Mooncaster builds? Let's see em'!

[PumpinIron]

That is absolutely stunning.

About drilling a new hole - have you considered using a master tone (or volume) and put the Varitone in the other hole?

Funny you mention that, I was just thinking about this before you replied.

The question is, would you rather have a master tone, or a master volume?

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Another possibility: Master volume and tone, varitone, toggle switch to split the humbuckers?

 

[Logrinn]

If it was me: Volume, volume, master tone, Varitone

 

[PumpinIron]

Lots of possibilities here, I like it!

I'm not going to drill an extra hole. Maybe I'll just do volume, volume, master tone, varitone. I could get push / pull pots for the volume knobs and have those split the humbuckers, right?

 

[Cagey]

Don't go too crazy. You'll be wiring for a week only to find out in practice you only use 20% of what you installed.

 

[PumpinIron]

Very true. But either way, I've got 4 holes to fill, so I've got to fill them with something!

 

[rgand]

Damn, that's really beautiful. Nice choice.

 

[PumpinIron]

Lately I've developed a thing for offset guitars like the Velocity, Mooncaster, etc.!

 

[Cagey]

I'm a huge  fan of the Velocity. I have one here that is just a superlative instrument. Comfy as a middle-aged moccasin, plays like a dream, sounds like Jimi's Strat, looks like hot sex. Love it to death. If I could reproduce this thing reliably at a reasonable price, I could probably get rich.

 

[PumpinIron]

Oh yeah, the Velocity is a gorgeous guitar, it's such a shame that they cost so much!

 

[Cagey]

Yeah, I know. I'd have more of them if they were more approachable. We're told the carved top is what kicks the price up - tool utilization costs and slow amortization. That seems to hold true across the line - any carved top from Warmoth is surprisingly pricey. I don't know how the Koreans/Japanese/Chinese do it. They can't possibly be paying their CNC machines a lower wage, but somehow you can buy entire guitars with carved tops from them for a fraction of the cost of just bodies here. Maybe they cut them more roughly so they're in and out of the machine(s) faster, then make the nearly free political prisoners sand them to where they're ready for finish.

 

[PumpinIron]

It is indeed the carved top, no doubt. Actually, I believe they make a cheaper Velocity model without the carved top, right? However, the carved top is part of what makes it so beautiful. That and the abnormal shape just appeal to me a lot.

While I'll always like the classic guitar shapes (i.e. Stratocaster, Telecaster, LP, etc.), I really like a lot of the less commonly seen stuff, hence the reason the Velocity and Mooncaster appeal to me so much.

I don't know how the Koreans and Chinese do it for so cheap either, it's beyond me.

 

[Kostas]

...I don't know how the Koreans and Chinese do it for so cheap either, it's beyond me.

It's not a secret how they do it and it costs less than US & EU guitars:

1 KRW =0.000897417USD
1 USD =1,114.26KRW

If I was starting now playing guitar I wouldn't be in this forum because Asians are doing it well judging from the three Asian guitars (Japan, Korea, Philippines) I have. What most people don't understand is when a guitar is cheap and obviously not made to the highest standards it's because it was ordered this way. Eastman is proof that Chinese made guitars can be made to high standards and the Japanese have proven themselves years ago. Making a good guitar is not so hard, if you are dedicated at some point you will succeed.

 

[Cagey]

I know I've had several Agiles (Korean) here that have been just fantastic instruments. First guitars I've ever bought where I didn't want to get out the fret torturing tools right away. Get into the 3000 and above series (I currently have a 3200 LP copy) and they just embarrass Gibson owners. Not that the Gibsons are horrible guitars, but for the money they leave a lot to be desired. I'd put that 3200 up against an LP Custom any day and the Agile would win, even if you disregard the price. Then you find out they're only $500 vs $3500 for the Gibby and you wanna buy a whole stable of them.

 

[Unwound G]

They're nice. I put one together for a gentleman in Australia...

The only thing tricky about them is if you ask for the pickup selector switch to be drilled in one of the horns. The way the bodies are made, there's no easy way to get that thing mounted. There just isn't enough room in there. You have to use one the "L" shaped Switchcraft switches...

...and even then you're in for a fight. Warmoth really needs to put an access panel of some sort behind the thing.

Cagey, how much difference between the Mooncaster body and the old L5S in size and weight (hollow) ?

 

[Cagey]

If you'd have asked 9 months ago, I would have been able to give a better answer. As I recall, even though the shapes don't resemble each other, there's less difference size and weight than you might imagine. They're roughly 14.5" wide at their widest, and weigh roughly 8.5 lbs. Trying to find a case for either will eat your life; they're both discontinued guitars that weren't highly popular to begin with and don't resemble anything else's dimensions. They're oversized solidbodies and undersized hollowbodies. But, toward the end of my last search, I found that maybe looking for guitar cases was the wrong thing. SKB makes a lotta cases for other markets, so just looking for a rectangular "utility" case is more likely to turn up something that could be made to work.