Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: PhilKing on August 17, 2009, 12:21:43 AM

Title: Not a relic
Post by: PhilKing on August 17, 2009, 12:21:43 AM
This is my 61 strat which I just got back from a refret from John Elliott.  At the same time he made me a 'new' body and replace the 3 wrong dots in the neck with his clay ones.  The first picture is how it was before it went to him.  The new body is olympic white over sunburst, with wear to match the neck.  Everything else apart from one pickup is oringinal - the 'wrong' pickup is a BK AV Apache.  The first shot is how it used to be.  All the others show it after I got it back from John.
Title: Re: Not a relic
Post by: PhilKing on August 17, 2009, 12:22:41 AM
Some more shots
Title: Re: Not a relic
Post by: Afghan Dave on August 17, 2009, 12:43:55 AM
Everything else apart from one pickup is oringinal

Very nice but isn't this a case of Triggers broom?  :lol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSmSTpRUeLs
Title: Re: Not a relic
Post by: Philly Q on August 17, 2009, 01:10:06 AM
Looks like nice work, but to be honest I'm not crazy about the "speckled" effect of little dings all over the body.  It looks like it's had gravel thrown at it or been hit with birdshot from a great distance.  Sorry.

Was the old body the original '61?
Title: Re: Not a relic
Post by: Lew on August 17, 2009, 01:16:13 AM
John is great. He made me this many many moons ago 8)

(http://www.bravewoodguitars.co.uk/images/lewcaster%202.jpg)

Title: Re: Not a relic
Post by: FernandoDuarte on August 17, 2009, 01:30:55 AM
Looks very cool!!
Title: Re: Not a relic
Post by: OldGitarist on August 17, 2009, 08:47:41 AM
John is very talented- I have a very 'bashed' Olympic Strat & Candy Apple Red Tele from him- amazing guitars!  Nice to see a 'real strat' !!!
Title: Re: Not a relic
Post by: WezV on August 17, 2009, 11:48:24 AM
its a stunning guitar, i never really got the relic thing till i played phils 62 HSS bravewood... photo's just dont do them justice

this one just felt really nice, perfect weight and contouring that made it really comfy and natural feeling.  I prefer the lighter bravewood relics but you can tell that john has taken his relic level for the body from all the original parts so it just looks like it all belongs together
Title: Re: Not a relic
Post by: gwEm on August 17, 2009, 12:07:32 PM
bet you're happy with that phil!


you can tell that john has taken his relic level for the body from all the original parts so it just looks like it all belongs together
;)
Title: Re: Not a relic
Post by: horsehead on August 17, 2009, 01:06:46 PM
I think I'm in love
Title: Re: Not a relic
Post by: FernandoDuarte on August 17, 2009, 04:40:41 PM
How much I would like to know how to make a relic like this :(
Title: Re: Not a relic
Post by: AndyR on August 17, 2009, 04:59:57 PM
She's a cutie :D
Title: Re: Not a relic
Post by: PhilKing on August 17, 2009, 06:41:30 PM
Everything else apart from one pickup is oringinal

Very nice but isn't this a case of Triggers broom?  :lol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSmSTpRUeLs
Trigger's Broom had nothing of the original left... the neck was refretted, but it is still the original.
Title: Re: Not a relic
Post by: PhilKing on August 17, 2009, 06:55:55 PM
Was the old body the original '61?
No Philly, it is a sad story....
I got the guitar in 82 or 83 and it had a humbucker in the bridge position, which also cut the original nitro guard.  The body had been stripped with a disk sander and then been brush painted dulux baby blue.  The additional routing for the humbucker was done with a blunt chisel and after I had it 4 years the body split just in front of the bridge.  I picked up a basswood body in Engalnd and had it nitro'd black and used that for about 4 or 5 years, and then found 'Wood n Guitars' in the US who made replica bodies and sprayed them in nitro.  I got an olympic white on swamp ash (which of course is wrong for the 60's), and asked them to age it.  You can see the body in photo 1.  When I picked up my 64 from John, I asked him about refrets, and then we got talking and he was up for creating an original body.  If you actually see it in the flesh the chips don't look as bird-shotty as the flash makes them.  My original 63 burgandy mist has chips in the lacquer too - as it hardens and cracks it also gets brittle.  With the new body, as the cracks and chips appear, you strat to see the sunburst underneath, which also makes them more obvious because the edge ones have a black line around them.  Anyway, the other 2 bodies are in use and the white strat with the aframosa neck is the body that used to be on this.  My black strat with a maple/ebony neck is the other body (H/S/S with SM/Sultan/Sultan all AII).
Title: Re: Not a relic
Post by: 38thBeatle on August 17, 2009, 10:26:07 PM
Looks great to me.I can't make up my mind with relic guitars-some I find OTT but others look just right and this one falls into that category for me.
Title: Re: Not a relic
Post by: Philly Q on August 17, 2009, 10:32:47 PM
If you actually see it in the flesh the chips don't look as bird-shotty as the flash makes them.  My original 63 burgandy mist has chips in the lacquer too - as it hardens and cracks it also gets brittle.  With the new body, as the cracks and chips appear, you strat to see the sunburst underneath, which also makes them more obvious because the edge ones have a black line around them. 

Yeah, I guess the cracks aren't really showing in the pics so it makes the chips look more "isolated".

Whatever, I'm nitpicking.  He does the best relics I've seen (judging by photos, at least).