Holoflake Soloist

Chad11491

Junior Member
Messages
52
Hi all,

Since the body and neck are slated to be delivered this Thursday I figured i'd kick off this in progress thread. It'll probably be relatively short, because besides finishing the neck in tru-oil there really isn't anything to do besides bolt it up and get the setup nailed down.

This kind of happened by "accident" because I had a black Mighty Mite charvel clone I put together in college. Broke college me made some questionable build decisions that led to nothing really fitting right lol. Eventually all the good parts (80's FR, Dimarzio PAF 36th set) made it over to my neon pink build I put together 2 years ago because I could never get it playing or intonating as well as i'd like. I figured I'd "resurrect" that guitar because I had some fond memories of it from college, being the only guitar I ever really somewhat gigged with. Unfortunately as parts came in, nothing was fitting and virtually everything would have had to have been plugged, repainted, and redrilled to be right. So I had a pile of gold parts for this guitar and nothing to build with them!

Then I stumble upon the Holoflake video..... Perfect amount of flash and cheese to suit what I like to play haha. So I ordered a holoflake soloist and a quartersawn maple neck to restart this build. Not sure if the gold will clash or not, but if so it's just an excuse to save that hardware for ANOTHER build, amirite?

Body:

Model: Soloist
Wood: Alder
Rout: Rear Rout
Pickup Rout: Humbucker (Neck), Humbucker (Brdg)
Controls: V-T-T-5
Bridge: Floyd with Angled Pocket
Contoured Heel / Tummy Cut / Forearm Contour
Single Battery Box
Finish: Holo Flake

Neck:
Style: Stratocaster®
Construction: Modern Construction
Orientation: Right Handed
Neck Wood: Quartersawn Maple
Fingerboard Wood: Quartersawn Maple
Nut Width: 1-5/8"
Back Shape: Wolfgang
Fret Size: SS6100
Tuner Ream: Schaller (25/64")
Radius: Straight 10"
Scale: 25-1/2"
Fret #: 22
R2 Floyd Prep w/ Mounting Holes
Inlays: Black Dots
Finish: Tru-oil and wax

 
I wanted to experiment with actives in this build mainly out of curiosity, so I ordered a set of brushed gold EMG 89's since I liked the idea of being able to run a "true' single coil or humbucker mode. 

89 Bridge, 89R neck.
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I strung up the original black guitar that was going to be this project and placed the EMG's in place and wired them up out of curiousity to see what they'd sound like. It could have been that they weren't really set right, heightwise, but honestly they sounded pretty dead and plastic-y. I'm used to a PAF 36th set on my main guitar, and low output PAF style pickups in general, as I prefer to let the amp provide the gain. I'm still going to give them a fair shake in the new body and see what I Think.

I came across a smoking deal on their Fat 55 set new in box listed as "damaged box" for about 100 off the normal MSRP so I thought I'd give those a try too if the 89's don't work out. The box came in with no damage I could notice, and was still shrinkwrapped. I have to say they look really nice at least. I dig the "matte" surface of the bobbins and the laser engraved gold EMG logo would probably tone down the over the top gold hardware on this body and make it more bearable while still tying it in.

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also, i noticed this little discrepancy. Not that I care, but.....check out the back of the pickup vs the box  :icon_scratch:
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Since this guitar is a non-recessed FR setup (my preference), I did my usual trick of putting flocking tape (basically felt) on the bottom of the bridge. This keeps it from marring the finish. I set the bridge just barely above the body so it can still vibrato chords / notes, but not really enough to pull back. Basically level with the body but just a hair higher than being decked. I also replaced the screw in collar style arm with the push in that I use on all my floyds. It's a minor thing, but a real nice thing to have. Also a larger 42mm brass block because why not.

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That's really it for now until the body and neck come in. Can't wait to get this done! I've waited about 5 weeks, but these last 3 days seem to be taking longer than the previous 5 weeks haha!
 
This is going to be fun to see go together. It should be a beautiful instrument.

And, yes, the days get longer as delivery time approaches. It's a natural law. :icon_biggrin:
 
Got the body and neck in yesterday at 8:30am! I was at work and left after lunch to WFH so I could ogle the parts haha.

I have to say the pictures and videos of holoflake do it no justice. it's super cool in person. It's also much better than Fender's CS holo flake strats. I saw two old CS holo flake strats shortly after ordering this and it made me immediately worry it wouldn't look good. Fender's holo flake looks more like "Christmas Flake" and the two that were hanging in the shop were very sparsely flaked.

Unfortunately it's been raining or overcast yesterday afternoon through this weekend, so no really good pics of just how well the flake pops. It's really cool. Both more subtle yet more flashy in person.

Shortly after tapping in the Floyd studs with a deadblow:
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I'm doing the neck in tru-oil and gunstock wax like EBMM. I saw a factory tour where they said they literally wipe on/off the oil with a paper towel and call it done. I wanted to make sure I got really even  coverage so I just wipe on a decent amount until it looks uniform and let it sit about 3-4 hours until it's no longer tacky. I've knocked it down once with a 3000 grit sponge I have and leveled it off after the 2nd coat. on the 3rd currently, and will probably put one more on as it's very uniform and i'm not noticing really any absorption anymore, just spreading it around. I'll knock it down again and put the wax on after the final coat this afternoon.

