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New build: Iceman!?

Tretgeraet

Senior Member
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264
The Intro

Technically, I really don't need another guitar. But, right now, I could afford it and I'd love to build one.

So, if I did, I could go for something I don't have yet, right? Like a 12-string, or something for even lower tunings, with a baritone neck. Or a 7-string maybe, I don't have one of those. Or I could build a bass. Or at least something with a scalloped fretboard.

Well, I thought about any of those and usually those ideas for new guitars come and go. But the one that stuck for the last few weeks, the one that I really want, obviously, is none of the above, but another variation of the (metal) theme:

The Iceman

I always loved the shape and I'm thinking about combining it with aesthetic "choices I didn't make" in the past, in favor of others:
- Alder Body
- HH config, ring mounted
- 2× vol 1× tone with push-push pots + toggle switch
- Schaller Floyd Recessed
- contoured heel
- no binding
- finished in glossy Black Cherry Metallic

I would combine that with a Nomad Neck:
- Gibson scale conversion
- walnut shaft wood
- ebony fretboard
- 1 11/16" nut width
- right-handed
- standard thin
- straight 12" fretboard radius
- 22 frets
- pearloid binding
- 6100 stainless jumbos
- schaller tuners
- white pearloid split diamond inlays
- Luminly w/ black sidedots
- R3 Floyd prep w/ mounting holes
- clear satin finish
And I want a matching headstock in black cherry, which means I need a finish, otherwise I would have gone with roasted maple. So, walnut is mostly an aesthetic choice, to fit with the somewhat darker theme of the guitar.

All hardware and pickups would be black, Schaller Tuners and the aforementioned Schaller Floyd;
I'm not 100% sure about the pickups, some PAF type in the neck position, and for the bridge I'm thinking about something which ceramics;
- my favorite supplier Rockinger has a pickup called "Destroyer", which I think is meant to be something like a dimarzio super distortion;
- or maybe a Duncan Custom!

The push-push pots for the volumes would split their respective humbuckers and the one for tone would switch between "neck only" and "master tone", so in the default setting, the bridge pickup doesn't have a tone control.

Regarding the body color: I'm 95% sure that Black Cherry is what I want, although I also considered other, more colorful choices, Holo Flake being one of them. But black & red was always my favorite color combination (see my 7/8 S-Style) and Black Cherry has them both.

The other 5% are if Warmoth reveals some new Flake finish in the next few days, that I can't resist.

The Community

Usually, I would make all those choices alone, place the order and then tell you guys about it.
But this time, I wanted to use the combined wisdom and knowledge of the forum, to make the right choices... or rather to be sure of myself, that I made the right choices.

So, your input, your concerns and ideas, they're all welcome.
 
The two pearloid elements seem to clash with such an intentional “blackout” build otherwise, but that’s just my opinion.
True! Good point, I thought about that, too.

There are a few aspects at play here:

Firstly, I was going for a bit of a Jackson-aesthetic there, where it would look kinda weird, if the fretboard would not clash with the rest.

Then I think I just don't like unbound ebony fretboards! 😅 Maybe if the frets were black as well... I don't know.

Also, I played a Les Paul for quite some time and this guitar will be the closest I have in a hard 'n heavy guitar to the ergonomics of a Les Paul in where the guitar hangs, the position of the toggle, scale length... and a fretboard binding!

All in all, I think a bit of clashing will give the guitar a nice contrast between body and neck.

But thank you for your input @Hodgo ❤️

This is exactly, why I'm doing this! 🙂
 
With the neck for the matching headstock in you did not mention gloss to match the body. You can still put a satin finish on roasted maple if you'd like to.
 
With the neck for the matching headstock in you did not mention gloss to match the body. You can still put a satin finish on roasted maple if you'd like to.
Of course! But then it wouldn't be unfinished! 😅

I meant, that I would choose roasted maple, if it was possible to have a painted headstock, but with the rest of the neck unfinished. 🙂
 
The two pearloid elements seem to clash with such an intentional “blackout” build otherwise, but that’s just my opinion.
I agree, I wouldn't do the pearloid binding, but not sure what choices on the inlays that would show up on the ebony. Black pearloid would be cool if you could see them......

Everything else sounds killer.
 
True! Good point, I thought about that, too.

