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Much better than the Int'l Star Registry - NGD


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You've heard the International Star Registry radio ads promoting a random star in someone's name as a cool gift?

For Father's Day, my wife literally got me a Random Star - and a Dano head RS at that!

My next resto side project piece ... circa 1985-86, currently refinished poorly and rough but she is structurally unmodified and a harmonically alive screaming banshee of a rock axe.

I loaded it this a.m. with a pulled Gibson PAF of some sort in the neck and a MJ-wound double-cream JB from the early to mid 80s. This thing is already playing and sounding absolutely phenomenal. I think this is the best tone guitar I have for rock soloing - very harmonically alive, touch sensitive and fast recoil. Plans are to shoot her Akira red before the end of the year. Jury's still out on the mirrors :)

I've wanted one of these for a long, long time. Smiling ear to ear.

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I don't think a good balance point on a star exists actually, haha. It's not bad. The pin is similar to the butt pin location on old Jackson Rhoads guitars, Kramer Voyagers (no shock there), and of course Eddie's Dano-head star from which the ESP copy was born.

Image result for eddie van halen charvel star

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My RS is VERY light and really whippy, lighter than most everything in my current stable. It is an alder body with about a 3/16 to 1/4" maple top. All the old ESP Random Stars had maple tops, even the solid color ones, and back wood was either ash or alder.

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Love it! Shoot it red, and you will be properly equipped to engage in some "Wock-n-woe cwazy nahts". You will be the "hee-woe too-naht."

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nice pickup.   I have a soft spot for stars.        I had this promo single back in the day.      Was big into accept then so I always watched for anything micheal wagener produced because it was sure to give your speakers a workout.   Really awful camera work and lighting  on this video, I must say    

 

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9 hours ago, Jeff R said:

I don't think a good balance point on a star exists actually, haha. It's not bad. The pin is similar to the butt pin location on old Jackson Rhoads guitars, Kramer Voyagers (no shock there), and of course Eddie's Dano-head star from which the ESP copy was born.

31bb0ff15daa95749c1ef851a7e02136.jpg

Looks like Ed has the forward strap button on the heel block, pointing towards the headstock. 

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Quasi-related question:  Ed used a Dano neck on his Star (I think he put this same neck on an unfinished Strat body either before or after the Star). Randy spec'd a Dano neck for his Sandoval-built polka-dot V. I recall reading an interview with Karl Sandoval where he implied that Dano necks (or copies of Dano necks) were popular mods with L.A. based shredders. WTH was it with Dano necks that these guys liked so much?

ETA: Nevermind, I answered my own question. To wit, this excerpt from Premier Guitar explains it: "The main design feature of the guitar Sandoval made for Lynch was a Danelectro neck bolted to a V-shaped body. “Going back before I was building guitars on my own, I built guitars with Danelectro necks,” Sandoval explains. “I remember playing them and I liked how the action could be low. You could pull up the high E string with a tremolo bar and it wouldn’t fret out because there’s no arch. It was a very unique feel.” Before the Lynch V, Sandoval had made a radically shaped, yellow “Megazone” for Eddie Van Halen that also featured a Danelectro neck."

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Is it possibly the straight string pull?   or maybe just the eddie connection?

 

BTW:Jeff,   that's very cool that your wife did that... really wild that she picked a star

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I've resorted to a time-honored tactic in addressing neck dive on my Stars. The easiest fix has been a slightly wider leather strap but to be certain, I rarely have a hand that's not in contact with the guitar... just in case.

Jeff, saw that on FB and love the straight ahead, no frills sensibility of that. Any plans for the empty hole near the lower,  rear horn?

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Gotta love a nice Star. I have had this since December 1982. It is a Mighty Mite body from the Eddie era. Wayne Charvel told me in emails that it was probably a '79. When I got it it was Red with a vintage SG pickguard on it. Took that off and I taped it up ala Eddie style in my picture above. I will look for a shot of it in Red a lil later. When I first stripped it It had the Red and it had Gray primer underneath that. I made it a Goldtop with Natural back and sides. It turned out that didn't last long because I noticed the Bird's Eye Maple body and neck. No way was I covering that up.

 

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1 hour ago, diablo175 said:

Any plans for the empty hole near the lower,  rear horn?

Akira's had a mini coil tap switch, don't know if it affected neck or both pickups. I have no clue what will end up in that hole. May be a coil tap, may be an in/out of phase switch in the "both" position, may be a tiny kill switch. I actually have a few like this in my bin a buddy gave me. I may put one in this week just to see if I like it and simultaneously plug the hole haha.

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8 minutes ago, Jeff R said:

Akira's had a mini coil tap switch, don't know if it affected neck or both pickups. I have no clue what will end up in that hole. May be a coil tap, may be an in/out of phase switch in the "both" position, may be a tiny kill switch. I actually have a few like this in my bin a buddy gave me. I may put one in this week just to see if I like it and simultaneously plug the hole haha.

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I'm a fan of momentary kill switches (ala Buckethead) If you want additional tone control capability, you can get the tone pot combined with a momentary kill switch, as is the case on my HEL Interceptor/Standard. I'm so enamored of that lil' bugger that I've added that capability to two more projects- the Cent and the Spitfire both will feature the tone/kill switch feature.

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