“I just finished my build today. It is awesome! It’s made out of very good quality tonewood and as your name suggests, the kit is made with precision. When I received the kit, I didn’t really know what pickup/control configuration I wanted. I decided to go with two classic PAF humbuckers, three-way switch, and single volume and tone … simple, but I have everything I need! I did the finish with oil. It keeps the texture of the wood, which I particularly like—mahogany. The pickguard is my own design. It is a mix of the classic “full-face” SG standard, “half-face” of the 61′ SG, and the pickguard of the 1998 SG deluxe. I love the look and the tone of bigsby vibratos. And this one makes no exception! This guitar looks great, plays great AND sounds amazing!
“Hi Phil, at long last the kit is finished and I thought you might like to see the pictures. Although delivered last November, time was not on my side and we finally finished her about four weeks ago.
I was helped by a friendly local luthier ( Richard Meyrick ) with the neck fit—about 25 mm removed to bring it to equivalent of a 60’s Gibson slimline neck—à la 335 , LP etc. Richard did the paintwork—I was looking for an authentic 58 Jnr finish—which I hope you agree looks the part. Richard made the scratch plate and control cavity plate.
I bagged myself a genuine P90 from an old Gibson 330 on eBay and the hardware all came from Julian at Fake 58.
Now that she is up and running, she sounds fantastic—I am keeping her for slide work almost exclusively and she doffs her hat to Doyle Bramall 11 ‘s 58 Jnr. The truss rod cover says “’58 Jnr” and my initials in chrome.
Thanks again for a great piece of work—the quality and neck fit were superb.”
Here is the order of what he did to the quilted maple cap. Ends up being beautiful.
Pic 1
Here it is dyed with red mahogany dye as the base layer
Pic 2
Here is the first colour session. You can see where the colour absorbed more on the perimeter in some places, so it was destined for another layer.
Pic 3
Here is the how the final dye session turned out. I found that I had to over-concentrate the dye about four times the recommended strength that the dye suggested in order to get the yellow to come forward the way I wanted. Like I said, I will send you a good picture of the finished product all strung up with close to eight hours playing time on it. I just have to go take it first. I just finished it up last Sunday at about 11pm, so it is still adjusting to string tension, but man does it sound great.
Pic 4
Here is a photo of it before I strung it up. It’s strung up now but I don’t have any photos of it as it stands. The sound and sustain is incredible, I used all vintage pots and resistors so I could get an old school vintage sound. Can’t beat the sound of a vintage guitar so that’s what I was going for, and I achieved it.
He is going to send me along some pics of it strung up. Will post them when I get them.
So this guitar came off the shop floor and Markus took one look at it and had to have it. He is a meticulous builder with a wealth of guitar lore and knowledge, always an interesting guy to talk with.
So here is what he has done, Tru-Oil on the black limba. It really brings out the wood’s highlights, just beautiful… In person it is even more dramatic and the feel of a Tru-Oil neck in your hands is really, really fantastic. It has the Seymour Duncan Antiquity Pickup in it and the Gotoh Wraparound Bridge. It is waiting for the Bake-lite pickguard.
He also just happened to have a bumblebee cap, from a LP 58, just sitting around waiting for a home and here it is.
I will get some video and sound clips from him in the next couple of weeks.
Here is a YouTube video put together by one of our customers. Just showing the kit and the steps he took to put it together. The music playing over the video is from the guitar he built. This was his first guitar build. He has used the Bumblebee Capacitors in his tone train. I like the warmth that is in the tone when it’s clean, but it still has just a great growl with the gain turned up.
Here are some photos of my recent build, your SG Jr. I am quite pleased with how the guitar fell together. The neck is lovely, straight and true, I have not had to adjust the neck at all. And the guitar is very light and reasonant. I’ve always loved the look of these guitars and the Heritage Cherry finish came out as I had hoped. She is a real screamer with the lollar P-90!
