The neck came in two weeks ahead of schedule! I was bummed at the four-week mark after ordering that it would take at least another month to come in—they corrected me and said that a custom order with a lacquer coat would take 8-10 weeks—but it got shipped to my house right at six weeks. My best guess is that August is traditionally the slowest time of the year for most businesses, especially retail; I could/would have got lucky with timing. Warmoth would have had more time to work on it and ship it sooner.
Having never done anything like this before, needless to say, I was a little bit nervous about how it would turn out. Trusting Warmoth's judgment with the specific planks of 3A birdseye maple they would use was one of the things that concerned me, as well as well what the gloss coat would look like on the finished product. Would I be satisfied?
Yes.
The CBS headstock! Definitely putting a custom logo on it at some point. The two holes drilled at the nut area
are the Floyd Rose neck prep. "R3" denoted. No lacquer there for
better contact with the nut when I install it.
Tuning peg holes drilled for Schaller machine heads.
Gorgeous and evenly-spaced birdseye maple! And that gloss coat is smooooooooth.
The birdseye looks even deeper and more rich on the fretboard than the back of the neck. Black dot inlays are simple. Definitely the right choice.
This is the truss rod system. The allen key hole on
the left is the main adjuster, obviously unavailable when bolted on the
body. The allen key hole on the right is for smaller adjustments. The
directions specify to leave as much slack (and natural underbow) in the
truss rod as possible while the neck is not strung up; otherwise, the
neck can wind up permanently back-bowed. Then you wind it up before install. I'm so thankful to not have to deal with truss rod adjustments behind the nut!
The one thing that I might possibly be miffed about is the fret size. The stainless steel SS6150 frets are finely inlaid, but when I specified "jumbo" I was thinking of the jumbo frets on my Jackson Soloist, which are wider. It's alright, though. The fret height is about the same give or take a few thousandths of an inch, and the scale length is exactly the same. These steel frets should last me a good long time. With that being said, though, I should have done just a little more research on the size. The frets still have lacquer on them left over from the finishing process. I will look into the proper way to clean them up (steel wool, probably) and dress them.
After the failures of my previous post, I'm excited for this project all over again!
An electric guitar is a piece (or set of pieces) of wood with wires and metal attached to it.
Energy is applied by the hands via picking or strumming or tapping of nickel or steel strings, causing a nearby inductor to generate a small amount of electric current. That current can be carried away through more wire to a device which shapes its waveform, amplifies it, and converts that energy into an audible tone carrying the same pitch as that of the plucked metal string.
Why do we care so much? What is it about the sight and sound of this combination of wood and wire that gets us so hyped up? Does a logo and a paint job really separate it from other musical instruments? Why is the [electric] guitar the chosen voice of rebellion and blues? Decades of rock and roll history are founded on it, and every generation has its new set of heroes who will create something new to inspire the next generation.
The physical copy of the cassette/vinyl/CD from the record store, the high-energy live show, the poster of the favorite axe-man hanging proudly in the bedroom, the hours practicing scales and licks, the garage jam sessions, the neighbors calling the cops with noise complaints, that first punk band, the three-song demo recorded in a weekend, the repeated trips to the music store, learning the rules of the load-in, playing local shows, et cetera... Every guitarist goes through this. It's part of the journey, with its victories and pitfalls, and soon it becomes less about the instrument and more about the mess of money, fame (or lack thereof, otherwise known as indie cred), sex, drugs, narcissism, touring, or generally having an excuse not to take responsibility for one's self.
Sometimes it's important to get back to the basics: An electric guitar is a piece of wood with wires and metal attached to it. And I'm wondering how much stock I can put into being angry and disappointed that the combination didn't do what I imagined I wanted it to do.
In short, I had a chance to test out some of the recent hardware I purchased, and I discovered that the Tremol-No is a Tremol-NO-GO. The jury's still out on the EVH D-Tuna. Here's what happened:
Experiment, Phase One: Trem Blocking
The Tremol-No was actually quite easy to install on my Jackson's Floyd Rose bridge. Slacken the strings, pull the springs out of the back of the guitar, remove the the claw plate (I left the original claw plate attached by solder joint to the ground wire because I knew I would be putting it right back), replace with the Tremol-No's claw plate and rod, re-attach the springs, set the shaft and anchor it to the tone block, then tune back up.
The Tremol-No installed. This is the "small clamp" type, not the "pin" type; notice how it latches onto the tone block on the right. The original claw plate and ground wire shown hanging out of the cavity.
The piece tucks away neatly into the bridge cavity without crazy modding or
drilling into the guitar, which is a plus. However, I was not fond at this
point that I had to move one of the springs down and away from where the A string sits on the bridge. In my mind, springs should be focused where the heavier strings (low E, A, D) are seated. And yes, I use four springs rather than three on purpose: it works much better that way when I tune my preferred Ernie Ball Power Slinky string gauge set (.011-.048) up to standard E tuning.
At first, the Tremol-No seemed to work, with a couple of quirks. I could lock the bridge into place, effectively making my Soloist a hardtail. The thumbscrew used for the drop-only mode (on the left) worked too, as long as I cranked it down extra tight and didn't make the mistake of pulling up on the trem arm, which could move it slightly out of place. Trem action in the floating mode stiffened a little, but hey, says I, I'm not a heavy Floyd dive-bombing player.
The thumbscrews have a very short amount of thread and it's impossible to know when to stop turning counterclockwise so that the piston inside can move freely. As a result, a quarter turn too much and they fall out. I also strummed the guitar to the point where they fell out on their own. It's hard to know when you're locked into place. Applying a tremendous amount of torque to the thumbscrews by freehand means there's ample opportunity to move the piston set a few millimeters in either direction, which translates to the tuning possibly being off by a few cents on the meter.
Notice the two black hex screws on the claw plate in the photo. I got the guitar in tune and then tightened them down, and immediately the guitar was noticeably out of tune. This didn't make any sense to me, but I thought that if I were to somehow decide to keep the Tremol-No, I would leave them loose.
Needless to say, I wasn't left with a good impression of the Tremol-No.
And it gets worse.
Experiment, Phase Two: Pitch Alteration
I locked the Tremol-No into hardtail mode and installed the D-Tuna on the top side of the bridge. Again, the installation was easy: slacken the strings, pop the low E out of the bridge, take the screw out, replace with the D-Tuna screw set and reverse the order.
Side view of the D-Tuna, in "D" position. Notice how the bridge saddle is leaning forward.
As I've mentioned before, the D-Tuna doesn't detract much from the total look of the guitar. Once I had a method of blocking the trem—to the best of my ability to crank down those nasty thumbscrews, that is—I focused on calibrating the piece. I loosened the nut screw and manually tuned the low E down to D with the D-Tuna sticking out. The action of sliding the D-Tuna into place is meant to
raise up on the bridge saddle, enough to raise the pitch a whole step
from D to E. However, when I pushed it in for E, of course it was way off.
The D-Tuna pushed in. Bridge saddle leans back to raise pitch but not near enough to get to E.
There's a hex screw in the side of the unit that allows for calibration (the bridge saddle is raised higher), but when I tried working with it, it went all the way to max without reaching E. Also, when it's calibrated at the max height, it's impossible to move.
Hex screw tightened down to raise the pitch even higher. D-Tuna angles downward and is resting on the body of my poor Jackson. At this point, that hex screw is too far in to allow the the thing to freely move anyway.
I tried different combinations of the Tremol-No and D-Tuna together, tightening up screws here, loosening screws there, and nothing worked. The Tremol-No was just way too tweaky, and the D-Tuna was unable to raise pitch from D out to E in.
Conclusion
I sent the Tremol-Noback to Musician's Friend and I'm ready to abandon the idea of a trem blocker altogether. Why not go the cheap route and cut out a block of wood to jam next to the Floyd Rose's tone block when I want to make it a hardtail? Because I might need to have a new wood block with different dimensions every time I changed strings, string gauges, or tuning. Wood expands and contracts with heat and moisture, and having a bolt-on neck for Big Riff won't help in the area of eliminating points of contact that can warp.
I have a suspicion that the D-Tuna's failure is due to the string gauge
on the Ernie Ball Power Slinky set, .048 being just a tad bit heavier
than a medium .046 or a light .042. There's no way I'm changing a string gauge I've played for over a decade to accommodate it. The point of allowing for a modification is to add to an existing preferred playing setup, not subtract from it. Anyway, I'm past the point of being able to return the piece to Musician's Friend, so I get to sit on it for a while and decide to either use it later or put it up on Craigslist. Now I'm back at a previous crossroad: whether the body should have the full recessed pocket for a floating trem setup, or an angled pocket so the bridge will rest on the body just in case I still might be convinced that I can get the D-Tuna to work properly. The latter doesn't have a lot of steam going for it—calibrating it may mean the piece winds up resting on and later scratching up the paint job on the body. I'm thinking that if I want a Floyd Rose bridge in a guitar, that I need to leave it at that. Don't mess with a good thing. Remember: An electric guitar is a piece of wood with wires and metal attached to it. While it's true that I'm building my instrument to my specifications, I see now that there are limitations which, if I tried to push too hard to control, will inevitably drive me absolutely insane. Separate note: I called Warmoth and asked why it was taking so long for the neck to come in. Per their definition, a gloss coat for a neck qualifies as a paint job, which means that it should take 8-10 weeks to complete for a custom piece. I should expect it to arrive in another 2-3 weeks. I'm getting impatient. I really want to see this thing even though I won't be able to use it for months. And now for an extremely timely word from the purveyors of weird, Devo. Because SCIENCE.
The neck is on its way! I ordered the thing a week ago. When I went back over the confirmation email, I saw that I had accidentally ordered 3A Flame maple, not 3A Birdseye. The mistake happened because I had added it to the online shopping cart for comparison purposes, then deleted the wrong wood type. A direct email to Warmoth's sales department cleared things up, but now I'm thinking about how cool it would have been to have flame maple in the neck. Whatever. I've wanted birdseye maple in a neck for a long time by now, so I'm committed to it.
Wait time? This is what the confirmation email reads:
Obviously the neck isn't getting painted, but it will have a gloss coat applied. I don't know what the difference is in the application/drying process for these things, but I have to assume it will take the full two months. Warmoth will send an email with a UPS tracking number once it ships. (And they're in Renton, Washington, so ground shipping should only take one day.)
Alright, so the design of Big Riff is just about about 95 percent finished by this point, but that doesn't mean that there's not much left to consider. I'm thinking a lot these days about the cost of the project and if/how I can finish it by March next year. The neck is the single most expensive piece of this entire build—almost $600 after tax—so I'm glad to have it out of the way early on. The body will cost around $405 plus tax plus the cost of that extra custom routing job I want for the D-Tuna piece when I beg them for it. BUT, I won't order the body just yet.
The Classical: The sum of parts.
So the design of the guitar went like this: Electronics —> Bridge —> Body —> Hardware —> Neck But the actual assembly will nearly reverse the order for purchasing:
Neck —> Hardware —> Bridge —> Body —> Electronics
I need a couple of things to happen before I order the body. Warmoth offers a "stud install" option for a Floyd Rose bridge, meaning that they will drill the holes necessary in the top of the guitar to hold two studs which hold the bolts necessary for the bridge's knife-edge action. You can order the installation with the purchase of a brand new FR bridge, or you can send the studs from a FR set to them and have them do it for you. An original Floyd Rose bridge will cost over $200 (I'm not cutting any corners with a cheap knockoff!), so I don't want to add that to the same order with the body. I expect to be able to install the Floyd's nut on the neck myself since I ordered it with holes drilled through (meaning no special glue job required? I will consult my tech master buddy Mike).
The selected screws are where the pivot or "knife-edge" action happens; they are screwed into the studs, which are anchored into the top of the guitar. Warmoth offers to perform this special installation so I don't have to screw it up myself.
The other thing is to get that Tremol-No piece in ASAP so I can test it out with my Soloist before the big purchase. Not much left to say on that subject. I've already driven it into the ground by this point.
Electronics like the Sustainiac, the Duncan Distortion humbucker, and all of the pots, need to be ordered last because I want/need the finished body first for spatial judgments. Let's not forget that the Sustainiac's circuit board will need to be fitted underneath the pickguard somehow. I'm estimating the total component cost of the build to be somewhere in the ballpark of $1700, with the first $600 out of the way. So, let's say $1100 left to go for the body, bridge, hardware, and electronics. Looking at the scope of time for the build and the range of other things I've got going on for the next eight months—including school expenses and plane tickets—it will be possible, but require some discipline. Still, though, this will turn out way cheaper and much more satisfying once I assemble the guitar myself, with some pro help here and there.
