The Myrtle Turtle

[The Hun]

I've been debating posting pics of last year's build, the Myrtle Turtle. I don't want to encourage others to ship wood to Warmoth, but I have to give a shout-out to the great customer service experience! Sending in wood is inherently a painful process, but I had this crazy idea that myrtle would match korina better than maple for a clear gloss finish...and then korina necks weren't offered and it just snowballed from there.

Anyhow, here is how it turned out:
Body is myrtle on black korina
Neck is myrtle with ziricote fretboard

Direct sunlight makes the pic colors significantly lighter shade than actual. I don't know how to fix that.

 

[Jet-Jaguar]

Now THAT is something I haven't seen before.  Looks nice.  How are you liking the sound?

 

[The Hun]

Thanks! It looks better in person, pics don't quite do it justice. It plays really well, too. I've been playing it exclusively unless I've just gotta have that strat sound.

I find it hard to describe sound generally, but this guitar has a lot of resonance, sounds great unplugged! The neck pickup is the Mississippi Queen HSP90 from Bare Knuckles: "boomy" playing full chords in the neck position. The house rattles even at pretty low volume and gain settings.

I paired a BKP Mule in the bridge and it definitely has less bass by comparison. A classic rock sound, very clear but "kinder/gentler" than the MQ neck.  Middle position reigns in the boomy lows (less rattle) of the MQ while adding the treble of the Mule bridge. I'm very happy with it!

 

[greywolf]

Very Nice indeed!

 

[NonsenseTele]

Very cool!
From where did you source the Myrtle??

 

[The Hun]

I got the myrtle at Oregon Wild Wood. Trigger warning: images from that website may be highly addictive!

 

[Ddbltrbl]

Very Nice! I've debated trying that pup combination. Glad to hear you like it! :guitarplayer2:

 

[The Hun]

Posted by: Ddbltrbl
« on: Today at 02:21:10 AM » Insert Quote
Very Nice! I've debated trying that pup combination. Glad to hear you like it!

If I had to do it over again I'd try the Abraxas bridge from BKP. The Mule is not weak, but the MQ is so strong by comparison it makes the Mule sound weaker than it is.

They combine great though, probably because each emphasizes a different part of the frequency spectrum. I've lowered the MQ a bit away from the strings, and raised the Mule a lot higher.

 

[Ddbltrbl]

Thanks for the advice!

 

[fdesalvo]

CHEERS for something unique and lovely