Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: FELINEGUITARS on June 05, 2012, 04:03:05 PM
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Just about to ship this off to our forum buddy : Roland Rat
Gareth has a few of my guitars now - being a lefty he feels that there is less good choice for off the shelf guitars so by going the extra mile and ordering custom he gets what he wants and great quality too!
Today's guitar is a Tabby model - kind of like the Nashville Tele
We went with a transparent black that from any further than 18 inches away looks like solid black but up close you can see the grain
Here I have overexposed a bit in photoshop to let you see the grain in a photo
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v662/felineguitars/CUSTOM%20BUILT/Southpaw%20Tabby/garethsmithtabby5.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v662/felineguitars/CUSTOM%20BUILT/Southpaw%20Tabby/garethsmithtabby4.jpg)
The body also has strat style body contours - the ribcage cut on the back and the forearm cut on the front which you can kind of see in this piccy
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v662/felineguitars/CUSTOM%20BUILT/Southpaw%20Tabby/garethsmithtabby6.jpg)
The neck is a pretty striking piece of birdeye maple
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v662/felineguitars/CUSTOM%20BUILT/Southpaw%20Tabby/garethsmithtabby3.jpg)
Inlays were all black tahiti pearl
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v662/felineguitars/CUSTOM%20BUILT/Southpaw%20Tabby/southpawtabby1.jpg)
Sperzel locking machineheads handle the tuning duties
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v662/felineguitars/CUSTOM%20BUILT/Southpaw%20Tabby/southpawtabby5.jpg)
Our all access heel joint makes the top end a bit more comfy
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v662/felineguitars/CUSTOM%20BUILT/Southpaw%20Tabby/garethsmithtabby9.jpg)
Pickups are Bare Knuckle Yardbirds with a Mothers Milk in the middle
Switching is a 4 way tele switch for the tele pickups and the middle pickup can be brought into the mix via push pulls on the volume and tone controls
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v662/felineguitars/CUSTOM%20BUILT/Southpaw%20Tabby/garethsmithtabby8.jpg)
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wow
i'm not even that fond of black teles and that one looks awesome
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That looks great!
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Stop this! Mouthdripping beauty man. The birdseye neck is georgeous.
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A beautiful guitar. I'm always impressed with your work, Jonathan. Someday when I got the money (when will that ever happen???) I'm gonna get one of your guitars.
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While not my kind of look, it is stunning non the less. Dat grain...nice
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Looks great, I especially like the colour, the grain of the ash and the body contouring.
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had to sign in to give praise, really perfect.enjoy your new guitar RR.
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this is what lurks beneath the stain and paint
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v662/felineguitars/CUSTOM%20BUILT/Southpaw%20Tabby/southpawtabby4.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v662/felineguitars/CUSTOM%20BUILT/Southpaw%20Tabby/southpawtabby3.jpg)
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Lovely looking guitar.
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Geez, hard choice between the black and natural, that's a lovely looking slab!
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Not a hard choice for me. Stained all the way. Looks way classier in combination with the birdseye neck and the scratchplate.
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Can not wait. :D Cheers for posting the pictures up Johnathan.
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I only spotted this this morning. And, of course, I'm at work - so I'll have to wait to see the pics...
EDIT: Looks fab! :D
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Wow! Not usually a fan of marble-ish scratchplates but that one is rather spiffing! What colour do they call that and where might one purchase it?
Once again a stunning guitar from your good self! :D
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this is what lurks beneath the stain and paint
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v662/felineguitars/CUSTOM%20BUILT/Southpaw%20Tabby/southpawtabby4.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v662/felineguitars/CUSTOM%20BUILT/Southpaw%20Tabby/southpawtabby3.jpg)
Aw man behave youself....that's even better :D :D
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I tend to side on natural wood finishes but this one is stunning. Nice work.
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I madfe that one myself but the plastic came from WD music I believe
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I love the neck joint you use Jon - they beg to be played up the dusty end.
