Xanthus

That's one nice Carvin, but aren't they all? (Most, anyways) I feel like that quilt top just kinda faaaaaades away at the edges. I would have really liked some black binding to bring it back into focus, kindof define the edges of the guitar.

Yesyesyes, less time Christmasing, more time guitar building! I myself am constrained by glue-drying times, which may have worked out fortuitously for tomorrow by not allowing me to shun the family and lock myself down the basement. But I digress. Bedtime it is for me, with lots of relatives tomorrow morning. Merry/Happy Christmas, Simo, and everyone else!

Throwing in my whatever-it's-worth here... I was recommended by someone on the forums (can't rightly remember, it was a while ago) when picking pickups for my second guitar, to look for a medium-output humbucker with a flat frequency response when using a modeling amp, because most (read: all?) of your sound is supposed to be coming from the amp itself. I decided on the Dimarzio PAF Pro, which has a fairly flat response and isn't too high-output. Maybe you could look into something similar?

Yeah, I figured you might, Stewey So I glued in a splice to fill in the truss channel (messed it up on the test run last year, no biggie). With that dry, I added ears on the headstock and just glued the mahogany veneer on the headstock. My plan is to sand the veneer in a such a way that the nut will sit over it. Kind of like what people will do to the binding on the side of a headstock, give it a nice little sharp point under the nut. We'll see how it turns out. In other news, I've been debating the headstock for a bit now. I was very much set on my traditional Ibanez-ripoff headstock, which I think is definitely one of the more pleasing designs as far as headstocks go. Since this again will be another hard rockin' body style, I was thinking the same, but I'm looking to challenge myself a bit more. Now some of you might not think a different headstock is challenging, but it certainly is different. I didn't know if anyone had any opinions about the following: A: My usual headstock B: The Ibanez 3x3 C: The Jackson 3x3 I was thinking of tossing in the ESP 3x3, but I don't feel that it would fit the proposed body style enough. Thoughts? Also, anyone have any firsthand experience with the Steve's Special pickup? I hear it's very different to work with, and was wondering what the learning curve might be.

A+ work, all the way around. Gotta love the whole look. I love what people are doing with LP heels nowadays. Actually making them playable! Astonishing! This is the "commisioned" build from your other thread? Unless you built two guitars and I'm completely missing something

I feel like this body shape wants a reverse headstock like a Gibson Firebird, because you're right, it looks so much akin to a Firebird or Explorer. If the tuners allow for it, maybe you could do a reverse Fender-shaped headstock, and blunt out the curves a bit to complement the body shape.

Try to get over that if you can....ebony will continue to get streakier ahahaha, you bring up a good point.

GUMBY!! Sorry, couldn't resist. Good luck!

As far as tone goes, didn't Spinal Tap show us that 11 is the best number? I've seen people mentioning this number on the thread, but not for this reason. Perhaps this should be explored further?

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!! RICK! I WANT ONE! Awesome purchase, mate. Simply fantastic. I would love to hear your opinions on the synth option. The thing looks like half rockabilly and half jazz beast. So cool. I myself am not a fan of stripy ebony Makes the fretboard look dirty. Makes me want to clean it, haha. That's one big reason why I've moved to rosewood.

Read: "That's a $35 RG body that I picked up to use as a crap-kicker-outter/test bed/beater guitar."

aaaah yes, I forgot about the S-style jack. I actually see a few people putting them on the back of the guitar too. I'll have to look into that, thanks! There was a thread detailing it here a while back. I think the agreed-upon angle was 60 degrees off perpendicular. I've never played a blackout, but I have EMGs in my first build and they're a tad too powerful for me. I was actually debating an X2N because one of my buddies had one, and because I'm a huge Michael Romeo fan, but I fear that it would be the same deal, too MUCH output. I've had the benefit of playing a Steve's Special on my friend's Petrucci signature and it's quite nice. The JB is always great. Brings out the 80s rocker in me I do wish that more guitars at GC had more than just the JB, Jazz, and 59... With the Megaswitch, I'm trying to balance the different projects I'm in. I'm in a European-styled heavy metal thing, and I do my own rock thing with lots of effects, U2-esque. I also take Jazz lessons. As opposed to spending a lot of money and getting a guitar for every project, I'm trying to balance them out. The PAF Pro I find is very nice for Jazz. I don't need to roll off the tone as much, which I like. So I'm looking for a good hard rock pickup that will go parallel well with the PAF Pro for Strat sounds to use clean with my delay/verb. The Tone Zone goes parallel very well with the PAF Pro, it's just a hair softer than I'd like it to be. I know this is because of parallel and what not, but a higher output bridge pickup would help this problem.