Thought I would send you pics of the finished product from your body/neck kits. The second kit I bought (the blacktop), had obvious improvements over the first one (purchased a month earlier). I really appreciate the fact that you are constantly improving the product. The Blacktop is simply a superb guitar, the fit of the neck was perfect, the routs were exact, and the neck/fretwork was perfect as well. Not that the earlier one was a problem, I just had to massage the cavity covers a bit, and the truss rod access is a bit different. Overall, I couldn’t be more pleased with the results.”
Pure cool craftsmanship. This is a stunning guitar.
“Hi Phil…I am very happy with the way this build went. You really got this thing right!
Excellent foundation for a one-off custom guitar.”
I asked Steve how he built this guitar.
“I started by gluing down a fine sheet of walnut burl and routing the binding channel. Then I enlarged the control cavity and made the tummy cut and the PRS like cut at the bout. then the body got a very light stain and many coats of lacquer.
The peg head has an ash burl veneer with lacquer, the rest of the neck is tung oiled only. I installed a General guitar gadgets booster circuit and used a .047 oil and paper type capacitor on the tone pot. The pick-up is a DiMarzio P-90 with a walnut cover homemade. The guitar has a nice feel and sounds good. Will probably build one of your LP kits next fall.
This is a cool, cool guitar. As the headline says Natural and Naked. Not only is the mahogany we use fantastic tonewood, but also just such a beautiful looking wood too. Here is one of our who-digs-the-wood-grain-like-we-do. Simply shows it off.
“A few pictures of the recently finished Junior. It doesn’t get much more basic than this…slab o’ wood, neck, and one pickup. She is built to JAM!
I really dug the grain, so I decided to just do a tung oil type finish…very happy with results. TonePros bridge, GREAT P90 from Mick Brierley, Tusq nut, and TonePros Kluson tuners. NO PICKGUARD…don’t want to cover up the grain.
Check out the aged and cracked clear coat on it. Beautiful work.
“Hi Phil,
I just completed my ’59 replica based on your Jr. kit, thought I would share!
Thanks for a quality kit, the neck/body joint is really a great fit, very tight and snug, and the fretting job is outstanding, I do fretting myself and was prepared to refret it just in case, but man this really is nice work!
The project turned out great and the guitar sounds killer! Alive and resonant as they say, I guess it applies here… The Wolfetone pickup sure helps ;-)”
Just thought I’d send you pics of my finished guitar. The kit was purchased last year for Christmas. Finish it during last summer. Everything came out pretty well. It plays awesome.
Features: Custom Headstock Inlay by me. Engraved truss cover. Sperzel Trim Lok tunning machines, Tone Pro’s locking bridge and tailpiece, Jimmy Page style electronics and Seymour Duncans P-59 pickups. The finish is Nitrocellulose lacquer.
Thank you for doing what you do. Building a guitar can be an emotional experience, with so much of your self invested in it.
You have calmly replied to my ranting e-mails when things don’t go as expected and offered advice. Above all, you listen to the customer, a rare thing these days, and you are willing to discuss ideas to improve the product.
As a result, I have two great guitars, with all their “learning curve indicators” that just make them more unique. And sound? They produce the glorious noise that I heard in my head, when wanting to build one in the first place.
I feel the need to mention PGK to any one on E-Bay that I buy far too many guitar parts from, and tell them to have a look. I think I have cornered the market on wrap around tail-pieces and soap bar pickups! Thanks also for taking a chance on those oh-so-unfashionable base-ball bat neck profiles in a world full of tooth-pick spec necks.
Keep doing what you are doing in the new year, brush the cobwebs off some more ancient design from the golden age of the guitars development….a Gibson Moderne would be nice and continue to prosper. Thanks so much for providing what you provide.
Seasons greetings to you and yours.
Will
This is for us a great email, ’cause this is exactly what we want to be known for.
Merry Christmas to you and yours and we look forward to working with you in 2012
Here is one of kits, shipped to a builder with a paddle headstock so he can do his own treatment, make it his own. It does make it stand out. The ebony headstock overlay with mop inlay looks great. The pickup is a custom built Seymour Duncan 78 humbucker on a p-90 chassis with dog eared cover.
