Speaking of sparkly lingerie...

[alterbridgefan]

I've got some ideas in the works, and Megan Rhoney as well as Doug Kauer have taken great interest in my designs... It's a huge pleasure. I've been taking baby steps towards making this concept of building bright strapping fiddles for bright strapping gentlepeople a reality. I've been conferencing with Megan over getting a prototype made, although there is a luthier in Dallas who has offered me help with templates if I decide to try to build the first prototype myself. Overall seeing the feedback coming in and the slow process of pulling a dream into the third dimension(reality) has just been a wonderful experience. Any percieved issues, feedback, or suggestions, please let me know. My hope is to someday soon get my designs into real guitars and into the hands of players. (Guitar players, although if the lady's men like 'em too, I don't see why not... Chicks dig offset space age sex. :cool01

A couple ideas include an offset waist, tune-o-matic bridge, boomerang formica pickguard, onboard three knob reverb, humbucker sized P-90 pickups, and my own original neck carve and headstock design. I hope to offer seven and 12 string as well as bass versions of these. Options could include raw necks, a non contoured neck profile, nitro finishes, and perhaps eventually fanned or angled frets and bigsby vibrato units. Hell, I might even try to make a floyd equipped fanned fret raw pointy hideous purple sparkle axe with "Anarchy" inlayed on the fretboard in gold leaf.... If you've got the wallet to make me forget all my values and beliefs. :laughing7:

You can check out details here, as things progress I'll look into a more professional website layout and address, as well as more formal methods of contacting me. Personal email is so 2012.

http://prestonrice.weebly.com/index.html

:blob7:

 

[McGuyver]

:dontknow:

 

[sixstringsamurai]

:dontknow:

:dontknow:
Why Not?
Congrats dude on getting some serious builders to sit up and take notice :icon_thumright:

 

[alterbridgefan]

Congrats dude on getting some serious builders to sit up and take notice :icon_thumright:

Thanks!!! Dennis Fano saw my designs as well, and I'm waiting to hear what he thinks... If he likes them, my inner fanboy might die and gwan up to be reunited with the flying spaghetti monster up in the sky.

 

[Pelagaard]

What do all the various knobs and switched do, and why are they where they are?  Is it purely aesthetics, or do they all serve an important function?

 

[alterbridgefan]

Depends what you mean by important. Out of the three main knobs, the one closest to the bridge is a volume pot. Then, a tone pot for each pickup. Above the pups are an on/off switch for each pickup. Then, an on/off switch for onboard effects. In this case, three knob reverb. I plan on leaving that open, so that I can offer a delay, reverb, fuzz, etc., or no effects at all.

 

[McGuyver]

So you design your own effects circuits as well?

 

[alterbridgefan]

So you design your own effects circuits as well?

Nope. Working with a few guys to get something cost effective put together.

 

[McGuyver]

I see.  The only effect I could ever see having on-board for a guitar would be delay or a low-pass filter with a third or fourth order, any other effect is set and forget for me.  Delay would be fun to have at your fingertips for creating sounds on the fly, but I'd much rather have expression pedals on the floor than more knobs on my guitar.

 

[Updown]

Just be careful ......

Lots and Lots and Lots of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ went into this HUGE Flop  :doh:
http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Firebird/Gibson-USA/Firebird-X/Guitar-FX.aspx
Plus other prior to it.

Keep it simple .....  :icon_thumright:

 

[Jumble Jumble]

Options could include raw necks, a non contoured neck profile, nitro finishes, raw necks, and perhaps eventually fanned or angled frets and bigsby vibrato units.

How about raw necks?

 

[tylereot]

Well, well, well!  Now I think I see why it's taking you forever to get that damn Jag together: you're dreaming bigger!
You've certainly got the right mentors, Preston.
Other than that odd neck profile, we could probably cut you a prototype body when you're here in October, if you've got a scale drawing, and the stars line up.

ccasion14:  (that's root beer for you, son...)

