a messed up john birch

[AndyR]

That has come up well.

At first I thought "nah, I don't like it...". It reminded me of the early to mid 80s when my friends and I were starting out. The various odd and miscellaneous guitars we were able to acquire when what we really wanted were "real" Les Pauls and Strats and whatevers. Then I realised that's part of it's appeal... you've even left it with "period correct" untrimmed strings :lol:

Like Philly says - it has the cool factor.

Lovely piece of work sir :D

[choucas09]

Looks great to me plus it gains a point for made in the UK.

[PhilKing]

It looks great Wez.  It reminds me a bit of my JB (only mine's double cutaway!).

[plastercaster]

Very nice!
but I have to ask.. how on earth does one split a guitar body in half like that?

[WezV]

wood will split along its length relatively easy if its hit right, the large control cavity provided a weaker point to help it do so


best guess is it got a massive knock at the jack socket end and the pressure followed the grain. 

[ToneMonkey]

Thought that would polish out  :lol:

[AndyR]

Thought that would polish out  :lol:

:lol: Yep, nothing that a bit of briwax wouldn't have sorted :roll:

[WezV]

yeah i know, i do have a tendancy to over do these simple fixes ;)

its been suggested i should have kept the original finish and had it as a relic, which i may have been tempted to do if it was not flaking off in sharp shards all down the neck.

its also been refrettedas they were pretty worn before. the neck was really straight though, which is a surprise given its damage when i started.

it sounds really awesome, enough to alter my preconceptions about solid maple guitars.. lots of clarity- but not harsh at all.  not pushed the ditortion yet but its incredibly responsive and almost hifi played clean

[WezV]

bit of an update on this

[WezV]

it sounds really awesome, enough to alter my preconceptions about solid maple guitars.. lots of clarity- but not harsh at all.  not pushed the ditortion yet but its incredibly responsive and almost hifi played clean

this is amusing given

a) the forums recent discussions on the (un)importance of wood in the tone of a guitar
b) John Birch's ideas that wood didnt matter  as long as the electronics were done right

I would describe the tone exactly the same way i did back before I had the John Birch pickups.   I am not saying it sounds the same, because it doesn't,  but i used those same terms with someone earlier about its new sound.

Hi-fi ish, clarity, responsive - surprisingly un-harsh.  so is that the pickups or the guitar????

They are definitely quieter than the dimarzio's, completely noise free and seem more transparent.  still need to get the bridge pickup a bit higher, but i had to make the rings from scratch so need to redo that one a bit

[blue]

i've found the same with a couple of almost entirely maple guitars.  you expect it to be very bright, but instead it's, as you say, "hi-fi".  very balanced in the middle, no sharp highs or big low end.  although it can have a sort of plasticky sound, if that makes sense? 

[ToneMonkey]

Told you it would polish out  :lol: