Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: GuiTony on November 22, 2008, 10:59:48 AM
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Some of you may remember that I've done Mark Bailey's "build your own guitar" course a couple of times. Well, Neil Morgan (he of Morgan custom guitars fame) has also started running courses, though only about 2 a year, so I went along to see what I could learn from him.
Short answer - quite a lot!
The focus of Neil's course is more on the wood-working techniques relevant to guitar-building, rather than ensuring that the guitar is fully finished in the 5 days, so I've a little work to do to finish this one (like the wiring, some more oiling and sanding, and the final set-up), but it's 90% complete so I thought I'd share ...
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/_QYdDO5-bV1Y/SSfg1iKjK8I/AAAAAAAACPs/QS0JohDJ9mo/s800/IMG_2280.JPG)
(http://lh4.ggpht.com/_QYdDO5-bV1Y/SSfhPkXeV5I/AAAAAAAACQU/-45_b_WSMno/s800/IMG_2301.JPG)
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_QYdDO5-bV1Y/SSfhC4e_1RI/AAAAAAAACQs/WS7_VyetEXU/s800/IMG_2287.JPG)
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_QYdDO5-bV1Y/SSfhbCruf8I/AAAAAAAACQk/_fbVCxQcxfc/s800/IMG_2290.JPG)
One of my reasons for doing Neil's course was to focus on getting a decent neck/body join. And I'm happy with the result.
One-piece mahogany body. 2-piece mahogany neck (I also wanted to practice the angled-back-headstock neck join!). Ebony fretboard & headstock veneer. SD P-Rails, each with it's own mini-toggle to switch between P90-HB-SC. Vol, Tone & Varitone.
Now I just need to practice my soldering ...
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Looks great!
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That's very cool, I like it a lot. It's got a sort of Gordon Smith vibe to it. Are you going to leave it as a natural finish, d'you think?
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It's got a sort of Gordon Smith vibe to it.
Yes, GS meets Yamaha SG2000! :D I like it.
Is that a TonePros bridge, by the way? I really like wraparound bridges.
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Thanks all for all the postive comments.
Yam SG is absolutely what I was aiming for, so nice spot!
Tonepro bridge is another excellent spot too :D
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Looks great :) Let us know how you get on with those pickups, i've been tempted to use them in a project.
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Beside the pots and switchs it looks gorgeous! :D
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Great job.
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Nice work.
What are you going to do for the finish?
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Yes, GS meets Yamaha SG2000! :D I like it. .
+1, it's very nice indeed.
I'm not much a fan of most duncans, but i have to admit i'm intrigued by those p-rails, as if they do what they say on the tin, they're going to be extremely versatile. not quite intrigued enough to buy them, though... :lol:
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Looks great for a DIY job. What's it play like? I read about those pups, are they good?
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I like it. I hope you pair down that heal though, iT IS GINORMOUS!!
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That's what I want to build!
I'm starting to develop a Yam SG fettish... somthing about them just calls to me.
Love that guitar. Well done that man.
I'd like to do a neck through though... was that accommodated on the course?
What was the cost, by the way?
Mark.
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I like it. I hope you pair down that heal though, iT IS GINORMOUS!!
I think it would be better as it is ... the neck needs some support in the body. It joins around the 20th fret which is plenty high enough for my playing :P
Looks great for a DIY job. What's it play like? I read about those pups, are they good?
Thanks. As soon as I get them wired up properly, I'll let you know. Way too cold for the workshop today though.
What are you going to do for the finish?
More sanding and oiling, until I get a nice smooth finish. I've done that before (the Tele "thinline" that I built) and it worked well. I prefer being able to see & feel the wood rather than coats of paint.
I'd like to do a neck through though... was that accommodated on the course?
Probably not possible in the 5 days given all the extra work that would be required, and the different sequence of build events. But I'm hoping to build a thru-neck in my workshop sometime soonish and I'll stick it all on the blog. I might even find a brass block to sink into the body and make a real SG-alike :D
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hey man,look..someone in ukraine built a les paul .As I found out from the article its not a joke :)
body:pine
neck:birch
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hey man,look..someone in ukraine built a les paul .As I found out from the article its not a joke :)
And your point is ???
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My point is that your baby is the masterpiece.
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do you mind telling us how much the course was? The website just seems to have a frontpage and contact :(
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do you mind telling us how much the course was? The website just seems to have a frontpage and contact :(
Trouble is, Neil's only running the course on a very ad-hoc basis - ie as & when he has time - maybe only twice a year, so it's not something you can easily book. If you're interested, best to drop him an email. Mark Bailey runs a similar course more or less monthly.
Cost depends on what you want to build, materials used, finish, etc, etc. I'd guess from £750 (really basic spec) upwards. Mine will have cost me around £1250 when all costs are added in.