I've been ALL OVER the band Jawbox since I got introduced to them recently. I love the minor/major feel in this song. The '90s truly were a special time for rock music.
I'm feeling really good about this Tremol-No idea. Ideally, I should be ordering and trying out the Tremol-No with my gear at home before ordering the body of the guitar. I was dead set on ordering the body this month as I've mentioned this window of opportunity where I can swing the cash, but I took a second look and it turns out that the neck itself will cost about $100 more than the body. Seems smarter to order the neck first so I can work with that Tremol-No piece before making hard decisions about the body. I called Warmoth and got some answers to some of questions in my Neck's Specs blog entry. Warmoth's "Unique Choice" feature allows a person placing an order to pick a specific plank of wood "for those who just can't take their hands off of the remote control". I'm set on ordering the 3A birdseye maple for the neck and fingerboard; I trust that they will do a good job and leave it at that. No need to pay extra to choose the individual wood plank(s). As for the Floyd Rose prep, R3 definitely seems to be the industry standard to match with the 1 11/16" nut width and 10" radius. Warmoth's site asks for the user to differentiate between the standard neck prep with mounting holes, which means drilling two holes through the neck to mount the R3 nut, or "shelf only", which means that smaller screws are meant to hold the nut down on the top side. It was strongly recommended that I go with the mounting holes for more strength, and I have no problem with going for that since I'll be assembling the guitar myself. I'm about 99 percent sure I will be ordering the peg holes to fit a black 6-in-line Schaller set. There are more machine head versions of theirs than I care to know about; I just want whatever is considered their standard since I will be locking strings at the nut anyway.
Schaller's "Ruthenium" color choice, but of course I'm going with black. You get the idea.
...That leaves the binding and the dot inlays. I've been scoping out photos of binding for maple-on-maple necks and I'm just not inspired. Black binding works with black block inlays (like on the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass), but I think both would detract from the look of that premium 3A birdseye maple. The inlays aren't that much of a priority that I should want some exotic look for them (although black mother of pearl does look pretty sweet); I simply want to match the look with the rest of the guitar. So that means black dot inlays, with no binding. I'm expecting the birdseye wood grain to be served well by this simplicity. I should be ordering the neck this week!
These days I'm thinking about adding some additional embellishments to the guitar. I want to add a couple custom decals for both the front and backside of the headstock. On the back I want the number 15 encircled, because this guitar will commemorate 15 years of playing after I started at age 15 (by my 30th birthday next year, remember). ...A quick Google image search pulled up something very close to what I'm looking for.
Since my first entry, I've really taken a liking to naming the guitar Big Riff, and I'm considering having a label made in whatever original font is featured on the cover of Cave In's Jupiter record. The label would take the place of a traditional Fender logo. Additionally, I want the satellite featured on the same cover to occupy the circular end of the headstock. I need to find someone, preferably local, who can/will do this kind of custom work.
...And here's the original satellite graphic. I thought of getting this as a tattoo years ago, but I think it will work better on the headstock.
This thing is coming together. I can hardly believe it.
It's summer and I have The Cranberries stuck in my head. Guilty pleasure.
A week ago I installed the EVH D-Tuna on the floating Floyd Rose bridge of my capable Jackson Soloist. The installation was fairly simple: block the bridge, loosen the locked nut, take out the E string at the bridge, take out the screw, put in the D-Tuna screw and reverse the order. The little piece worked right off the bat although I didn't take the extra time to fine tune it and get it to switch perfectly from E to D and back. The tuning app on my smartphone displayed what I already knew would happen: sure enough, when you drop from E to D, the other strings do go sharp by about 3 to 4 cents on the meter. Enough to drive me #$%&ing crazy.
EVH D-Tuna on my trans green Jackson SL2H. Extra cautious here so I wouldn't mark the body. As expected, the float caused the other strings to go sharp when I dropped from E to D, but it worked just fine when the trem was blocked by a screwdriver underneath that polishing cloth.
