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TRULY Custom Build


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Some of you may remember me posting about my co-guitarist embarking on a guitar building odessy. Addict Guitars Well, after two LP style, two Strat style and one custom design of his own under his belt, I've decided to have him build me one.

Now, I need another shredder like I need a hole in the head but this is an opportunity I couldn't refuse. Truly custom made, from choice of wood to hardware to finish. You just don't get more custom built than this.

So, with a blank canvas in front of me and an endless choice of paints with which to create, I went to work. Here's what I came up with:

Naturally, it HAD to be Cali- shaped. :rolleyes: But from there, the variations/deviations begin.

Neck thru construction

Maple/'hog/maple sandwiched neck w/ 12- 16" compound radius (ala Jackson), graphite rods and a double action truss rod

Alder body

Maple board

Reversed "hockey stick" head stock

27 stainless steel jumbo frets

2 H config- TB-5 Custom and a SH-1 '59 in the neck.

1 Vol, 1 tone w/ push pull for tapping bridge p'up

Toggle switch

FU Tone custom Floyd

Schaller M6 tuners

Dunlop strap locks

Control layout will be similar to Cali's with respect to jack input and volume/tone knobs. The toggle will be between the vol and tone knobs.

Now the fun part(s)

This will NOT feature boomers as originally intended but instead will feature LEDs in a "traveling" config!

The finish will be professionally done based on my design, featuring Japanese- style woodblock art and a thematic Kanji character on the head stock. The neck will be unfinished (save for oil).

The best part of this is I will have direct access to the build at all phases, save for the paint, and can inspect and suggest changes (within reason) throughout the build. That, coupled with the fact that it'll take about 6 months and this has the potential to be epic!!!

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That sounds awesome and exciting. Congrats!

I look forward to seeing and hearing more updates as it progresses.

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Do a sketch of it!

Already have a mock up of it but I'm holding out to do a big reveal in 6 months time. ;)

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Do a sketch of it!

Already have a mock up of it but I'm holding out to do a big reveal in 6 months time. ;)

Oh, you bastid! ;)

You post a teaser just to hold us in suspense. That's so unfair.

Being so closely involved in a build like that sounds like a fantastic opportunity. And don't think you can get by with just posting pics 6 months from now. We want videos of the guitar in action! ;)

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I'm surprised you didn't order it with a blade switch so you could personally modify it to a Gibson toggle after you received it.

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Pics or it doesn't count! :D

Very good selection of choices. Let us know about the painting.

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I'm afraid that the reveal for the finish concept will be long in waiting. Frankly, depending on who does the work, it can take up to several months. No in-porgress pictures are typically made available by the two painters who would handle this. You're just going to have to be patient...

...or wait until my patience erodes, which it typically does as the project starts to gather momentum. :lol:

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Oh, man, I can't wait to see that, Jim!! You're getting all the killer specs, too. Can you do update posts linking to the progress site? Frankly, I'll forget to visit that site on my own, but I'm always checking here, so if you post the updates here, I'm sure everyone will be thrilled to see how it's coming along. I'm very excited for you, man! Congrats! (Hey, is this what the big sale was all about? You were trying to fund this build?)

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Oh, man, I can't wait to see that, Jim!! You're getting all the killer specs, too. Can you do update posts linking to the progress site? Frankly, I'll forget to visit that site on my own, but I'm always checking here, so if you post the updates here, I'm sure everyone will be thrilled to see how it's coming along. I'm very excited for you, man! Congrats! (Hey, is this what the big sale was all about? You were trying to fund this build?)

Yup, the big sell off was indeed partially to fund this ax. But the sell off isn't over :o:ph34r:

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  • 4 weeks later...

In a stunning moment of unprecedented daring and radical deviation from the norm, I've opted for a different finish on the soon-to-be-started Burrito, one that's bound to raise a few eyebrows on here. I have to admit, it's quite out of character for me and signifies some measure of mental imbalance (more so than usual) on my part. Stay tuned. :ph34r:

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What, a vintage sunburst?

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Chris is feeling a tad redundant today. :lol:

Nope on all accounts thus far. Hmm. Methinks a contest is in order... :ph34r:

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This build is turning out to be quite beneficial and interesting on a number of levels. As my builder digs into the details and is asking some rather intriguing questions, I've discovered several new levels of details and decisions to consider when having a truly custom build made. I've also discovered that Hamers were truly hand built in many regards. Or at least the custom Cali I gave to my luthier buddy to use as a template is.

Case in point: The scale length is not quite 25.5" It's a tad shorter. This would not be so if they were machining all aspects of the guitar?

The neck is at a slight angle (though this is typical of most Calis from my experience) as opposed to the more flat angling of other makes/models. This would certainly account for the Floyd sitting a bit higher than many of it's competitors. In my guestimation, this was likely to reduce how much wood was needed to be routed/removed for the pull up cavity underneath?

The frets on this Cali were HUGE! Much larger than the typical medium jumbos on most Cali's. Again, the custom aspect would likely account for that. Whoever originally ordered it, likely ordered it with wire taller and wider than the 6105 jumbos which is larger than the 6130 on most Cali's.

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did you provide the set neck blue metal-flake as the template?

No, I gave him the MelonCali- the one p'up, custom job that I had Stike paint neon chartreuse.

1000433_10201310065384199_1986962031_n.j

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  • 4 weeks later...

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