TwilightOdyssey
Darkness on the edge of Tone
Today marks the "official" start of a new project I'm working on with Laz Gajic (http://gajicguitars.com), aka kammo 1 on this and other forums.
Laz and I had discussed what I wanted to do with this guitar a couple of weeks ago, but I only got around to dismantling the guitar today.
The 1st project I did with Laz was 3 months ago: a new neck for my ESP Kamikaze 4.
That guitar became the TOC (Twilight Odyssey Custom) - a complete re-build with chrome hardware, OFR, BK pickups, and Gajic neck ... my ultimate satisfaction with Laz's neck led me to start discussing the TOC-2 with him. Same basic premise -- the body is complete, just add new neck and BK pickups.
This guitar started life as a Wayne Rock Legend, and I totally love this guitar. However, after playing Laz's neck, I feel so much more comfortable with that one that I commissioned him to make a replica of that neck, only with an ebony fingerboard and matte black headstock. (Neck particulars - 25.5" scale length ... Dunlop 6100 fret wire ... 22 frets ... maple neck ... reverse hockey stick headstock, exact replica of J Frog ... neck profile and radius, exact replica of J Frog ... 1-34" nut width ... locking nut) So, after some discussion, the project has begun!
The paint job on this guitar is nothing short of spectacular. It's the Warren DeMartini style of python snakeskin. It was hand painted by Wayne Charvel's son, Michael.
The graphic completely wraps around the body, as you can see here.
One of the coolest things about the graphic, is how Michael painted the snakeskin to 'stretch' around the horns, just like a real piece of skin ... amazing attention to detail.
I know I'm going to be putting a BK Cold Sweat into the bridge position of this guitar. Neck SC is tbd, tho I'm currently debating between a Trilogy and another Irish Tour. I am glad I opted to skip the middle pickup as the same hole is used for both the bridge and middle pickup holes; it would be impossible to fit all the beefy BK wires through that single hole!
The original pickups, Duncan JB and 2x Duncan Hot Rails, were sold, and will ship to the buyer this week.
My main concern, is pickup size. The routing for the SC pickups in this guitar are even shallower than in my guitar with the Irish Tours. I have taken some pics to show the width and depth of the pickup holes. I need to be positive that the BK will fit in this slot. Since the Hot Rails are made like Jackson pickups, ie without the triangle base, perhaps we can do the same with the neck pickup in this guitar ...
I will probably keep the pickup switch mounted for cosmetic reasons, but the volume knob will be replaced with a 500k push-pull pot, which is my switch of choice. The wires don't pass through the swich, which I have found to affect tone if it's not a good one.
I will keep you all posted on the progress of this guitar!
Laz and I had discussed what I wanted to do with this guitar a couple of weeks ago, but I only got around to dismantling the guitar today.
The 1st project I did with Laz was 3 months ago: a new neck for my ESP Kamikaze 4.
That guitar became the TOC (Twilight Odyssey Custom) - a complete re-build with chrome hardware, OFR, BK pickups, and Gajic neck ... my ultimate satisfaction with Laz's neck led me to start discussing the TOC-2 with him. Same basic premise -- the body is complete, just add new neck and BK pickups.
This guitar started life as a Wayne Rock Legend, and I totally love this guitar. However, after playing Laz's neck, I feel so much more comfortable with that one that I commissioned him to make a replica of that neck, only with an ebony fingerboard and matte black headstock. (Neck particulars - 25.5" scale length ... Dunlop 6100 fret wire ... 22 frets ... maple neck ... reverse hockey stick headstock, exact replica of J Frog ... neck profile and radius, exact replica of J Frog ... 1-34" nut width ... locking nut) So, after some discussion, the project has begun!
The paint job on this guitar is nothing short of spectacular. It's the Warren DeMartini style of python snakeskin. It was hand painted by Wayne Charvel's son, Michael.
The graphic completely wraps around the body, as you can see here.
One of the coolest things about the graphic, is how Michael painted the snakeskin to 'stretch' around the horns, just like a real piece of skin ... amazing attention to detail.
I know I'm going to be putting a BK Cold Sweat into the bridge position of this guitar. Neck SC is tbd, tho I'm currently debating between a Trilogy and another Irish Tour. I am glad I opted to skip the middle pickup as the same hole is used for both the bridge and middle pickup holes; it would be impossible to fit all the beefy BK wires through that single hole!
The original pickups, Duncan JB and 2x Duncan Hot Rails, were sold, and will ship to the buyer this week.
My main concern, is pickup size. The routing for the SC pickups in this guitar are even shallower than in my guitar with the Irish Tours. I have taken some pics to show the width and depth of the pickup holes. I need to be positive that the BK will fit in this slot. Since the Hot Rails are made like Jackson pickups, ie without the triangle base, perhaps we can do the same with the neck pickup in this guitar ...
I will probably keep the pickup switch mounted for cosmetic reasons, but the volume knob will be replaced with a 500k push-pull pot, which is my switch of choice. The wires don't pass through the swich, which I have found to affect tone if it's not a good one.
I will keep you all posted on the progress of this guitar!
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