Greg_L wrote:Wow, that is so cool. Good job man, it was a pleasure to follow along.
Do you mind if I swipe a couple of those pics just to show some friends?
Sure man, share away! I'm glad you enjoyed the build, I liked posting the updates I rarely get to do anything creative online. This was a great outlet for writing and generally clowning around.
Congratulations! The guitar looks great and keep working on that tune, it has potential.
I consider that high praise coming from a great musician like you Mel
I hope to soon to be able to hold my own and jam with other players. Playing in a band looks like SO much fun! Got alot of work to do in the meantime.
PostmortemThe guitar turned out better than I thought it would. Yes, there where a few problems along the way and I did change some of the design to "smooth out bumps in the road" but it gave the guitar a unique look.
The biggest change was making a rear mounted control cavity, eliminating the need for a pick guard cover. If I make another rear cavity guitar, the wiring routes will be pre-planned to avoid the headache of drilling them after the fact. I really like the look of the body sans a PG. A pick guard really would have cluttered everything, and detracted from the cool paint effect.
Speaking of paint, it did not come out as well as I had hoped. You can still see the runs and orange peel I had hoped to sand and buff out. And that detracts from the 3D effect. The Urethane paint is tough as nails though and will last alot longer than traditional lacquer, which is a plus.
Unfortunately the biggest blunder was the Scale length which is 24 and 1/4" instead of the 24 and and 3/4" the neck should be. That makes it very uncomfortable and tight at the higher fret for my finger tips. I also should have began the slope of the heel closer to the body, that would have given me easier access to the higher frets as well. Neck Shape is another thing that needs work. The neck feels boxy and flat. I was trying to avoid making a regular C shaped neck like a Strat but chalk it up to inexperience. An Asymmetrical shape really intrigues me, I will have to find some guitars with that type of neck to see if I like them or not. I wanted to do that for this guitar but I chickened out. That might work for the upcoming summer project.
Love the super low action the Zero nut provides. I tend to do alot of hammer-ons which feels and sounds great on this type of setup. Bends are my thing too, but they are harder to do near the lower frets. So there are advantages and disadvantages to the zero fret.
Special thanks to Bob Shade for providing my String Guide and all the advice along the wayI will keep improving my Pickup design, there is potential there for some neat and unique pups.
Playing this guitar is alot more fun than playing my Squier Vintage Modified Surf Statocaster. If my next Mosrite project turns out even better, then I might sell the Squier. And play my Jazzmaster and the Mosrites exclusively.
So overall this has been alot of fun. Glad I decided to do it. I tried to be as honest and detailed as possible. Hope others can learn from some of the mistakes I made along the way.
I REALLY got to stop working on this post now. I got nothing left to say. ITs DONE! Show's over folks!