This is our LP kit, with a simple beautiful finish. The plain maple cap wood grain shows up so nicely on this. Here is what Eddie as said about our kits.
“Thanks for a awsome kit. it plays better than my $%$#@ guitar.
Great fret work. waiting for a prs style kit now. I used trans tint amber and cherry and mixed them till i got what i wanted it went on darker than i wanted so i took clean wet towels and rubbed it down till i got the color i was looking for.i kept the neck and back natural and the maple on the side is like binding like on a prs.
Jono has taken an old school approach to this guitar.
This is his words:
The idea is for this to be the live gig workhorse – something serious with good components and a great sound (you cant beat P 90’s for that live tone!) but withoutthe silly price tag.
I put in a shot of the neck being set – because the angle is built into the neck (perfectly) we could actually set it in a stand! with no issues!
For the finish I put on a couple of coats of “indoor polywax sealer” with a cloth and I think it looks understated and quite pretty, the strangest thing is that I’ve had the guitar for a while now and I still cant tell what colour it is! The combination of the sealer and the wood makes it look different under different lighting conditions.
I swear its the same finish in all the photos (there might be one of the raw wood in there?), it looks like a different guitar in each shot! I’ve seen this sealer on other guitars never with this effect, I love that mine came out mysteriously special… Thanks for using rich beautiful wood!
This is a good one, gold frets, beautiful paint work. The tobacco burst is just fantastic.
Dave has made a number of kits, always does just an excellent job, very good builder.
We worked with Hampton Guitars to design their own line of guitars. The owner had an idea in his head that he wanted to see as a guitar and we worked together to bring into being.
Now his company is up and running and selling his own line of guitars.
This is one of our Australian Customers. We made him a custom kit, flame maple cap, neck and body binding and trap inlays. He has done a fantastic job with it. The grain of the flame maple cap just pops out. This is what he sent along to us.
I have finally finished the LP kit i bought from you. I have to say one final thank you. It was so easy to make this guitar because everything was made so well before it even hit my hands. It took almost no setup at all as the neck fit like a glove.
I have played it for a couple of weeks and it is definitely my favorite guitar now. It just sounds massive, plays silky smooth and it truly is a joy to play.
We work with a number of guys that are building their own line of guitar. Reid Hampton is one of those. He had an idea for a guitar line that he has always wanted to build and approached us and we were able to work in the flesh what his vision was in his head.
This is the initial result of our working together.
This is piece of writing from Gavin Downie, one of our great customers. He had sent along the pic below a while back that showed all of his guitars hanging on a wall, including our LP Jr. ( see the lil red beauty right in the middle ) I sent him a quick email back and asked about the guitars, any stories behind them. I think it is cool the stories that come out. I am interested in stuff like that.
This is the pic that started it all…and what I got back from him about guitars. Gavin works with a lot of touring acts, in the land of the All Blacks….. Notice Mr. Gibbons in the pic at the bottom.
I started this from an LP with P90 routs. After a couple months working
with a friend on the finishing process, we sprayed the last of the clear
coats and then we let it dry for about a month. Here are some before and
after shots of the guitar in process..
Great neck, good wood, and great action.
Erik wrote to me a while back telling me about a guitar that he had years ago that he wished he had kept. It was an SG Jr., cherry stained. He wanted that guitar but updated and this time in a beautiful rich white. so he bought a kit from us and went about building a legend. He documented the process.
And apparently the Lollar pick ups are fantastic.
This is a great read on how to make one of our kits.
This is a copy of an email Brian Majeski, Music Trades Magazine, sent me. It is great and has me scratching my head.
Why Are The Feds Gunning For Gibson, And Is This Any Way To Stimulate The Economy?
