wiring was fine in the end. The issue was just a broken shield connection to the stereo input jack. Had the usual fun setting up the floyd rose. These bridges are not for me. The ESP sounded great - but my yamaha RGX421D was similar to my untrained ears. One thing I noticed was the ESP frets were smoother at the neck edge than the yamaha. My Mate loves it. Thanks

Thanks once again, mate.

That’s the one Bizman. Thanks heaps. I also got a reply quicker than I expected from ESP with the right wiring. The grime up the fretboard is another issue that needs to be addressed! Once it’s up and running I can compare it to my $100 Yamaha RGX421d.

Hi guys, Doing a quick favour for a workmate here, but I want to make sure I get this right. I have his ESP M-II Standard, with 2 active EMG's, 1 Volume, and one 3 way toggle switch. Years ago his brother mucked around and tried installing a sustainer (something I'm new to and reading about now). Naturally, it didn't work, and now he has a dodgy expensive guitar. His guitar volume now does nothing but affect tone somehow. He's happy for me to have a go at returning it to the original state, but I wanna get this right as it's a nice guitar. And there's no way they'd take it to a tech - it'd just go back in the shed and gather dust for years. Just wondering if anyone has any schematics or wiring diagrams they can help me with? Haven't had much luck with google so far. Currently, I'm also awaiting a reply from ESP. Thanks in advance.

The body had an initial coat of blue spray paint, and it, the scratchplate and pickup covers were all dipped individually, Guitar is still currently in pieces, as neck needs a tiny bit of wood stain. Looks pretty cool IMO - the kids love it!

Bit of an update - Months down the track. Well, we kinda procrastinated a bit while I was studying and researching all the swirl dipping info, and what paint to use. Also I ended up getting some model paint that turned out to be spirits based rather than oil based. Then my daughter says "oh yeah, it's due next week". Damn. Better do something about it. Wanting to do it "right" from the word go, we did a $3 ukelele instead. That worked out okay, and was easier for her to carry to school, where it was admired. I found paint really clumped up in parts. Last monday, after School, and after many more months of procrastinating, we attempted the swirl dipping with the guitar. I'm attempting to attach the images from my phone. Bear with me....

Wow, thankyou guys for the informative answer! The guitar arrived today. Intonation is great. The size and weight are perfect and should stop any complaints from my kids. I'll make sure I post back with progress when we pull it apart for painting. Thanks once again!

Thanks SR, but what, the perspex cracking, or the guitar? lol. Thanks for the warning. I'll buy enough for a couple of attempts if needed. Update, found some info elsewhere on swirldipping perspex pickguards. Mask one side of pickguard, dip seperately to guitar, apply white spraypaint to swirldip will supposedly allow the effect to shine through the perspex.

Hi all, My daughter has some free choice art project for school, and she's keen to do a swirl-dipped guitar. Stopped procrastinating and placed an order for a cheap 3/4 electric for my kids. https://www.artistguitars.com.au/buy/artist-minis-3-4-size-small-body-electric-guitar/70075 Managed to get a customer returned pack for a bit cheaper. There's not too much choice about for 3/4 guitars out there, and I wasn't keen to blow too much on one. Anyway I was just thinking of replacing the scratchplate for perspex. If anyone's ever done this before, would any perspex do? Thanks in advance.

Nah man. The colour stays. Spending time getting the brewgear up and running again (summer is approaching fast!), but I'll get onto those frets soon. Fired it up with Rocksmith the other night and had a bit of fun, but I still need to set it up properly. The notes on this site help a lot.

As much as I love the colour, the difference between what I WANT, and what I GOT has always bugged me.... until now. Just did a search for Ford metallic green's and came up with this, "Meadowvale Green" Awesome. http://paintref.com/cgi-bin/colorcodedisplay.cgi?type=sample&ditzler=42344&syear=1960&smanuf=Ford&smodel=Falcon&sname=Meadowvale Green&name=falcon1960M1273

Thanks Prostheta, I love the grain in the wood, It's stained in Wudtone Vintage Yellow. Going by the price of the kit ($150) it's definitely something out of asia. Onto the fretwork - it's truly horrible, Probably 30-40% of the frets aren't seated properly. They're if they're not lifting up at the sides, they're lifting up in the middle. For what it's worth, I gave the retailer a bit of feedback/criticism on this (politely - I don't usually go off my nut) Nothing to be done considering the guitar's almost finished. I just put the guitar back together an hour ago, and my superglue/clamping attempt worked pretty well. There's still a bit of fine tuning, polishing and only one high spot left, but I'm pretty happy. Got friends coming over soon for a bbq so I'll get to fire it up for a guitar battle on Rocksmith! I think these photos were taken before I oiled the fretboard. When I get a chance, I'll upload some detailed photos of the fretwork. I need to clean up a bit of stray superglue first!!!

Small update after a while of procrastinating. I cut a new nut the other week from a blank. Pretty pleased with the outcome, but I think I can lower the slots a tiny bit more. I have plenty of spares if I stuff up. Went up the neck the other day with some super glue and clamps, in an effort to fix those raised frets. Overall, there's 3 major high points with I've hopefully fixed, but I've got some hobby files ready to go. Plugged in it sounds okay, pretty punchy humbucker - seems louder than the single coils - hopefully it's just an issue of pickup height.

Last slightly off topic post regarding Yamaha's I have an SG300 that needs a bit of attention to the frets, but as it's my baby, I'd send it to a professional. I don't dare ruin it. Years ago I found an old RBX-800a on a council cleanup. It's a bit rough around the edges but still functional. Score! Just needs a couple of missing/snapped screws in the bridge, and a snapped pot shaft that needs replacing. Also saw a hardcase on another council cleanup pile. I almost pulled a handbrake turn for that one! Pulled up, opened the case, and there's a yamaha acoustic with tarnished frets & rusty strings! Took it home, polished it up & restrung it. Beautiful! I never checked what model it was, but I sold it to a workmate for $100. It's amazing the things people throw away - I'm constantly driving slowly whenever it's council cleanup time. Wife hates it! Had an old Yamaha 12 string hummingbird copy when I was in school as well. Dunno why I sold it... Anyway enough of that Yamaha love..., thanks for the tip on that deadblow hammer and superglue info., Prostheta