Swamp Ash Musiclander (56k danger, danger)

[Rab]

My first Warmoth project and the first time I've built a guitar from scratch and it all went surprisingly well, even the wiring worked first time.

Body: Swamp Ash Musiclander, grain filled, danish oil finish.
Neck: Canary/Ebony, Warmoth headstock, SS frets, MOP dots, Graphite nut.
Pickups: Irongear Hot Slag zebras.
Bridge: Vintage 6 hole trem.
Machine heads: Gotoh SG38

Pics:

Ooooh, shiny frets.

Ooooh, sparkly trem cover.

Aaaww, who's a cute little amplifier.

Wires, a necessary evil.

It's even got my name on it.

I must admit, I was a little nervous as to how good the finished article would be, I needn't have worried, it plays really nicely, the neck's smooth and fast, the fingerboard's flawless, the SS frets make bending a joy and I even managed to get the thing well balanced so it hangs perfectly.

The pickups are split, each one has a separate volume control with a push pull pot to switch to single coil, one tone control and the LP switch selects bridge, both, neck.  I like the sounds available from the Iron Gear pickups, especially with the splitting option, I can go from a sweet, bluesy tone to a full on Napalm Death grindcore (with my home made ludicrous distortion pedal).

A very enjoyable experience, of course, now I want to build more...

Rab.

 

[Alfang]

Very nice Rab, I love it, it just looks like a guitar that's gonna get played a lot, and if it were mine it certainly would.

I love the finnish on the body, the grain looks awesome.  Keep it up and do more :toothy10:

 

[TroubledTreble]

Way cool!

Nice finish, nice solder job too! How do the controls feel layed out like tha?

-TT-

 

[willyk]

Nice one rab. It looks great, I love the grain fill on swamp ash treatment.  :icon_thumright:
..gotta say it, the trem plate color choice doesn't work, get a black one.(IMHO)

 

[guitlouie]

I always thought the Musiclander shape was just, well, not my thing, but seeing the two posted here today, I have got to rethink that.  That is awesome Rab.  The Canary neck is just about the most perfect match for that body finish. 

 

[Rab]

@Alfang.
Cheers and yes, it does get played a lot.  It's funny, but building my own guitar has definitely inspired me to play more.

@TroubledTreble.
Thanks, my background's in electronic engineering, hence the tidy wiring.  I like the controls, I can twiddle either volume pot with my pinkie while playing, the only issue is the LP switch, it's quite tall so, the tremelo arm hits it if I let it swing freely.

@Willyk.
Yeah, the grain fill thing works well on swamp ash and you're right about the trem cover, I had it lying around and thought I'd try it, but it doesn't work at all, I've got a black one on order.

@guitlouie.
Aye, it's weird two of them turning up at once, there'll be a 3rd one along soon, you wait and see.

Thanks for the compliments guys, if I ever manage to record anything not too embarrassing, I'll upload some samples.

Cheers - Rab.

 

[DangerousR6]

Never did pay much attention to the musiclanders, but I must say they kinda grow on ya...It's kinda like a hyper-strat....

Nice git-tar Rab....  :guitarplayer2: