Contact me if you have Pre Ordered

If you have pre-ordered a guitar, please contact me with your address for shipping. If for some reason you no longer want to buy one, please let me know as there is a long waiting list for various colours.

I have my series 2 prototype complete - I will post some pictures soon, along with some pictures of a T.C. Ellis Guitars Jazz Guitar prototype - its got a mahogany top and bottom and is very early Jazz / Blues influenced.

Again, please contact me if you have pre-ordered a guitar - I am anxious to get them shipped.

Shipping First Orders

I am now shipping some of the first pre-orders - here are a few quick pictures:

Neck Jig

Here is a picture of my neck Jig - it simulates string tension on a neck when you are working on the frets. It is absolutely essential to setting up a guitar properly - The Neck Jig's dial indicators, peg head tensioner and peg head jack let me precisely simulate string tension, including the effect of the truss rod adjustment inside the neck. When I mill the frets, it is as if the strings are still on the guitar! To everyone who has pre-ordered, expect an email shortly. Thanks

Spalted Maple Stratocaster & Telecaster

Been working on a few Stratocasters & Tele - all with a 1 piece mahogany body and spalted maple tops - here are some pics:




They both have matching mahogany necks in the traditional pre-CBS headstock shape with ebony fingerboards & abalone dot markers. The telecaster has no stain on it yet - thats why it still looks "natural". I am hoping the mahogany adds some of its tonal characteristics (it's certainly added it's weight) I have not decided on pickups as yet - possibly a Seymour Duncan Everything Axe Pickup Set for the Strat or something by Lindy Fralin. Any idea's on the pickguard style would be appreciated!

Mitch Mitchell has died

Jimi Hendrix drummer Mitch Mitchell was found dead in a Portland hotel -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7726024.stm

R.I.P.

Gold Plating

Here is a picture of a couple of pickups I just plated with 24 carat gold / cobalt mix. They look really good, also the added cobalt significantly reduces the plating wearing off over time.




I also have some pictures of my prototype for the Series 2 guitar - its come out really nice - the prototype is in a cross between Cherry & Tobacco sunburst - its got a really vintage vibe, but a great modern look with the neck & headstock. Also just finishing the body's for a matched pair of guitars - a Strat and a Tele. Both have 1 piece mahogany body's and capped with spalted maple with a slight vintage tint. I will also post some pictures of them over the next few days. Thanks to everyone who has taken the survey - it is proving to be very useful for my future design considerations.

Finally, the next few weeks are going to really busy so if you email me & I dont get back to you right away, please bear with me, I will answer all emails when I have a chance. Everyone who has pre-ordered a guitar will be contacted shortly before each guitar is ready to ship. Thanks for all the support & check back soon for the new pictures.

SOLD OUT OF BLACK & PURPLE

Sorry to say I have now sold out of Black and Purple as well as the Amber & Tobacco Sunburst.

I still have very a very limited quantity of Blue, Cherry Sunburst, Red & Green.

Also very excited about the hardware - the gold plating is really good quality. I am using an excellent quality plating mix that is 24 carat gold with added cobalt for durability. Tests are showing the gold plating is really hard wearing while retaining a deep gold lustre. I will post some pictures in the next few days. Thanks for all the support.

James L. D'Aquisto Tear Drop

Just pulled this one out of the collection - this is another really intersting guitar.

One of the greatest guitar luthiers in history, James L. D'Aquisto, started his career in arch-top guitar building at the age of 17 at John D'Angelico's studio. He founded his own D'Aquisto brand after the passing of John D'Angelico and is known to have created some of the best-sounding, most sought after arch-top guitars available until his untimely death at the age of 59 in 1995.

The instruments he created in his later years are especially desired and are highly regarded as the “Holy Grail” of arch-top guitars. They are still the inspiration for many arch-top guitar builders.

I purchased this guitar from Ed Roman in Las Vegas - its serial number 003 and its NOT FOR SALE! Check out Ed Romans website - lots of guitars and I love his rants. Go to : http://www.edroman.com/index.htm

Pickups etc.

A lot of people are asking for named brand pickups on the pre-ordered guitars. I do not currently have a stock of pickups from Seymore Duncan, EMG etc. so if anyone who has pre-ordered a guitar would like any particular humbuckers installed, please let me know.

I will do my best to source some at a reasonable price, or feel free to mail me your choice of pickups & I will install them onto your guitar at no extra charge.

Also, the survey is going good. Thank you to everyone who has taken it - it seems that you like your Les Paul / PRS style guitar in Mahogany, Flame Maple, with named brand pickups and bridge.

I am still looking at a late November completion on the guitars - I will be in touch with everyone as they near completion.

Bird Fish Guitar

I have been going through my collection & I thought I would share this amazing guitar with you. The guitar is called a "Bird Fish" and is made by Ulrich Teuffel of Teuffel Guitars - http://www.teuffel.com/index.htm

This is the most unique guitar I have ever seen or played - it was made for me in 2005 and I have cherished it ever since. Click on the pictures for a bigger version.

