News From The Bench

[diablo175]

Oh yeahhhh... won't be long now.

[Steve Haynie]

Green shoelaces, too? 

[diablo175]

11 hours ago, Steve Haynie said:

Green shoelaces, too? 

Not my shoes and not one of my " no brown M&M's" stipulations. Guitar painters are free to wear what they want so long as the work is good.

[diablo175]

Burrito2 has color.

[killerteddybear]

^^ That is delicious.

[diablo175]

In very exciting news- spoke with Josh Gravelin about acquiring one of his new, improved p'ups! For those who caught his sell off post, he's in the midst of revisiting, reassessing and revamping his entire line and one of the models he's tweaking is the Mongoose. Yeah, that Mongoose, as in, the Mongoose in my Swirled Cali that kicks major ass!!!  He says he's making some improvements that are right in my wheel house. Better still, he's working on a new offering- the Cobra- that sounds equally desirable. He's offered to let me test out a few and I'm really looking forward to seeing what his new, improved Mongoose and the Cobra will sound like. If they're better in the areas I cited to him (low end range emphasis and tightness and a tiny bit more more mid crunch) then they should be killer! I have the Cobra lined up for my Cali-ocative and the new Mongoose will replace the old Mongoose in the Swirley.

Additionally, I currently have several p'ups already to try out in 3 different guitars- a Custom Custom, a PATB-1 and a Pegasus. Thinking of swapping the Perpetual Burn in my Charvel CS Star for the PATB-1. The Bengal Cali will then get the Custom Custom. The Cali-oactive will get the new Mongoose or Cobra &  Ha Ha Cali will likely get the old Mongoose from the Swirley Cali (assuming the new Mongoose or Cobra are superior).
 
Keeping up with all this? 

 

 

Edited August 7, 2017 by diablo175

[diablo175]

2 for 2!  Successfully and efficiently swapped the Pegasus out of the Bengal Cali for a TB-11 Custom Custom I had laying around and put the Pegasus into the Cali-oactive. Both sound fantastic. However, I know my idiosyncrasies well enough by now; I'll reassess this again in a fortnight.

 

[Caddie]

Dig dem Wild Ca-Ray-Zee boomers!

Well done grasshopper, well done.

[DBraz]

6 hours ago, diablo175 said:

 
Keeping up with all this? 

You lost me at Cali-ocative...

[diablo175]

The pickup swapping continues apace!  After several days of test driving the TB-11 Custom Custom in my Bengcali, I am convinced of it's merits and suitability for the MelonCali. Currently, a neon pink TB-5 resides there with a 250K pot. I dig the look. The tone? Not so much anymore. Imagine my delight at being able to find a similar neon pink TB-11? Adding a 500K pot and the TB- 11, provided I can get hold of one of these things,  my long-over looked MelonCali will become suitable for gigging once more!!

 

Edited August 15, 2017 by diablo175

[scottcald]

I'll be interested to hear about the kill switch arm.  The button kind of gives it that I built this myself look.

[diablo175]

11 minutes ago, scottcald said:

I'll be interested to hear about the kill switch arm.  The button kind of gives it that I built this myself look.

Right now, I'm finding it exceedingly difficult to attain one. They're listed as "unavailable" on FR's website. I'll definitely share my take on it once I get one!

 

 

[cmatthes]

I've been looking for a "new" item on the FR site - from FR, dealers, the secondary market - since January 2016.  It's STILL "unavailable"/"sold out", and has been with the exception of maybe 4-5 days last May.

 

[Biz Prof]

4 hours ago, cmatthes said:

I've been looking for a "new" item on the FR site - from FR, dealers, the secondary market - since January 2016.  It's STILL "unavailable"/"sold out", and has been with the exception of maybe 4-5 days last May.

 

Is Schaller still.contract manufacturing Floyd's top line products? 

[cmatthes]

Not everything.  I'm not sure who is producing the bridge I was looking for.  I got really turned off by their shitty response and awful, dodgy (lack of) customer service over the whole thing.

[scottcald]

1 hour ago, cmatthes said:

Not everything.  I'm not sure who is producing the bridge I was looking for.  I got really turned off by their shitty response and awful, dodgy (lack of) customer service over the whole thing.

Is it the new non locking one that seems to not be available since they announced it?

[cmatthes]

2 minutes ago, scottcald said:

Is it the new non locking one that seems to not be available since they announced it?

Yes - the Rail Tail in Narrow/Modern width.

[diablo175]

Goin' in the Melon Cali to replace the Custom...

 

 

[diablo175]

Addict update:

Some new pics of the incoming Burrito2! Jumpin' Jehoshaphat! Wouldya Lookkit dat quilt! You'll burn yer eyeballs out from the amazing beauty of that figuring!

 

Edited October 9, 2017 by diablo175

[Steve Haynie]

...love the knobs. 

[diablo175]

48 minutes ago, Steve Haynie said:

...love the knobs. 

So you're a lover of knobs, huh?

[Steve Haynie]

Pink guitars, too.

[diablo175]

1 hour ago, Steve Haynie said:

Pink guitars, too.

Who am I to judge... 

[diablo175]

Wow- so, it's been a while since I've updated-  Oct. 9th to be exact- but LOTS has happened and will be happening on the bench in the next few weeks-

Start with the HEL getting a new pickup. It seems my initial choice of a Pegasus was ill-suited for the Willie G. BIg time. Bit of a surprise to be honest because it sounds great in the 'hog Godzilla! Cali. I mean really good!  Maybe it's a badly built p'up. It's been known to happen. Anyway, the Pegasus came out and a similarly hued Custom TB-5 went in. Vast improvement!!! However, I'm convinced it can still be better, so, I've reached out to Josh for some suggestions on a custom build for it. Gonna try one of his custom wound Mongoose first to see if that works.

Next up is a makeover for a certain soon-to arrive Hamer. Needless to say but it'll get the complete Diablo-cizing with new stainless jumbo frets, new Floyd, possibly a new sustainer unit, a kill switch tone knob, toggle switch, possibly a new pick up set and new paint! Much of this will have to be done outside of the "bench" as it it far out paces my paltry skills.

Last one is a less-extensive makeover for the incoming Charvel Pro Mod DK24. It'll likely need a fret dressing as the ones coming outta Mexico haven't exactly been stellar. It'll also need a German Floyd and a proper toggle switch. But depending on how well the Full Shred sounds in the DK, I fully expect to replace those IF the DK has the baseline mojo. Even if the FS sounds good, I'ma likely replace it with something more aesthetically suitable. I mean, who puts white p'ups in a black shreddy guitar? Jeeeeeez.

Stay tuned!!!

 

[diablo175]

It has begun! The Cent I scored last week is on the first leg of a journey that will see it transformed into a metal flake, shredding monster!   I really should give credit to DBraz for the inspiration- I was so impressed with the job he did on his that I opted for several similar options- as with David's, mine will be getting a Sustainiac as well as receive a Stike metal flake finish! However, the similarities end there. I'm also having another tone pot disguised kill switch in my version. The neck and board will be refinished after the jumbo stainless steel frets are installed. As the Z Glide is not yet available for non- Dean Z models, I'll have to settle for Stike's amazing satin finishes on it the back.    The middle pickup will be done away with and the bridge p'up will become a SD SH-4 JB-L unless I can lay my hands on a JB-J. The blade style switch will be replaced with the requisite toggle. All unused slots, holes and cavities will be filled and painted over.

Now the waiting commences!