Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: willo on September 16, 2005, 11:44:59 PM
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Hi there,
I'm currently talking to a number of luthiers about building me a custom guitar. Unfortunately, my playing experience is limited mostly to Gibson & Gibson style guitars. I always wanted a Strat, and this is what I was going to get (1960's reissue for £1000 + BKPs), but I've since realised that I can probably get a custom made guitar for me for that same money. So I'm going strat based, but with some LP style features and 'modern' features in it too...
Basically, I was wondering if I could every so often ask the opinions of you guys for your help etc in selecting parts and so on for the guitar. I am now selecting the specific parts I want, from the nut to the potentiometers, and have narrowed most parts down to either 1 or 2 options...and I'd appreciate some help in deciding! :wink:
So firstly, up comes the choice of wood...In the body, I was thinking either alder or ash. My understanding is that alder is the 'traditional' strat body, but ash offers greater sustain but is considerably heavier. Is this correct? And what kind of necks and fingerboards do you think would work well with the bodies too?
Thanks guys! :D
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for fingerboards, maple gives a brighter, punchier tone; whereas rosewood is mellower by comparison.
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:D Hi willo Good luck with the Strat ! :D
OK for what it`s worth i`ve got a U.S.A Strat circa 79/81 it`s a `79 neck attached to a `81 body i think that the body on mine is Ash. It has a maple neck/finger board. It`s very bright sounding & the Ash is very heavy weight wise. But i have to add that mine doesn`t have the Trem cut out. As it was bought without a Floating bridge system. Playing a Maple board takes some getting used to IMHO that`s not to say it`s bad it`s just different. Some people prefer it. Have you tried or played a maple finger board guitar before ? Are you going to get a trem for it ?
:D 8)
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are yu wanting classic 50's strat tone? hot-rodded super strat high output metal tone? rawk'n'roll tone? tell us the kinda sound you have in your head. i prefer ash to alder by far for a strat body, but thats my own personal preference. I'd go for a rock maple neck (maybe flame, birdseye, quilted?) for cost effectiveness. weather you want to go for rosewood or maple on the 'board is really up to you. rosewood gives some extra warmth, but maple always helps the top end in sounding great; (plus maple fretboards look sooooo much more metal, hehehe) :wink:
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yeah, what type of music\vibe are you aiming for?
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Well I love the chili peppers, but I want something a little more powerful. I'm going to be sticking a humbucker in at the bridge as well. I would say that music wise we are talking rock and punk from the 60s to the modern day, my favourite band is Jane's Addiction. I know Navarro didn't use a strat in Jane's but he did in the chilis.
I need some decent sustain! When it comes to metal, however, I'll use my LP. Does that help?
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are you happy to go with hardtail bridge? i'm pretty sure they give you more sustain.
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If you are going for a 60's sound, you want a rosewood fingerboard and an alder body. I have a strat copy with a basswood and maple/ebony neck that I love the sound of. I find the all maple necks are brighter than the rosewood or ebony. If you go for ash, try to get swamp ash. It is soooo much lighter than english or hard american ash! I also like the original V-neck profile, or the C-neck slab rosewood, but with a custom you should be able to ask for what you like.
I have both hardtail and tremelo strats. Overall the tremelo has a more of the traditional strat tone, the hardtail is a bit more 'Teleish'. Wait until you decide the woods before getting the pickups.
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Wait until you decide the woods before getting the pickups.
Aye, thats the plan!
Big steve, I don't want a hardtail option on this guitar. I really want a trem so I can indulge my Jeff Beck-isms. :wink: Neck profile, I will be looking for something similar to my Les Paul, but slightly narrower (and unfinished too). The fingerboard on my LP is ebony, I think I might retain this feature.
I guess I'm thinking along the lines of:
Body: (swamp?) ash
Neck: Maple (sealer-only finish)
Fingerboard: Ebony
Does this make sense? How would these parts combine?
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I'm running ahead a little but a Crawler and two Mother's Milks would be a great pickup set for what you want to do.
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I'm running ahead a little but a Crawler and two Mother's Milks would be a great pickup set for what you want to do.
he he, you're running ahead but along the same lines as me :D
But i really really want to get the wood sorted first, then see whether that kind of set-up would work with it. I've been doing some reading, and now I am thinking along the lines of this set-up:
Body: Alder
Neck: Rosewood
Fingerboard : Rosewood
or maybe a maple neck...thoughts anyone?
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won't a rosewood neck costa bomb for a rather odd sound? i'd go with the maple neck for classic strat tones. and also i woulda stuck with the swamp ash body :wink:
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:D have to agree if i remember righty Rosewood is in short supply a neck made of it will cost a fortune ! i`d stick with the Swamp Ash body & go with a maple neck with a Rosewood finger board. Are you going to get it 22fret or the traditional 21 frets ? Remember you can also change the finger board radius as the strat radius is very curved & makes string bending a pain in the arse. You can also up the level of Fret wire to.
:D 8)
P.S are you going to have a Pick Guard or are you going to have it rear routed ?
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:D have to agree if i remember righty Rosewood is in short supply a neck made of it will cost a fortune ! i`d stick with the Swamp Ash body & go with a maple neck with a Rosewood finger board. Are you going to get it 22fret or the traditional 21 frets ? Remember you can also change the finger board radius as the strat radius is very curved & makes string bending a pain in the arse. You can also up the level of Fret wire to.
:D 8)
P.S are you going to have a Pick Guard or are you going to have it rear routed ?
my bad, with the rosewood neck - i got a little confused there!
-24 frets :twisted:
-but with a pickguard...basically, I want it to be like a vintage strat but with a few of the kind of extras you tend to find only on pointy shred-machines, e.g. 24 frets, humbuckers. Thinking I will go with the 6000 fret wire that everyone here recommends so highly, and either a wilkinson or callaham trem. Oh, and a Les Paul style neck profile (although slightly narrower in width), given that thats what I have always played. So, from a distance it will look like a strat - up close it will reveal its secret shreddiness...
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now THAT sounds like a good guitar (apart from a LP neck on a shred guitar which sounds a bit odd, but if its what ur used to then fair enough!!!)
it'll be yummy.
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You really need a nice birdseye maple fingerboard on that :)
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You really need a nice birdseye maple fingerboard on that :)
i really need a better bank balance... :)
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Jeez don't talk about bank accounts, I had £50 quid to live on last month, and had to ponce a set of strings of a workmate :(
But birdseye maple is just sooo pretty
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I have the set up you were originally thinking of, swamp ash body, maple neck, ebony finger board. I have a Wilkinson trem on it. I put a Nailbomb/2xTrilogy set in it. I really like the sound it gives, but I was looking for a 'power strat'.
If you are having it custom made, you could do what I did in my PRS EG (alder/maple/rosewwod), and that is a Crawler in the bridge and 2 P-91's. It sounds awesome. I love the sound from the P-91's. They also work well with one coil from the Crawler. Tim had the scratchplate made for me, because most of my tools were in the US and I was living in London.
It was on the BKP stand at LGS and I know a few people played it and liked the sound. I'm actually going to put up some clips of it tomorrow sometime.
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cool, i look forward to it!
I am still probably going to go with singlecoils here, simply because I've always wanted some. I've had minibuckers before, and I think I will be purchasing the Mini-mules for another guitar in a bit...I always think that p90/1's are in a similar ballpark to mini humbuckers, so I think I'm still after singlecoils for this guitar. But I could be swayed!
When you say 'power strat' Phil, what do you mean? Like an '80s affair? Thats not really what I'm after here :wink:
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When you say 'power strat' Phil, what do you mean? Like an '80s affair? Thats not really what I'm after here :wink:
Exactly what I meant.
Don't think of P-90's as mini-humbuckers, they are single coil pickups.
A set I was toying with was Black Dog and 2 Slowhands. I have a Slowhand in one guitar and quite like the sound. However, I have ordered a set of Alnico V Abraxas for my PRS Standard, so the HSS set will need to wait a bit :)
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i heard the words "80's power strat".... should be in my hands this time next week (or maybe the monday after!)
8)
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I'd alwys be worried about resale on a custom built guitar, you may get all the parts you want and then not like it.
PRS, Tyler and Suhr offer lots of options on their ranges, of all the hundreds of guitarists I now the ones that had guitars made or built themselves have moved them on or they use them as spares.
Just make sure it's exactly what you want !
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now that is major kewlage :twisted:
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I'd alwys be worried about resale on a custom built guitar, you may get all the parts you want and then not like it.
PRS, Tyler and Suhr offer lots of options on their ranges, of all the hundreds of guitarists I now the ones that had guitars made or built themselves have moved them on or they use them as spares.
Just make sure it's exactly what you want !