From the website:
"The body consists of the two tonebars which are screwed on both central elements "bird" and "fish". The neck is bolted onto the upper element "bird" while the lower "fish" carries the control box in which you find the guitar electronics. A rail between "bird" and "fish" holds the slideable pickups. All three pickups can be exchanged with each other within seconds."

The guitar itself plays like a dream - it it the most professionally set up guitar I own. As for sound - it will do what ever you want. I can make it sound more like a 1957 Stratocaster than my actual 1957 Strat!


Bridge:



Back:

Front:


Nut:

SOLD OUT OF AMBER and TOBACCO SUNBURST

Just to let you know, I have sold all the Amber and Tobacco Sunburst models - they have all been pre-ordered.

I am going to take some pictures of a really unusual guitar from my collection later today - check back later - it will be worth it.

Survey & New Model

I have put together a 10 question survey (Click HERE to take the survey) It asks questions about your preferred design and hardware for a custom electric guitar. The results are quite interesting. So far the results indicate that the Les Paul is the most desired shape, in mahogany, flame maple top, set neck, rosewood or ebony fretboard, gold hardware, seymour duncan pickups, traditional les paul 2 piece bridge tailpiece (or floyd rose) - sounds like a Les Paul style guitar to me.

Thats good news as I am working on a prototype for my next run - I have loosely decided on the following specifications:

Les Paul shape body Florentine Cut
Mahogany Body & Neck
Matching Top, Back & Headstock in Maple (Flame, Quilt, Spalted or Birdseye)
Double Binding on Body (Front & Back)
Rosewood Fretboard with D'Angelico New Yorker style diagonal split block MOP inlays
Traditional "Les Paul" style bridge / tailpiece OR Bigsby trem unit
Various pickup configurations to include dual humbuckers, Soapbars, TV Jones Style - also the ability to upgrade and have named brand pickups installed (Seymour Duncan's etc)

I should have a prototype in the next month or so - I will post pictures as it develops.

Finally, I am am also working on 3 Stratocaster's and a Telecaster which are Mahogany body with mahogany necks and spalted maple tops - these are going to be configured with very very high end components - again I will post pictures as the build comes along.

Manufacturing Pictures

Here are the latest pictures from production - this is a really exciting time as they are finally coming together after so much work. I hope you are enjoying this process as much as I am.

Blue with Chrome Hardware:

Headstock with the "T.C. Ellis Guitars" Logo:


Cherry Sunburst, Red's, and Tobacco Sunburst



Mixed lot of Purple, Amber, Red, Sunburst & Blue (on the right)


Looking good!

Brand Name

Just a quick note to everyone following this blog - I have decided to change my company name from AKA Guitars to T.C. Ellis Guitars, Ltd.

I feel that as I am making & selling these guitars, then I should at least put my name on them. I will be putting together a new website based at www.TCEllisGuitars.com in the new year. The headstocks of this 1st run will all have the "T.C. Ellis Guitars" style logo as you can see at the new website.

Thanks

For everyone who is following the production process of this 1st run, I am happy to post some pictures of some bodys with colours. Please note that the picture quality is poor, but you will get to see the guitars coming together. Also, Sunburst is a difficult colour to photograph - the transition of the colours always looks much harsher that it actually is.

Cherry Sun Burst on Quilted Maple:

Amber quilt (out of focus):

Blue Quilted:

Green Quilted:

Tobacco Sunburst:

SNAGG Microchips

I am pleased to announce that I am now the sole U.K. importer and distributor for SNAGG security chips. http://www.snagg.com/

The SNAGG Microchip is an RFID (radio frequency identification device) microchip that emits a unique alphanumeric code number when scanned. The chip is about the size of a grain of rice.

The SNAGG chip is buried inside the guitar or musical instrument and is impossible to remove without destroying the instrument. SNAGG's unique embedded technology creates both a substantial disincentive to thieves, as well as a future-proof means of insuring that the provenance (ownership) of the guitar is protected.


I will be in a position to install SNAGG chips soon - please check back at a later date for more information and pricing.

Thank you to everyone who has called or emailed support for this limited run. I really appreciate any help or input into the guitar design.

A lot of you are ordering the guitar with gold hardware - I am making this option available at no extra cost so if you prefer gold hardware, please let me know.

I am getting a lot of calls asking for a trem model - I have not found a trem I am happy with as yet - if anyone has a preferred style / manufacturer please let me know so I can check them out.

Finally, as an update, production is still smooth - I expect to have this run of 50 ready to ship by mid to late November.

Available Colours

I am getting a lot of enquiries regarding the colours I will have available. I have put together this picture to show the available colours. Please note that the pictures are examples of the colours only - not guitar body design.

Here are some guitar necks - note the "tree-of-life" inlay

Here are some rough CNC'd Bodys:

Welcome to the Blog

I finally got this working - I have been trying various blog software & this is the 1st one to actually work.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my website. As you can see, I am in the process of getting my first line of Electric Guitars completed. Its taken a while, but I think it will be worth it. The guitars are looking very good and manufacturing is moving along without any problems so far.

I will be posting some pictures of the necks & body's later - check back soon.