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  #1  
Old 12-16-2008, 08:07 PM
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The big ugly ducklings thread

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I'm pretty sure that all of us started out with a hacksaw and wide drill bits when building our first instruments.

Well then let's post pictures of the instruments we made that'll never win any beauty contests and if my experience is any indication we all made some monsters in the process of honing our craft.


This sunburst Jazzmaster must be my ugliest make ever. It had a body made from beech which made it INCREDIBLY heavy, the Gretsch pickups were disappointing and I quickly changed them in favor of EMG Bass pickups which I spraypainted gold. And I changed the rough scratchplate while I was at it. The guitar also had different necks during the time I owned it.

I eventually sold this monster to somebody who wanted a jazzmasterbody that he could modify the tar out of and this heavy monster fit the bill.


The "Fido" so called because of a Fido Dido pin which I superglued to the headstock face. The Fido came to be when I decided to use the wood of an old table which was Pine and two surplus floor panels which were Oak, I had this telecaster neck with a really nice feel so I decided to incorporate that as well. The resulting guitar is more Fender than Gibson but that's not really THAT big a surprise, is it?

The Fido in its first incarnation back then it had twin Dimarzio pickups, a DLX at the bridge and a PAF classic at the neck, underneath that big ugly plate there's a swimmingpool rout which makes it a perfect modding platform. I used the Fido a lot, most notably on the Studio recordings of my band Slavantas.

Me using the Fido at a Slavantas rehearsal. The Fido will never win a beauty award but it's one of my most treasured instruments because it sounds so good.

Which is something that could not be said about the next guitar in this list.

Most of the time when a Telecaster and Les Paul are merged it ends up a guitar with a telecaster shape with Les Paul style electronics. When I concieved this one I wanted to do the opposite. I spray painted the whole thing silverburst and it was the ugliest piece of **** ever. So after a while I had it professionally finished in sunburst.

But polish a turd and it's still a turd, this sunburst make over didn't make it a better guitar at all, it still sounds shrill and I could never get used to the feel of that flat profile neck.

Well those were the monsters of my building career, show me yours.
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  #2  
Old 12-16-2008, 08:12 PM
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You cant polish a turd, but you can sprinkle glitter on it...
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  #3  
Old 12-16-2008, 08:22 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tom once dead View Post
You cant polish a turd, but you can sprinkle glitter on it...
Actually you CAN polish a turd. I saw it done on mythbusters.

In the end it was still a turd tho.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBj6PonX14A
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  #4  
Old 12-16-2008, 08:31 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jkramer5 View Post
Actually you CAN polish a turd. I saw it done on mythbusters.

In the end it was still a turd tho.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBj6PonX14A
Like I said, Polish a turd and it's still a turd.
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Old 12-16-2008, 08:50 PM
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HAHAHA. nice. i'm tempted to make a bass from this. lol
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  #6  
Old 12-16-2008, 09:05 PM
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ok I'll rephrase. You cant polish a fresh turd, but you can sprinkle glitter on it.
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  #7  
Old 12-16-2008, 11:02 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Blazer View Post


This sunburst Jazzmaster must be my ugliest make ever.
Hmm. I guess I'm a weirdo, but I'd hit that. I don't play guitar really, but with a baritone neck maybe... too bad you sold it (to somebody who's not me).
  #8  
Old 12-17-2008, 07:13 AM
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Damn I may be able to show my first bass in this thread.
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