Another guitar junkie joins

Leon_AiA

Hello, everybody.

My name is Leon and I'm an addict. Not only in guitars, but all kinds of musical instruments. My current list stands as follows:

6 String Acoustic: 3
12 String Acoustic: 1
Classical 6 string: 3
Acoustic Bass: 1
Electric Bass: 1
Electric guitars: 4
Resonator: 1
Flying V Ukulele "Metalele": 1
5 String Banjo: 1
Yamaha Organ: 1
Rhodes Mark V piano: 1
"Frankenleslie" speaker: 1
Viscount X125-B speaker with 3-way static as well as Leslie tremolo unit: 1
Peavey 6505 120W head: 1
Line 6 Spider III 120W head + FBV Shortboard: 1
Line 6 Spider 412 Cab: 1
Orange Micro Terror + matching 108 cab: 1
11 guitar Effects & volume pedals, 8 of which are on my huge pedal board

I probably have other stuff I've forgotten about and the list is growing.

I've built one Flying V kit (Put in actives instead of the std passives), refinished a ukulele in satin black, chopped up a Thomas organ to make a "Franken"Leslie, I'm busy building the control circuitry to use the Viscount as a stand-alone amp with 1/4" input and I'm restoring a lap steel from the 1940's.

In between all that I am the bearded guitarist with Adorned in Ash http://adornedinash.com/ and I have a day job too.

I hope to be of assistance as I'm known for researching the hell out of anything.

See you on the flipside

If you'd like to help this person outgrow his house totally, dial 1-800-he-needs-more-instruments

giggsy

Welcome - you must have a huge house

Leon_AiA

No, just a full one ?

Leon_AiA

And If I'm not mistaken I bought the Flying V kit from you, Gregg?

studmissile

Wow Leon_AiA I was gonna say "keep working the program", but with that list rekon you a goner! Welcome ?

Stoffeltoo

Impressive collection. Welcome to the musical funny farm. You will battle to beat Allan though, he doesn't do research, he just knows 8)

Chabenda

Howzit Leon_AiA,

Yours sounds like a house that gives guitaristas that glazed look in their eyes and causes them to mumble and not be able to finish their sentences. It sounds good.

PeteM

Welcome

Psean

Welcome man. Dig your band by the way. Good to have you here ?

Leon_AiA

Thanks, Psean! When is Radio Silence gigging again?

Psean

Leon_AiA wrote: Thanks, Psean! When is Radio Silence gigging again?

Hey, thanks for asking ?
Nothing planned very soon. Last one was a week ago but we want to get stuck into writing some new stuff for a bit.

giggsy

Leon_AiA wrote: And If I'm not mistaken I bought the Flying V kit from you, Gregg?

Hey man - yip, how did it turn out? Would love to see it

Leon_AiA

Giggsy, I ended up going with a gloss black with gold zyrillic flake after some sanding revealed a gap in the grain which had to be filled (not big, but big enough to be visible with a natural finish as planned). The back of the headstock and neck are satin clear. The glossy parts were polished with high gloss automotive polish (the paint is 2K without clearcoat).

The fret board has Dunlop 65 lemon oil applied to it to bring out that nice rich colour. The frets needed quite a bit of work to make the edges smooth, although they are feeling a bit scratchy at the moment, I think the room it's in might be a bit cold.

I put in some spare Seymour Duncan Blackouts from my Charvel Desolation DS-1-FR (AHB-1B Pickup in Bridge and AHB-1N in the neck position) and did the wiring according to SD's website (see link below). I put in aluminium tape (looks like duct tape, but is aluminium - available from Builders' Warehouse) on the complete underside of the scratch plate before I started with assembly as well as inside the wiring cavities. The guitar's electronics are dead quiet.

Seeing as though it is a replica I had a Gibson trussrod cover made with the scratch plate and jack plate in the same satin black with gold at the back (Techplates Edenvale - 011 452 9608). To finish off I added gold coloured straplocks and a plain black leather strap.

Before I started:

Full Length View:

The body showing scratch plate and SD blackouts:

Headstock showing sparkle of the gold zyrillic and faux Gibson trussrod cover

On the stand with my Charvel DS-1-FR and Jackson King V KVXT

I did the wiring for the active pickups according to diagrams found on Seymour Duncan's website http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/
http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=2_blackouts_2v_1t

I found the truss rod cover and scratch plate template on this site which has loads more designs: http://www.terrapinguitars.com/index_php.php?content=pdfContent

There are more kits and all kinds of parts (including Bigsby-type tremolo's) available from Guitarfetish.com http://www.guitarfetish.com/

Doomsower

Hi Leon and welcome to the madhouse.

PS: I am a huge fan of your work. :-[

Leon_AiA

Thanks, Doomsower ?

Sent from my HUAWEI P6-U06 using Tapatalk

giggsy

Nice Leon! And how does it play?

Leon_AiA

Giggsy wrote: Nice Leon! And how does it play?

Very nice, Giggsy. I put some Ernie Ball hybrid slinky's on, set a nice low action - which was surprisingly easy to achieve - and it has a very Gibson-esque feel due to the fat neck (I'm used to my skinny Jackson & Charvel in comparison).

The thinner-than-usual scratch plate makes for a very interestingly rich sound as the large-ish cavity and vibrations affect it. The pickups are mounted to the scratch plate only and it actually sounds subtly different when you "mute" the scratch plate with a finger. Sustains much longer than the bolt-on, softer wood and thin scratch plate construction would suggest.

On stage the shape lends to a natural upwards angle for me which straddles my right leg when I adopt a wider stance (as I usually do). Fret positions are similar to my Jackson King V when on the shoulder.

Not the best pic, but note the straddle:

giggsy

Sounds great man, can I have it back? :-[

Really chuffed that its of decent enough quality for live use