Saturday, December 19, 2009

Finished Phil Campbells New Guitar

I have finally finished Phil's new Strat:


The guitar is built as a twin to the Series 2 Les Paul Style that we built for him earlier this year - its translucent white over Flame Maple with Gold Hardware.

Here are the specs:

Body: 1 Piece Ash with Flame Maple top. Routed for H/S/S

Neck: High Quality Flame Maple with Premium Rosewood Fretboard 22 Frets (medium Jumbo), 16" radius - "Spade" symbol fret markers in Abalone with "Wanker" at the 12th fret. Hand carved bone nut (0.023" to 0.018" E to E) 42.6mm at the nut / 52mm at the 12th fret. Very slim neck profile (20mm at 12th fret) - soft shoulders with a fairly "flat" back - think FAST. Vintage Pin-up decal on the headstock, finished in high gloss Nitro with Danish Oil finish on the back of the neck.

Hardware: EMG 81/S/S with 1 volume and 1 tone (ceramic) Callaham Vintage S bridge and trem block (blocked off) - no trem claw or springs - the trem cavity has 2 9v batteries for 18v mod to the EMG circuitry) Hardware has been selectivly 24 carat gold plated for a Gold / Nickel look. Hand made Gold Mirror pickguard and matching back plate - Vintage split post tuners again selectivly plated in gold. And finally a nice Welsh Flag button.

The guitars neck is set with a very very small amount of relief, Earnie Ball Super Slinky 10's with the action at 0.055 at the 12th fret on the Bass E going to 0.045 on the trebel E.

This had turned out to be yet another sweet guitar - I actually took a break yesterday and just played it for the sheer enjoyment it sounded and played that good. Phil is in Moscow today for the last gig of the 2009 Motorizer tour - we will hook up over Xmas and the New Year - I will try and get some pics and video of him with the guitar.

I can build this same guitar for around £850 - Fender Custom Shop quality at a fraction of the price.

Click on the pictures for bigger versions:



Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Phil Campbells new Strat Build

I have been working on the neck again for the new Stratocaster I am building for Phil Campbell of Motorhead - here are a few pics (click on them for a bigger version):

Headstock with decal & Logo - Lots of Nitro Clear - hand flatted between coats etc:


Back of the neck - high quality Flame Maple


12th Fret Inlay:


"Ace" Fret Markers

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Guitar for Horton Heat

Working on a Guitar for the Rev. Horton Heat - check out this website for more info if you are not familiar with them: http://www.reverendhortonheat.com/ - more info will be up shortly.








Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Phil Campbells Strat Build

I have been building Phil Campbell of Motorhead a Strat for the past few weeks - its just about done. Today I applied the headstock decals and took a quick picture (click on it to see it bigger)



I will post some pictures and more information later this week once it's complete. I can build this same Strat for £750 - set up exactly as this one.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Yamaha, Kawasaki & Ducati Stratocasters

Just finishing up on a few Motorbike themed Strats.

Made up from various off the shelf Fender and non-Fender parts - generic Strat pickups. Fender USA necks with serial numbers. £475 each - upgrade the pickups etc at your option - call or email for upgrade pricing. Premium Paintwork by "Ace of Sprays"









Monday, November 30, 2009

New Guitar for Phil Campbell

Phil Campbell of Motorhead just got another guitar from me - they just finished up the UK part of the Motorizer 2009 tour and are now in Europe. I managed to get the guitar completed last Saturday morning (Thanks very much to Tim Mills at Bare Knuckle Pickups for getting the War Pig's to me on time). A mad dash to the London Hammersmith Apollo for sound check to deliver the guitar as well as a nice Green Flame Maple Series 2 for Mikkey Dee (Motorheads Drummer), a TC Ellis SG style and the last of my TC Ellis Hollowbody Les Paul style guitars for Dan and the crew - sorry Lemmy, that was the last one.

During the concert Paul, Lemmys Son made a guest appearance during "Killed by Death" and actually used Phils new guitar. I also met with the Guitar tech for the Damned - I am building him a Flying V.


The guitar for Phillip is one of my new "Debbie" style Les Pauls - solid mahogany body, Quilted Maple front, double binding, flame maple neck left natural, tree of life inlay, fully shielded with CTS Pots, Sprague Orange drops, Bare Knuckle "War Pig" pickups and the hardware in gold.

This is a very limited run of 12 instruments - available in black flame and tobacco sunburst flame. I did have another Cherry Sunburst that matched Phils guitar but Martin, a good customer of mine just grabbed it yesterday for his Xmas present to himself.

The guitars are available in 2 configurations - with standard hardware, pickups etc for £549 and a "Pro" version with upgraded electronics, CTS Pots, Sprague orange drop's, Bare Knuckle Pickups, fully shielded for £775.






Tuesday, November 17, 2009

New Strat Build with EMG's

I finished a pair of Strats a few weeks ago - here are some pictures and info:



Specifications:

Solid Mahogany Body with Spalted / Flamed Maple top
AAA Flame Maple Neck with Maple Fretboard - Abalone Inlays
EMG-DG 20 Pickup's - http://www.emginc.com/products/index/56/11/1
Callaham USA Vintage S Tremolo and Hardware in Nickle: http://www.callahamguitars.com/partsstr.htm
Callaham Vintage Split Post Tuners
Bone Nut
Pro Setup
£750 (Cheaper than an off the wall USA Strat)

This Strat has the perfect "Strat" sound - I am very pleased with the finished guitar.






Saturday, November 14, 2009

Review of a TC Ellis Guitars Series 2

I just read this review of one of my guitars - click here for the ultimate-guitars review

The guitar started as a basic Series 2 and was upgraded with Bare Knuckle Pickups and premium electronics.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Lemmy Bass - Update & Pictures

Here are a few pictures of the Bass we are building for Lemmy - Once Lemmy approves we will begin production:




Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Brushed Steel / Copper Rust Acoustic

Faux Brushed Steel and Copper effect Acoustic Guitar - I will have 2 Les Paul Style (My Series 2's) available soon with this same finish.





Vincent Motorbike Guitar

Working on this PRS Style Guitar - it is themed around the classic Vincent Motorbike's of the 50's. We are working on a few Stratocasters based around classic Triumph, BSA, Ducatti, Yahaha, etc. motorbike colour schemes.












Monday, November 2, 2009

Lemmy Bass & Phil Campbell Strat Update Nov. 2 2009

Here are a few new pictures of Lemmys Bass (Notice the intricate body binding is now on) This Bass is subject to Lemmy's approval:



Here are a few pictures of a Strat build we are doing for Phillip Campbell of Motorhead - he likes his Series 2 so much he wants a matching Strat style guitar - Ash body in translucnt white, S/S/H, Flame Maple neck with premium rosewood fretboard (check out the upside down "Spade" symbols for the fret markers in Abalone and "Wanker" in Abalone at the 12th fret)


Saturday, October 31, 2009

Lemmy Bass Update Oct 31 2009

Here are a few more pictures showing the construction of Lemmys new Bass:





Once the initial prototype has been approved by Lemmy, we will begin a very limited production run.