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So, I built my ideal guitar ....


Angel
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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.

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so I was looking at that... thinking, that looks nice but I don't like something... is it the neck, what about the neck.... is it the tree of life.... no don't mind that too much ..... but the headstock... going to do anything with that?

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As a confirmed fan of 'twisted' Tele's, that's one of the best I've seen. Great paintjob and graphics.

Thinking about the headstock, a repetition of the body colour / style might be interesting. Seems a shame to have an Ibanez logo on there when the whole concept is so entirely your own.

Excellent. :)

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I think it's excellent!

I especially love those knobs! Do you make them yourself?

I must admit I agree that it seems a bit of a shame to have the ibanez logo on the headstock but as you have focused on the body, I think that is is very well design with all the decals etc. :)

Good job :)

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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.

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  • 3 months later...

I love that shreddocaster! The Japanese theme works so well and is tastefully done. How did you age the chrome? Not normally a fan of relicing but what you've done is spot on, it looks like a guitar that has a story to tell and I'd well used in.

For me personally a Ibanez maple neck (wizard iii?) from an RG would have looked more suited, but the tree of life does add something to the Japanese theme.

Enjoy!

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Cool tele! Excellent work.
I love making and modifying guitars, just like Leo did all those years ago. It is so satisfying to get your ideal instrument.
My own is a tele/strat hybrid, perfect for me (at the moment), which is a fiesta red hardtail strat that i routed for a tele bridge to fit on my favourite neck (a MIJ 62 reissue). I did the nitro paint and only a very thin coat of satin laquer as I dislike the thick gloss on modern fenders. It has just started to wear nicely.
Love it, and it always garners interest from jam sessions.

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  • 1 year later...
  • 3 weeks later...

[attachment=176323:IMG_4925.JPG] I'm in the process of rebuilding a guitar I first built in about 1982. It's a red strat that I made, (carved the body and bought a neck), from following instructions in a library book. I used it extensively in the 80's and chopped and changed a variety of Dimarzio pickups in it at the time. A couple of years after I made it I removed the frets and used it as a fretless guitar for a while then bought a strat and put it down.

Last year I decided it's time to get it playable again and I've started a rebuild. I think the body is Ash but can't be 100% has heavy brass hardware whammy bar. I've just installed some Alembic activator pickups that I won on eBay about 2 years ago and bought from Alembic their active bass and treble cut/boost electronics. I'm just looking for a neck now to complete it though that could be a challenge as my neck pocket is not a standard width which is why the previous neck was not a snug fit and occasionally moved. Interestingly it's not ending up being cheaper than buying an off the shelf strat but It's personal.

Edited by jazzyvee
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