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  • Three guitar projects upcoming

    After hearing about them through Ayrton, I checked out Guitar Mill, and ended up purchasing three pre-made discount bodies from them. They had exactly what I wanted at killer prices. The bodies should be here Wednesday. Here are the initial plans for the three bodies:

    1. Vintage-correct hardtail '50's Strat, ash. I'm going to try to get a paint color that matches a '50's white vinyl pickguard as closely as possible. I am going to try Alpine White and Olympic White, and see which one gets closer. It'll be my first ever true hardtail Strat.

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    2. Tele-Gib, something like this. The virtual guitar builder didn't have all the features that the guitar will have. I'm also not so sure about the matching headstock; I'll probably not do it. It's thin (1.5") alder, only 3.5 lb. before routing for the humbucker. The fretboard will be ebony with bright white dots. The neck pocket has a 2 degree back angle routed into it. Also, the virtual builder didn't have a three ply white guard, so I went with single ply white for this sketch. It'll actually be 5-ply W/B/W/B/W, with the old style 30 degree bevel cut, and 8 holes. The knobs will be different; they'll be three Gibson speed knobs on the control plate (V/T/T), and one of the new 3-way super switches out on the pickguard instead of on the plate. The super switch will be wired so that it gives me a virtual middle humbucker in position 2. That is, it will steal one coil from each of the humbuckers. The pickups (which I already have) will be EJ Customs, which are supposed to sound like Gretsch humbuckers in a Gibson humbucker form.

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    3. My own version of the $2,300 60th Anniversary '58 Jazzmaster that Fender put out this year. Lightweight ash, black over 3TSB. Will have an ebony board (not available in the virtual builder), but other than that, it will be very similar to the original JM prototypes (including the small Strat headstock, I think – but maybe not).

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    Thanks, Ayrton! Guitar Mill seems like a killer place for almost everything! I will report more fully once the bodies arrive.
    Last edited by ItsaBass; 12-16-2018, 05:45 AM.
    Originally posted by LesStrat
    Yogi Berra was correct.
    Originally posted by JOLLY
    I do a few chord things, some crappy lead stuff, and then some rhythm stuff.

  • #2
    Re: Three guitar projects upcoming

    w00t!

    Can’t wait to see how they come out!
    -Chris

    Originally posted by John Suhr
    “Practice cures most tone issues”

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Three guitar projects upcoming

      If you want the white to match the pick guard color better I would try Arctic White before Olympic. Olympic is very slightly an off white with a hint of grey in it.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Three guitar projects upcoming

        "Proper" Olympic White is actually a slightly cold white (and it's acrylic lacquer, not nitro). It has been butchered by Fender over the years, such that many think it is a warm white. On the recent AV and AO series, they finally got it much closer to being right (though they still aren't doing it 100 percent right, because they are using nitro lacquer to do it, not acrylic).

        Arctic is my best guess as well. But the reason I think about using Olympic is because it will start out a bit blue, but will get neutral as it ages. Arctic might start out more neutral, but it will start getting warm faster.

        Another interesting point about Olympic White is that it was not always clear coated. Early on in the color's use by Fender, they tried to prevent it from yellowing by skipping the nitro clear coat. As years went on, they incorporated the clear more and more, until they were no longer making them sans clear at all.

        I'm going to spray a swatch of both, with and without clear coat, and see what they look like.

        After the guitar "settles in" with some age, I am hoping it goes no farther than this. Not that hideous piss yellow that whites can get, but a nice soft yellowing. Arctic without a clear coat might be the ticket. Or maybe just a ****-ton of white blonde, so it's no longer translucent.

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        Last edited by ItsaBass; 12-16-2018, 01:11 PM.
        Originally posted by LesStrat
        Yogi Berra was correct.
        Originally posted by JOLLY
        I do a few chord things, some crappy lead stuff, and then some rhythm stuff.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Three guitar projects upcoming

          Big fender headstocks look good on everything.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Three guitar projects upcoming

            Cool- Is the Jaguar project replaced by the Jazzmaster?
            Originally posted by King Buzzo
            I love when people come up to me and say “Your guitar sound was better on Stoner Witch, when you used a Les Paul. “...I used a Fender Mustang reissue on that, dumbass!

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Three guitar projects upcoming

              Originally posted by Silence Kid View Post
              Cool- Is the Jaguar project replaced by the Jazzmaster?
              The Jaguar project is only in my mind. I haven't actually taken any steps toward it yet. These three, plus a few bass builds, should keep me occupied all of next year and beyond. I don't have a whole ton of free time, and when I get it, I don't often spend it in my garage working on guitars any more.

              The only reason I build is to get things that I can't get off the shelf. If I can find something that's close enough, I'll try to get it rather than building it. Way quicker, as my projects go on for years, sometimes, due to laziness.
              Last edited by ItsaBass; 12-16-2018, 04:37 PM.
              Originally posted by LesStrat
              Yogi Berra was correct.
              Originally posted by JOLLY
              I do a few chord things, some crappy lead stuff, and then some rhythm stuff.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Three guitar projects upcoming

                When I got home from work, a pile o' Fendery deliciousness was waiting on my doorstep for me.