After trying to get rid of my Tele for ages, I've been playing it quite a bit recently - fits in perfect for the punk stuff I'm playing at the minute.
Tele love!!!! :D
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Gareth has the guitar now and is having fun from the sound of things
Whilst I knew it was nice I couldn't get the full playing enjoyment out of it as I don't play that well left handed, and I'm keen to hear how it plays
I'm sure he'll give us a report on it in a few days.
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I been meaning to write something for a day or two, however any spare time seems to have been taken up with me picking up my new guitar and having a little play. I have quickly realised I have a new number one guitar. In truth tele's have always been my favourite. However I have had other non tele's style guitars that were always much better quality than my other tele's. Concequently I tended to play them a little more.
For this guitar I went to Johnathan to build be a tele that had a few extra creature comforts and added versitility. I have had other guitars very good guitars from Johnathan though never one that I have helped chose from the very begining. Being left handed I find custom made very desirable too. I am able to get what I really want not what I nearly want.
I fancied a ash bodyed maple neck tabby with a set of yardbirds (Yardbirds are my favourite bare knuckle pickup). We quickly decided for added versitility we could have a middle pickup. For this we decided on a mothers milk (my second favourite bare knuckle single coil.) We also decied to add a cutaway on the rear for comfort.
Johnathan did some pretty fancy wiring of the guitar. A four way switch and two push pull's on the tone and volume pots. This provides bridge, bridge and neck, neck, bridge and neck in series on the switch. One push pull then brings the middle pickup in also. To provide bridge and middle, all three pickups, middle and neck, all three pickups with bridge and neck in series. Finally the other push pull provides just the middle pickup on its own.
The guitar plays and sounds superb! I am still experimenting with the different pickup options and having a lot of fun. What is obvious though is how well the yardbirds and mothers milk work together. There is no jump in volume switching from one pickup selection to an other. Just suttle tonal variations. The mothers milk is a little darker sounding than the yardbirds. Both played clean and overdriven the guitar sounds great. Anything from Jazz to Rock this guitar seems very happy with.
The cutaway on the rear makes it feel the most comfortable tele I have played. Despite the cutaway the tele twang is still there.
The guitar looks and feels superb. Only one trouble it as started me thinking what other guitars Johnathan could make for me.
Thank you Johnathan :D
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That's a good bit of promotion for custom made stuff! Some of you will know that I've always wanted a LP that I can get on with. The issue for me as always been the neck profile, fret board radius and the frets. I've often thought that a Lion built to my specs could work for me - essentially a Lion body with pretty much an exact copy of the dimensions of my Baja neck. I'm also not a fan of rosewood and am only really a fan of maple boards. Perhaps baked maple would be the way to go.
Anyway, pipe dreams at the moment but who knows what might be available to me when I don't have nursery fees to pay!
Glad you love your custom so much!
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Ian,
If I was right handed not sure if I would be quite as keen on custom built, but being left handed I find my options limited off the shelf.
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If I was right handed not sure if I would be quite as keen on custom built, but being left handed I find my options limited off the shelf.
Makes perfect sense - I hadn't given it much thought, but wandering around guitar shops there are very few left-handers.
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Definitely very few!
I think there are even fewer LPs out there with 6105s, a 9.5 inch radius and a Fender like neck profile!
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Oh sorry I totally forgot to say than you to everyone that gave kind wishes for me to enjoy the guitar.
Cheers
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Wow! That's looks magnificent..... love it. 8)
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Nice one- that certainly looks great and if it plays as well as it looks ( and from the comments you make that is probably the case) then that is brilliant.
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Being left handed and having less choice has probably led Gareth (RR) to choosing to go custom more than off the shelf.
However (aside from the cost) it has probably had the benefit of meaning that his guitar collection are of a somewhat higher calibre than they otherwise might have been.
Gareth has been one of my best customers over the last few years having bought some of our existing Southpaw stock, but it was nice to make something from scratch for him.