Indie #20 - 'Custom Shop L shape'

This is another example of Indies 2008 'Custom Shop' output, this time the 'L shape' which is their Les Paul style.

There were only 16 made to the following spec...

Body: Solid Mahogany
Body Top: Solid Maple with Tiger Maple Cap Body
Binding: Natural Wood
Neck: Solid Mahogany, Heeless Cutaway, Smooth Satin Wood Finish
Neck Binding: Natural
Neck Construction: Set neck, Heeless cutaway, Smooth Satin Wood Finish
Fingerboard: A-grade ebony
Fingerboard: Inlay Tree of Life Abalone
Headstock: Binding Natural
Machine Heads: Grover tuner
Top Nut: Graphite
Bridge: Deluxe Tune-O-Matic
Hardware: Deluxe Nickel Chrome
Pickups: DV8 Humbuckers - High Output Indie Alnico Electrics 2 volume, 2 tone, 3-way toggle switch, Mini Switches for Active/Passive and Coil Tap
Truss Rod: 2-way dual action
Scale Length/Frets: 628mm(24.7")/22 frets
Finish: Satin Blue Burst Custom

It's essentially similar to the rest of the Indie output but with small tweaks, active pre-amp and nice detailing.

It's almost eleven pounds of shoulder destroying mahogany monster in a very nice satin finish. I got it for a very good price but sadly it's missing the original Indie case. I'll see if I can find one or perhaps steal the one from my Designer Union Jack.

Now if I can pick up one of the 2008 'Custom shop' IPRs I'll have full the set. :-)

Problems with the 80s Washburn headstock design

Since getting my second 80s Washburn I've noticed an issue with the 80s 'pointy' headstock design.

Most of the models with this don't seem to bother with string trees and this means that top E runs just outside the silhouette of the headstock, almost Parker style. I don't like the way this looks but it also has a practical problem if you've got a locking nut.

Unless you're very careful about fitting the locking clamps snugly while the top E string is slack the clamp cuts the string when you tighten it. This can also happen if you undo the clamp more than is necessary if you want to use the machine heads later.

This is because the shape of the headstock means the top E and B strings naturally pull up and sideways out of the locking nut. This is clearly visible in the second photo. If you get the string to tension then put the clamp on it puts it under extra tension and cuts it.

Granted you always have to be reasonably careful with locking nuts but I've had a succession of guitars with them and it's only these 80s Washburns that are this bad for it so far. Even my Dean from Hell, which has a stupid string angle out of the nut is fine. I don't get this with my original EC29 as it has an unconventional cam operated locking nut and also a pattern of screws which serve as string trees.

Another vaguely annoying thing is that the string clamps are ~12x11mm when most generic ones are ~12x12mm, making it a pain to get replacements without filing them down. Which I'm going to have to do for my RR2V which came without any.

Making a scratchplate for the EC29 - part 4

Today I whipped the scratchplate back off, chopped it out round the trem and pickups and put it back.

Now the pickups are mounted as they were before, not direct to the scratchplate so I've at least managed to line them up with the strings again.

I'm going to have to redo this but at least it all now works.

Making a scratchplate for the EC29 - part 3

I was off work today so fiddled with this some more.

After marking out the pickup cutouts more accurately with some pickup surrounds I cut them out. I've get much better at cutting things with the Dremel, as per usual you work out the best way of doing something just as you come to the end of the job.

I used a sander mandrel to shape the lower edge of the scratchplate quite a bit and made the point at the lower horn much more aggressive.

Drilling the holes was a bit hit and miss, I clamped the plate to the guitar then poked a pen through the holes from the back but it seemed to still move about so this took a few goes. I used a Stanley knife to scrape a bevel along the edge of the plate as the last step.

The second photo is it all back together with the plate stuck to the guitar body with double sided tape. In the end I had drilled the bridge pickup mounting holes too far back and had to make them oval for it to work.

More of an issue is that the neck pickup is slightly too far toward the bass strings, it'll work but realistically I'm going to have to make a second scratchplate to correct this. You can't really see this in the photo because of parallax but it's obvious when you look at the guitar.

Anyway, I'm happy with this as a proof of concept. It does the faux strat thing well and may make people do a double-take. Which was the whole idea.

Tomorrow I'll wire this back up and use it for a bit before tackling the next iteration of my project.

Making a scratchplate for the EC29 - part 2

Well tonight I did a little playing with a Dremel in a router table and cut down the scratchplate based on my paper template.

It's not quite there yet and I've yet to start on the pickup cutouts but it's looking believable rather than a ridiculous wobbly mess.

I've cut the neck pocket too large and it still needs a fair bit trimmed from the lower edge but I'll work on that carefully. I've got a few days off over Easter so I'll have time to tackle this.

If I mess it up I'll just buy another piece of scratchplate material, it's not massively expensive for simple 3-ply. I was thinking of starting with a piece of clear perspex to make a template but abandoned the idea as I'd just end up doing the same work twice.

Dean #2 - 'ML Dean from hell'

Having bought my Baby Dean ML as a bit of a joke on the assumption I wasn't going to be able to pick up a 'proper' one any time soon, this came up.

It's the current basic 'Dean from Hell' replica. If you're going to have a Dean, forget all the Razorbacks etc., this is the design to have IMO.

I find the whole postmortem Dimebag industry Dean are at the centre of a tad distasteful to be honest. It's in danger of turning him into the Metal Elvis and I thought twice before buying this.

Anyway, this guitar has a reasonably authentic take on the features of Dimebags original Dean from Hell which put them back on the map. It's not just the paint job but right down to the tape on the neck pickup and melted 'traction' knobs. Well apart from the fact it's made in China and pristine rather than beaten to death.

In play it's somewhat underwhelming, ho hum I'm glad I didn't pay the £700 Dean want for one of these. Maybe I don't like the unconventional 'V' neck profile or the fact it's even more unwieldy than an Explorer. Or maybe I just feel a little embarrassed playing it.

This blog post has made me think I really ought to get it out more and give it another chance.

Goodies

Courtesy of eBay I have built up a little stash of Seymour Duncan Blackouts active pickups. I've already got some in my Rhoads and I reckon I prefer them to EMGs. They seem to change hands for less than EMGs too, which is a bonus.

This is a neck/bridge set, a strat set and a single bridge. The middle and neck strat ones are the same pickups.

I'm thinking I'll make up an H/S set using one of the singles and the bridge AHB2 pinched from my Rhoads to go in one of my EC29s. The plan is to use a five way 'super switch' to toggle the 'high output' jumper on the two pickups in the intermediate positions and make it a little more versatile than just setting everything on 11 all the time.

The odd bridge (which is a bit scuffed) will go back in the Rhoads.

I'm not quite sure what I'll do with the matched pair, they were sort of bought on spec. because they were cheap. I could do another HSS set although something will end up with a bridge pickup in the wrong position if I do.