Good to know Stew-Mac and Warmoth are takin' their own sweet time...
Good to know Stew-Mac and Warmoth are takin' their own sweet time...
Lazy Bum That Lives Off His Wife...
I don't really know why I'm building it. I guess I've always liked that guitar and never could afford one before today, I mean putting money aside for buying the parts that are the closest to the original. Sure, some rich collectors can put down $17000 for an original EVH/Fender replica. Good for them. I sure don't have that amount of dough. So my cheapest alternative is gathering the parts and putting together myself. And that to me is probably the most fun part!
I guess it's like any other passion. Why do people skydive or spend money on bowling equipment?
tbof
cause it makes them feel good.
"don't worry, i'm a professional!"
hey chuck!
I just received my pickup today. I didn't think the guy would ever send it to me (sent money with Paypal, the guy didn't reply to emails after payment was sent for a few weeks, had to file a claim with Paypal - long story). It's a custom wound SIN EVH replica pickup, by Chris Carter, Sounds of Sin pickups. It measures 9.1K and has Alnico II magnets. It's very close to a Seymour Duncan custom shop Model '78 pickup. Will see how it sounds in my Franky. If it passes the test, I might keep it. Only cost $35.00 shipped.
tbof
ola amigo!Originally Posted by Cygnus X1
hey chuck!
this guitar addiction is the only thing that keeps me afloat. it's a sickness really. but i figure it's better than other addictions.
"don't worry, i'm a professional!"
Yeah, I can't buy guitars like these cheap enough, so ya gotta build em yourself... Its alot more fun than just buyin' em...
These are a few from parts off eBay...
Lazy Bum That Lives Off His Wife...
I would at least try one of those cheap GFS 'fatbody' PUs (single coil w/ bass poles) in the neck, the more I try to not like the cheap off-branded-ness of mine the more I love the monster tone of it.
Man...beautiful piece of neck lumber!
The body also has beautiful grain!
Too bad it's going to be under EVH's colors...just saying.
Old Rockers never die; we just fade away! 会長
Things are coming along nicely. I have all my parts now, well almost. The Floyd finally came in this week along with the pickguard, volume (Tone) knob, pickup screws and the (non-functional) 3-way switch. Of course, the switch I got is functional, it's just not wired correctly on the original guitar. Now I'm only waiting for one part, which is the neck plate. I already have one but I finally decided to go with a custom made neck plate with the same serial number (61071) found on Ed's original Frankenstein. This guy on eBay can make you a neck plate with any serial number of your choice. He found an old machine, the same kind Leo used in the 50's and 60's to engrave them.
The aging is still in progress. The cool thing about aging with muriatic acid is that you can ajust the effect to your liking. Here are a few before/after shots of some parts. Sorry for the bad quality of the photos.
It was time to install the tuners and to drill the holes for the tuner screws.
More shots of that beautiful figured neck.
Before Eddie sprayed the guitar with a red coat, it had been black and white for a few years. That version of the guitar is known as the VH1 version and can be seen on the first Van Halen album cover. The pickguard was then a full black single ply sheet he had cut with a single opening for the humbucker, so there were approximately 7 extra holes drilled for the full pickguard. Now the pickguard has this irregular shape.
Here you have a close-up of the extra holes for the pickguad which will be partly filled with paint.
Another shot of the body with the Floyd pivot screws installed for pre-ajustment.
If the weather is nice, I'll start spraying the black coats later this week.
tbof
Hey TBOF...looks great.
Take care.........stay well.
I have decided to be happy because it's good for my health.
Thanks man. I can't wait to finish this project, now that I have all the parts! Will post more pics asap.
tbof
My neck plate just came in today, so now I have all my parts. It has the same serial as Eddie's Frankenstein, which is a cool little detail. Here's a picture of an EVH/Fender replica neck plate (left) and my neck plate (right).
tbof
I had time to do a few things this weekend. First, I sprayed the black coats then buffed the guitar with auto rubbing compound.
Then, it was time to get the body all taped up for the white coats.
I used Dupli-Color acrylic lacquer (Universal black and Wimbledon white). Here's the body just after the last coat of white.
And with the stripes removed.
Next step will be relicing the body once the paint has dried for a few days.
tbof
More pics of this guitar project.
Done relicing the 3-way switch. I used some table salt in a mixture of water and white vinegar. The switch was wrapped in cheese cloth and immersed in 1/2" of the solution for about 4 days.
Here are some shots of the VH1 stage relicing of the body.
Next step will be spraying a few layers of clear coat so that the red does not bleed onto the white in the relicing process.
tbof
Last edited by the_best_of_fools; 09-09-2009 at 10:00 AM.
Okay guys, here are more pics of the guitar - work still in progress (I've been way too busy with work these pass weeks...)
Striped for the red coats.
I took the stripes off a few minutes after the paint was shot. I didn't have time to take pics yet but it looks pretty good. I'll need to relic the body again before the final assembly.
Okay, now I'm off to work, again... (remember the "time to make the donuts" tv commercial back in the eighties? lol!)
tbof
Well, I'm finally done with this project. I'm really proud. It not only looks killer, it plays well and sounds awesome.
More shots...
tbof
Looks fantastic, and I bet you saved well over 20 grand in the process!
One of the most amazing jobs I've ever seen here. Just compltely fantastic work. I sure wish I had 1/2 your skills, instead of being a incompetent hack.Congratulations, that guitar looks every bit as nice as a Genuine 25,000 Fender replica.
Just needs cigarette burns on the 'stock. lol
Very impressive work! Have you played "Jamie's Cryin'" on it yet?
"I haven't slept for ten days...because that would be too long." -- Mitch Hedberg
GREAT job Best of Fools!
RIP Lacey Cat 1992-2009
Extremely impressive work!
Wow.
Tone is in the fingers, eh? Let's hear your Vox, Marshall and Fender fingerings then...
Looks killer!
How does she sound?
Thanks guys. I'm very impressed with how it sounds too. It plays better than my 08 American Strat. It's my first guitar with a Floyd and I love it. I've only played it for 15 minutes, roughly. The neck is straight, no string buzz, stays in tune.
I made a few mistakes in the pattern so it doesn't match 100% Eddie's original guitar. There is a mistake on the top near the Floyd. I didn't stripe one black line at the right place so there's a 1/8" white stripe that goes from the bottom to the Floyd that should be black instead of white. Oh well... I'll have to live with it. Still pretty good for a first replica.
Oh, and yes, I did save a good $24000. Probably my best investment! This one is definitely a keeper. lol!
I think my next project will be a Jimmy Page dragon Telecaster replica like this one...
tbof
Spam assed motherfahker
If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison
Wait! What? Zombie thread!!!
"don't worry, i'm a professional!"
Did someone hack the Chicken House?
Interesting read for us noobs, though.
What happend?
Who let the magic smoke out?
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
