vikingred
Hero Member
- Messages
- 523
Long time player, but this is my first build. I probably rushed things a bit. It's not perfect by any means. Used a lot of info on this forum to help me, and Cagey was particularly helpful in answering E-Mails and providing advice. He will be doing the final fret work, so I guess it's 95% finished. I gotta say this, though. This guitar is AMAZING. I painstakingly set up the Floyd and intonation and got it pretty damn close, using saddle shims as suggested. Turns out the R3 nut is fine, and now I'm worried about the R4 nut I have coming on my next build! Anyway, I'm blessed/cursed with a very sensitive ear and so I use a strobe tuner as I can tell when intonation and tuning is even slightly off. Man this machine cranks heavy. The tone is incredible. The hardest part is going to be sending it to Cagey for fret finishing because I can't stop playing it.
It has a chambered korina on korina body with UC top (satin finish by Warmoth); bloodwood neck (unfinished) with ziricote fretboard (UC). I insisted on doing a Fender strat waterslide decal and so I learned a lot about lacquer and sanding. And most cool of all was the BURNISHING of the neck. Wow. 2000 grit sandpaper is magic (all necks on future builds will be unfinished and burnished). It looks like a satin or gloss finished neck, but the only thing that's touched it is sandpaper and cloth.
I have played and owned a lot of guitars over the years. This one is "special". Maybe it's a placebo effect. Or "confirmation bias", i.e., it's awesome cuz I built it and expected it to be. It sounds earthy and mean. The neck is silky and fast. The bends on the upper frets are smooth and nice. Again, the TONE. You wouldn't think a Floyd would have such a warm earthy sustain (hell maybe it's the EMGs) or the body. I did replace the stock Floyd block with a tungsten block and it weighs like half a pound. That may have helped. Also I ended up extracting the stock bridge studs/inserts and replacing with some I bought directly from FR that had much less play in them. I'm so very proud and happy. (You can see I haven't mowed my grass in a while!) Anyway, ya'll please take it easy on me, this is my first build, I know it's not perfect but check it out:
It has a chambered korina on korina body with UC top (satin finish by Warmoth); bloodwood neck (unfinished) with ziricote fretboard (UC). I insisted on doing a Fender strat waterslide decal and so I learned a lot about lacquer and sanding. And most cool of all was the BURNISHING of the neck. Wow. 2000 grit sandpaper is magic (all necks on future builds will be unfinished and burnished). It looks like a satin or gloss finished neck, but the only thing that's touched it is sandpaper and cloth.
I have played and owned a lot of guitars over the years. This one is "special". Maybe it's a placebo effect. Or "confirmation bias", i.e., it's awesome cuz I built it and expected it to be. It sounds earthy and mean. The neck is silky and fast. The bends on the upper frets are smooth and nice. Again, the TONE. You wouldn't think a Floyd would have such a warm earthy sustain (hell maybe it's the EMGs) or the body. I did replace the stock Floyd block with a tungsten block and it weighs like half a pound. That may have helped. Also I ended up extracting the stock bridge studs/inserts and replacing with some I bought directly from FR that had much less play in them. I'm so very proud and happy. (You can see I haven't mowed my grass in a while!) Anyway, ya'll please take it easy on me, this is my first build, I know it's not perfect but check it out:
