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black & blond P makeover (etc)

#461
Thanks Rick! They are perfect! :thumbsup:

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#466
God's Favorite Bass said:
Sorry...forgot to get back with the finished weight of silver sparkle pbass...9 lbs even.
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Not bad at all - that's acceptable in my book. I must have got the heaviest body in the bunch! My Dark Sparkle P project would have weighed over 11lbs if I hadn't filled it full of holes! How you liken' yours? (it's a looker!) :thumbsup:
 
#472
Had to search a bit - couldn't recall which thread my Fiesta Red J was on. (it's earlier in this meandering thread!) As it goes in the galaxy GEO, after a brief stint as a complete bass - it's now back to a body ready for phase II. (was replaced by my Roasted Ash J body) I popped for the $99 Guild Darkstar and it came today. After love-love-loving the Novak, I felt this version was at least worth a try, being at a much friendlier price-break. So I thought, where to go with it… and remembered the FRJ. What I'm going to look into is re-visiting a big furniture/cabinet shop I used once to plane a slab for a body on their huge industrial planer. I figure they will also have a mondo-bandsaw. If so - I will have them slice the body in 1/2 length-wise. (like a sandwich) Once done I'll do my router/holy thing to chamber/lighten the body. It's alder and a little heavier than I like. Besides, my Glam P/J and Dark Sparkle P came out so good - I feel confident that I can create another winning J. The DS most likely will sit in the P-location, and a J at the bridge to add a bit of scoop. No other design plans so far but since it will be opened up, I'll incorporate the brass bridge-anchor to some kind of bridge. And binding of some sort on the side. (black?) No rush here - I'm swamped with projects of late. Just planting a seed...

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#473
Was made aware the Guild spacing is narrower than the Novak - and sure enough, it is. Will determine what type of neck it will have… something Ric-like perhaps… I have a pic of Steve Azola (guitar/bass builder) who made a Fenderbacker of a J body and Ric neck. Individual unit bridges would get alignment correct for having the Guild DS in the P-position. A J neck could also be narrowed down each side leaving the butt wide to fit the neck pocket and the fb removed from the neck there. hummmm….
 
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#474
So continuing in the 'etc' mode of this thread, and picking up from my last post - another option has opened up. Since the Guild Darkstar is narrow spaced I thought, what if I integrate it with one of my Gildaxe prototype bodies - specifically a gilded EB-O, a 32" scale bolt-on neck version. I've always liked the 60's Epi Crestwood 'batwing' headstock and thought, that would be cool and would work on an EB-O… more T-bird like. I even met with Dan Ransom and discussed him making such a neck for it. Then as luck would have it, one popped up on ebay! (an '86 MIJ 22 fret maple/maple cap Epi Embassy neck w/batwing hs in VGC) So, a bit of neck routing for a snug fit, a custom pg to hide the neck-hugging mud-bucker rout, a new rout for the DS (in a more central position) and a bridge that I can dial the needed more narrow string spacing, electronics, tuners and strings away from a rockin' bass.

I modeled the pg shape from a '69 SG
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The batwing neck has 22 frets, which using the existing neck-pocket aligns the existing bridge (poles) at 34" - that's crazy lucky as I didn't even notice it was 22 frets when I bought it. I anticipated mounting some sort of bridge lower to achieve 34" scale. I may need to design a 'neck-dive' adaptor to get the strap close to the 12th fret.
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I think a black hs face would work nicely - unlike the orig set-back hs, this neck is a one piece 'Fender' style w/string tree.
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#475
This hs style is referenced to as 'bat-wing'… so black it is. Freshly sprayed - will level when cured.

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Tuners ordered - Fender Classic Vibe small-plate clovers to maintain the retro vibe. The '86 Epi (that this neck is from) came with 'modern' Gotoh mini-tuners originally which stray from the era-reference of the long-scale Epi. These look more like what would have been on the late 60's Embassy, which had the big Klusson tuners like on T-birds.

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#476
Marked for the neck rout (lower in the body - which still works) and for the Darkstar pu rout. The 3-point bridge posts are not aligned with the centerline (what a surprise… not) but luckily that is less critical if I use a 3-point bridge (standard or Supertone) and if I use a standard bridge it doesn't matter at all as I'll align it correctly. Mudbucker route can be used to store secret booty…:rolleyes: Did this body 3 years ago. Over the years it's had a few nibbles on eBay and inspired a recent commission.., but it's time to build it into a bass that rocks. (which will be for sale at a reasonable price) In fact, I'll offer a special tb price once it's done.

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#478
MrArose13 said:
^^ GOOD GRAVY^^ I love that finish, I would love it more on one of my basses though. ;):D:thumbsup:
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Thanks! I recently did a customized Ibanez bass (commission) in a similar leaf (including fretboard) and will post pics when it gets back from Pat Wilkins.


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