Angel

Well, as mentioned, I prefer the aged/worn type finish so it wouldn't be a case of trying to get perfection - quite the opposite. Generally, people on this forum (and several others) were pretty impressed with the worn feel that I created for my mad frankentele (thread some weeks ago). I actually thought that 95% of people here would tell me I was mad! Shows what I know .....

Basses come and go. One has stuck with me and has always been my favourite ever to play. I've bought others that I thought I liked better, but I always come back to the best. What's the problem you say? well, its sunburst, and I really hate sunburst. So here's the obscenity: I'm considering stripping the finish and giving it a relic-type black finish. I spent months looking for a 5 string jazz bass body on eBay (for that is what it is) to use as a replacement. Nothing ever turned up. I looked into getting one made and it was like £300, more than I have spare these days. This is why I am considering it, I can give it a finish that would be very appealing to me for just £30. None of this would be so bad, but it is actually a very expensive bass, a Fender Reggie Hamilton custom shop model. What I need right now is people to slap me down and tell me how dumb this would be. I have two projects on the go right now, and I pencilled this in as no 3 in some months time, so there is still time to rethink!!!!!

Incidentally, there's a new music forum that has just started from the ashes of MusicRadar. As the jerks running MR have pulled the site down for about a month, with no regard at all for the community, a bunch of members have gone off and started a new place to hang: [url="http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/"]http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/[/url] I used MR, and I use this one mostly for guitar-related stuff, but it does cover other instruments as well. Just thought I'd mention it ....

Great find! I'd have snatched it up for that money. Personally I'd strip it back and do a relic job on it - another way to alienate many people!

We could do with a pic for any kind of ID. I suspect that 'ichtus' could be just a red herring,

Great tuning stability, as you'd expect, and a necessity if you want to do all that mad stuff. I'm not so keen on locking nuts, but they are a necessary evil with a FR. I have a Gotoh licensed one and many say that they are an improvement on the original. I do find them a little less easy to get subtle nuance out of. Tuning 12 times?????? I can't say I agree with that! Tune, lock down and then maybe a subtle tweak or two on the fine tuners.

Hmmn ..... didn't really do it for me. What I want is a one string electric Igil: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6RZ5NdbleQ[/media]

[quote name='gafbass02' timestamp='1371425616' post='2113876'] I only really use the bridge on guitars .... [/quote] [quote name='gafbass02' timestamp='1371425616' post='2113876'] Wish the switch was angled though, its tricky to swipe as it is, not that I need to lol. [/quote] er ....... yeah, OK!?!? I never used to like retro guitars at all, but I'm coming around to them more and more these days. I don't suppose I'd ever own one, but that looks very nice! I think I'd lose the bridge HB in favour of a more retro looking one though, so I agree with you there. Nice birthday pressie!

That one you just posted is looking very good! I'm definitely going to try and build a neck now!

I really like the fret markers at the top, I'd like to do something like that. I feel really inspired to have a go at a rosewood neck now, if I can just find the wood for it. More pix, close up of the guitar! I like to see stuff like this.

nice looking guitar, although I must admit I generally prefer a trad strat headstock with a stratty guitar. What's the story with the neck? I'm desperate for an all rosewood neck. Did you make it from scratch or was it acquired in some form? If you made it I'd love to know more ...

Thanks for the positive comments everyone! Yes, the knobs were DIY. I've had a lot of interest in them since I first did some a couple of years ago. I'm happy with the headstock shape, it's more of a 'shreddy' than a tele so I didn't particularly want a tele shape. I was in two mind about the Ibanez logo. My other two customised guitars have my own logo on which is a take on the 'Fender' one, I considered doing the same thing but with the ibanez logo style, but I kind of liked the whole 'bastard guitar' vibe.

Just built myself a custom guitar. A pretty weird beast, relic-type tele body, HBs, Ibanez neck, Floyd trem etc. My Frankentele is now alive and kicking! I have dubbed it my 'Angel' tele and it surpasses my wildest expectations both in terms of looks and playability. Quite simply it is the best guitar I have owned. And this is the finished article: Original body blank, very generously donated for free by JookyChap from the MusiRadar forum (including P&P!). Top man and very generous soul. Initial routing, all done by eye and some paper templates that I knocked up myself! All routes and holes done, spray finished and transfers applied This is the front face with my Christian themed Chinese writing. Drawn in Adobe illustrator, coloured in Photoshop and then applied as wet transfers I wanted a worn body type look (not a true 'relic' as such - I was not attempting to do something genuinely realistic, just worn somewhat to my personal satisfaction), so I skipped sanding sealer, and underdid the grain filler. No primer, just straight in with Nitro vintage white, followed by tinted lacquer. I masked the bits that needed wood showing, and darkened them after with acrylic wash. The body looks exactly the kind of 'old' I was hoping for close-up As I dubbed the guitar 'Angel' I stuck an Angel symbol on the back, and as a Manga fan, I also went for a cute Manga angel on the front. The front one looks cool as it shrunk perfectly into the tiny grain grooves of the body The trem was bright chrome, so I dulled it down to more of a satin/nickel look. I cut slots into the trem posts for ease of adjustment. I got a cool 'pre-rusted' jack socket from eBay. Lovely design, best I've seen on a tele style guitar. Used my own 'not-yet-patented' numbered knobs, and once again, dulled the chrome down. 5-way switch for 5 pup positions. Bareknuckle nailbomb at the bridge, and a Tonerider rocksong in the neck (well dulled finish!). de-chromed the finish on the pup rings One more last pic! The neck was from a JS100. Some years ago I had Robin at deadlight designs put an ebony fretboard on, a tree of life inlay and stainless steel frets. Plays like a peach! I realise that a tree of life is hideous to many people, but I have always loved them. I needed a 'shreddy' neck and it was one that I had so it was a no brainer. well, that's it done, not a guitar for everyone looks and style-wise but exactly what I wanted. I'm still not 100% sold on the neck pickup, and I'm pretty sure that I'm gonna try something different with the wiring as well, but it's super playable, and I am beside myself with joy at how well it has turned out! Right ....... onto the next project.

I am useless on theory, but that didn't particularly cause a problem. Personally I don't think that bass or guitar skills are particularly useful when learning the stick. It's more akin to keyboard playing really - pressing notes, each hand doing it's own thing, one for bass notes one for melody. I found that the best way 'in' was to learn the basic chord shapes, major minor etc, and then a bunch of bass root notes to hang them on. I learned pieces by doing bass side chord/arpeggios, and then played the melody over the top. Hmmmn, all this talk of Chapman sticks makes me want to get mine out again!

Very nice indeed. I love the rosewood neck, I'd really like a strat one. I thought that they didn't need any finish though?

[quote name='the_skezz' timestamp='1365866464' post='2045391'] A lot of Brian May's solos - not always the most exciting things but I struggle to think of a Queen song where the solo hasn't contributed and felt like an essential part of the song. Particularly Killer Queen and Crazy Little Thing Called Love. [/quote] I can't disagree with that.

Indeed, I am also a big fan of 'the dirt'. I'm not a big fan of the music, but interesting stuff from one of the most excessive bands ever. I always thought of the band as total jerks, and I still do to be honest, but I really felt for the guy after his daughter died. Must pick up again: I was also reading Nikki Sixx's Heroin diaries. A terrible life, how he isn't dead I do not know. Put it down at some point and forgot about it!

Iona (who? they all say)