It is a problem in a way, depending on what you get made. I have 2 custom built Gibson 'replicas', one is a Les Paul flame top and the other is a douple cutaway junior. They are still worth a lot because they look better than the real thing! I also have a few Warmoth guitars. The strats and tele's seem to be ok on price, but some of the others don't keep the price at all.
I have a custom bass being built at the moment, but this is something that I couldn't buy on the market, so I don't really care about the loss in value, because I am getting exactly what I want. It is important to decide this first, because if you don't like it straight away, you can lose a lot of money. Having said that, when it is custom made, you should be able to get exactly what you want, so hopefully it will be good for a long time.
This is the Les Paul (when it used to have Emerald/Mule covered pickups on it).
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I'd alwys be worried about resale on a custom built guitar, you may get all the parts you want and then not like it.
PRS, Tyler and Suhr offer lots of options on their ranges, of all the hundreds of guitarists I now the ones that had guitars made or built themselves have moved them on or they use them as spares.
Just make sure it's exactly what you want !
I hear your warning! However, I'm not worried about resale value - I dont buy guitars to sell them in a few years! I see what you mean about maybe not liking it, but basically I'm just going to be getting the Fender Strat I was going to get for £1k anyway, just with some better parts and a few idiosyncracies that suit my playing better, so I'm obviously cautious, but not overly worried! :D
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i heard the words "80's power strat".... should be in my hands this time next week (or maybe the monday after!)
8)
Nice looking axe Chris, I take it this is one of Bob's?Let me know how you get on!
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:D If your going to worry about resale value then your obviousley only looking to lease guitars rather than own `em. Before i ordered my Custom Build i trawled the music shops one last time & realised that i was going to have to compromise. Going for a Custom build means not having to compromise. But you must be certain about what you want from your guitar & make sure you have a good working knowledge of the parts etc that you want fitted !
PS all guitars devalue once purchased regardless of wether there Custom Built or not !
:D 8)
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I'd alwys be worried about resale on a custom built guitar, you may get all the parts you want and then not like it.
PRS, Tyler and Suhr offer lots of options on their ranges, of all the hundreds of guitarists I now the ones that had guitars made or built themselves have moved them on or they use them as spares.
Just make sure it's exactly what you want !
I hear your warning! However, I'm not worried about resale value - I dont buy guitars to sell them in a few years! I see what you mean about maybe not liking it, but basically I'm just going to be getting the Fender Strat I was going to get for £1k anyway, just with some better parts and a few idiosyncracies that suit my playing better, so I'm obviously cautious, but not overly worried! :D
I wish I was more like you mate, I'm always searching for the ultimate guitar and amp and it costs me a bloody fortune.
Mind you I'd never pay £1000 for a Fender strat, played some of the relics in GuitarGuitar and they were bloody awful ! :wink:
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i heard the words "80's power strat".... should be in my hands this time next week (or maybe the monday after!)
8)
Cool Axe, are the pickups the Nailbomb and Mothers Milk?Cant wait for some sound clips man.
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PS all guitars devalue once purchased regardless of wether there Custom Built or not !
yeah, IMO it's best to either buy used or go custom-built. if i had a brand new LP, i'd be paranoid about putting scratches and dings on a guitar i had spent so much on. if i get a pretty beaten up guitar, it's cheaper, and it's usually a sign that it's a good player (if it's been gigged alot).
just IMO of course
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i had a new LP, it wasnt very good :(
I've played so many guitars... i combined the best bits from them all (strat body, Wizard neck, etc) and got my custom order, for LESS than a new Gibson cost, and about the same as a budget made Ibanez Jem 555!
Steve.... will get some clips after i've had it for a bit (and got some kind of recording setup!)
Tim... yep its from Bob, once i get it i'll post some more pics + a review, and hopefully some clips!
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I come across resale value phobia all the time and to be fair it's quite understandable. I have one regular customer who's just bought a £1200 Fender custom shop strat (3 piece body?! :roll: ) it has a 7.25" radius fingerboard and is strung with 8's on a very low action. So he comes to me, proud as punch and says "isn't it beautiful - only problem is that it chokes if you bend more than half a tone - (now there's a surprise) - thought I'd buy it anyway and just get you to fix it". This guy has been back and played one of my demo guitars 5 or 6 times; says he loves it to death. He'll never buy it but he'll pay £1200 for a guitar that don't work 'cos it's got the right name on it.
