Lets look at our guitars thread
Discussion
vladcjelli said:
Birth year pieces?
I'm a '76 vintage, and have often wondered (but couldn't see myself affording one, so never explored) how much correct age guitars might be.
What ball park are we operating in?
Indeed. V was under £4k all in (just), Explorer is around the £2.5k area think, but with mitigating circumstances. I have played a £2k 76 LP but wrong colour and a bad mood... I'm a '76 vintage, and have often wondered (but couldn't see myself affording one, so never explored) how much correct age guitars might be.
What ball park are we operating in?
Not out of reach...
Had a day off today so took a trip out to go and try the new range of Gibson LPs. I'm absolutely smitten with the Classic, it feels absolutely right and the tones available from it are amazing, I love the 61 pups in it! The Modern didn't have as nice a feel to it, the Studio was very good too but without the binding I couldn't really fall for it (but the tangerine is really beautiful in the flesh), and sadly I didn't get a chance to try a Standard as they had none in stock.
I prefer the colours of the Standard and in theory it shouldn't sound any different from the Classic really, but without the coil taps and the phase switch I can't see it being as flexible sadly. I'm also guessing it only has two-wire pups in it so changing the pots to give the extra is going to be a pain, which is a shame. I think I might just have to treat myself to a Classic next month
Honesly, Gibson have really got it right with the new range, they really have. And about time too!
I prefer the colours of the Standard and in theory it shouldn't sound any different from the Classic really, but without the coil taps and the phase switch I can't see it being as flexible sadly. I'm also guessing it only has two-wire pups in it so changing the pots to give the extra is going to be a pain, which is a shame. I think I might just have to treat myself to a Classic next month
Honesly, Gibson have really got it right with the new range, they really have. And about time too!
Decided rather than buy a Tele I'm going to make one - I've never built a guitar before and fancy a go.
Have this body and neck to start with. Neck is from SC Relics, birds eye maple lightly stained with walnut, 7.25" to 10" compound radius board, vintage frets. Ash body is from Boobooguitars that sell "reject" guitarbuild.co.uk bodies. This one has the tiniest split where it's circled, if it wasn't circled and you told me there was a split I would never find it. Otherwise perfect, and only £67. I figure since it's my first time I didn't want to ruin an expensive body with poor finishing!
Have this body and neck to start with. Neck is from SC Relics, birds eye maple lightly stained with walnut, 7.25" to 10" compound radius board, vintage frets. Ash body is from Boobooguitars that sell "reject" guitarbuild.co.uk bodies. This one has the tiniest split where it's circled, if it wasn't circled and you told me there was a split I would never find it. Otherwise perfect, and only £67. I figure since it's my first time I didn't want to ruin an expensive body with poor finishing!
rsbmw said:
Decided rather than buy a Tele I'm going to make one - I've never built a guitar before and fancy a go.
Have this body and neck to start with. Neck is from SC Relics, birds eye maple lightly stained with walnut, 7.25" to 10" compound radius board, vintage frets. Ash body is from Boobooguitars that sell "reject" guitarbuild.co.uk bodies. This one has the tiniest split where it's circled, if it wasn't circled and you told me there was a split I would never find it. Otherwise perfect, and only £67. I figure since it's my first time I didn't want to ruin an expensive body with poor finishing!
Keep us updated on progress.Have this body and neck to start with. Neck is from SC Relics, birds eye maple lightly stained with walnut, 7.25" to 10" compound radius board, vintage frets. Ash body is from Boobooguitars that sell "reject" guitarbuild.co.uk bodies. This one has the tiniest split where it's circled, if it wasn't circled and you told me there was a split I would never find it. Otherwise perfect, and only £67. I figure since it's my first time I didn't want to ruin an expensive body with poor finishing!
Have fancied this myself.
rsbmw said:
Decided rather than buy a Tele I'm going to make one - I've never built a guitar before and fancy a go.
Have this body and neck to start with. Neck is from SC Relics, birds eye maple lightly stained with walnut, 7.25" to 10" compound radius board, vintage frets. Ash body is from Boobooguitars that sell "reject" guitarbuild.co.uk bodies. This one has the tiniest split where it's circled, if it wasn't circled and you told me there was a split I would never find it. Otherwise perfect, and only £67. I figure since it's my first time I didn't want to ruin an expensive body with poor finishing!
I built 4 kit guitars now 2 x Tele, 1 Strat & 1 PBass with additional HB at the bridge ( tuned BEAD ), replaced the kit pups in all with upgraded items and couldn't be happier.Have this body and neck to start with. Neck is from SC Relics, birds eye maple lightly stained with walnut, 7.25" to 10" compound radius board, vintage frets. Ash body is from Boobooguitars that sell "reject" guitarbuild.co.uk bodies. This one has the tiniest split where it's circled, if it wasn't circled and you told me there was a split I would never find it. Otherwise perfect, and only £67. I figure since it's my first time I didn't want to ruin an expensive body with poor finishing!
My kits came from Pitbull guitars here in Oz, they ship all over the world which probably makes them a bit expensive but I expect what attracts the international sales is the after sales service and the excellent forum
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au/forum/forum....
Have a look at the most recent Guitar Of The Month to see what can be achieved https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au/forum/showth...
TBH I figured kit guitars would be a bit lame, but it would have made sense to start there really. £90 for a full kit with a flame maple veneer, f
k me.
I really want this to be great, and when I saw that neck I knew it was perfect, feels great.
First challenge last night, neck and body didn't fit together! Had to take a chisel and some sandpaper to the neck pocket. Not the absolute most accurate job but looks fine and they do now fit.
Also realised my "reject" body doesn't have the wiring or jack holes drilled so that's challenge number 2. Presumably they down tools once they decide it's a reject.
k me.I really want this to be great, and when I saw that neck I knew it was perfect, feels great.
First challenge last night, neck and body didn't fit together! Had to take a chisel and some sandpaper to the neck pocket. Not the absolute most accurate job but looks fine and they do now fit.
Also realised my "reject" body doesn't have the wiring or jack holes drilled so that's challenge number 2. Presumably they down tools once they decide it's a reject.
wombleh said:
I think it's a great idea rsbmw. So glad I did something similar as it gives you the understanding to do all the work on your own guitars, get them set up just how you like it.
Me and a mate are currently making a 5 string through neck bass from scratch . I'll post some piccies when we have something worth showingMicro blog for those who were interested in the guitar building.
Started off here, raw ash 'reject' body. Seemed spot on at first but I soon realised there were no holes drilled for wiring, jack socket etc, there was some rough grain on the back and the neck pocket wasn't big enough for the neck I had (in fairness, this could be the neck's fault).
Put it to one side and began patiently waiting for all the various bits and pieces to arrive so I could get started. Got bored and built a workbench to build it on!
Once I was ready to go, did the scary bits first. Various holes drilled, neck pocket sanded/chiseled to fit and ready to start the finishing process. First step was Birchwood Casey sealer and filler, idea of this is to start filling the open grain in the wood and seal to prevent solvents from the finishing coats penetrating too far (I think). Looks great with just this coating.
After this some Ruskin's tinted grain filler (mahogany), to fill the grain with a tint and really make it pop.
Idea of this stuff is that once sanded back you will have a properly flat surface that will take flat coatings well, whilst the tinted filler stays in the grain making it stand out. Sanding it back was a fking nightmare, sandpaper clogs immediately and it took a lot of persuading.
Looking really nice and a very smooth surface now it's sanded to 320 grit. Next step was another coat of sealer/filler - which I literally just finished - and now ready for staining tomorrow.
Looking forward to seeing how it looks in purple.
Started off here, raw ash 'reject' body. Seemed spot on at first but I soon realised there were no holes drilled for wiring, jack socket etc, there was some rough grain on the back and the neck pocket wasn't big enough for the neck I had (in fairness, this could be the neck's fault).
Put it to one side and began patiently waiting for all the various bits and pieces to arrive so I could get started. Got bored and built a workbench to build it on!
Once I was ready to go, did the scary bits first. Various holes drilled, neck pocket sanded/chiseled to fit and ready to start the finishing process. First step was Birchwood Casey sealer and filler, idea of this is to start filling the open grain in the wood and seal to prevent solvents from the finishing coats penetrating too far (I think). Looks great with just this coating.
After this some Ruskin's tinted grain filler (mahogany), to fill the grain with a tint and really make it pop.
Idea of this stuff is that once sanded back you will have a properly flat surface that will take flat coatings well, whilst the tinted filler stays in the grain making it stand out. Sanding it back was a f
king nightmare, sandpaper clogs immediately and it took a lot of persuading.Looking really nice and a very smooth surface now it's sanded to 320 grit. Next step was another coat of sealer/filler - which I literally just finished - and now ready for staining tomorrow.
Looking forward to seeing how it looks in purple.
Nice work RSBMW. Might be asking a few questions later about the stuff you've used; I'm building a partscaster Esquire using an old body that I need to strip, a new MIM '51 U neck and a collection of other parts. I plan to spray mine metallic blue; metallic silver with a tinted blue clear coat, to be crazed to give an older 'closet' type finish.
I've done some mods on a standard Fender vintage bridge; took the sides down (I always catch my pick on the upstrokes on Teles), drilled it for top loading and done a bit of ageing to dull down the finish. Wet sanded the edge of the bakelite guard I got to round it over, then lightly sanded the front with P1000/P1500 ready for a light coat of clear nitro. The control plate (Axesrus) was supplied light aged for a modest £7 or so, two 'B' Stock knobs which I've lightly aged using some old 'Wonder wheels' acid wheel cleaner.
Pleased with how it's going so far, my neck should arrive later this week, so I'd better get started stripping the paint off the old body once I've checked everything lines up with the new neck (I've already tried a MIM neck off my Classic 50s Tele last time I re-strung it).
Mock up on our coffee table:
Closer view of the modified bridge, before I aged it:
Between us we've nearly got a Tele.
I've done some mods on a standard Fender vintage bridge; took the sides down (I always catch my pick on the upstrokes on Teles), drilled it for top loading and done a bit of ageing to dull down the finish. Wet sanded the edge of the bakelite guard I got to round it over, then lightly sanded the front with P1000/P1500 ready for a light coat of clear nitro. The control plate (Axesrus) was supplied light aged for a modest £7 or so, two 'B' Stock knobs which I've lightly aged using some old 'Wonder wheels' acid wheel cleaner.
Pleased with how it's going so far, my neck should arrive later this week, so I'd better get started stripping the paint off the old body once I've checked everything lines up with the new neck (I've already tried a MIM neck off my Classic 50s Tele last time I re-strung it).
Mock up on our coffee table:
Closer view of the modified bridge, before I aged it:
Between us we've nearly got a Tele.
Edited by OldSkoolRS on Monday 17th June 21:01
Bargain indeed. I'm using the body and strap buttons off an old Squier Tele, the rest I've bought or had kicking round as left overs from mods. It'll add up to about the same as a used MIM Esquire I saw for sale, but as far as my wife is concerned I'm just working on an existing guitar. Bringing (yet) another one into the house might not go down as well.
gazza285 said:
I have now successfully smuggled enough into the house that any new recruits are virtually undistinguishable from all the old ones.
I was tempted to buy the Jimmy Page White '59 Telecaster, not because I'm particularly a fan of JP, but because it looks a nice spec and visually very similar to my white blonde 50s Classic (she'd never notice the rosewood fingerboard verses my maple one...)I've borrowed an SG off a friend and had to get him to confirm to my wife that he had only lent me it when we were all out together the next night
Still not sure she believes me (until it goes back to him I guess).Edited by OldSkoolRS on Monday 17th June 22:55
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