 

[alterbridgefan]

Well, well, well!  Now I think I see why it's taking you forever to get that damn Jag together: you're dreaming bigger!
You've certainly got the right mentors, Preston.
Other than that odd neck profile, we could probably cut you a prototype body when you're here in October, if you've got a scale drawing, and the stars line up.

ccasion14:  (that's root beer for you, son...)

I swear, you are getting one very big hug when we meet. This is going to be my most eventful trip ever... Playing Eddie's jag, meeting you and the baggyman, and now this?!!

Can you guys do set necks? My ideas for this one involve a maple neck (even though I'm itching badly to try a raw neck), possibly but not necessarily a contoured heel, etc... I've got a butchered old tele neck lying around screaming to be recontoured, I just need to try that contour out.

How much should I bring, to cover the cost of woods, truss rod, time and labor, etc?

And you are spot on with the jag project. I'm just so busy - Schoolwork is hell right now, and it takes up almost all my time, weekends included... Not only that, but money is tight... Got to get the old J45 fixed, and I have a crap amp that REALLY needs replacing. It's cool, very "rush in a box", but I need versatility, or at least one cool, unique sound... And it has to work for guitar and bass. :sad1: I'm looking at old blackface heads, I've got some sweet as hell EV speakers ready to go.

And look at me, Mr. OT!

Seriously though, thanks a ton! I'm really looking forward to all of this!

Options could include raw necks, a non contoured neck profile, nitro finishes, raw necks, and perhaps eventually fanned or angled frets and bigsby vibrato units.

How about raw necks?

:icon_thumright:

Just be careful ......

Lots and Lots and Lots of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ went into this HUGE Flop  :doh:
http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Firebird/Gibson-USA/Firebird-X/Guitar-FX.aspx
Plus other prior to it.

Keep it simple .....  :icon_thumright:

Good point. That thing is more pointless than the cold war, and a lot uglier. I promise I won't go that far. :toothy12:

I see.  The only effect I could ever see having on-board for a guitar would be delay or a low-pass filter with a third or fourth order, any other effect is set and forget for me.  Delay would be fun to have at your fingertips for creating sounds on the fly, but I'd much rather have expression pedals on the floor than more knobs on my guitar.

For sure, some people like it like that. I've always wanted onboard effects, especially tremolo, delay, reverb, and fuzz... But some don't see the point, and that's cool. Just another option to have.

 

[Jumble Jumble]

Options could include raw necks, a non contoured neck profile, nitro finishes, raw necks, and perhaps eventually fanned or angled frets and bigsby vibrato units.

How about raw necks?

:icon_thumright:

You appear to have missed my joke.

Options could include raw necks, a non contoured neck profile, nitro finishes, raw necks, and perhaps eventually fanned or angled frets and bigsby vibrato units.

(it's like that on your website too)

 

[alterbridgefan]

Ah, thank you. I'm gonna pretend I wrote it twice so no one here would miss it. :laughing7:

:blob7:

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Few have been able to accomplish onboard effects with any degree of quality.
The only one that comes to mind is the Gretch 77 Super Axe.  Chet Atkins used one for a short bit, but Rick Springfield used one for a tour also.  They were set up very well, played quite nicely, and could be used in multiple genre's.

 

[Cagey]

Do you think that sig is big enough, or could you load that image into The GIMP or Photoshop and blow it up a little more? I'm not sure everybody will get carpal tunnel syndrome trying to scroll past the thing as it is  :icon_biggrin:

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Sorry, I'm working on it.  I only have MS Paint.  I didn't create the sig and each forum posts it at different sizes, this site being the largest.

 

[Jumble Jumble]

I have sigs and avatars turned off; it's the only way to fly.

 

[Cagey]

I don't mind signatures as long as they're not bulletin board-sized, thinly disguised web pages or advertisements, so I hesitate to turn them off globally. It's often a much faster way to find a specific user's posts or blow past one since you don't having to read header lines.

But, there's an alternative I'd forgotten about - Adblock Plus. I normally use it for it's intended purpose, but since it allows you to block specific sources, I can knock Tony's monstrosity off my board without affecting anybody else's. I still see his posts, just not his ridiculous sig. Now I don't have to paw at the scroll wheel for 2 hours to get past a one line message that has a 300 line signature.