But hey, I still like this thing. It's easy to use and about 80 percent of the reviews I've read for it have been exceedingly positive. I'm the kind of guy that will do things very carefully and by the book, so I expect to successfully implement the D-Tuna by fine tuning it correctly. Plus, the mod doesn't infringe on the look of the body. It sticks out only about another inch or so from the other bridge screws. Only a guitarist with a trained eye would recognize it and say, "Oh yeah, that's one of those drop tuner things." And so, with the window of opportunity to order the body just around the corner, I felt satisfied once again with the decision to go with the angled pocket so the Floyd Rose bridge would be flush-mounted against the top of the body—again, with the purpose of being able to dive down but not raise up. Throughout this entire process so far, I kept reading about how a D-Tuna requires that the trem be blocked, and that there are several different methods of doing it, whether by purchasing new hardware, or simply jamming a wood block into the cavity to keep the bridge from moving. I waved all of those possibilities off, not wanting any feature to be second rate to the build of Big Riff. But I finally decided to put some research into two products on the market: the Hipshot Tremsetter, and the Tremol-No. The Hipshot Tremsetter is essentially a bigger spring that replaces the middle of the usual three springs in any trem system. I didn't see anything that explained how it actually works except that it tightens up the springs' response back to their original setting, which makes it a trem stabilizer. Once I saw that installation of the Tremsetter requires drilling more holes into the cavity of the guitar, I immediately axed it.
Google image search: the Hipshot Tremsetter installed. See that hole that has to be drilled into the body? That's a no-go!
The Tremol-No is a trem blocker with a shaft-and-rod setup that clamps between the trem block and the claw plate. The claw plate itself is provided with the Tremol-no and needs to be replaced; otherwise, no other crazy modifications to the guitar need to be done other than making sure the ground wire is connected.
Google image search: the Tremol-No installed. Simple, clean, no heavy modifications or mess, and adjustable.
I became very intrigued by the Tremol-No. The three thumbscrews enable the entire Floyd setup to be used in three different modes: full-float mode (dive and raise strings), dive-only mode (blocked halfway), and fully blocked mode (no movement of the bridge). If the thing actually does what it's supposed to do, this means that EVERY feature I wanted for my guitar is now entirely possible!!! This would be a perfect best-of-all-worlds scenario. I'm certainly not the only person to have thought this. I've found YouTube videos of guys pairing the D-Tuna with the Tremol-No and it seems to work well given that it's set up properly (again, by the book). I could leave the D-Tuna in at E and utilize the full float, I could put the guitar in dive-only mode and switch from E to D seamlessly, or I could block the trem completely and use the guitar as a hardtail. And so with this in mind, I must revisit the possibility of having Warmoth do the custom routing job that I discussed in my fourth post. I will need to have exact dimensions figured out and agree to never return the body. All sales final. I'm going to call them back in the next couple of weeks and insist on a price quote. I imagine I will wind up saying something to them to the effect of, "No, really, guys, I want this job done and painted..." There are a few complaints for the Tremol-No that I've seen on various forums. One is that players would need to remove completely or customize [i.e. cut a hole in] the back plate to reach the thumbscrews. That would be an easy fix. The other is that the thumbscrews can fall out while in full float mode, as they need to be loose to allow the shaft to move, but I'm reading up on how to fix that issue as well. Part of what has made this such a fun and interesting project so far is the pursuit of the "end-all be-all" instrument. Heavily modified, customized, and entirely practical. Why should I stop at the trem system? I've been thinking, too, about having a second pickguard with a different pair of pickups in it so that I could swap it out on the body when I don't want or need the Sustainiac.
It's Independence Day, and... *sigh* Whatever. I was going to try to make a connection between this song and celebrating our nation's heritage, but I give up. Anyway, Queensryche are one of the few bands I can tolerate from the Monster Ballad era.
I made the very first purchase toward the guitar! The EVH D-Tuna in black came in from Musician's Friend (extra fast on ground shipping, too). I'm going to test this thing out on my Jackson Soloist, with an extra careful eye not to ding the body since I intend not to block the trem system. My gear is currently stashed away in a super secret safe place as I type this, so that means it's not at home. I won't be able to install the thing until next week.
