sonny o'hoolighan Posted November 10, 2014 Posted November 10, 2014 A few weeks back I started looking at guitars again, and I realized I wanted to order something unique. One of the local guitar builders also does setups on the side, so I got to know him over the past year. We'd been kicking around the idea of putting together a guitar for a while now, so I decided to pull the trigger. This will be a Tele-style guitar, but with quite a few differences. The body will be swamp ash; chambered with an f-hole. It will be finished with tru-oil. The neck will be Strat shaped from quartersawn birds eye maple. This guy does his necks with compound radius, and stainless steel frets. The tuners are staggered Spertzel (locking), so string trees won't be necessary. As for pickups, a Barden Nashville (Tele style neck and bridge with a middle Strat pickup) set is going in there. The Bardens are actually dual blade humbuckers, but I dig their sound. The bridge is a Super-Vee Maverick, so it will still retain some Tele styling, but will have a trem as well. He makes his own wood pickguards that look sharp on other guitars, so I'll give that a shot. He's ordering the wood tonight, so I'm hoping for some pics to be on their way soon. Now I just need to figure out how to do the switching- I'm not going with a traditional Strat 5 way since I like the bridge/neck combination that Strats lack. I'm kicking around a neck, neck/middle, neck/bridge, bridge/middle and bridge approach. This loses the middle-only option- however, the builder thinks he can figure that out how to add a middle-only option using a push/pull. So, now I just need to be patient for a few months! Edited: I've included a second custom built guitar (Jazzmaster) on page 2
dragan Posted November 11, 2014 Posted November 11, 2014 Losing the middle pick up tone by its self would not bother me , I use it only in combination with the other two for its revese / out of phase tone and noise reducing capability , sounds interesting
sonny o'hoolighan Posted November 11, 2014 Author Posted November 11, 2014 I was thinking pretty much exactly the same thing. The middle pickup alone is what I would tend to sacrifice if anything (though I enjoy it in combo with the others, which is why I wanted a Nashville set). However, if it can be added as a switching option without the whole setup getting too complicated then I'm open to it.
BadgerDave Posted November 12, 2014 Posted November 12, 2014 Volume/Tone/Blender pots with 5-way selector switch will give you all combinations including neck + bridge. Not easily fitted onto a standard Tele control plate, though.
sonny o'hoolighan Posted November 13, 2014 Author Posted November 13, 2014 The builder was talking about the possibility of some kind of kill switch (a push/pull pot) that turns everything off but the middle pickup. So, if you are in the bridge/middle position and engage that switch, then only the middle of would be left on. At least I believe that was the concept. It looks like a flat sawn neck might be a little more likely as well, but he's looking for a good piece of quarter sawn wood. I'm also reading that birdseyes are only visible in flat sawn wood, and that the presence of a truss rod takes away the structural advantages of quarter vs flat sawn. Sheesh. Lotsa variables in all of this.
sonny o'hoolighan Posted December 16, 2014 Author Posted December 16, 2014 [post=] [post=] I get to choose which neck I want of the two, which were both cut from the same wood. If they both end up feeling the same, I like the looks of the second one. This is after just one coat of Tru Oil, so those birds eyes should really stand out when this is complete...
sonny o'hoolighan Posted March 8, 2015 Author Posted March 8, 2015 I should have this guitar by next week. Instead of the maple pick guard/control plate, the builder is cutting one from walnut. That should contrast nicely with the swamp ash. Tru oil was used to finish the body, and he believes the body should darken a bit over time as well. I've picked it up with the neck on, and it is super comfortable. It has a rounded off neck heel like the Fender Deluxe models, so playing up at the upper register is easier. I took a roll of the dice with the Supervee Maverick trem on this- but it seemed to fit what I was looking to do. Hopefully the Barden pickups take well to this Semi-Hollow. I should know soon!
sonny o'hoolighan Posted March 8, 2015 Author Posted March 8, 2015 Forgot to mention, there is a push/pull going in along with a standard 5 way switch, so I can get all of the pickup combinations I was looking for.
Steve Haynie Posted March 8, 2015 Posted March 8, 2015 Leave the guitar in the sun and it will darken. It does not have to be a hot day, just direct sunlight.
sonny o'hoolighan Posted March 8, 2015 Author Posted March 8, 2015 Yeah, I was hoping to get a piece of swamp ash with a nice grain pattern, and just use the Tru oil to set it off.I also love Tru oil on the back of the necks I've played that had it. Seems less restrictive than other finishes. The builder (Aperio Guitar in Johns Creek, GA) used some kind of lacquer on the fretboard, however. He felt this would hold up better over time. Steve, never heard of the sunlight method. What, no SPF-50 needed? The builder did show me a Tru oiled maple pick guard he made a few years back, and it had darkened nicely.
conorb Posted March 8, 2015 Posted March 8, 2015 That looks awesome. I can't wait to see the finished product. Congrats!conorb
jettster Posted March 9, 2015 Posted March 9, 2015 sonny o'hoolighan, on 08 Mar 2015 - 12:51 PM, said: The builder (Aperio Guitar in Johns Creek, GA) used some kind of lacquer on the fretboard, however. He felt this would hold up better over time.He put SS frets on my old first electric a couple of years back. He had a bunch of necks he was working on while I was over there.
sonny o'hoolighan Posted March 9, 2015 Author Posted March 9, 2015 This whole project started when I was over at his shop getting a pickup swap done. He had this mahogany neck there with stainless steel frets that he had made himself. I loved that neck, and I'd seen some of the bodies he made, so when the idea of putting a partscaster came to mind I gave him a call. The maple neck on this one has the same dimensions as the mahogany neck I liked, and he was willing to experiment with some of the less usual requests that I had in regard to the body/trem/pickups.
sonny o'hoolighan Posted March 13, 2015 Author Posted March 13, 2015 This is the assembled guitar. The tremolo arm wasn't popped in for the frontal pic. A few more pics to come later. I like how it turned out with the darker pick guard!
jettster Posted March 13, 2015 Posted March 13, 2015 Sweet !! Tele style guitars are always a great choice.
sonny o'hoolighan Posted March 17, 2015 Author Posted March 17, 2015 Here are the final photos. I really dig the Bardens. I'm getting some use from the tone knob with them, so it will be fun experimenting. I do like the Maverick trem compared to the Bigsby equipped guitars that I am used to (very responsive). The guitar is very light and comfortable- it ended up as good or better than I envisioned it when I started thinking about it.
sonny o'hoolighan Posted June 27, 2015 Author Posted June 27, 2015 Since Lockbody wouldn't sell me his awesome Jazzmaster, I'm having this one put together for me. It will have Lollar JM pups, Mastery bridge and tremolo, and a bound neck with matching headstock. I'm also now considering block inlays for it. I should finally be playing a JM soon!
sonny o'hoolighan Posted October 10, 2015 Author Posted October 10, 2015 Dang. Lockbody's Jazzmaster is now for sale, which reminded me that I now have a second custom built guitar to post about in this thread. Here is the finished product... Beside the Lollars and Mastery Bridge I mentioned previously, this guitar has some other cool options: stainless steel frets, compound radius neck, locking tuners, and a contoured neck heel (like the Deluxe Strats). The tones produced by this one are as sweet as I've heard.
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