Thursday, July 21, 2011

Homemade Custom Gold Leaf Strat

This is the homemade Gold Leaf Strat that I built this Spring. I remember going to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame about 10 years ago, and saw this guitar... knowing nothing about gold leaf, I wasn't really sure what I was looking at. Now I am.
Fender designed this guitar for Mr. Eric Clapton. The Fender Custom Shop will make it for you for about $6,000. I made it for less than that, and it was a pain in my... wrist. I sought out a custom-wired pickguard that simulates Eric's wiring with Gold Lace pickups and specially designed tone controls... the inside of this thing is like a computer! And the sound is INCREDIBLE because of it. Honestly, this is one of the first guitars I built to sell that I'm actually tempted to keep!!!
I put a V profile Fender neck on- the same kind of neck preferred by Clapton and used both on Blackie and the Gold Leaf Strat. It's beautiful birdseye maple, and I did a vintage amber finish over it. (drooling)
This guitar features ALL gold Fender hardware- not foreign knockoffs, FENDER. Even though these Fender parts are made internationally. IN ANY CASE... this is the good stuff. Bridge, strap pins, neckplate, pickguard, backplate, string trees... and Gold Kluson tuners.
I did a lacquer finish over the body for a sleek, polished look. You can tell from the photographs, this thing glows.













































































































Steampunk SG

So, this is a custom Steampunk SG that I made using a knock off body and neck. Everything is handpainted... hand-worked into place. The pickguard is handcarved wood. The frets are scalloped beyond the 12th fret. It's definitely the best Steampunk electric I've done, and has a bridge position H.S. Gretsch Filtertron with 1 volume and 1 tone. Grover tuners.



































































































































Saturday, April 30, 2011

Martin C-1 C-2 C-3 1931-1933? (I didn't build this)

























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































A co-worker let me borrow this guitar with the requirement that I find out what it is, what it's worth, and play it.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Vintage Gretsch Phase II- Coloring






I ran over the body quickly with 400 grit, 800 grit, and finally 2000 grit paper to get rid of some irregularities in the remaining paint. I think someone had already tried repainting this guitar and did an awful job because the inside of the guitar is covered in this gross bluish overspray. It's a shame, because they sprayed over the original label too. Also, this junk probably deadens the vibration somewhat, so I will figure out a way to get rid of it. Maybe some steel wool affixed to a probing arm of some sort... in the future. I tried using some MIXOL tinting paste to color the exposed maple of the Gretsch. I was originally going to use some high quality dyes, but I thought I'd try this first because it was cheaper and the description seemed to be right. This stuff worked out really well... it covers enough, but allows enough grain to show through. The darkened olive tint still works on the back and sides, but I used a lime green tint to get that funky green on the top. Also, there was a chip on the upper right corner of the headstock which I'm gluing a piece into, hence the blue tape.