Should I be less horny?

[Lazarus1140]

I loved my blue, made in Mexico pawn shop Strat. Out of all that was stolen I think I miss it the most ... and it was a thrown together, unplanned, ugly as hell partscaster that sounded phenomenal.




The one I am building will be blue, too. I haven't decided what shade of blue, but I will mix white, black and blue into the lacquer until I get a shade I've never seen before and one that sort of sets a pleasing backdrop for the blue shell pickguard I bought from Warmoth.

The body I bought from USACG is one piece Ash and was a Telecaster shape but with pickup, bridge, and control layouts like a Strat. I couldn't leave it alone so I started carving and whittling until I achieved something different.




I searched diligently for high tech tools for marking radii:



So this is it after carving, sanding, and application of the first seal coat:


I am starting to think that the body might look better if I take another 20% or so off the bottom horn. When all is said and done I want it to be at least slightly different from this or that manufacturer's standard production models, but not in a freakish way.

What thinketh thou ... leave it as already abused or make it less horny?

 

[elelpe]

Re: Should I be less horny?

Leave it. It looks cool and reminds me of this ...

 

[ParameterMan]

Re: Should I be less horny?

I think the bottom horn could stand to be lightened up a bit.

 

[CTN]

Re: Should I be less horny?

I'm looking at that pic with the sealer coat on, trying to figure out if it needs to be taken in anywhere or if any of the curves look awkward or misproportioned or anything like that...


And I can't find anything. I think it looks good rigt now. You got the curves and distances nicely proportioned. Take any more wood off and it WILL start looking weird.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: Should I be less horny?

I don't understand the thread title.

it's cool as it is man. If you want to get radical, do away with the bottom horn altogether.

 

[Lazarus1140]

Re: Should I be less horny?

I'm looking at that pic with the sealer coat on, trying to figure out if it needs to be taken in anywhere or if any of the curves look awkward or misproportioned or anything like that...


And I can't find anything. I think it looks good rigt now. You got the curves and distances nicely proportioned. Take any more wood off and it WILL start looking weird.

I like the way the top horn turned out because the radius where material was removed is more circular. The bottom horn has an oblong cut-out that bothers me, and I think if it was a little shorter I could round it out a little more.

 

[Lazarus1140]

Re: Should I be less horny?

I don't understand the thread title.

It would have been more accurate had I said "it" instead of "I". The point of the title was to get members to open the thread. It is not an easy task for us old folks.

 

[Lazarus1140]

Re: Should I be less horny?

I'm looking at that pic with the sealer coat on, trying to figure out if it needs to be taken in anywhere or if any of the curves look awkward or misproportioned or anything like that...


And I can't find anything. I think it looks good rigt now. You got the curves and distances nicely proportioned. Take any more wood off and it WILL start looking weird.

You're probably right, and if I keep fooling with the wood I'll never get the finish applied.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: Should I be less horny?

I think it's done in terms of shaping. Remember you can't add any on after!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CTN]

Re: Should I be less horny?

I like the way the top horn turned out because the radius where material was removed is more circular. The bottom horn has an oblong cut-out that bothers me, and I think if it was a little shorter I could round it out a little more.

yeah I spent a good while looking at that and wondering about exactly that.

You might be able to take the horn in just a weeeeee bit and reshape the cutaway so it's more circular and less straight-shot-to-the-tip-of-the-horn kinda thing.

If you're going to touch it at all, I think baby steps and subtlety will be the keys to not ruining the body.

 

[Big Flannel]

Re: Should I be less horny?

I like it. I'd buy one

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Should I be less horny?

Needs more Garlic Powder.

 

[Lazarus1140]

Re: Should I be less horny?

Needs more Garlic Powder.

I used the rest of the garlic powder in the potato soup.

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Should I be less horny?

I love it. Don't take any more wood off it, it's unique in a slightly Garcia-esque way.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Should I be less horny?

El Matador!

 

[d1dsj]

Re: Should I be less horny?

I like it. I'd be interested in seeing it all mocked up with a neck and guard I I like those proportions, it's a hybrid super T/ S type. What's the rest of the spec going to be?

 

[Lazarus1140]

Re: Should I be less horny?

I like it. I'd be interested in seeing it all mocked up with a neck and guard I I like those proportions, it's a hybrid super T/ S type. What's the rest of the spec going to be?

The neck is also from USACG - 25-1/2" scale, 22 frets (6150), 1/4 sawn Maple with Pao Ferro fretboard, 9.5" - 12" compound radius, 1-11/16 nut width. The Pao Ferro is lighter in color than I hoped it would be. The guitar would look better with a darker wood like Rosewood or Ebony, but I wanted the brightness and snap to be somewhere in between those. If it looks too weird I may try to dye it, but I have zero experience with that so I hope I can live with the color as is.

As I mentioned in a recent thread in The Pickup Lounge, I love SD pickups and all my guitars have been so equipped. This time I wanted to do something different just for the sake of doing something different, so I'm having some pickups wound by David Plummer. Neck and middle pups will be wound to 6.7k, will use .205" A5 mags, and will be uncovered. The center pickup will be RWRP. The bridge pickup is a pure handwound O-Bucker, 10.6k, A3 mag w/ 12 screws instead of the usual 6. The pickup is wound with unbalanced coils so that when auto-split the half humbucker will be almost silent when combined with the center pup.

The bridge is a Wilkinson/Gotoh VS-100N two point, black.

I will use a standard 5-way switch, wire it for auto-split in the HB + middle position, and will run the middle pup with no tone control.

The tuners are black Sperzels, and the knobs sort of a Tele style, also black.

The pickguard is blue shell and the blue in it is a very interesting shade. I may try to match that or may attempt a blue burst of some type. I haven't decided on the finish. The mistakes I make in the finishing process will probably dictate the outcome. I really enjoy trying to do a decent burst and I think I learned a lot from my last effort, but a burst with a busy looking pickguard can be too distracting, visually.

Also, I won't even attempt the nut. I don't have the patience or good enough vision and get too frustrated by butchering them. There is an excellent tech in town, and I will gladly hand him $85 - $100 to install a bone nut and dial everything in.

 

[d1dsj]

Re: Should I be less horny?

That sounds real cool! I'm with you on blue burst and the blue guard, whilst I love blue guitars it may be a bit too much. On the other hand if it were mine I'd probably go trans white with the blue guard.... Unfortunately it isn't mine! Ha ha

I'm looking forward to seeing the finished guitar though, hope it all goes to plan.

 

[VanDerchuck]

Re: Should I be less horny?

I bet a thinline would look cool like that too.