Star Spangled Star Project

[diablo175]

Bought a limited edition Floyd w/ stars and stripes finish because, well, because it was there. Oh, and it was 15 % off.   But needed a guitar to put it on that would be thematically aligned. So, after much contemplation and searching, came across this BTS Charvel Desolation Star that seemed perfect for the project.

I have assembled all the necessary, crucial components and am getting ready to send it out for an initial fitting and then an appropriate themed paint job. 

The neck is a Locke Custom Guitars custom order (I DO NOT recommend these guys)

The pickup is a very cool, custom-wound Gravelin 5150 era replica. 

A mandatory kill switch volume pot. 

And some Gotoh Tuners. 

More bits and bobs are on their way but this is essentially what it will be:

 

Edited November 30, 2025 by diablo175

[topekatj]

Wok n woll quazy nights, you are the hewoah tonite

Edited November 30, 2025 by topekatj

[ZR]

M, Z, A!

M, Z. A!

Sorry, couldn't help this brief thread hijack. Besides, he started it! 😜

This from the the internet machine...I cut and pasted this so I suppose that's why it's hard to read like this...

"MZA" in Loudness's song "Crazy Nights" has no actual meaning; it was a nonsensical placeholder vocal by singer Minoru Niihara that the producer, Max Norman, decided to keep because they couldn't come up with a better line. Niihara originally sang it as a placeholder during a demo and then, unable to replace it with anything better, it remained in the final version of the song. 

• Original purpose: Niihara was asked to sing something over the main riff during the pre-production of the Thunder in the East album.
• Accidental creation: He sang "M-Z-A" as a meaningless guide vocal by accident.
• Producer's decision: The producer, Max Norman, liked the sound of it and decided to keep it, despite it having no meaning.
• Failed replacement: The band tried to come up with a meaningful replacement, but they could not find anything better than "M-Z-A," so it stayed. 

Edited November 30, 2025 by ZR

[scottcald]

I’m getting Evel Knievel vibes from it.  
 

 

[svl]

1 hour ago, scottcald said:

I’m getting Evel Knievel vibes from it.  
 

 

That would be badass. Here's a Charvel that shows ya how it's done-

[scottcald]

BTW, that wasn't disparaging, just what I immediately thought of when I saw it. 

[scottcald]

5 hours ago, svl said:

That would be badass. Here's a Charvel that shows ya how it's done-

Does the pattern go on the back too or is it just white?

[gorch]

You think black tuners are the right choice? They don‘t blink in light.

[svl]

13 hours ago, scottcald said:

Does the pattern go on the back too or is it just white?

Back and headstock-

[diablo175]

8 hours ago, gorch said:

You think black tuners are the right choice? They don‘t blink in light.

It’d be great if I could get a put ahold of a set of red and blue tuners. 
 

The closest I could come to that would be buying a set of red and a set of blue tuners and then mixing and matching. Not really interested in investing that kind of $$. 

[diablo175]

20 hours ago, scottcald said:

I’m getting Evel Knievel vibes from it.  

 

19 hours ago, svl said:

That would be badass. Here's a Charvel that shows ya how it's done-

I think when you see the finished paint scheme, any similarities to the Evel Knievel Charvel will dissipate quickly. Nothing against Evel Knievel. Just not what I’m going for. 😁

[Stike]

Guyker sells individual machines in colors.

https://www.guyker.com/products/gk-d-05sp-dopamine-color-guitar-locking-tuning-machines

[diablo175]

47 minutes ago, Stike said:

Guyker sells individual machines in colors.

https://www.guyker.com/products/gk-d-05sp-dopamine-color-guitar-locking-tuning-machines

Thanks but too late now. There’s also the issue of not being a fan of the kidney bean shaped tuners 🫤

Edited December 1, 2025 by diablo175

[Stike]

2 hours ago, diablo175 said:

Thanks but too late now. There’s also the issue of not being a fan of the kidney bean shaped tuners 🫤

They have the Schaller shape as well.

[diablo175]

2 hours ago, Stike said:

They have the Schaller shape as well.

Am I seeing that correctly that they look to be locking type tuners? 

 

[scottcald]

On 12/1/2025 at 10:21 AM, diablo175 said:

It’d be great if I could get a put ahold of a set of red and blue tuners. 
 

The closest I could come to that would be buying a set of red and a set of blue tuners and then mixing and matching. Not really interested in investing that kind of $$. 

You could buy white tuners then just get the tuning keys themselves in red and blue

[Lou Safer]

On 11/29/2025 at 8:18 PM, diablo175 said:

 

The pickup is a very cool, custom-wound Gravelin 5150 era replica. 

 

Can we see a picture of the pickup, please?

[diablo175]

3 minutes ago, Lou Safer said:

Can we see a picture of the pickup, please?

This is the best I can do.  

 

 

[Lou Safer]

12 minutes ago, diablo175 said:

This is the best I can do.  

 

 

Interesting, thanks.

[diablo175]

On 11/30/2025 at 3:13 PM, svl said:

That would be badass. Here's a Charvel that shows ya how it's done-

Just saw this on FB. Made by J Hale Guitars for a guy in a Poison Tribute band.

[cmatthes]

On 12/1/2025 at 4:09 PM, diablo175 said:

Am I seeing that correctly that they look to be locking type tuners? 

 

Yes indeed.

[diablo175]

So, the Star Spangled Star is coming along! 

Bits and pieces got appropriate paint. If this thing ends up playing like shit, it's gonna be one of the most patriotic POS ever played.