Having this thing in my hands, though, is producing three trains of thought: 1) Holy moly this is actually happening!, and 2) Why wouldn't I just order the flush-mount-style body? I already have a floating-trem guitar and it's a pain in the @$$ to keep up with the maintenance, and 3) I could write a song where the riffs are structured specifically so that I could only play it by changing the low string mid-song from E to D or vice versa. I could go back and forth on the floating trem body routing idea, but I think I'm learning to trust my gut on this, at least until I can try this thing out next week. So in the last post, I was stopped dead in the tracks over the issue of the Strat headstock shape for the neck. I'm mostly clear on the other stuff I'm looking for, so I'll attempt to move down the Warmoth custom build page with a brief description why: 1. Construction Type: Warmoth Pro Construction A double-expanding truss rod for more stability, which adjusts on the side of the neck close to the body, is a winner in my book. Ever tried doing a truss rod adjustment behind the nut when your Floyd Rose is already locked into place? It's stupid. 2. Shaft Wood / Fingerboard Wood: Birdseye Maple Because it's beautiful and will keep the brightness of the guitar. Warmoth offers a "standard" grade and AAA grade birdseye maple. I'd really like to go with the latter. The difference in price jumps from $193 to $357. Yowzers! 3. Unique Choice This section allows for buyers to choose a specific plank of wood that Warmoth may have on hand in their shop. I may call them to clear up some confusion, but I don't expect to need to opt into this. As long as I've got birdseye maple for the neck and fingerboard, I'm golden. 4. Nut Width: 1-11/16" (43 mm) Whoa. This is perhaps the most important tech consideration as this (along with the size of compound radius) will determine the correct nut complement to the Floyd Rose bridge. 1-11/16" is considered the standard size for most guitars. I checked and my Jackson does have this configuration, so I'm happy here. 5. Orientation: Right Handed 6. Back Contour: Standard Thin Warmoth's Standard Thin contour runs from .800" at the first fret to .850" at the twelfth. I like a slim, fast neck—but not too slim, like the way Ibanez RG's are. The Wizard profile does look interesting, though (.750" to .820"). I'll need just to do just a bit more research on my own guitars, including my incredibly comfortable Gibson Explorer, before sticking to anything. 7. Fingerboard Radius: 10-16" Compound YESYESYESGIMMEGIMME the compound radius! This means that the shape of the neck flattens out as you move up, which makes it comfortable for chords in the lower register and better suited for soloing in the upper register. It's one of the reasons why I love my Jackson so much. Their standard compound radius size sits at 12-16", but I'm expecting Warmoth's 10-16" compound to be a little more forgiving on my fingers. This is also a factor that affects which nut I will need to order for the Floyd Rose. 8. Fingerboard Length: 22 Frets Warmoth's standard. No more than 22 frets needed. I don't intend to go all Marty Friedman on this thing. Keeping a standard fingerboard length will help me with matching the body and pickguard, which I've already picked out. 9. Scalloping: HELL NO.
Hey Yngwie, did you catch the time? Yeah, the '80s are over. Put the leather away.
10. Binding: ??? My gut reaction tells me no because it might detract from the look of the birdseye maple for both neck and fingerboard. Also, the $110 charge is pretty hefty. I need more time to think through on this one. 11. Fret Size: Stainless Steel Jumbo (SS6150) The stainless steel adds $20 to the cost, but hopefully should save money in repair costs in the long run compared to standard nickel/silver fret wire. The jumbo size matches my Jackson. Warmoth does offer a specialty SS6115 jumbo which adds an extra peak at .004"... I think I should just stick to what I know. 12. Tuner Hole Size: ??? I just want whatever will correctly fit the same tuners that are on my Jackson (I bet you're sick of hearing about this guitar by now, eh?). The tuners on that are smooth acting, not ornate, and never touched after I lock at the nut. I'm pretty sure I'm looking for Schaller tuners. 13. Inlay: Dots Oh gosh, I totally had no expectations for this one and there are a whole bunch of options... Dots this time around; no sharkfin inlays. One can't go wrong with black dots on a maple fingerboard, and it would match the black hardware intended for the guitar, but on the other hand, abalone does look pretty sweet... Need some more time on this one. 14. String Nut: Floyd Rose R3 Prep The R3 prep will match with the 1-11/16" neck width and work with the 10" radius as part of the compound radius configuration. The nut itself would come in directly with the Floyd Rose bridge rather than pre-installed on the neck. 15. Mounting Holes: Standard 4-Bolt 16. Finish: Clear Gloss I've read and heard the debates over whether a player of the Shred persuasion should choose a satin finish for a "faster" feel. I've only recently come to understand how/why players go for that, but I think it looks ugly, or plain at best. Also, players tend to talk as if gloss finishes are evil because they claim that their sweat sticks to the neck. However, I've always loved the look and feel of a gloss finish and I don't have corrosive sweat. The birdseye maple will look exceptionally sweet with gloss over it. It's late and I'm tired. Enjoy this new Failure jam.