There are a few aspects at play here:

Firstly, I was going for a bit of a Jackson-aesthetic there, where it would look kinda weird, if the fretboard would not clash with the rest.

Then I think I just don't like unbound ebony fretboards! 😅 Maybe if the frets were black as well... I don't know.

Also, I played a Les Paul for quite some time and this guitar will be the closest I have in a hard 'n heavy guitar to the ergonomics of a Les Paul in where the guitar hangs, the position of the toggle, scale length... and a fretboard binding!

All in all, I think a bit of clashing will give the guitar a nice contrast between body and neck.

But thank you for your input @Hodgo ❤️

This is exactly, why I'm doing this! 🙂
This is why I don’t own a blackout guitar ;)

If it were me I’d go with something more subtle - ivory or cream binding, cream dots - pearloid reads as a cool palette contrast whereas cream has a warmth I think would go well with black cherry. Like an old LP Custom.

But I also LOVE some good clashing and say full send on the pearloid if that’s what you want!
 
That's all some good input there, I will marinate on that.

What has not yet been commented on, however, are my wood choices:

I'm a bit unsure if the result may be too dark, sonically (!), with the Schaller Floyd being described as "slightly warmer" sounding. So, part of me is thinking, if I should maybe go for maple rather than walnut, or swamp ash instead of alder for the body... but then again, I might absolutely be overthinking this, since nobody has said anything yet! 😅

I mean: My telly with alder body and rosewood fretboard sounds (acoustically) brighter than my telly with swamp ash body and maple fretboard. But those are tellys, different animals all together.

What do you guys think? Am I thinking too much? :ROFLMAO:
 
Update:
I just mailed with Spike, now there's another thing to think about:
An off-menu tummy cut is possible, but I would have to forgo the upper switch position!

Tough choice, really.

I will have to sleep on that.
 
I did it, I ordered tonight... well, it was night in Germany.

I decided against the tummy cut, I want the upper toggle. And I'm trying to lose weight anyway. 😅

I went with all the specs listed above, it just came together so well in my imagination and my instincts regarding guitar designs didn't betray me so far, so I will once again trust them not to do so!
 
Man, go for it! Iceman body with Nomad neck sounds killer! Yes, black hardware is the way to go with the Black Cherry finish.

About the bridge pickup. I have an alder Warmoth/Fender strat with that exact same Floyd trem, and in the bridge position I have a vintage Super Distortion. It sounds kkkiiiillerrr! The modern Super Distortion sounded amazing as well.

Also for a Jackson style, I'd go with white binding instead. Pearloid would go more towards Schecter Hellraiser style etc.

I say you're going for a really cool guitar there.

Edit: I should read the whole thread before replying lol. Man, cool stuff! Would love to see photos... (y)
 
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That's all some good input there, I will marinate on that.

What has not yet been commented on, however, are my wood choices:

I'm a bit unsure if the result may be too dark, sonically (!), with the Schaller Floyd being described as "slightly warmer" sounding. So, part of me is thinking, if I should maybe go for maple rather than walnut, or swamp ash instead of alder for the body... but then again, I might absolutely be overthinking this, since nobody has said anything yet! 😅

I mean: My telly with alder body and rosewood fretboard sounds (acoustically) brighter than my telly with swamp ash body and maple fretboard. But those are tellys, different animals all together.

What do you guys think? Am I thinking too much? :ROFLMAO:

Yeah ash varies a lot more than alder and the sound depends a lot on its weight. If you have different amps or use different digital signal chains frequently etc, it doesn't matter. I use the same signal chain for years so every small difference in the guitar is more easily heard.
 
Man, go for it! Iceman body with Nomad neck sounds killer! Yes, black hardware is the way to go with the Black Cherry finish.

About the bridge pickup. I have an alder Warmoth/Fender strat with that exact same Floyd trem, and in the bridge position I have a vintage Super Distortion. It sounds kkkiiiillerrr! The modern Super Distortion sounded amazing as well.

Also for a Jackson style, I'd go with white binding instead. Pearloid would go more towards Schecter Hellraiser style etc.

I say you're going for a really cool guitar there.

Edit: I should read the whole thread before replying lol. Man, cool stuff! Would love to see photos... (y)
That's gonna take a while, I'll start a build thread when the parts arrive, probably in may?

But thanks for your input, I totally dig your super strats, btw.!
 
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