Clear matte Alder-Canary Solo-IST:) Simple, but cool!

eugene-ej

Junior Member
Messages
38
DSC_8891.jpg


It's time to share the results! It's been a long time since I received all parts, but now I've got it finished and it's appeared to be cool guitar!

I was after Andy Timmons tone, so I decided to build some alder superstrat with easy access to higher frets and Soloist fitted my needs just well! Neck was a tough choice: I wanted it raw, so I ordered Canary neck, and I wanted it fatter that standard thin, something modern, so Wolfgang back contour looked like good choice. Many warmoth owners said that Canary sound like maple. It's not true:) It's definetely warmer, punchier with a softer spark in the highs. 

Ok, this is just a small intro. Let's see all the specs and I'll tell how that guitar feels and sounds!

Body: Beautiful light 2-pieces Alder with quite rich figure for that type of wood. H-S-S: H- for rocking and S-S for getting some strat tones.  Matte transparent finish.
Neck: Canary on Canary Warmoth Pro Strat neck, Wolfgang back countour, 6150 SS fret
Hardware: all black Wilkinson tremolo and Sperzel locking tuners. Black tusq nut, I ordered several nut blanks, tools for sloting and on the second try I mastered a nice nut:)
Electronics: Suhr Doug Alrdrich bridge pickup, DiMarzio The Cruiser bridge for Middle and Neck (just as Andy Timmons got). Master volume, master tone and a few switches: series-split-parallel switch for bridge pickup; forced bridge pickup on switch (got the idea from Surh guitars:) it turns off all the pickups and connects bridge pickup directly to the output, you need just push the push-push tone knob); and I wanted to mix bridge pick up with a neck one, so I added a switch that adds bridge pick up to the whole mix.

DSC_8871.jpg


Feel
It feels really good! Warmoth did a great job on the neck! It's smooth, frets sit perfectly, wolfgang contour is solid, but very comfy. Canary looks awesome! Warmoth Pro construction is 100% stable! I set up it once and after 4 months (when I took off and on the neck several times) it's stable and has same relief.

DSC_8885.jpg


DSC_8888.jpg


SS frets feel also great!

Body arrived with a small dent on the lower horn, but I didn't mind:) The body was awesome. Tap tone was clear and rich, the body itself was very light, but resonant. Contoured heel feels also very nice. Access to the last frets is really easy!

Sound
When I assembled all the guitar parts, I was very surprised with the tone! I have another guitar: it's a high quality Japan Schecter superstart (very similar to Suhr guitars specs), it has Ash+quilted maple top body and maple+rosewood neck. It has mid-scooped bright and shiny tone. So I built Warmoth guitar to get warmer tone and I got it for 110%!  High-gain riffs, soloing, even just unplugged strumming sounds terrific! It's punchy, juicy, it has nice low-mids and mids. My luthier said that its tone is like something between strat's and gibson sg's one. And that's perfect:) But it's appeared to be not exactly like Andy Timmons' Alder+Maple signature Ibanez guitar:) It's appeared to be a bit warmer:) But it's ok:) AT used to play Mahogany+Maple guitar before. 

The Cruiser pickups sound a bit fatter that true single coils, but much thinner than humbuckers. Electric Gypsy by AT shows its tone quite clear.
Suhr Doug Alrdrich pickup fitted this guitar just perfect. I tried it on my Ash schecter and didn't liked it. Gibson 498T fits Ash better. But Alder+Canary+Suhr DA sounds just right! I love to play some heavy rock and pop-punk riffs and Suhr does it great!

All in all I'm very happy with my first build! Warmoth rocks! I will definetely build another project someday. But for now I'm happy with what I have:) I hope my review was helpful for those who are seeking for their tone. It's a true journey:)

DSC_8890.jpg


DSC_8893.jpg


DSC_8874.jpg

 
that is an awesome guitar!!!  I like everything about it! great natural look, exotic neck, wilky.......just perfect.....
but I'm sorry to day, that pick dispenser thingy is such an eyesore... it hurts!!!!
 
Marko said:
that is an awesome guitar!!!  I like everything about it! great natural look, exotic neck, wilky.......just perfect.....
but I'm sorry to day, that pick dispenser thingy is such an eyesore... it hurts!!!!

Exactly so.
 
Right hand pocket. Mic stand. Nearby table. Top of amp. Anywhere but on the guitar.
 
Cagey said:
Right hand pocket. Mic stand. Nearby table. Top of amp. Anywhere but on the guitar.

To quote someone famous, "Exactly so."
I guess if you feel you really need to have picks attached to your guitar,
maybe on the back side of the horn where only you have the luxury of looking at it...
That being said, please :rock-on:
 
Ok:) I agree that it looks cleaner and more natural without the pickholder. But I need it to be on the guitar, since I don't have a mic stand with picks next to me all the time or I may be naked when I play and I don't have a right hand pocket on me:))  So I found better place for it:)

DSC_9070.jpg


DSC_9071.jpg


DSC_9072.jpg


DSC_9069.jpg



DSC_9066.jpg
 
I concur.  That's a beautifully simple guitar, and stashing that pick holder behind the headstock is a vast improvement of having it  out there on the upper horn - it'd be like Catherine Deneuve with a goiter.
 
that is a day and night difference!!!
thanks for posting that... I can go back to sleep now! :)
 
Now that is a sweet lookin' girl.  :glasses9:
Like Marko said, the difference between day and night.
I really like the simplicity and clean look of your build.  It will only look better with age...
:rock-on:
 
I agree on all points - clear finish on wood of caucasian varieties doesn't get a lot of love around here, but I like it. I also like cherry and red oak furniture with clear satin on them, when everyone else on the planet seems to think cherry might as well be painted black, or red oak dipped in honey. I seem to be alone in that regard too.

I think the most logical place for the pick holder is the strap.
 
swarfrat said:
I agree on all points - clear finish on wood of caucasian varieties doesn't get a lot of love around here, but I like it. I also like cherry and red oak furniture with clear satin on them, when everyone else on the planet seems to think cherry might as well be painted black, or red oak dipped in honey. I seem to be alone in that regard too.

No, you're not alone. I did all the trim in my last house and most of the furniture with clear satin finished oak. My ex really appreciated it when she sold the place, as it almost certainly made it move faster and at the asking price. And I would never paint cherry. If there isn't a law against that, there should be.
 
Thanks for the support!:) I'd never paint some pieces of black korina that Warmoth has in stock. They has killer look when transparent! But sometimes solid color is that what you need for classy look:)
 
I guess I never commented in this thread before.

I must say, this is a truly outstanding build! If someone told me they had built an awesome guitar with a clear-finished Alder body, I would laugh, but this is one of the best Alder bodies I've ever seen.  :icon_thumright: :icon_thumright:
 
line6man said:
I guess I never commented in this thread before.

I must say, this is a truly outstanding build! If someone told me they had built an awesome guitar with a clear-finished Alder body, I would laugh, but this is one of the best Alder bodies I've ever seen.  :icon_thumright: :icon_thumright:

+1. You hear about people being unsure about their vintage Telecaster being ash or alder and laugh, but some alder really does have some great and distinctive grain to it. Looks great!
 
Back
Top