FuzzFace

I got no idea why I cant, maybe because I havnt been around as long and my editing restrictions are limited. For clean tones I notice a fairly decent tonal difference in woods, Poplar being my least liked, but once you start to add dirt, imo it makes little difference. Ash and Alder I find give the best note deliniation, a nice ping. Im still very tempted to buy that Ibanez S520 body and find a way to find a neck that will work. The cheapest I can get an S520 for is imported $530EU. That is with crappy electronics and a mid range Ibanez trem. I can order that in Cherry Burst outside the Black Weathered Ash, but I like the latter better anyway.

I wish they would increase the time out allotment on the site so you can edit posts rather than create longer threads. uggh. Anyways, Im looking at the Aria and to be fair they are a pretty high-quality instrument for $250 US. I wish there was more info on the necks, but supposedly the radius is fairly flat and pretty thin, not that it tells me a lot, but sounds ok.... They using the top Wilkinson 2 post trem, which has pretty good tuning stability. I think if I bought on Id just play i for a while before deciding on which electronics to upgrade and whether a Floyd is a must have.

I was just thinking the s561, which is actually quite a nice sounding instrument, is an S body that uses the 25.5" Wizard neck. Its a hard tail. Im thinking they must all use the same 25.5" 15.75" radius neck. I dont have proof but it seems too logical not to be true. The other thought I had was, what if I went to a gat shop, got the s521 (the one with the $150 body I want to put a charvel or a 12" squier neck on) and I got the Charvel and the Squier, all 25.5", I should be able to see if the heel lines up on each, along with the final fret before the overhang? Sorry I sort of have 2 mod projects going on in my mind, Hopefully next year when the recession eases off and our petrol prices are more in line with the current US prices, we have been looking at some basic tools for bodies and modifications. I dont think I will ever get to the point of building neck but making my own bodies out of Poplar would pay for itself. In the mean time partscasting is keeping me occupied. I really want that Charvel neck on that s521 body, but would be happy putting a Floyd rose in the Aria strat.

The only thing Im not fond of is Poplar wood. Its something Ive had stuck in my head for ages as we use it for firewood and its considered less valuable than pine here. I also find its dynamic response in reviews vs Alder and Ash to be rather dull. But it may have construction strength Im not aware of, I know some people complained about basswood being used with Floyd style trems as the posts wood squish and move. So it may suit Floyd style trems more, Ive noticed it used more and more in guitars. On the flip side there is the cheap and cheerful Kramer Focus Kramer Focus VT-211S Electric Guitar - Teal | Sweetwater It uses a Mahogany body and a non baked maple neck, but havnt seen a review mentioning fret sprouting yet. Clearly the Aria is a higher standard with better fixtures and fittings. But $149 for the Kramer and about $250 for the Aria, probably for $100 the Aria makes it worth it as a Mod platform. Ive got a source for an $80 Licensed Floyd Rose that has replaced the usual soft metals and is all "Hardened Metals".. I would have to make room for the Floyd locking nut at the first fret, but many have done this in the past. I have Stratosphere to provide very cheap real Seymour Duncan Charvel loomed pickups at a very good price. It seems to make for an easier mod project than trying to find a neck that would fit the s520 body, as nice as that would be.

The real hard part is finding one that will work with that body. I do start to think it be much easier to add a Floyd route to an existing budget but good value strat like the Aria's. For example the Aria Fullerton DG tribute model. Nice roasted maple neck. Alnico 5 pups. It has an upper pickguard so I could either use the charvel wiring for the Full Shred and Alnico Pro II humbucker pickups and wiring, or keep that wiring and go with the DK24 HSS pickups and wiring. They all use the EVH 500k potentiators which is a large part of how they get so much dynamic range in tone out of the pickups, Charvel that is. Its not just the SD pickups, as good as they are. I look forward to deciding which path I take and getting toward putting the wiring in etc. Who knows I might like these Alnico 5s as is. They dont list any specs on the website, I havnt dont any digging around as of yet), All I really need would be a Floyd Rouse routing template, although I have seen folk on youtube draw up the routing directly to the guitar, which is free vs $59-80 for a route template. Roasted maple neck and fingerboard with a Heel-less Bolt-on join, with a bottom of the FB truss rod wheel adjustment which I have found to be incredibly useful, even ifBack to the Gat, Roasted Maple neck (and separate it is not a thumb wheel as such. 714-DG -Fullerton- Aria Guitars - Electric, Acoustic, Classical Guitars and Bass (ariaguitarsglobal.com) The 714 Mk2 is rather pretty in Aqua Blue and sophisticated in the Pewter type grey. I like how the natural finish to the sides and pack accentuates th kane 714-MK2 -Fullerton- Aria Guitars - Electric, Acoustic, Classical Guitars and Bass (ariaguitarsglobal.com)

The problem I face is, I dont think Stratosphere are going to do this for me which kinda sucks, but I guess they are just inventory and sales. If the Charvel or Fender neck heel is too big, that is a good thing, if it were too small then I cant fix that, but a heel thats a bit larger might mean Im able to shape the heel down to size?

Thats something I didnt even consider, I was thinking more about the shape of the neck join, but now you say it like that, I see that even the length might be different under the neck hang etc, different length neck join per se. They do have a Wizard 3 ibanez neck they sell at stratosphere, its for an RG470, but Im pretty sure RG and S Wizard 3 necks are the same. This would be the ultimate partscaster for me, an Ibanez S body with a Charvel 12=16" compound neck and Charvel SD SH10 Full Shred and (I forgt which neck pup but sounds amazing split, best single coil from a bucker ive heard) pickups and wiring (amazingly cheap compared to buying the pickups seperate etc). Im pretty sure (can check with mates) the GT1996T Gotoh trem fits in the ibanez posts and route, they are also quite cheap via stratosphere. That place has some cheap authentic components. I look at real Fender bodies vs unfinished ones on Trademe and there is like $50 difference. Pickups as I mentioned, hardware etc. I get why some people dont like it, but to me it offers an assortment of quality parts. Here is the s570 for $600. Almost makes the body for $150 seem cheap given the electronics are $70, although a real Ibanez trem isnt cheap the edge zero 2 is like their middle of the road offering.....Ibanez S570AH - Silver Wave Black | Sweetwater The Charvel DK24 dinky, Charvel pro mod San Dimas 1 and the Ibanez S series (they all pretty good) are my favourite non custom gats. The ESP 87 series Tele with floyd rose would be up there too, especially the current rainbow crackle paint model. The problem with the San Dimas though unlike the DK24 and Ibanez is they stuck to the original neck which was a non tapered heel, which some shredders dont like. Me personally Im not quite fast enough to have it bother me haha. Im more like pentatonic scale on crack than 7 note scale soloist shred.

I should have also said mighty mite do a 25.5" locking nut blank neck too. But then if that would fit, why would a charvel or jackson 25.5" neck not work.... I guess the issue is I dont know how far down the body the saddle point would be, again chicken and egg situation.

https://stratosphereparts.com/ibanez-s570ah-body-guitar-parts-s-series-bound-ash-silver-wave-black/ Here is a question for you. This is an Ibanez S570 ash body on stratsphere. A gorgeous guitar when fully complete. Now normally you would put an ibanez offset bolt pattern neck on this (flip it over to its back and you will see what i mean) as they did some heel modifications some time back in the s series. I dont like the Wizard necks as they are 15.75" radius. I prefer a 12" radius, or even Satrianis 10" radius JS neck. Now what Im wondering is, is there any way I could like a strat neck from strattosphere to this body, given the bolt pattern etc? They make a cheap fender 12" radius 25.5" scale neck, marketed as fender licensed. I notice on the Ibanez Wizard necks they actually have 5 bolt holes drilled, I presume in case somebody wants to fit to an older style square style. My biggest concern would be how do I make sure a new neck can be intonated correctly etc? Id need to put a Gotoh replacement tremolo in it, Id try without a locking nut, some people have had success with behind the nut lockers of late and also just graphite nuts and locking tuners, Guthrie Govern is trying his out like that now. Anyway this is my dream body, I just dont know how I could fit a neck that I like to it and be sure to be intonated correcly, its kind of chicken and egg situation....