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It's really cool how much it pops the grain and makes it shimmer. You hear it on the forums and see pics but it's really noticeable in person. This neck looked dull and plain (was totally ok with that, as a gold hw sparkly guitar is flashy enough haha) in warmoth's pics, but it aaaaaaaaalmost has a subtle flame to it, when moving it now.

EMG's all wired in and laid in place for now. I really don't like the way they look on the body, and the neck pickup has a weird grinding hiss to it, while the bridge is fine. I double checked the connections and wiring and it's all fine. IDK what the issue is, but honestly i'm not super concerned as i'm 99% sure the fat 55's will end up in here. I found the best way to get the flake to pop is by shooting it out of focus. The camera lessens the metal flake effect your eye sees for some reason.

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I was going to use gold dome knobs, but again, too much gold bling for me. I found these black tophats with gold lettering and I like the way they look on there.
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Very nice. A tip with the tru-oil put it on with thin coats as it is less work and the results are better than putting on thicker coats and then having more work to do.

When you put the wax on, if you buff it with a piece of cotton T-shirt type material it can come out really nice. Of course the more you buff the shinier it may get.
 
thanks for the tip! after the 6th coat had 4 hours to dry i rubbed it down with steel wool and buffed it out with the wax with a microfiber cloth to a satin sheen. looks beautiful.

Spent the next 2 hours or so stringing up the guitar and getting the floyd set up. If i'm honest, i really don't like this side adjust mechanism with the main adjustment at the heel. I really miss the adjustment at the headstock. I feel like it's got a few high frets too. Nothing too bad, and nothing unexpected. It's worth mentioning my Musikraft neck came with perfect frets that were beautifully polished and rounded over on the edges where this is a little sharp. I will probably stick with Musikraft for necks in the future since I can get a one piece neck with a floyd nut and a trussrod adjustment at the headstock.

Anyway, the EMG's really aren't doing it for me. For being touted as such high gain pickups the 89's feel like they have less balls than my American Professional HSS strat with the shawbucker. Certainly less than my Dimarzio PAF 36th set. I A/B'd it next to my Dimarzio loaded guitar and my Strat and it's like going from 480p to 4k with how much more feel, chunk, and clarity the passives give me. I feel like the EMG lives up to it's "Hi-Fi" reputation. Everything is very even, smooth, compressed, and sustains forever. It's just 100% not for me. To my ears it FEELS like a "modeled" pickup. Not quite real, not quite fake. I'm going to strip these out in the morning and load the fat 55's in and see how they fare.
 
Glad you like the result on the neck.

On the EMGs bear in mind that they can be adjusted closer to the strings than a standard pickup. Try a few adjustments and see how it works.
 
So, today was an ordeal with the EMG's lol. Turns out when using their 3 way solderless switch/bus combo their wiring diagram is backwards for the in/out of the pickups for a Volume/Volume/Tone setup. That's why they were super noisy and weak sounding and overall felt like garbage. I took the wiring apart and back together again probably 5-6 times making sure it was EXACTLY following the diagram. Ended up searching online and saw that a few people suggested flipping the order of the jumper cables on the pots and voila - problem solved. I still wasn't really clicking with the 89's and didn't really like the brushed gold on this guitar. Just too much gold. I threw in the Fat 55 set and WOW. They're pretty much my idealized pickup. Low output, passive feel, active benefits. They have a chewy, airy, FAT tone while still having sweet yet present highs. They don't flub out or get mushy with the bass or gain like most lower powered PAF style pickups. They stay tight and articulate and VERY clear. They have that sustain that the 85's had without the compressed feel or sound. Just the best of both worlds IMO. The neck pickup is particularly sweet, and is just so nice. I do wish the bridge had a bit more hair. One day I might throw in the Super 77, as the name makes me think Dimarzio Super Distortion and I've always enjoyed a SD/PAF Pro combo, so this might be a good combo to try.

The Floyd must have felt sorry for me, because the intonation was SPOT ON with the factory saddle location. That saved me an hour of cussing since intonating a Floyd is an exercise in patience and repetition. I did forget to take out the baseplate shim, so I don't have that little bit of wiggle in the bridge that I usually set up for. Removing it really has no negatives that i've ever seen.

The only things left to do are drill the strap buttons and install the black box trem stabilizer which lets a tremolo float while using a D-tuna or something similar. It also keeps a trem in tune when doing double stop bends or if you pop a string, etc. It's really great. After that I'm going to let it settle in for a month or so before dropping it off at a local guitar shop which has a PLEK machine. I've never had a guitar PLEK'd before so it'll be interesting to see what that turns out.

Anyway, here's some pics as it stands and a short video to try and show the flake. Sorry for the motion sickness in advance haha.
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Giving the turtle a shout out ; )
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still the best way to "pop" the flake is to shoot it out of focus i've found. The camera doesn't show the true effect of the flake otherwise.
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Most importantly, it's kitty approved
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[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p51LFSqbW14&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
 
Sha-zam!  That looks spectacular.  Dropping the gold EMG's was the right move, at least visually.  That guitar is total boner-fuel.  Well done.
 
Looks really nice. The black pups definitely look good on there. Nice shot of the cat on the whammy bar.
 
I'm liking the hell out of that! The Holo Flake is amazing, works real well with the rest of your design scheme too!
 
I was a little iffy on the finish at first, but after seeing it put together.. that's pretty sweet!  Especially with the maple neck.  Love the video, the neighbors were probably peekin' out their windows saying.. "Looks like the neighbor got some kind of new-fangled antennae?!?".  :toothy10:
 
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