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                3.14 lb. two-piece hardtail ash Strat. I will have to double check that, because it feels heavier than that to me. Crazy cool grain on the back! But it will all be covered up. It's OK; I'm not really into that sort of thing anyhow. I generally like my guitars to look like cars, not trees.

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                This two-piece ash Jazzmaster is supposedly 3.5 pounds, but I swear it feels notably lighter than the Strat.

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                …and finally, the Tele...or what will be a Tele, anyhow. Two degree neck angle, two-piece alder, 1.5" thick, and supposedly 3.5 lb. It's a nice weight to start with, because I will be putting two humbuckers in it.

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                They are all nice. I wish the Strat had a little more extreme of a forearm contour, but that's not a big deal. I might keep it as is, or I might shave some more off.
                Originally posted by LesStrat
                Yogi Berra was correct.
                Originally posted by JOLLY
                I do a few chord things, some crappy lead stuff, and then some rhythm stuff.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Three guitar projects upcoming

                  Nice!

                  I don't know if this helps you at all, but this is Duplicolor "Olympic White" with a white base, and clear.

                  -Chris

                  Originally posted by John Suhr
                  “Practice cures most tone issues”

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Three guitar projects upcoming

                    Thank you. That does help, because that is the Olympic White acrylic I was thinking of using.

                    The hue is right. It's just a bit too dark compared to the guard. I'm going to try Arctic White nitro first.

                    Also, I think the Tele body is actually three-piece, not two.
                    Originally posted by LesStrat
                    Yogi Berra was correct.
                    Originally posted by JOLLY
                    I do a few chord things, some crappy lead stuff, and then some rhythm stuff.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Three guitar projects upcoming

                      I have used the Duplicor paints a few times now, and they work well with both Minwax and Watco clear nitro.
                      -Chris

                      Originally posted by John Suhr
                      “Practice cures most tone issues”

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Three guitar projects upcoming

                        Very cool. What about Oxford White? I used that on my SG Junior build. Duplicolor rattle cans from Pep Boys.

                        Can't believe it's been 7 years since this was done.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Three guitar projects upcoming

                          It just struck me. the "3.14" in the pocket of the Strat is an incorrect way of notating 3 lb., 14 oz. That makes more sense. I knew it felt significantly heavier than the JM and Tele, and 3.14 lb. would have been an insanely light weight.

                          So:

                          3 lb., 14 oz. ash Strat. A nice, though not extremely light, weight for a Strat. The guitar might end up at 7 lb., since it won't have the weight of the steel vibrato block. That's a very light Strat.

                          3 lb., 5 oz. ash Jazzmaster. This is light as hell for a Jazzmaster. Also might come in around 7 lb. That's insane (and wonderful), if it happens.

                          3 lb., 5 oz. alder Tele. This is what would have been an approx. 4.0 lb. Tele, if it wasn't slimmed down to 1-1/2". It's a fairly light alder body made into a very light alder body via planing.

                          ...and all by buying pre-made stuff for such reasonable prices. I'm a happy camper.
                          Originally posted by LesStrat
                          Yogi Berra was correct.
                          Originally posted by JOLLY
                          I do a few chord things, some crappy lead stuff, and then some rhythm stuff.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Three guitar projects upcoming

                            I have a Telecaster I sprayed using Duplicolor metallic/clear around ten years ago; there is some pretty intense checking all over the front of the guitar, but I also approached that refin at a very amateur level. Part of me wonders if laying on over-thick coats led to their brittleness, coupled with the guitar moving around between climates quite a bit.



                            One day I want a Strat with ultra-slim contouring, like this:

                            Last edited by Silence Kid; 12-22-2018, 03:57 PM.
                            Originally posted by King Buzzo
                            I love when people come up to me and say “Your guitar sound was better on Stoner Witch, when you used a Les Paul. “...I used a Fender Mustang reissue on that, dumbass!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Three guitar projects upcoming

                              Originally posted by Silence Kid View Post
                              One day I want a Strat with ultra-slim contouring, like this:

                              That was what I was hoping to get...but this Strat body that I got has the typical less extreme contouring. My '84 AVRI is contoured like the pic you posted, though!

                              There are clues the AVRI body might be a real '59 body...but I have never stripped it to really find out. The mint guard is certainly an original green guard (extremely rare 9-hole version). The neck and plate, and electronics, are all early AVRI, though...and it has been refin'd several times, and had a weird hole filled behind the bridge. This leads me to believe that the 1956 grease pencil date under the remnants of the sunburst finish in the vibrato cavity could be a fake. That said, in entered my family in the '80's, when it would have been a very new AVRI to have been hacked so much already. It could be that the body and the guard are '50's, and someone "completed" it with parts from a new AVRI.
                              Last edited by ItsaBass; 12-22-2018, 04:13 PM.
                              Originally posted by LesStrat
                              Yogi Berra was correct.
                              Originally posted by JOLLY
                              I do a few chord things, some crappy lead stuff, and then some rhythm stuff.

                              Comment

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