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The backburner project; Done, now I need a time macine

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ihavenothingprofoundtosay

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It'll be a while before this is done, but as I've already started removing the finish, I'd better get some pics up.  And I figure getting it out in public will be some motivation to work on it more.  

I wasn't happy with the previous home to my Warmoth fretless baritone neck (a stratacoustic), and wanted something with more adjustment capability (ie - adjustable saddles and a neck pocket that isn't horribly misshapen).  Yes, that's plywood.  The guitar came to me for $10 from a church yard sale, with all parts but the body pretty much unusable (though I did also score a BC Rich Warlock for $10 at the same time).  The finish that's currently being removed is a cheap plastic overlay of a plastic(?) veneer.  There's a few ideas that I've seen on this board that have basically given my direction going forward.

More as it gets done.   :icon_biggrin:
 
PLYWOOD......ARRRRGGGGHHHH......NOOOOO  :sad: (OK, now I am past the initial shock)

interested to hear what this sounds like, what pickups are you thinking of using?
 
DangerousR6 said:
Isn't that the neck you were putting on the stratocoustic.... :icon_scratch:
Click to expand...

The very same!  That body took a ton of work just to get to the point where it was serviceable, and I just didn't like the feel of it.  It sounded decent, but it took forever to adjust properly, and the shape & thickness of the body made it uncomfortable to play standing up - not cool for a guitar that's supposed to be my play around the house/leave out on a stand at a moment's notice guitar. 

This LP body isn't super high quality, but it's semi-hollow, and sounded... interesting.  Not to mention the neck pocket is sound, and there's lots of options for pickups & wiring without doing any routing or drilling.  Work on this thing takes a back seat until my brother's RD is done, though.
 
ihavenothingprofoundtosay said:
DangerousR6 said:
Isn't that the neck you were putting on the stratocoustic.... :icon_scratch:
Click to expand...

The very same!  That body took a ton of work just to get to the point where it was serviceable, and I just didn't like the feel of it.  It sounded decent, but it took forever to adjust properly, and the shape & thickness of the body made it uncomfortable to play standing up - not cool for a guitar that's supposed to be my play around the house/leave out on a stand at a moment's notice guitar. 

This LP body isn't super high quality, but it's semi-hollow, and sounded... interesting.  Not to mention the neck pocket is sound, and there's lots of options for pickups & wiring without doing any routing or drilling.  Work on this thing takes a back seat until my brother's RD is done, though.
Click to expand...
That's odd, cause I love the feel of my stratocoustic. I play it all the time, but I did swap out the original neck for an all birdeye vintage....
 
Almost done with the RD for my brother, but I got an itching to get something done for myself (especially since I don't have another fretless at the moment). 

Here's a preview of some of the work I've done.  More details coming soon, progressing nicely.  :icon_biggrin:
 
ihavenothingprofoundtosay said:
Almost done with the RD for my brother, but I got an itching to get something done for myself (especially since I don't have another fretless at the moment). 

Here's a preview of some of the work I've done.  More details coming soon, progressing nicely.   :icon_biggrin:
Click to expand...
:icon_scratch:
 
ihavenothingprofoundtosay said:
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMqxNPsfN50[/youtube]

:icon_jokercolor:  :toothy12:
Click to expand...
ohnoes.gif
 
So... what's wrong with this picture?

Or rather: what would be wrong with it, were it any other build?

:laughing7:

Just about done with the finish, but still have a few decisions to make on the electronics....
 
AutoBat said:
It's terribly out of focus, or the Fstop is too narrow.
Click to expand...

Both intentionally, actually (I'm having lots of fun using this lens lately) - I don't want to make the full scope of my insanity clear yet.  I did forget to make the image smaller, though.

Here's a hint: take a look at the before pictures.... then take a look at the bridge placement.   :toothy12:
 
Have to get in a quick update:  close to done, but I need to focus on a number of things in the foreground (like my brother's RD build), thus I can't focus on this one too much right now.  :-\

Yes, I really am putting the bridge there.  :headbang:  No, it won't make a difference on the intonation.  :guitaristgif:
 
So I've been kinda lazy with this one, but it's been done a few weeks now.

With the bridge moved back to the stop-bar holes (same spacing as most wrap-around bridges), the scale is at about 30.5" - so it's kind of hybrid fretless Bass VI/Marauder (I love the combo of the Flying V headstock with the LP body).  Currently tuned to octave down open A: E-A-E-A-C#-E, low to high - so the 2 low strings are the same as a regular bass.  I have a few other open tunings I've used for fretless guitar before, but this one suits me fine for the time being.

I'm not super happy with the decoupage result, and I'm glad I left on some of the painter's tape on the edges, so it should be easy to strip off & replace. There's a few ideas I have, but I'm in no hurry to do it.

The pickup is a GFS Crunchy Rails, just a volume control and a push-full for splitting.  It's super high output, nicely handles both the bass notes & the chording, as well as the harmonics.  It's got D'Addario Chrome flats on it now (.065 low E).  I haven't had a lot of time to plug it into my computer & try it with every possible amp & effect combo possible, but I can easily switch between bass notes & chords or harmonics.  For anyone thinking they could use this as a 4 string bass pickup, I say: Absolutely yes!  I actually like the split sound a little better for guitar chords, but there's a tone of usable tones just using my fingers with different picking techniques.  If my wife is off the computer at home for a few hours sometime, I'll see if I can't record something that shows the range of tones - it's really neat for a 1 pickup guitar.

The main problem is: I would have loved to have this thing about 8 years ago, but have just about zero usage for it now.  :sad1:  I was in 2 separate bands (at different times) where I would have killed to be able to play bass for most tunes, and just switch to guitar for a handful of chords or the odd melody.  Now, I'm not in a band, and have nothing close to the time for starting or finding one.  It might get some use in a few soundtrack things I'm doing for filmwork, but I'm not a huge composer, so I guess I'll have to become one of those "plays with himself" (with loops & footpad synths) types, or just keep it around the house as my "noisily annoy my wife & daughter" guitar.  :guitarplayer2:

Oh well - the neck is exactly what I wanted when I ordered it, so thanks Warmoth!  :icon_thumright:  Now if only they had the option to ship it back in time...
 
That's both awesome and kinda sad at the same time. While the guitar sounds really cool, the part about not having any use for it is unfortunate. I feel like I can relate, my "band" having seemingly imploded due to schedules, members moving, etc., thus leaving me with no one to jam with and insufficient time, energy or networking skills to find new people.

That said, it's very important to have a good guitar to just make noise with, and this one seems pretty darn neat.
 
So you have a lot of fun with your new lens taking outta focus pics?  Sounds like a riot to me
 
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