The Group Of Prototypes

[BigSteve22]

Thanks for those links. Very nice sound. Congrats on a great product. Best of luck with your business.

 

[rgand]

Those are some fine shootin' irons. I can't pick a favorite. They're all good-looking.

 

[Cagey]

Those are some fine shootin' irons. I can't pick a favorite. They're all good-looking.

No kidding. And you gotta love someone who can carve a top properly. That's no mean feat without a CNC machine, and even then there's some real work involved.

 

[DangerousR6]

Those are some fine shootin' irons. I can't pick a favorite. They're all good-looking.

No kidding. And you gotta love someone who can carve a top properly. That's no mean feat without a CNC machine, and even then there's some real work involved.

You ain't kiddin', a LP top is no easy task in cad...

 

[DangerousR6]

Very nice. I'm a little more traditional in approach, but those LP/Tele hybrids look interesting. What kind of tone do they produce?

my guitars are fairly traditional in terms of tone wood: mahogany (or korina) (for the body), maple (for the body), rosewood (neck), ebony (board). YES NO bloody stinkin paper maché fretboards like Gibson!  :doh: :redflag: The colors are unconventional, but you can have whatever color you like. The finish is by the way french polished shellac. On all. And Yes, I can make that high gloss too So yeah... I also use a whole range of pickups, so you can really dial in the tone you want. It's really a les paul in tone and feel, only... better. not as cumbersome (but with the same 'heft' and chunk). the same versatility. But without all the gimmicks and visual mumbojumbo. What's not necessary is simply gone

The telePaul produces a sound super like a telecaster (doh, cause it's tele woods (ash and maple, but with an ebony board but then again... ebony sounds very similar to maple and I don't like maple boards on LP style guitars, and tele hardware and pickups) but with a bit more power in the low end and softer highs. I.e.: like a great tele. Not as harsh but with LOTS of twang.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebhgRvmtE9A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et4RBECQuZs

I dig Les Pauls with maple boards, I like maple fretboards anyway, but to me I like the look too. It's so different from the norm, just as is a LP with a Tele bridge and Tele pups...

 

[DangerousR6]

These are two of my all time LP shape favs... :icon_biggrin:

 

[stratamania]

@Orpheo, yes I remember now you saying you were going to start doing this professionally in a thread sometime ago. Glad it's working out for you...

 

[Orpheo]

I do bolt on or glue in, whatever you prefer. Let me see if I can find a pic of the neck heel for you.

I don't do neck thru. Not because I can't, but because I won't. I tried it out and I believe a deep set neck is tonally superior. The neckthru's I build were way too boomy in the low end but no benefits in sustain or tone beyond that. My deep set neck is constructed in a way that I can carve the neck heel to be either very smooth or REALLY sculpted away. pics will follow Also, the neck pickup rests on the neck itself. the ring is there to make mounting  a bit easier, but isn't necessary per se.

The website is under construction It's been a chore to get that thing running. My previous webmaster screwed me over with my site, so now I had to hire a new guy.

All I can hope for is that my guitars will hit a soft spot in the market: affordable instruments, built by hand, no frills but major tone and playability.

Oh. For who's even moderately interested, take a guess for the pricing...

 

[Orpheo]

This is how I start



but I can go more towards this end



but this is also possible (yes, that's a carved flamed maple back  :headbang1: )




Of course, these guitars aren't DONE yet but I couldn't find pics on short notice of completed, finished guitars and heels.

the profile is my unique neck shape. it's asymmetrical, designed to relief the stresses in the muscles, joints and tendons in your left hand. For now, approximately 20 guitars down the line, haven't had a complaint besides one: " man, I can't play other guitars besides this one, cause this neck fits my hand like...a....GLOVE!!'. oeps?

Some more beauty shots.



Cocobolo backplate




3 piece flamed maple neck with 2 pieces wenge.

 

[Cagey]

I'm beginning to feel a certain covetousness...

 

[Orpheo]

I'm gonna blow your socks off.

The telepaul lists for 1495, as well as the strat (without case, without shipping, hope that's understandable?).
The maple topped singlecut lists for 1750, without case etc.

maple back: +100
high grade maple: +100
multi lam neck (and we even do cocobolo and ebony): +100

And starting this year, we use Hipshot bridges and tuners, exclusively. Only the floyd rose comes from Gotoh. Standard CTS or Bourns pots, standard switchcraft switch or similar. And some unique tweaks to the tone circuits, as mentioned before.

All hand wired, done by hand yaddayaddayadda.

Enjoy

 

[rgand]

No kidding. And you gotta love someone who can carve a top properly. That's no mean feat without a CNC machine, and even then there's some real work involved.

You're right, there. Having done woodworking a lot in years past, I can see that.

 

[mayfly]

You are doing some wicked stuff there buddy!!

 

[Orpheo]

You are doing some wicked stuff there buddy!!

thanks



I decided to update two guitars. I figured, if I'm gonna 'keep' them, I'd better whip in pickups I love but can't or won't sell. I'll post pics later. gotta work FAST. the sun is still shining and I have some soldering to do!

 

[MikeW]

Hey Orpheo, are the bodies chambered? If so, could an F-hole be carved in the top section? Are you doing anything like a semi hollow upper section? I've been thinking about a jazz box lately, something along the lines of that blue LP on the left but with TV Jones p-ups.

 

[Orpheo]

Hey Orpheo, are the bodies chambered? If so, could an F-hole be carved in the top section? Are you doing anything like a semi hollow upper section? I've been thinking about a jazz box lately, something along the lines of that blue LP on the left but with TV Jones p-ups.

something like this:



yes that one's mine as well. that F-hole, or rather 'snake eye hole' was per customer's request

So, in a more elaborate answer:

No, the bodies aren't chambered by default since there's no need to, cause I choose lightweight woods by default. If you want it HOLLOW or semi hollow, that's no problem. Imho, chambering is to relieve the weight and making it hollow or semi hollow is for tonal purposes. I can do an F-hole, no problem. TV Jones pups: easy peasy.

So in short, Where's the challenge!

 

[jackthehack]

How much is the amber swamp ash TelePaulCaster?

 

[DangerousR6]

Hey Orpheo, are the bodies chambered? If so, could an F-hole be carved in the top section? Are you doing anything like a semi hollow upper section? I've been thinking about a jazz box lately, something along the lines of that blue LP on the left but with TV Jones p-ups.

something like this:



yes that one's mine as well. that F-hole, or rather 'snake eye hole' was per customer's request

So, in a more elaborate answer:

No, the bodies aren't chambered by default since there's no need to, cause I choose lightweight woods by default. If you want it HOLLOW or semi hollow, that's no problem. Imho, chambering is to relieve the weight and making it hollow or semi hollow is for tonal purposes. I can do an F-hole, no problem. TV Jones pups: easy peasy.

So in short, Where's the challenge!

I like this one, I like it ahhh-lot... :guitarplayer2:

 

[Orpheo]

How much is the amber swamp ash TelePaulCaster?

that particular guitar isn't for sale, since it's a prototype, but we offer that guitar for 1500. we thought of 1495 (cause everybody seems to end on a'5' in their pricing) but we thought 'nah, those 5 measly bucks...

 

[Cagey]

It's not the 5 measly bucks that matters. It's the perception. People always look at the most significant digits first, so $1,499 sounds a lot cheaper than $1,500, because there's a $100 difference between $1,400 and $1,500.