Phil
New member
Up for you astute consideration is a project guitar that I put together a year or two back.
The entire process was rather spontaneous and organic.
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ORIGINS:
It started with me testing out one of those AXL guitars, they were really nice for the money.
In fact, I adored how it felt - the neck was thick and grippy allowing me great control and 'feel.
The body resonated very well, alignment was good, frets were slinky - it was excellent.
What I didn't like were the hardware - pickups, bridge, tuners etc.
So I thought, hey this fellow has a very nice foundational but is adorned with these substandard crap.
What ensued was me buying the guitar, and upgrading every single thing that could possibly be upgraded.
Right now, this guitar plays excellent and sounds superb.
In fact, it outperforms many other namesake guitars that I've tried - and I'm being entirely frank here.
__________
SPECIFICATIONS:
Here are the specifications from top-down:
Super-strat like body
Tuners: Gotoh Locking 18:1
Inlays: Genuine mother-of-pearl dot inlays done by Vincent
Pickups: Lace Sensor Holy-Grails, GFS Zebra Humbucker (can't remember the exact model)
Bridge: Custom Heavy-Duty Stavas Alloy Bridge machined by Andy of Aldridge Empire. (Eclizpe)
Knobs: Custom Wooden Knobs and Pickup-Selector Knob
Innards: Dimarzio Input-Jack, CTS pots and switches
Set-up and Wiring: Mike from Standard Value
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NOTES:
The AXL body is distressed, it came like that and personally I think it's badass, without going overboard.
Distressing is relatively subtle, and the custom wooden knobs, vintage trem and matching Gotoh hardware completes it.
The genuine MOP inlays give it a very understated elegance.
The neck has been slightly sanded down for a satin-like finish, it's very smooth.
The silkiness of the neck coupled with the deeper 'C' shape profile is truly a dream, both control and speed.
The Holy-Grails are very clean and twangy, the GFS humbuckers give it a substantial growl.
When pushed the Grails can easily go into that 'clean-dirty' blues tone that I simply gush over.
They are complemented by the excellent resonance of the body and the impeccable set-up.
Lastly, the vintage Stavas trem from Andy is simply a work of art - the trem-bar is a drop-in, and the trem-block is heavy.
It's one solid piece of heavy-ass brass that really aids in the transference of the vibrations.
It really helps with the sustain, wonderful piece of precision crafting.
__________
PRICE:
If you're even remotely familiar with guitars, you'd know that these hardware, setups and custom jobs do not come cheap.
And it is with a very heart that I'm parting with this guitar.
I've a plan of backpacking the world, and I try to go to at least two trips a year.
This time round the cash-flow is a bit tight, so this guitar has to go.
$450 takes it home - you know it's a steal. It's really a bloody steal.
I know I'd regret this later, but I've already booked my air-tickets.
Lowballers, please lah, stay the hell away.
The entire process was rather spontaneous and organic.
__________
__________
ORIGINS:
It started with me testing out one of those AXL guitars, they were really nice for the money.
In fact, I adored how it felt - the neck was thick and grippy allowing me great control and 'feel.
The body resonated very well, alignment was good, frets were slinky - it was excellent.
What I didn't like were the hardware - pickups, bridge, tuners etc.
So I thought, hey this fellow has a very nice foundational but is adorned with these substandard crap.
What ensued was me buying the guitar, and upgrading every single thing that could possibly be upgraded.
Right now, this guitar plays excellent and sounds superb.
In fact, it outperforms many other namesake guitars that I've tried - and I'm being entirely frank here.
__________
SPECIFICATIONS:
Here are the specifications from top-down:
Super-strat like body
Tuners: Gotoh Locking 18:1
Inlays: Genuine mother-of-pearl dot inlays done by Vincent
Pickups: Lace Sensor Holy-Grails, GFS Zebra Humbucker (can't remember the exact model)
Bridge: Custom Heavy-Duty Stavas Alloy Bridge machined by Andy of Aldridge Empire. (Eclizpe)
Knobs: Custom Wooden Knobs and Pickup-Selector Knob
Innards: Dimarzio Input-Jack, CTS pots and switches
Set-up and Wiring: Mike from Standard Value
__________
NOTES:
The AXL body is distressed, it came like that and personally I think it's badass, without going overboard.
Distressing is relatively subtle, and the custom wooden knobs, vintage trem and matching Gotoh hardware completes it.
The genuine MOP inlays give it a very understated elegance.
The neck has been slightly sanded down for a satin-like finish, it's very smooth.
The silkiness of the neck coupled with the deeper 'C' shape profile is truly a dream, both control and speed.
The Holy-Grails are very clean and twangy, the GFS humbuckers give it a substantial growl.
When pushed the Grails can easily go into that 'clean-dirty' blues tone that I simply gush over.
They are complemented by the excellent resonance of the body and the impeccable set-up.
Lastly, the vintage Stavas trem from Andy is simply a work of art - the trem-bar is a drop-in, and the trem-block is heavy.
It's one solid piece of heavy-ass brass that really aids in the transference of the vibrations.
It really helps with the sustain, wonderful piece of precision crafting.
__________
PRICE:
If you're even remotely familiar with guitars, you'd know that these hardware, setups and custom jobs do not come cheap.
And it is with a very heart that I'm parting with this guitar.
I've a plan of backpacking the world, and I try to go to at least two trips a year.
This time round the cash-flow is a bit tight, so this guitar has to go.
$450 takes it home - you know it's a steal. It's really a bloody steal.
I know I'd regret this later, but I've already booked my air-tickets.
Lowballers, please lah, stay the hell away.
