Jeff R Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 Long story I'm finally getting around to here, but you guys like long guitar stories with a lot of pics and background, so grab a beverage of choice and enjoy ... I may have to do this in multiple posts due to limits on the number of photos, so give me 2-3 posts to complete the story. You guys may remember I picked up a lawsuit and logo'ed '80s ESP strathead in 2012. Here she is the day I got her. I had joined the ranks of George Lynch, Vito Bratta, Dave Murray, Ronni LeTekro, Jake E. Lee, I had a logo'ed ESP strathead. Here she is in what we can call now the pre-makeover. This is after Murkat Jay and myself spent onset of 2013 New Year's holiday in his Nashville batcave tweaking her, and Jay allowing me access to his stash of his holiest vintage rock pickups. Early 80s lawsuit double-cream, long-leg, sandcast magnet Duncan JB. With some "Murkat tweaks" as Jay calls them that he, to this day, will not divulge to me. This is the BEST bridge humbucker I've ever heard in my life. I still owe Jay big time for that incredible gesture. Outside of his bench skills, what a great friend. Sensei Jay and I got her so nice. There were some elements, however, that neither Jay nor I could overcome. While the characteristic 80s hard rock recipe SOLID MAPLE body sounded nice and snappy, it weighed a TON. I'm also a multiple pickup guy and the body was factory-routed for only one 'bucker under the guard. Considering we didn't want to rout the original body, I tend to prefer alder for superstrats and I wanted a guitar that didn't make me look like a Jake E. Lee fanboi, I pursued a Plan B - one to make my ultimate Swiss Army knife of a guitar and one that's you just look at, hear, play, whatever and go "oh yeah, that's Ree-shard's guitar." The body below took Musikraft two months to turn around. I was beyond anal retentive with my specs. It had to be period San Dimas Charvel routs and bevels. I was not converting to metal screws and sleeves for the Floyd's fulcrum points - it had to be the original wood screws. Spec'd the neck pocket angle so it would accommodate an unrecessed Floyd with no shims whatsoever. I told them light in weight but not balsa feeling - I wanted a relatively light strat, not a kite. Told them "solid color paint grade" and think tone, not wood grain. I intentionally ordered the neck pocket slightly undersized so Cajun Boy and I could match the pocket perfectly to the ESP neck. I was that OCD on this one. This PERFECT piece arrived. I cannot speak enough on how happy I am with Musikraft's work. They nailed everything for which I asked. I will be a repeat customer. Next steps were: * Me and CB spent much of a Saturday hand-sanded the pocket to match the neck. It is SO perfectly snug, you can pick up the guitar and move it around without bolts and the neck STAYS PUT. We installed metal screw inserts to mount the neck pickup (Murkat helped me with sourcing the inserts, more Murkat written all over this one). I spec'ed "no control knobs, only the five-way in a strat's position," so me and CB put the master volume and master tone exactly where I wanted them. * We had the perfect bridge pickup from Murkat Jay. We needed to find the neck pickup. In a thread I posted here at the HFC seeking neck single coil recommendations and showing more of my anal retentiveness, our own Bobby Marshall recommended the James Tyler "Hot Laura." The specs were perfect for what I sought and I have so much respect for James Tyler's instruments, so I ran with the suggestion. We placed the custom order to California. More, oh SO much more, on that incredible suggestion later ... ... and then ... * Call Stike. ------------------------------- I've wanted one of Ben's sparkly madness guitars since I first saw his work here years ago. I would drool when I would see some of the jobs he did for some of you guys. When I set sail on this endeavor, there was no question who was shooting my dream guitar. Stike. And I had the color already picked out. I sent Ben the pic of the raw body and called him up. After we shot the shit for a little while, I told him what I was up to and I gave him one simple three-word command for the body. "Match Dorothy's slippers." Stike chuckled and responded "Oh yeah, I got this."
Steve Haynie Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 Hmmm... what would Stike do if you had said, "Match one of Porter Wagoner's suits"?
Jeff R Posted February 18, 2014 Author Posted February 18, 2014 Here are some photos from Stike's laboratory of sparkle. Ben, accommodating my anal retentive/OCD and avoiding what would inevitably be a sea of texts, calls, e-mails, etc., graciously shared snaps of the process. Here she is taped and sticked, getting ready to enter the pre-paint "hot room." Sparkly coat pic. Pardon my Cajun French, but I absolutely hit the fucking floor when I saw this. Stike later told me "Match Ruby's Slippers" means TWO DIFFERENT SIZES of metal flakes in the gun. Oh. Holy. Shit. Then the first peek comes from the booth with color applied. Stike posted something on Facebook about the coffee he was drinking one morning. Look what's on the bench behind the cup getting some post-spray buffypolishmagic. She arrived a few days later ...
diablo175 Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 Aw shit! Jeff R, you're killing me, here! Absolutely riveted and on the edge of my seat, waiting for the next step in the process .... and more importantly, the next set of photos. This is sheer genius. You're a fucking genius!
Jeff R Posted February 18, 2014 Author Posted February 18, 2014 Trying to take pictures of "Ruby" (or "Reeshard Red" as Stike refers to it now) is virtually impossible. Red guitars are difficult to photograph. Mix in a veritable 3D layer of sparkles and you simply cannot do this guitar justice with still photography. You literally have to hold this guitar in your hands to fully digest and appreciate its color and its overall visual complexity. I'm going to share a variety of shots and I'm going to try to post some iPhone videos courtesy of my daughter I've posted on Facebook in an attempt to literally shed more light. This is her first shot out of assembly, wiring and initial setup. Here's a few shots from my good friend Tim, a pro photographer by trade, and his portrait lighting. Here's an example of the chameleon quality. Playing it around the house a week later. Vonnie: "Don't move and let me grab the camera."
Jeff R Posted February 18, 2014 Author Posted February 18, 2014 Let's see if this works ...I apologize in advance: My daughter is 11 and when I told her move the iPhone around to get the sparkles she confused it with "play tilt-a-whirl with the camera phone" to see if she could capture the sparkles. I apologize for any nausea over the camera views or my playing.Dirty with the JB and my Boogie Mark V.https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10203013142589978&set=vb.1247102365&type=2&theaterHere's clean with the Tyler Alnico II magnet "Hot Laura" and a Boss chorus and light delay. This pickup was the wild card I did not expect. I was seeking merely versatility in the guitar, but this is the PERFECT neck pickup in my opinion. Clean sound is traditional strat characteristics with a slight touch of added throat but it's like a cross between SRV, Hendrix, Blackmore and Malmsteen in gain situations depending on where you put the volume knob. Volume is perfect match with the JB. When Cajun Boy heard that neck pickup for the first time, he immediately went to James Tyler's website on his smartphone while I was playing the guitar if that gives you an idea. He probably has his own Hot Lauras by now. I cannot describe how perfect this pickup is. I need to get Caitlin to video me playing that pickup with some gain underneath her.https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10203013594401273&set=vb.1247102365&type=2&theater
Steve Haynie Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 Wow! A finish that makes me want to practice!
Jeff R Posted February 18, 2014 Author Posted February 18, 2014 I'll close out the "original" post with a few pics of "Ruby" I just shot a few minutes ago. These are in my little workshop with my new workbench. Vonnie and I bought our first home together middle of last year and we were immediately befriended by my next door neighbor, Elwood, a retired widowed gentlemen and the sweetest guy on the planet. Elwood comes over to my house when he sees me scurrying around in my workshop (aka, shed) with Ruby's body and neck. Elwood long ago converted his two-car garage into a real workshop, filled with a variety of woods and every wood tool you can imagine. He's typically passing his retirement days by building stuff for his kids. Elwood came to my shed to see me working on the guitar parts on a folding card table, sitting on a folding chair, and asked me what I was doing. He didn't know I played guitar, much less could work on them. He asked me if the card table was good for that kind of work. I told him not really. Elwood told me if you're going to work on stuff like that, you need a good bench. "We're gonna work on that." Here's this evening's shots of Ruby on the bench Elwood and I built on New Year's Eve for guitar work. I'll close this out thanking all you guys I cited above for making my dream guitar come to life. I also need to thank Vonnie for putting up with this mad project for the last year or so. Life is truly, truly good.
Bobby Marshall Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 Terrific story and pics. Nice to know the back story.
specialk Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 Just all kinds of great stuff in this thread!Congrats to Jeffro and everyone involved in making his vision a reality. F'n incredible.
Tres Aardvarks Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 sweet baby jeebus!!! what a story and what a guitar!!!! LOVE IT!!!
MCChris Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 Considering we didn't want to rout the original body, I tend to prefer alder for superstrats and I wanted a guitar that didn't make me look like a Jake E. Lee fanboi, I pursued a Plan B - one to make my ultimate Swiss Army knife of a guitar and one that's you just look at, hear, play, whatever and go "oh yeah, that's Ree-shard's guitar."Mission accomplished, I'd say! Bravo to everyone involved!
coolfeel Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 NObody shoots a sparkle like Stike - fucking A that is badass!!! Congrats on the project! Tone Report next...
HAMERMAN Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 That is awesome., nothing cooler that a guitar that is exactly how you want it to be!
benjammin308 Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 Congrats, thanks for sharing the pics and story.
BruceM Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 Go figure. I've got matching slippers. We'll see if they fit next time you're in town, Cinderella! Bwahahaha!!!
diablo175 Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 NObody shoots a sparkle like Stike - fucking A that is badass!!! Congrats on the project! Tone Report next... This. I'm hoping Jeffro posts some audio/video of it in action. Okay, I'll confess: based on his choice in finishes and equipment, I have a feeling there are a few things I could learn from his playing.
gwayne Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 Congrats on the guitar!! Been enjoying the FB posts for awhile now. The coolest part to me is the collaboration among the HFCers to make it what it is. Show me another forum that could do this.Bruce. I want a pic of Jeff WEARING the slippers and playing Ruby.
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