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What happens when you cross a bird w/a crocodile...

JIO

JIO

Scott Lives
Gold Supporting Member
Commercial User
Jun 30, 2010
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The Mission SF/CA
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musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
#1
A new fun project here - I got a used Epi Goth T-bird for a good price in good condition w/plans to build up a gilded Epi body I've had for a while. Both Epi, but not the same specs, I went ahead and built it up anyway adding some shims to the neck pocket. Works good, balances well for a T-bird, looks great and it sounds like a T-bird too. The Goth bird is solid mahogany w/the center mahogany humps/strips (front & back) laminated on. It's also very heavy! Body alone was 5.2lbs. The gilded Epi is close to a pound lighter and when built up it was 8.8lbs - close to 8/under 9 is always my goal. I do have a couple super sweet J's clocking in a bit over 10lbs and that's as heavy as I'd ever consider. I'm really not certain their quality of tone is a direct result of the extra weight as some people debate - I also have awesome sounding basses around 8lbs. We'll let that sleeping dog snooze for now…

So I figured, let's do something fun that will also shed some weight. I routed a 1" cavity below the pg to start with. New weight: 4.7lbs - so far so good. I will cut a different pg for it - I have a few ideas floating around my head. I came up w/a crazy concept to take advantage of major routes. The main idea was eyes, and how it goes from there is still evolving. I routed the 2 eyes 1" which put the weight at 4.2lbs. Then I routed a 1/4" layer off the top wing, dropping the weight to 4lbs. (much better!) I did this to create a platform for adding a piece of milk-white translucent acrylic, cut to fit the shape. Why you may ask? I'm going to rig it w/LED's that will pulse green, red, yellow (purple?) while being played - maybe even triggered to volume peaks/vibrations. I have a drummer friend who does crazy hi-tech lighting things for burning man so we'll come up with something "rad".

Here's pics of what I have going so far.

gilded bird using Goth neck & parts
IMG_6757_zps8d681ac8.jpg



1" routs - this is some dense mahogany
IMG_6815_zps43ed4721.jpg


w/pg (but not this one)
IMG_6816_zps448ab954.jpg


a shot to show the layer removed and the eye-ball humps (hard to see in the other pics)
IMG_6819_zps42a9182b.jpg


concept sketch - the pg could be interchangeable w/a few different mouth/jaws varieties, like possibly a stitched mouth for more of a monster and less specifically a croc, or one with a Joker mouth w/a Gene Simmons-esk tongue. This idea would be finished like my current B-Quad project, w/black variegated gold-leaf which looks kind of metal grey-greenish, perfect for a classy crocodile! The white acrylic would be gilded/finished the same other than the 2 eyes. I could also gild the pu's so they blend in.
IMG_6820_zpsd5200ef0.jpg


shot of the backside of my B-Quad w/black variegated gold-leafing (pre final finish) For the croc/bird, I'm thinking possibly a satin clear coat instead of gloss.
IMG_6601_zps10051e82.jpg
 
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#4
Please don't take this the wrong way, but-

This, as depicted, is so stupid in the best possible way that it kills me. Stupid in the "stoopid cool" way. Not my style at all, but would totally dig it on stage. Dig it for sure.

One idea-- Since the routing is so thorough, and the LEDs are gonna happen anyway... How about something like a Ric Lightshow, with translucent PG/tops on both sides of the body (the one on the lower side would encompass the controls) and lights underneath? For extra credit, you could rout out the top where the controls are currently, and support the controls from the PG/top on that side. I'm picturing one PG/top for each side, running along the raised center section.
 
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#6
wraub said:
Please don't take this the wrong way, but-

This, as depicted, is so stupid in the best possible way that it kills me. Stupid in the "stoopid cool" way. Not my style at all, but would totally dig it on stage. Dig it for sure.

One idea-- Since the routing is so thorough, and the LEDs are gonna happen anyway... How about something like a Ric Lightshow, with translucent PG/tops on both sides of the body (the one on the lower side would encompass the controls) and lights underneath? For extra credit, you could rout out the top where the controls are currently, and support the controls from the PG/top on that side. I'm picturing one PG/top for each side, running along the raised center section.
Click to expand...

The Ric light-show guitars/basses were definitely a predecessor to any whiz-bang/gizmo-esk cheesy design. There's a publicity pic of a girl-band all posing w/them from the late 60's. It is stupid so no offense taken - cheesy/novelty/fun, but playable it is. (and not heavy!) T-birds on their own are highly visual R&R 'axes' with players to this day still putting up with their non-ergonomic neck-diving design. So a nudge further and they can become (growling) crocodiles w/glowing eyes! (born on the bayou?) Not high-art, but it keeps me off the streets. ;) At least it's not Rammstein w/fire shooting out of it and pretending to be 'heavy'. (although he seems to have a sense of humor about his theatrics)

The pg cavity will probably house the LED controls and wire routs can be drilled from the eyes through the pu cavities. I may just not have a mouth at all and just glowing eyes. Like I say, I can cut a few pg's and do each one to fit/coordinate w/the body finish but w/differences as options.
 
#8
I thought about it some more and have a more stealthy solution. Instead of using trans-white acrylic, I could gild a piece of clear over the whole upper cut-out/layer and gild over the entire piece. I would also gold or silver-leaf the eye cavities for more reflectiveness. Completed/assembled, it would look like a standard T-bird (w/an exotic gilded finish) sitting, but once plugged in and playing, the bright LED light would orb through the ultra-thin gilding to display the eyes w/a cool textured glow. (textured from the gilding) Same w/the pg - maybe just go black, or the same as the body. Pulsing eyes alone would be enough to create an unexpected visual effect when playing live - could be cool. (and a bit less silly!)
 
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#14
Had a talk w/my friend and he sez' can do - batteries are the main issue. Modern LED's use a lot of power - which is why they are so bright. Could burn through a 9v in a few hrs if used continually. Which doesn't strike me as a huge problem considering the limited time it would or could be on. It wouldn't be like driving or hiking at night. Most likely I'll be keeping it simple to not spend more time, energy and money than it deserves -
 

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