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I know, I got ahead of myself and posted about last week's rehearsal with the Bare Knuckes before I posted the pics of the completed guitar. Can you ever forgive me?

Okay, now that that's out of the way, I will tell you the tale of the completed TOC (Twilight Odyssey Custom) guitar ...

A TALE OF THREE CITIES
After I had ordered all of the parts (which was easy enough), I thought that the wait was going to be the hardest part of the whole process. My thinking was: Parts arrive ... assembly takes one day ... setup takes one day ... and, voila! Working guitar!!

Well, all the parts arrived, but the assembly part ended up taking 3-4 actual days, if you were to put all the evenings spent on the guitar together.

I learned many valuable lessons working on this project, and now I will tell you the most important ones. Let these be a guide for you if you are planning on assembling your own guitar, and learn from my errors:

1. The old carpenter's saying, Measure Twice, Cut Once is very wise.
Example: When I was placing the string retainer, I hadn't accounted for the very wide string spread of the hockey stick headstock. As a result, not all of the strings fit under the retaining bar. It took 3 tries before I had it in the perfect spot. In the meanwhile, I was poking holes all over the headstock! Nothing a little wood patch couldn't cure, but still annoying.

2. Be OVERLY generous with the painter's tape.
Exaple: It really is wise to pretty much cover your whole guitar with blue painter's tape if you're not very experienced. Screwdrivers slip, parts drop, solder drips ... I christened the guitar with several love taps, surface scratches, and worse while assembling this guitar.

3. Make sure you are SPECIFIC when ordering parts.
Example: I ended up having to order 2 locking nuts, because I didn't specify whether the nut was top or rear mounted. In my defense, Warmoth never asked, and I assumed with an OFR that the top mounted nut would be standard, but now I know. The 2nd nut cost me $50, with overnight shipping.

4. It's really important to get the guitar together before sweating the small stuff.
Example: I was experiencing a ground buzz from the pickups, which held up the guitar for days, while I soldered and re-soldered the wires about 20 times. If I had just assembled the guitar, I would've learned that the pickups ground to the bridge, and it would've gone away ...

More ...

where's more?

yeah i have another tip for you (anyone building a parts guitar that is) work on a nice soft towel to keep it from scratching your guitar and make sure your tools are kept arms length or more from your guitar not close to it...i found that out the hard way. as i was finishing my gold esquire project and i had it resting up on it's side (playing position) while sliding the strings through the back and it slipped out of my hand and fell face first onto a screwdriver i had sitting there putting a nice ding in the top of a guitar i hadn't even got to play yet...GRRRRR i still get pissed when i look at it.

-Mike

Sooo ... how does the guitar look/sound/play?

In a word: IT'S AMAZING!!

Sometimes I think back at all the work and I wonder, should I have just given this to a tech to assemble? I am very happy I did it all myself, overcame all of the problems thrown in my way, and saw it through to the end. I had major issues trying to get the action low enough, and after shimming the neck every way possible, it ended up being the nut that was too high -- 10 minutes with some medium grit sandpaper lowered the action the mm it needed for the action to totally lock into place. (I did shim the back of the pocket about .33mm as well)

Here's a full body shot of the guitar:Here's a close-up of the assembled body -- body wood is 1 piece maple, Original Floyd Rose (chrome), Bare Knuckle Miracle Man in the bridge, and Irish Tour in the neck:Body from one step back:As you can see, I still haven't found a volume knob I love yet. The only non-chrome parts are the Dunlop locking strap pins, because I had just put the locking plug on a new strap and had the strap pins laying around.

Closeup of the Laz Gajic (Kammo1 on this forum) headstock -- 1-3/4quot; nut width, 14quot; radius, Dunlop 6100 frets, Floyd Rose locking nut, Schaller M6 tuners:Rear of the guitar. I still haven't found a Les Paul style cavity cover, so I'm going Lynch right now and just have tape covering the electronics. More ...

come on ben gt;.lt; type faster!!
looks great! (i wonder ifyou could get aSCin a nailbomb type cover)

and DAMN that electronics cavity is small

Sonically, the guitar is a MONSTER. The tone is harmonically complex, with tons of attack and a growl that is to die for. The neck not only plays like a dream, but the feeling you get that you're playing an incredible piece of timber never leaves you ... the resonance and sustain (and weight) factors are all very high.

Clips coming soon.


Originally Posted by Daveylooks great! (i wonder ifyou could get aSCin a nailbomb type cover)
and DAMN that electronics cavity is small

Thanx.
No, you can't get nickel covers for single coils (yet).
You wouldn't believe how packed that cavity is with the push/pull switch and all the wiring!!


i can imagine the playability of it =)

now go and check out the pickup forum.

just note.. take a ****load of pictures at the festival in june. or i'll have to get up there..and then it wont be pleasant


Originally Posted by TwilightOdysseyThanx.
No, you can't get nickel covers for single coils (yet).
You wouldn't believe how packed that cavity is with the push/pull switch and all the wiring!!

i know how packed it can get with all those wires

Man it just looks so cool!!!
I am looking forward to hearing it

hey that looks great man, i love the cover on the BN!! oh and for a rear cavity cover...

check this out...it may look sweet on there and the company does do gibson cavity covers (check other auctions) so i'm sure you can just order this engine tunred material in the circle rear cavity cover if you e-mail them.

from : localhost/cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=7321096538

-Mike

Wow, that's cool looking!!


Originally Posted by RidMan it just looks so cool!!!
I am looking forward to hearing it

Thanx, Rid.

Man, that looks gorgeous, and based on your review...I'm dying to play it.

Also, it's nice to see another person who strings their Floyds with the balls at the tuners .

My guitar is going to be pretty similar to that. I just can't decide how to have it painted!

Looks great mate

It's not overly my style, but I can tell it's a great piece of wood

Now get some clips up

Craig




Originally Posted by BrowNow get some clips up

You'll get to see/hear it soon enough!


Originally Posted by DeadSkinSlayer3Man, that looks gorgeous, and based on your review...I'm dying to play it.

Thanx.
Also, it's nice to see another person who strings their Floyds with the balls at the tuners .

Shhh!! That's our little secret!
At least, it's a little secret I picked up in the 80's. ...

TOTALLY UNHOLY
now move your ass and record some clips(MATCHO MAN DISTORTION? not thin and cream cracker sound distortion ahahahahahahah)
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