Introduction Towards the end of last year, I decided I’d like to have a go at making the next step from modding guitars to making them. Logically, a kit seemed the way to go and as PRS didn’t do an affordable model that I liked, I went for a custom 24 style kit with the…
Introduction I first saw Rob Chapman play one of these on youtube and when I found one for £50 on eBay, I knew it was a sign. I played it for a while and although it was ok, it wasn’t for me…as it was. So I did some reading and planning (along with some things…
Introduction I took up playing the bass a couple of years ago and bought the cheapest headless bass on ebay at the time to practice on (the Tommy the Cat bass being my main one). The body was somewhat battered, the electrics were shot and the bridge was missing all four saddles. Minor refurb First,…
A brief history An increasingly long time ago, I purchased a black Les Paul body from eBay for the princely sum of £10. It was definitely from a Japanese copy, but it was never clear by which company. I also purchased a set of Seymour Duncan Invader copies and some iron cross strap locks and…
Introduction Who doesn’t want one of these? Basically as my first build of sorts. The intention here is to make a basic body, focusing on measurements and routing. Parts For this I purchased a moderately attractive can of oil from my local auto factors: I also got a Dean ML X neck For hardware, I’m…
Contents To quickly skip to a relevant section, please use the following links: Introduction The Guitar Playing with Vinyl New Parts Teardown Deleting the old pickup selector slot, adding new control holes and test fitting the bridge Headstock drilling for machine heads and vinyl treatment Prep Prime and Paint Detail Clear coat Finish Electronics Assembly…
So, the pedal board’s all done and working well, but the Boss compressor is a bit awkward to activate. I want to leave it where it is because of the cable lengths and everything else works nice in situ. So the options were either to get a different compressor with a better switch and layout…
Introduction I decided after a lot of thought that I really like the idea of a Telecaster, but hadn’t seen one that I like. Browsing around the Fender custom shop site, I got a few ideas and set about deciding what I wanted in a Telecaster. At this point I had no real carving or…
Completion! At long last, what started out as a battered but nice playing Crafter Cruiser is now in its final form. Design notes and build details available below Special thanks once again to Tom Anfield of Tom Anfield Guitars for fit and finish, moving the controls and top class wiring. This thing screams! Last minute additions…
Slightly more subtle modifications on my Axl Badwater bass: The rust effect hardware was replaced with chrome and I fitted a Hipshot bridge. Once this was done, I commissioned Carrie at The Carrie Effect to paint a scene from Primus’ “Tommy The Cat” on the pickguard. The bass itself has quite a nice tone as…