QED
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using the technological genius of scissors and pritt-stick, I have constructed a mock-up of what i want my guitar to look like (if you're interested :wink: ):
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y244/ianwillo/File0023.jpg)
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Old school....who needs photoshop...postmodern guitar design at it's best!!
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Thats awesome man! i want one too! :wink: is it all going full steam ahead then?
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lol nice work with the cut and paste... i did a similar thing when planning my axe using MS paint 8)
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Thats awesome man! i want one too! :wink: is it all going full steam ahead then?
yeah, should be. Just waiting for email confirmation and then finding a way to pay :? :D
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Cool guitar. Very Hendrix. Why not install a neck with a reversed '70's headstock? Somehow I think that looks right on white Strats.
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Looks really good! Cant wait to see the final thing all put together. I'm making my strat copy into a decent guitar, should be good when I'm done with it :D
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well, i was always going to go with the olympic white finish, but i came across this artist, Deanne Cheuk and I am loving her artwork. I was originally thinking of putting something of hers on the headstock but i think they are too complex, so what about getting one stencilled onto the guitar?
(http://hedgehog.highway1.com.au/~mu/IMAGES/1-1-big.jpg)
or
(http://hedgehog.highway1.com.au/~mu/IMAGES/1-2-big.jpg)
I think it might look cool, but i dont know about the price yet. Any opinions anyone?
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or this one:
(http://www.fourxfourthestore.com/art/cheuk/img/22_l.jpg)
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Either the first or the third one would look psychadelic and incredible. Do it do it do it do it do it.
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who's building the guitar Willo? - I know a really good luthier in Cullercoats (Whitley Bay area) called Dave Brason, I've played one of his (super)Strats with a curly maple top and it played like buttah 8)
:twisted:
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a guy called Trevor Usher, out in Wales. I couldnt find any info on anyone local :? I've paid my deposit and everything to Trev anyway, but just out of interest, have you got any more info on this guy Dave Brason, or indeed anyone else in the North East area?
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Willo, I've PM'd you with the details rather than post the guy's tel# here.
:twisted:
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Willo, I've PM'd you with the details rather than post the guy's tel# here.
:twisted:
aye, i've got it thanks!
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argh...the paintjob will be an extra £245....should i go for it or not????
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its strange seeing all of you posts twice now willo, make your mind up goddammit!
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Work in progress, about to be finished:
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y244/ianwillo/untitled.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y244/ianwillo/untitled2.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y244/ianwillo/untitled3.jpg)
:D
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looks HOT - are you gonna be having the paintjob? if so which??
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looks HOT - are you gonna be having the paintjob? if so which??
unfortunately, I couldn't afford it. The paintjob I wanted, the picture of the woman with the red smoke/fume, well that was quoted as being an extra £245 by Martin at Sims. Basically, another 20% of the overall price of the guitar :o I understand why it would have costed that much, it is an intricate picture with a lot of detail, and gradiated colours...but I just couldn't stretch myself to pay that, especially not when there are more important things on my list to buy :(
But, its still going to be in an Olympic White finish, slightly faded, and I think it will look grand! and if at a later date I get some money, then I will get the painting put on at a later date! :D
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dude you coul do the paint yourself. it'd be fun! i guess yu could project the image onto it if you werent feeling confident in ur artistic ability.
i guess this is a stupid idea - i'm the only person in the whole world that would actually do this :P
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Here it is...getting here next Tuesday hopefully, Trevor's giving it a new fret dress and alsorts of stuff like that. Also, the blue button's getting swapped out for parchment like the others:
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y244/ianwillo/front.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y244/ianwillo/neckjoint.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y244/ianwillo/sideview.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y244/ianwillo/back.jpg)
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dude that looks sooo good! and i hate strats!! the back reminds of a JEM but with a contour for some reason...
that headstock is sweet as well, a really nice touch- gives it a bit of character...
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that looks great willo!
Glad to see Trevor Usher was a good choice :)
How does she play? 8)
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that looks great willo!
Glad to see Trevor Usher was a good choice :)
How does she play? 8)
still waiting dude, should be here on Tuesday - Trevor wasn't happy with the neck so he's kept it in a little longer. It should be good though, I've basically gone with the neck profile off my Les Paul cos I never really get on with Fender necks (I'm just used to Gibson i guess), but a little narrower, 6100 fretwire and an unvarnished neck...should be good!
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If you dont mind me asking, How much all in all?
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If you dont mind me asking, How much all in all?
£975 including delivery and a hard case
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If you dont mind me asking, How much all in all?
