New LPjr Style Builds Out of Ca, Alright SD Fam, Do Your Worst! Whaddya Think of 'Em

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sysdoa

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It's another custom builder out of California (Carlsbad) with Flat Tops for under $1k! What do you think of em? We took them to Namm and got great feedback, even a couple orders!,... but who ever says 'Ya, these need work' to your face in those types of environments?? I'd love some real input! Thanks in advance!
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Re: New LPjr Style Builds Out of Ca, Alright SD Fam, Do Your Worst! Whaddya Think of

...Well I really like them. About to google you guys.

The one picky thing is the treble horn seems small, not a huge deal. Somehow looks smaller without the pickguard. Is there a tummy cut? Pic of neck joint? Are those Duncans?
 
Re: New LPjr Style Builds Out of Ca, Alright SD Fam, Do Your Worst! Whaddya Think of

I dig it. Looks like something Fano might do, only without the artificial wear marks they seem to adore.
 
Re: New LPjr Style Builds Out of Ca, Alright SD Fam, Do Your Worst! Whaddya Think of

Looks spec'd right.

One thing I'd like to see more with guitars of this style is more classic car colors like silver, maroon, candy apple red, metallic light blue, etc. Seafoam green and baby blue are starting to get too common IMO.

Nice guitars though. I'd own one. My Godin LG90 is similar. What pickups do you use?
 
Re: New LPjr Style Builds Out of Ca, Alright SD Fam, Do Your Worst! Whaddya Think of

How much honesty do you want. I like em but I hate that big, ugly Wilkinson bridge. I get it, you gain some finer intonation adjustment on a couple of strings but it still doesn't allow for individual adjustment of those strings. I just never thought the size and bulk of those bridges was ever worth the small gain in intonation adjustment. I have one on a small bodied semi-hollow and hate seeing it every time I pull it out to play it.

With that rant out of the way, not sure how I feel about the edge bevel or the head stock. Headstock may be a bit overstated (not the logo, the "camel hump"). Also, I think I'd prefer a pick-guard on the single pickup version as well. Actually, the pick-guard makes me "feel better" about the edge bevels. The cut in the upper bout is a nice touch for access. Similar to what Fret King does on their LPJ-ish guitar. But I have a feeling that you were going for a hybrid, single/double cut. Also looks to be a little more breathing room from the bridge to the P90 which may warm it up a hair or add a little girth. Fret King does that as well, but further spaced, and you can definitely hear it. To be honest, if I was looking for a traditional Junior I probably wouldn't bite. You definitely wont be sued by Gibson. Traditonalism aside, it's a cool and unique take on LP Junior style that looks like it should do the Juniors P90 tones just fine. I can see them getting some looks. Especially for sub 1K USA made.

edit ... re-read my post to see if it was too critical. Wasn't meaning to be critical (except for the bridge rant), just honest. May not totally be my thing stylistically speaking, but I still think it's cool.
 
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Re: New LPjr Style Builds Out of Ca, Alright SD Fam, Do Your Worst! Whaddya Think of

Thanks Silence Kid! There is a contour cut for the belly and I can add a pic of the neck joint. It's a set neck with a long tenon that we covered. These actually come stock with Porter Pickups out of Idaho, but we also happily load with SD and with our LP shapes come stock the the SD SH-4 sets. Thanks for the note of the treble horn! I'll be playing in Illustrator tonight, I can tell already, haha!
 
Re: New LPjr Style Builds Out of Ca, Alright SD Fam, Do Your Worst! Whaddya Think of

That 'look', I understand, but don't understand. Guess maybe I'll grow up someday... Thanks for checking it out!
 
Re: New LPjr Style Builds Out of Ca, Alright SD Fam, Do Your Worst! Whaddya Think of

Thanks Gearjoneser! These come stock with Porter Pickups out of Idaho. I hate to agree, but yes, we see a lot of the pastelszzzzz in the last couple of years. We're using Poly on these and getting more and more creative on the color mixing side. We did a orange, reddish candy coat on one that will be ready next week that we're starting to really fall in love with. Thanks for the note!
 
Re: New LPjr Style Builds Out of Ca, Alright SD Fam, Do Your Worst! Whaddya Think of

Thanks Darg1911! Don't worry! It's a marathon with these, not a race! I see what you're talking about! The bridge,... we're still in limbo with what will be always available on that part. I agree though, it sits pretty proud and has a polarizing affect on people that have seen it. The bridge does work well, but definitely carries an aesthetic tone that we have just stayed neutral to. We had the Gotoh 510U units originally on these, but alas, out of stock again! haha. They looked more 'classic' on these models. The head stock has been another ongoing discussion! We like the 'wave' look but there's not a lot of room up there especially for how much is going on in that area. Cut and polish is always tip toed around that area coming out of the spray booth. No one likes to work with it which makes us keep looking for alternatives. We also are thinking that we'll end up using an acrylic black/white contrast for the actual medallion so that it photo's better. The logo kept getting lost in random photo's as pointed out to us by our peers at the show. The edge bevels we want to keep working on and honestly, I don't know where they will end up. Consistency is key and there's an ongoing argument between our shaper and finisher about how much break needs to be added to the edges. Thanks for the feedback, it really helps man!
 