The Iceman was the one guitar I was concerned about offending the collective Iceman fan base, but I guess anything goes.

Id like to learn how to apply crackle, maybe a bit more subtle on the paint job, I guess we will see where my ideas head later. For now, I need to know what paints are required and what is crackle paint called and can it be bought in other colours than black? Is using a spray can holder adapter advisable for occupational health issues? I see the big time custom guys use air brush handles that look similar.. Lastly, is it possible to do a crackle job over an off the shelf paint job that is suitable for a base colour?

Long term that is likely the only guitars I will build, but I hear you about the weight issues, which is something Im sure I will learn as I go. Nothing sustains like a neck through haha, pure physics. Mind you a sustainiac pickup on a neck through would be dynamite with a Floyd Rose and a kill switch to top things off. hehe. My mind is drawn to the outrageous just before you get to over the top tacky, it has to be functional. I will give Crackle a couple of tries, I have a couple of ideas of how Id like to use it. I dont see why it has to cover the entire body for example. I enjoy rainbow crackle but im a bit moved on from that now, using it in a more subtle fashion. It seems what the chemicals/paints involved in crackle are called different things in every country I go to online. Ive been trying to find a solid tutorial on here, but no avail so far. One other thing Im wondering, when people have rejuvenated a guitar ie a beat up old Jackson. How do you market the work done, clearly they are still a "Jackson", if you have put an SH10 and an SSL6 in the mid and neck., a rejuvenated trem, a perfect neck refinished/fretted etc, how do you go about marketing that in the for sale websites? Im not suggesting I want to make money for quite some time. I also think if I ever get good enough, any jobs that net me a profit should be custom ordered with down payment. But I will worry about that when I come to it I guess.

I tell ya what, pull one of the ssl-6s out and replace with a single coil sustainiac and that is exactly what I want, with that jackson neck through mans very smooth feel a upper fret register Rainbow Crackle neck thru

What Im ideally trying to do is build an Ibanez S body, perhaps a JS body, with one of the many satriani necks, very similar to a stock standard PRS 22. But more radius. Something like 43mm nut, 21-23mm 1st-12th fret, 12" radius, 22 frets. That is fairly typical of the types of necks hes involved with List of neck types | Ibanez Wiki | Fandom Im fairly sure I will be able to get a neck build with a pocket close enough that it just needs a sand. One thing Ive learnt is not to pre drill the holes, wait until you have your fit. So, Im tossing up between the Option 1: Charvel Pro mod Jacskon 24 with the Seymour Duncan Custom Full Shred SH-10B Bridge (the most insane pickup ever imo) &and Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro APH-1N Neck Pickup which is versatile, it covers all the classic lead like Hendrix, Clapton, EVH etc. However, this is the tricky bit and I need to get into the communtity a bit more, I want to put a sunstainiac in the middle, so similar to Ibanez in that it is an HSH config. But clearly I need to consider feedback noise etc so I will join their community first. I would love to do a Rainbow Crackle paint job, but I have zero painting skills so probably best to do something simple. The body I have lined up is American Ash and should have lovely grain. All a bit complex, but good project management can sovle those concerns

Haha too true. I guess Im worried about if I have a neck and order a body and they get the bridge placement wrong. Shipping costs to middle earth are $180usd. So not cheap. What Im realising is, I should have one or the other in hand before ordering the other just to be certain they will work, ie i have a lovely fender made charvel neck and want a cheap but cheerful poplar body to suit, its not just a case of scale length is it? my point was, do heal ends often end up a different length? (with a laminate fret length of fretboard left to overlap on top of the body? I think the safest thing to have first is th neck, I can always order a body based upon what I do know when I have that in hand etc.

Yeah thanks. I get all that. What I meant was when people are parts casting, which is to buy used body, neck, pickups so forth, but really only wortks within the realms of similar builds ie fender squier mim neck etc. NVM, I was off looking at some Charvel necks and have come to the realisation its too much gamble to trust a cnc'd cheap poplar body will be done to the specifications given to someone half the wolrd away.

Actually this is something Im a bit confused about lately, when somebody builds a body, how do they know where the scale length is going to be if the neck ends up being a bit longer? ie you might end up with a 26" scale guitar. Which I guess isnt a huge issue. I see a lot of bodies around that Id like to put the Fender made Charvel 42mm nut 12=16" compound radius, lovely rounded edges, awesome necks from the Player Series Factory. But then when I look on Stratosphere they also have the loaded pickup guard cheap too. But then they have a Ibanez body quite cheap. Im not sure if an ibanez edge pro type tremolo with line up with the charvel nut to equal exactly 25.5"..... how do people handle such issues with parts casters?

I have found an Ibanez Iceman body from poplar with a floyd rose routing lol. $160usd. That would be the most amazing guitar ever. Only issue is it fits ibanez necks which I dont like much. Any ides?

Well, I just cant see this paint coming off with a scraper. But Im startng to find there are alternatives for pre routed floyd rose Poplar bodies. The one on GFS for example. Where else is a good place for poplar cheap bodies?

I imagine their is a paint stripper that does the job super faster than my detail sander? Also, using vinyl wraps to finish a guitar, do they ever look good?

Where I am is so far away from any large continents that all products are expensive, even the cheap tools. Economy of scales and all that. BUT, what I might do is look in the used sales site for them, a near new on might be close to $60 (which is about $40EU.

Well I guess there goes my idea of escaping an office haha. People just dont want to pay for craftmanship is what I hear. And I think to a degree Im the same. But we do buy local art and native fauna artistry. They seem to have no problem selling their prints for $200 a piece. Shame I cant draw to save myself haha.

I was looking at Kiesel and the plant tour and I was wondering to myself, how long do small time guitar builders rely on hand tools and the eyes before they invest in CNC machines? I mean how do you shape the curves etc on a guitar body to be perfectly the same every time, Id have thought impossible? I live in a small country, biggest city is about 1.7mill people, 5mill total. So there is not a lot of demand for custom guitars, so Id imagine it is something to combine with other skills, like Luthier work, which I think wouldnt be too bad in the bigger city. I dont know how I ended up in an office career, well, nobody t school told me the things I wish I knew now, not complex things, but what life is like if you choose XYZ career. I was terrible, I only went to play sports. And nobody told me there were careers in those either. Had somebody told me their a reasonable paying careers in Engineering and Woodworking classes, Id have made a bigger effort. Surprisingly the one class I excelled at was Design Technology (CAD/Industrial design) and yet nobody told me there was a career in industrial design, which i really regret not studying, but it took me a long time to realise what they do and how cool that is. So I like working with my hands and fixing things. People know I worked in IT so I fix PCs, Macs and even Cellphones. Im starting to wonder with some more Luthier experience, I could mix Luthier work with some fixing of technical devices and maybe a bit of custom build to order guitars (need a lot more experience first). Im also interested in Guitar Pickups and Pedals, but not sure there is much money in Pedals and Pickups?. I also considered learning carpentry so I have the skills to build custom made furniture, doing some Tertiary training for that one. Im not sure what else I could do to make a decent living.....? I have a Diploma in Small Business Management (1 year) and I have another degree in Commerce (running big companies). So I have all the business skills, ie marketing, accounting etc