Allrighty folks! Back on the boards with another project in the works, basically something to keep my hands busy for the winter break. This one shaping up is a hardtail mahogany RG set neck, using the other maple/walnut neck from my stock. I'm taking lots of inspiration from Stewey's RG build and putting a bevel around the body front and back. It's going to be finished in a matte finish with some sort of oil, more than likely grain-filled black as well. Specs: Neck - maple/walnut/maple FB - rosewood, 24 frets body - mahogany one-piece tuners - Open-back Sperzels, black Bridge - Gotoh Hardtail, black (easy to replace with a Kahler down the line if I choose) Pickups - PAF Pro neck, ??? Bridge Electronics - 1V 1T, P-Megaswitch Pics are up on the Fotki account. That's a $35 RG body that I picked up to use as a crap-kicker-outter/test bed/beater guitar. I stole and modified my grandpa's router bed to put on the bevels. I won't have a tummy or forearm cut, so use your imagination to connect the bevels, eh? Also I'm not looking to get marks for my routing job haha. It adds to the character. My only issues are these: -AANJ -Output jack -Pickups AANJ - I'm doing the bevel all around, including the AANJ. The bevel will be 1/2". I'm having trouble working out the dimensions for the set neck/cavity. If I allow an extra 8th inch before the pocket (which will extend the length of the pickup cavity as well), that will be 5/8" to the cavity. The cavity will then be 1-1/8" deep. Taking off the 3/4" for the depth of the pickup cavity, the neck wood left under the pickup will only be 3/8". Will that be sufficient wood for a joint? Yes, it will be the full thickness under the AANJ, but I'm just looking for extra security. output jack - I was thinking of doing a JEM-style output jack using the same barrel jack as my other two builds. But the rubber washer around the jack requires the drilling of a 3/4" hole, which won't be possible with the bevels. I could do without the rubber washer, in which case I would need a 5/8" hole. Still very tight tolerances for me. Can anyone offer alternatives? No endpin jack, because (aside from their not coming in black) I'm going to use strap-loks. No strat-style jacks, because they're ugly. I could do the jack non-recessed without a rubber washer, but I would prefer not to. pickups - I'm looking at something a bit more high powered than the Tone Zone I have now, with more treble presence. I don't feel like it's picking up my harmonics as powerfully as I want it to. I'm planning on using the same P-Megaswitch as on my second build, to get some Strat-type sounds. My picks so far are the Steve's Special from Dimarzio and either the JB, Duncan Custom, or Custom 5 from Seymour (more than likely, the first 2). I have another PAF Pro, so chances are that will be going in the neck. Any opinions or other suggestions? Man, it feels good to have another project to work on.

I'm a pretty big Kevin Bacon fan, so my last couple builds have been at 6...

All the best, Doug.

Best brother ever! I wish my brother would make me one so I could stop fantasizing about the next build all the time

Allrighty, I love new projects! I can see the ESP influence, definitely. I think the body is well-proportioned, balanced to the eye. Those woods will look pretty great. I might suggest quartersawn mahog for your neck, because of its length. Which leads me into this" -Why a 26" neck? Personal preference I can understand, but where are you going to get a board cut like that? -I would definitely keep 24 frets, because if you only do 22 you either have the neck pickup not meeting with the fretboard, or, in moving the neck pickup up to the 22nd fret, you will need to change the shape of the carve/lower horn -I would be careful of the horns, especially where you're going to be carving a bevel into the front and (I presume) back. They look a bit skinny, and I would worry about them breaking off. 'Course, I like my horns beefy so it might just be me. In either case, redrafting the drawing with a thicker upper horn might not be bad. -Pickups are up to personal preference based on genre/playing style. Judging by body shape and ESP influence, I'm thinking you like some of the metal, in which case I would recommend some high powered Dimarzio's. Just me.

So what part of this is actually going to be like the Tiger? Other than the body shape, of course, it seems like nearly everything that could be different is going to be different. Not meant to be a critique, just a comment.

I really like the artwork, Doug! And I can't wait to hear some clips/see some progress pics of the finishing process. The text is a bit hard to read, though. Color scheme, font choice, I dunno my buddies are the art majors. Great picture though, very menacing.

I agree, that is a fantastic top under lacquer, though I would have LOVED to see even a hint of amber dye over it just to give it a tiny bit of pop. Just me, though, very creamy and very nice. Is that a hole I see on the back, between two of the pocket screw holes? Maybe it's camera magic...

Agreed, you did a great job using the pinstriping to complement the body shape and style, as well as the hardware/electronics/whatnot that was already on there. Unlike other *ahem* guitar painters who decided it would look fantastic to stripe their body any haphazard way with red, black, and white paint. I'm just going to waaaaalk away from that. Anyways, is the headstock done to match? And where do you get your ideas? I've never been the most accomplished painter/artist in the world.

I'm surprised Jimi's name hasn't been dropped yet. So I just did it. Bigass, long thick cable. Lots of smooshed treble. Also Adrian Smith has used a 100' cable because he likes the way it sounds.

Yeah, Carvin puts theirs between 10 and 11 degrees. FWIW, mine was 13 degrees, 3pc neck, big volute. Strong like Hulk!

Ugh. 28" scale and standard tuning....... If anything, I would make it into a baritone with a drone on the bottom, I guess you could call it. B B B E A D F# b Maybe even drop it down a step. Because even IMAGINING playing standard tuning on a 28" scale is painful. How does the E'EE setup sound? I'd be curious.

The Super Dist is mighty loud! I'm not sure how well it will balance with a Dimebucker bridge. A guy I used to play with has the X2N and the thing is a beast. I'm a fan of my Tone Zone, but it's not as high output as the kind you're looking for. The guy who mentioned the Tremonti pickups might be onto something. Opeth does a lot of jazzy, quiet interludes. I'm not sure what he has in the neck pos, but the dynamic range is definitely complemented by the pickups.