Re: New LPjr Style Builds Out of Ca, Alright SD Fam, Do Your Worst! Whaddya Think of

Curious whether a trem is available/which? I could think of way worse bridges than what's on there, but on that sort of guitar I'd either lean toward something string-through or trem (although I understand why that would be more labor intensive.

Glad to hear that you're receptive toward soliciting advice, btw. At the same time, I hope you remember not everyone on the internet is a customer or an expert, and that design by committee can get out of hand. I like your above guitar quite a bit already, it'd be a shame if it got changed too much :)
 
Re: New LPjr Style Builds Out of Ca, Alright SD Fam, Do Your Worst! Whaddya Think of

Silence Kid said:
Curious whether a trem is available/which? I could think of way worse bridges than what's on there, but on that sort of guitar I'd either lean toward something string-through or trem (although I understand why that would be more labor intensive.

Glad to hear that you're receptive toward soliciting advice, btw. At the same time, I hope you remember not everyone on the internet is a customer or an expert, and that design by committee can get out of hand. I like your above guitar quite a bit already, it'd be a shame if it got changed too much :)
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I hear ya Silence Kid! Since we just finished these, are we're pretty stoked on them, we wanted to see how far away from reality we were! Trem, yes! We're using the Schaller 4201 mod kit for now. It took a bit of effort to figure out what we needed to do in order to stabilize it but we've got it dialed now. Pretty nice looking bridges too. Their reviews are spotted to say the least, we just wanted to avoid the traditional Bigsby/Gibson trem designs that have been used quite a bit for the initial launch, ya know? Those bridges will work with these as well and we have had requests to install them for folks. Its a preference thing, more neutral though for us, again.
 
Re: New LPjr Style Builds Out of Ca, Alright SD Fam, Do Your Worst! Whaddya Think of

Pretty awesome! I like the shape, like the layout and pick guard. It sounds like you are already working on the headstock. The only thing I don't love is the codor.

BUT as Silence Kid said, I am not a new guitar buyer so my opinion doesn't matter much. Maybe do some focus groups of teenagers with money and middle-aged guys who buy a lot of guitars?
 
Re: New LPjr Style Builds Out of Ca, Alright SD Fam, Do Your Worst! Whaddya Think of

Thanks for the feedback Dave Locher! It's good to hear some things commonly are more appealing and some are commonly not! Yup! We're gonna keep trying to gauge how these builds go by popping out different ideas so we don't make a bunch guitars no one wants... It's a marathon right?
 
Re: New LPjr Style Builds Out of Ca, Alright SD Fam, Do Your Worst! Whaddya Think of

I like the style.....got a real 50's vibe to them.

If I was going for the special 2x p90 version I'd want the neck one to be on the typical 24th fret posi, rather than closer to the SG position.
 
Re: New LPjr Style Builds Out of Ca, Alright SD Fam, Do Your Worst! Whaddya Think of

Interesting looking beast of P90 Tone I bet. How about a back shot and a side shot to show thickness? Did I miss the body/neck woods? I prefer a tunable bridge but lots of folks dig this. I would be curious if you have thought of a Leo Quan type bridge for them? LOVE to see one in a Natural Mahogany finish and one in TV Yellow with all Black plastic parts.
 
Re: New LPjr Style Builds Out of Ca, Alright SD Fam, Do Your Worst! Whaddya Think of

I'd rock the snot out of one of those. I really dig the look of the single P90 version. All black with a creme P90 and gold speeds would look awesome!
 
Re: New LPjr Style Builds Out of Ca, Alright SD Fam, Do Your Worst! Whaddya Think of

AlexR said:
I like the style.....got a real 50's vibe to them.

If I was going for the special 2x p90 version I'd want the neck one to be on the typical 24th fret posi, rather than closer to the SG position.
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There ya go AlexR! Is that placement more comfortable? Or just for the look??
 
Re: New LPjr Style Builds Out of Ca, Alright SD Fam, Do Your Worst! Whaddya Think of

ErikH said:
I'd rock the snot out of one of those. I really dig the look of the single P90 version. All black with a creme P90 and gold speeds would look awesome!
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Thanks ErikH! I'm desperate to make one in all black! So cool in the renderings!!!
 
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