£975 including delivery and a hard case
:D Result !!
Can`t wait to hear it !!
:D 8)
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If you dont mind me asking, How much all in all?
£975 including delivery and a hard case
:D Result !!
Can`t wait to hear it !!
:D 8)
nor can I! :)
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He he...look what arrived in the post today:
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y244/ianwillo/guit1.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y244/ianwillo/guit2.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y244/ianwillo/guit3.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y244/ianwillo/guit4.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y244/ianwillo/guit5.jpg)
:D :D :D
So, basically the vibe I was going for was a traditional appearance with some more modern features. The traditional appearance is obviously, that of a strat in a vintage white type colour. The more modern ideas are the Graphtech bridge, the Dunlop 6000 fretwire, the flatter board radius, straplocks, the bridge humbucker, Wilkinson trem, coil tap on the humbucker and the contoured heel at the neck joint. Pickups are 2x Mother's Milk and 1x Crawler.
This guitar is great, I'm very happy it. The neck is so smooth on the back, it blew me away when I first played on it.It's shape is based on my Les Paul neck (I never really liked Fender necks) but a little narrower. I was also a little concerned about the 6000 fretwire, but this has worked out great - very very playable and the Wilkinson trem/Graphtech nut combo works a treat for keeping me in tune without having all that locking palaver. So, on the whole, very very very pleased!
Many thanks to Trevor Usher at Sounds In Scale:
http://www.soundsinscale.com/
And here's a nice family shot to round off proceedings:
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y244/ianwillo/guit6.jpg)
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corrrrrr thats a beaut...... and i *HATE* strats!!!! so thats a big compliment coming from me.....
one thing im not sure about though- the zebra pup.... but thats just personal preference i guess.
and ohhh my, i want your LP soooo badd.... its gorgeous.. what exactly is it?
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Congratulations! How do you like your Crawler?
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:D C L I P S !!!!!!!!!! :twisted:
That looks mighty fine to me !! :D
:D 8)
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Cheers guys! :D The photo's (as ever) don't really do it justice, but you get the general idea
Clips? Sure thing, but I still need to work out a few things about my tone before I start putting things up I guess, particularly some way of recording at a higher quality than my lame soundcard. But, yeah, there will be some in time!
The Crawler - yes, its very nice. It has a sort of 'bluesy' vibe going on with it's tone, but a heck of a lot of power - I get a really good crunch tone from it with the JCM, better than I was expecting from a strat. It puts me firmly in hard rock territory. The good thing is that it mixes really well with the Mother's Milk so that in the flick of a switch I can go from hard rock to a more lush, singlecoil sound. Very tasty!
Sambo, I didn't think the zebra would be so 'creamy' - certainly thats not what I originally planned - but I'm not bothered. The colours will alter over time anyway. Besides, I don't really like plain white or black humbuckers in a strat so my choices were limited!
The Les Paul is a Les Paul Studio Platinum colour, mahagony body, maple cap, ebony fretboard and so on. It's a decent guitar, but a bit weighty! Stuck a pair of VHII's into that one, it sounds real good. But I'm thinking of really tinkering with that guitar - or saving up for another Les Paul - and heavily modifying it. Not sure...sometimes I get frustrated with that guitar, but I fell in love with it again recently. It's covered in knocks and dings all over the body cos I've given it some hard core use! I'm also hoping that Gibson discontinue that model soon like they've done with most of the other 'special' finishes, that'd be pretty cool to have such a unique finish. :)
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i think maybe, if the les paul frustrates you a lot, then you should do the right thing, and give it to a cool teenager, who loves it more than anything else in the world and would kill to have it....
and also i think your right- you should get another gibbo cause then you dont need that one...
plus youve just got a custom strat.... lets not be greedy eh!?
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You have some awesome gear!! That strat is near perfect (I'd prefer the look of a maple fingerboard) but I bet that ones just as good.. very jealous :lol:
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Nice looking guitar Willo - hope she is as fun as she looks
Trevor seems to make some really nice stuff - was looking at his website
Have fun together - MAKE SOME CLIPS???
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ha - is that a hint?? :lol: I'll get on it right away!
Sambo - you ain't getting my guitars...
Tom - thanks for the compliment. I think I kind of got used to having the stuff I have, and it was only when I took that photo of the two guitars and the amp that I realised 'shite, I have some nice stuff!'. So, yes, very happy with the stuff I've got. :)