I have a window of opportunity in July to purchase the body of the guitar, which will cost me $405 without any hardware. (I just dropped $555 on a community college math class last week, so for those who may be concerned, please understand where my priorities are.) Before I do that, though, the plan is to get that Floyd Rose D-tuna piece in as soon as possible and try it out with my floating Jackson setup. This will help settle my mind on whether or not I will ask Warmoth for that extra custom routing job on the top of the body. The rest of the pieces will be ordered in increments over the next six to nine months. The Sustainiac and the Floyd Rose bridge each will cost over $200. The Duncan Distortion TB-6 will cost about $80. I'm expecting the pickguard and hardware(s) together to cost me about $60. The last thing for the design phase, then, is to choose what features I want for the neck. Oh boy. I thought this was going to be the easiest part. Definitely not. SO. If I'm going to have a maple body, it only follows that I would have a maple neck with a maple fretboard. I haven't owned a guitar with a maple neck fretboard and in the past few years I've been interested in trying it out, given my playing style. Let's take one step back. I recently acquired this old Charvel Strat from my buddy Andy. He's had it kicking (and kicked) around his practice space for a long time. We think it's from the early '90s. He wanted to sell it, so I agreed to take it home and clean it up for him. It was DISGUSTING. Years and layers of dirt, oil, dried sweat, cobwebs, and who-knows-what-else caked on it and in all of the crevices. I completely dismantled the bridge and got rust off of all of the individual parts with WD-40 and a toothbrush. Something rotten was all over the neck and fretboard, so I cleaned that up, too. I put everything back together and while it still could never be sold for more than $50, it turned out to be a somewhat playable and fun guitar. This would be perfect to put some stickers on and throw it around in a punk band.
Andy agreed to let me have this Charvel. I still owe him a portion of a nice bottle of Japanese whiskey that I've got. Fair trade.
I've been banging out some power chords on this thing at home and paying attention to how its maple neck affects the tone. Bright and... spanky. Is spanky a word? That's the best description I can come up with. The strings practically jump off of the fretboard. I like the lively feel of this guitar and would be happy to implement it into a much higher-quality instrument like what I'm expecting with Big Riff. Not as much sustain as my neck-through Jackson, but that's a given. Right off the bat, Warmoth's custom build portion of their website forces The Issue:
Traditional Strat headstock style...
or 1970's CBS fat headstock style.
When I was fifteen and learning to play on my Squier Affinity Strat, I was unimpressed at the time with the large headstock and wondered if/when I would own a "real" Fender with the normal headstock. But then I got away from Fenders altogether, and years later, I now know the story of CBS's ownership of the guitar brand and the change in the Strat headstock design. My inner Romantic is scratching its head. Do I move away from my old Squier years and CBS headstock (which I covered up with an American flag sticker) or do I boast it loud and proud? Enter my next guitar hero: Billy Corgan.
Say what you will about his, erm, eclectic range of interests (pro wrestling, tea, animal shelters, etc.), but this man is carrying the torch for not only the '90s alternative rock we know and love, but '70s big arena rock and prog as well. With the drama of the first incarnation of the Smashing Pumpkins long over, Corgan is still committed to the passion of the electric guitar. His main guitar approach is usually based around some combination of a Marshall [or Diezel these days] half-stack, a fuzz box... and a Stratocaster with that big headstock. There's just something big and defiant about it. Strike the power stance, bend a wide note, be as loud as possible. I'm getting the CBS headstock. More on the neck design in my next post. For now, enjoy some of the classic fuzz that helped to define a generation:
