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Help me build a guitar monstrosity!

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  • Help me build a guitar monstrosity!

    OK, so I've been playing guitar for a while. Enough so that I have tried out a lot of things and developed my own eclectic preferences. Since I started playing in '98 my main guitars have been an Epiphone Dot, a Godin Exit 22, and a Charvel So Cal. I'm hoping random people on the internet can advise me on how best to find/build exactly what I need*.

    1. Neck:
    Has to be 1 11/16ths at the nut. I like ebony or maple fretboards. I like the feel of an unfinished neck, but don't like an unfinished fretboard (it gets dirty quickly). The nicest feeling neck I've ever played is on my Charvel So Cal Pro Mod (2008 USA made model), it's damned near perfect. Quarter sawn maple, heavily rolled edges, lovely soft unfinished feeling back of the neck. I've got two complaints about it though . . . the heel adjust truss rod is a gigantic pain in the ass. I hate having to take the neck off the guitar every time I want to tweak it, also it would be cool if I could get the neck the tiniest bit thicker. Very annoyingly, Charvel necks are not compatible with standard Fender neck pockets. They're 1/8th of an inch wider at the heel . . . which means no Warmoth necks or bodies.

    I like ebony or maple fretboards. I like the feel of an unfinished neck, but don't like an unfinished fretboard (it gets dirty quickly - so to combat this, on my Charvel I took the neck off and applied). Was thinking about either a 1 piece quartersawn maple neck, or maybe padouk with an ebony fretboard.

    My new neck NEEDS stainless steel frets. I like big frets. Was thinking either 6000, or 6100. I don't want a 24 fret neck because I don't like what the re-position does to the sound of the neck pickup.



    So I think there are three options for me here:
    - Buy a used Charvel so cal pro mod neck, refret it with SS wire.
    - Buy an unfinished custom neck from either Musikraft (would finish on my own with Danish oil).
    - Buy an unfinished custom neck from USACG (would finish on my own with Danish oil).



    Body:
    I've always liked the Jazzmaster body shape. It's cool looking. More important than looking cool though, I find the upper fret access on the jazzmaster to be better than the upper fret access on a strat. Because there's no lower horn you can kick your wrist out and keep the same playing position pretty much all the way up to the 22nd fret. This is hella important to me! I find myself spending more and more time up on the dusty end of the fretboard these days, and want it to be more comfortable than on a strat.

    I've had good luck with maple, alder, and mahogany bodies. My preference would lean towards alder though - especially if I could get it roasted so it's lighter.

    If I want the Charvel heel width, there is really only one option:
    - USACG body

    Then it's just a matter of finding a custom cut pickguard.


    Body Finish:
    I have no taste . . . and am magnetically drawn to neon colours. Particularly neon pink. I saw this body at Warmoth's site a while ago and nearly crapped myself because of how awesome it was:


    Is there a place that could do this tranparent neon finish on a body I buy from Musikraft or USACG? Or is this the kind of thing that it would be possible to do on my own? (I'd also settle for a hot pink dye job over a flame maple top, with pink sides/back.) I figure I'd be up for spraying a jazzmaster body a neon colour with rattle cans and then clear coating it if we can't find someone to do the finish I want . . . but it would be more awesome to have it transparent.


    Pickups:
    I really like the SSL-5 bridge and the SSL-1 neck and middle that are in my Charvel. I really hate the noise they make . . . and would like the ability to get a more middy sound from them occasionally while playing distorted.

    Here I'm thinking about either:
    - STK-S4, STK-S4, STK-S7 with G&L style master treble/master bass as tone knobs
    - Livewire II Classic Strat set with EMG SPC/RPC - I feel like this would do exactly what I want, with the annoying down side that I'd have to figure out a way to jam a battery in the guitar body.


    Bridge:
    - Floyd Rose Original or
    - Gotoh Floyd





    Thoughts?




    *and by need, I mean totally don't need, but want
    Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!

    Originally posted by Douglas Adams
    This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

  • #2
    Re: Help me build a guitar monstrosity!

    Is there a reason you are not going with Warmoth?
    Administrator of the SDUGF

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Help me build a guitar monstrosity!

      They don't offer a compatible neck pocket for Charvel necks, or a Charvel neck profile. Or do rolling of fingerboards. They also don't offer neon pink as a guitar finish anymore. All of which is very sad, because otherwise they would be the way to go.
      Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!

      Originally posted by Douglas Adams
      This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Help me build a guitar monstrosity!

        USACG is gone. Inventory and machines acquired by MJT

        Snag a neon Charvel body from the dismantlers and the order a neck from Musikraft. Watco oil it up and done.

        -Chris

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

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Help me build a guitar monstrosity!

          Parted out body won't get him the magic Jazzmaster shape!

          Will MJT build the body and neck you want? I have heard only good things but last I heard they had pretty narrow options?
          Ironically, they are local to me and I've met a couple of guys who work there but never seen or touched an MJT guitar.

          Btw, i think it's funny that you know you have no taste. I always thought people with no taste thought they have great taste? A neon pink Jazzmaster actually sounds potentially really cool.
          Last edited by Dave Locher; 11-19-2019, 09:32 PM.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Help me build a guitar monstrosity!

            Originally posted by Ayrton View Post
            USACG is gone. Inventory and machines acquired by MJT
            Ah, crap. Do they not do custom stuff any more?



            Originally posted by Ayrton View Post
            Snag a neon Charvel body from the dismantlers and the order a neck from Musikraft. Watco oil it up and done.
            I've already got a Charvel, but I kinda want a less **** heel joint and no lower horn for better access to the upper frets.
            Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!

            Originally posted by Douglas Adams
            This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Help me build a guitar monstrosity!

              I misread, I thought you were after a Charvel style build. Unless you really want the wider Charvel heel, you pretty much have your choice of places.

              For the record, the wider heel is a later design. My '82 Charvel still uses a standard heel width and a Floyd Rose.

              Musikraft, KnE, and Best Guitar Parts all do Charvel (2-1/4") necks, but you would have to inquire about a Jazzmaster body.

              Your best option IMO is Warmoth. You can pick a neck out of the showcase, and add SS frets, and a Floyd shelf. The body can be routed for the Gotoh or the OFR. I would not let Warmoth bevel the frets ends, and then you can round them yourself when you roll the board edges.
              Last edited by Ayrton; 11-20-2019, 05:19 PM.
              -Chris

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

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Help me build a guitar monstrosity!

                I was aiming to get a neck that's very close in feel the Charvel that I've got. Also, Warmoth doesn't offer the finish I want. They've got a fuschia flake colour that's in the same realm, but too purple. I want really want transparent flourescent pink dammit. I swear that they used to offer flourescent colours . . . maybe I'll send 'em an email and see what they say.
                Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!

                Originally posted by Douglas Adams
                This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Help me build a guitar monstrosity!

                  Hmm. So, having a re-think on the pickups. I've got an Evo neck and Tone Zone bridge kicking around in my basement . . . both of which are sound great when split (and do the high gain lead thing pretty well). I use single coil sounds most of the time, but really loved having the Tone Zone in the bridge for lead playing. It should be possible to wire it up so that the jazzmaster rhythm circuit acts more like 'single coil mode' with coil splits and 250k tone/vol while the lead circuit acts like humbucker mode with 500k tone/vol. I think this would make switching to a high gain lead sound and then back to a quieter single coil thing while playing very easy.

                  I'd need a 3pdt switch for that upper slider though from what I can tell. Anyone know if any exist that would fit there?
                  Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!

                  Originally posted by Douglas Adams
                  This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Help me build a guitar monstrosity!

                    Dammit.

                    Warmoth no longer stocks, paints, or dyes any bright pink coloured guitars. The closest they have is 'shell pink' and 'fuchsia flake'. I guess if I want fluorescent pink I have to finish it myself. They also will not touch the Charvel heel width. I guess it was worth a try. . .
                    Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!

                    Originally posted by Douglas Adams
                    This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Help me build a guitar monstrosity!

                      Without reading all of the posts to your thread I'd say:

                      If you even have to ask about the building "how-to" things you did, you're not ready to get started building a guitar. If you're just asking where to buy the parts you want, then have at it and have fun putting it all together.
                      Originally Posted by IanBallard
                      Rule of thumb... the more pot you have, the better your tone.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Help me build a guitar monstrosity!

                        Originally posted by GuitarDoc View Post
                        Without reading all of the posts to your thread I'd say:

                        If you even have to ask about the building "how-to" things you did, you're not ready to get started building a guitar. If you're just asking where to buy the parts you want, then have at it and have fun putting it all together.
                        Remain calm, all is well!
                        He wants to buy his ideal neck and his ideal body and assemble. Maybe paint the body if necessary.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Help me build a guitar monstrosity!

                          Originally posted by Dave Locher View Post
                          Remain calm, all is well!
                          He wants to buy his ideal neck and his ideal body and assemble. Maybe paint the body if necessary.
                          I am very calm.

                          Didn't I say that in my post?..."If you're just asking where to buy the parts you want, then have at it and have fun putting it all together".
                          Originally Posted by IanBallard
                          Rule of thumb... the more pot you have, the better your tone.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Help me build a guitar monstrosity!

                            Has anyone painted a guitar with regular rattle can type paint? I've used Rustoleum fluorescent paint before when I was marking pavement for a summer job in univeristy, and it's definately the colour I want.


                            Also if I'm not getting the body finished I might as well try to shape the heel down into a bit less of an ugly block and then attach the neck without a neck plate. Does anyone know where I can get metal inserts like this:



                            ? Those (along with some short screws) would be perfect for what I want.
                            Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!

                            Originally posted by Douglas Adams
                            This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Help me build a guitar monstrosity!

                              Originally Posted by IanBallard
                              Rule of thumb... the more pot you have, the better your tone.

                              Comment

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