THE SIXTH AMENDMENT to the U.S. Constitution declares that “the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial,” and must be “informed of the nature and cause of the accusation.” Based on their conduct in raiding the Gibson Guitar Company, agents from the FBI and the Fish and Wildlife Service could stand a refresher course in the law of the land. In November 2009, Fish and Wildlife agents, accompanied by a heavily armed FBI SWAT team, stormed Gibson’s Nashville plant and confiscated ebony fingerboards that had been imported from Madagascar. On August 24, 2011 the Feds gave an encore, rushing into Gibson factories in Memphis and Nashville with weapons drawn to confiscate ebony and rosewood from India. The urgency of this “shock and awe” display of enforcement power would suggest a serious crime had been committed. Yet nearly two years after the first raid, no formal charges have been filed, leaving Gibson management to ponder what exactly they stand accused of.
There is a Maker Faire in Vancouver this weekend. It is hailed as:
The ultimate DIY festival – It’s county fair meets science fair meets farmers market meets burning man for families!
My son and I are just about to go. I will let you know what we have seen.
The video that follows is from the MAKER FAIRE Vancouver website and it Dale Dougherty talking about us all having the ability to be makers, creators. It cracks me up what folks with imagination can get up and do, the is a fellow who makes scooter powered by a drill. He wanted to see if it could be done. There is a wonderful sense of accomplishment when you start out with an idea and end up with something having a physical presence
What’s The Best Fender Guitar Neck Profile For You? Here is a great run down on the Fender Guitar Neck Profiles
C-shaped neck profile. The most common modern neck profile. C-shaped necks have a comfortable oval profile that works well for most playing styles. Usually not as deep as most U- and V-shaped neck profiles. Many Fender guitars, especially Stratocasters, now have a “modern C shape” (or “flat oval”) neck profile, a flattened variation of the traditional C shape.The term “neck profile” refers to the shape of the back of a guitar neck in cross section and is often used interchangeably with the term “back shape.” It’s also referred to simply as “neck shape,” although there are other important neck measurements with which “neck profile” shouldn’t be confused (i.e., neck width, neck depth and fingerboard radius).
Fine, but what does all this technical talk mean to the average guitar player who just wants to know what time it is rather than how to build a clock? What does it mean when you’re considering buying a Fender guitar with a description that mentions the instrument’s neck profile?
Before delving into the details, it’s important to understand that neck profile doesn’t affect the sound of the guitar itself; it affects the way you play it. There isn’t one shape that’s objectively better than another when it comes to soloing or chording or doing jazz licks or scissor kicks or whatever. It’s purely a matter of personal preference and playing comfort—originally instituted at the request of players who simply had their own individual preferences.
OK, now the details. Fender uses the letters C, U and V to designate its neck profiles, along with numerous variations of each. The actual shape of these letters roughly corresponds to the shape of the back the neck in cross section, and each may have varying depths—different thicknesses from the front of the neck to the back, resulting in terms such as “thick C shape” and “deep U shape,” etc.
U-shaped neck profile. Chunky and rounded, with high shoulders. Especially deep U-shaped necks like those found on some Telecaster guitars are sometimes referred to as “baseball bat” necks. Good for players with large hands and players who are more comfortable with their thumb on the back or side of the neck.
V-shaped neck profile. Two versions are popular—a more rounded “soft” V and a more pointed “hard” V often preferred by players more comfortable with their thumb hanging over the edge of the fingerboard. V-shape neck profiles are pretty old school and show up on many reissue instruments.
There are also further subdivisions of each type, usually denoted by a design year or era (i.e., ’50s V shape, ’61 C shape, ’70s C shape), in which subtle period-specific variations in one of the basic neck profiles is recreated precisely.
There is occasional confusion about C, U and V neck profile designations and A, B, C and D neck width designations. From the early ’60s to the early ’70s, Fender referred specifically to the nut width of its instrument necks using the letters A (1 ½”), B (1 5/8″), C (1 ¾”) and D (1 7/8″). These letters were stamped on the butt-end of the necks and had nothing to do with neck profile.
The different guitar neck profiles that you keep hearing about.