Haha yep, even when it wasnt fairly common knowledge 35 years ago I was buying cheaper guitars, doing some basic luthier work and installing my own electronics. The problem is, there are NO cheap used floyd rose guitars, well there are Jacksons JS32, it has a scarfed neck joint which makes upper fret access much easier.. There are online guitars that are insanely cheap. One of which has a mahogany body, a 5 top maple (not sure if veneer or is thicker), stainless steel frets and an original Floyd Rose for ~$180, even the pickups are not bad. I plan to put a sustainiac picup and system in my next guitar. The newer EMGs that use ceramic like old school pickups with an Active coil as well are insanely good too. In fact the TW ones also include a seperate single coil on the outside. But they sound amazingly organic, so you can use them and sound like a passive pickup but you can still get silence and of couse the high gain they are known for. Much like Fishman Moderns but even better, let alone the single coil with the TW versions. Anyway either a Hot 70s EMG or a 57 in the bridge and a Sustainiac in the neck. EMG Pickups / 57/66 TW Set / Electric Guitar Pickups, Bass Guitar Pickups, Acoustic Guitar Pickups I had another thought. maybe I could hire a router for the day, might cost $30, to do the floyd recess needed for pulling back etc..... Ive found GFS make a licensed floyd that is of high quality steel, which is why the Floyd Special and more so the licensed usually suck, like on the Jackson JS32, they use soft metals. GFS has assured me all components are hardened steel. They are $70usd (half price a the mo) vs $537 for the OG Floyd Rose. So I could buy this cheap Yamaha Pacifica and route the Floyd Rose for maybe $130 all up. The thing about modding vs building is, Id rather be building as you are missing all the fun and all the tools (which maybe useful for other house things) OMG he had the choice of 40 Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredders and he picked out the worst one haha. This would be my dream guitar, if it had a neck through. I enjoy necks that have a widish (but not too wide like Ibanez Wizard) string spacing, lik 42 to 42.5mm, 41mm and below classic strat necks just dont accomodate my sausage fingers haha. Although it forces me to try be less sloppy, it also makes me sound sloppy even though its the string spacing. I enjoy a neck with 42mm nut, 12" radius and 20-22mm 1st to 12th depth. Although these new necks on Charvels and Jackson with the 12-16" compound radius means you can play open chords easy where it matters, but it flattens out midway up giving speed for shred, which is why Ibanez is 16" the whole length, but I play muiltople styles, so either the first neck or the compound neck I mentioned. Where can I get necks like these? Anyway he explains sustainiac, but some awsome videos on its use. All the virtuosos like Vai use them now. I swear if you combine a classic Fuzz pedal with a Wah pedal and a Sustainiac pickup and a Floyd Rose, Im converted from Science into believing there is a heaven.

Cheers. Most of the woods here are either native which are flappen expensive or are just pine. Although you can get anything from maple to swamp ash blocks on Ebay. Likewise you can get pre routed, but the price goes up clearly. Ive found a floyd rose alternative, in fact its a licensed model, but instead of the cheap softened metals often used, it uses hardened steel, and sceptics give it goo reviews. Its nearly 1/5th the cost of a Schaller made Floyd Rose or Korean FR1000. My main stumbling block is finding a neck that works for me, I typically like Schecter necks, thin C/D, 19-21mm 1st to 12th, 12" radius, and 42mm nut, wider than a strat but not as wide as an Ibanez Wizard which exclusdes me from my more 70s style Funk Rock techniques, they are 16" radius and start at 43mm and out to 57mm. I found a Yamaha Pacfica Alder dirt cheap, about $150USD in a quality case, it has barely been played. But the neck is narrow, although has a13.75" radius. , just too narrow at 41mm nut. It is quite strange how such small refinements can make a neck fit your hand or not. The recent Squier Contemporary necks are perfect for my hand, they have crappy floyd roses and the pickups suck and the body is poplar. Prices start to add up and I think, maybe its worth spending $400 more and getting what I want pre made. But then I think, aside from the neck, I can pickup quality pickups on the used market for 40% their new price. Anyway I guess I would be paying $150 for an alder strat body, I could sell the neck and pickups, bridge etc and maybe get $50, probably $50 for the case, so its now a $50 strat routed Alder body. I have seen Floyd Rose pockets done with a chisel and detail sander on the cheap instead of a router. I know, pretty hack, but it turned out fine.... Right now Im not able to work due to health and our mortgage is over half a mill, which is hard on a single income and eating etc. So maybe now isnt the time to buy all the tools. As much as I really want to. But probably for now modifying a strat style gat is what I should focus on rather than building a body and having to buy the tools. But then pre routed bodies are very expensive and so are necks, you do not save a lot. Probably the cheapest route is a Jackson JS32 bolt on neck with scarf joint and a budget FR Special, and just replace the FR Special for this licensed model of hardened steel, then swap the pickups out and Im done, but I hate all up this pushes me closer to guitars I can import for the same price this would cost. Conundrum. So I dont think you really save money building unless you are building everything, which is an investment in tools, it then needs to become a hobby done often enough to justify the cost of the tools. Im not sure where I would find the perfect neck for me......