That is friggin awesome,,, just up my alley,,, ? :applause: :yup:

Greg Perkins wrote: Very nice

I would do one thing, if the wiring is going to be exposed there is not going to be much to see through the clear scratch plate and I fear that large black hole/section is going to stand out. Why not podge that section as well?

Super duper coool as my son would say !!

And the head stock too ! Go big with the podge !

Thanks for the comments & idea's guys :goodtimes:

We were bandying about the idea of backlighting up the interior (errr...bat signal!) with a few led's - no idea if that's still an option. Podging the interior & tremelo would be a great finishing touch, but it's all in Ollie's hands - so we'll see...Since there isn't a deadline on this one, I might be back in Cpt in time to help finish it off.

Thanks for the offer Chris! That is a reaaalll funky looking head stock! We'll stick to the original for now, the guit was virtually unplayed when I got it and was should setup real sweetly (under the costume it's a stock G200, Ollie has setup a few before - they all came out very, very playable)...But we did think of doing a "Super Strat" next, so I'll be PM'íng ya - thanks again!

V8 wrote: Thanks for the comments & idea's guys :goodtimes:

We were bandying about the idea of backlighting up the interior (errr...bat signal!) with a few led's - no idea if that's still an option. Podging the interior & tremelo would be a great finishing touch, but it's all in Ollie's hands - so we'll see...Since there isn't a deadline on this one, I might be back in Cpt in time to help finish it off.

Thanks for the offer Chris! That is a reaaalll funky looking head stock! We'll stick to the original for now, the guit was virtually unplayed when I got it and was should setup real sweetly (under the costume it's a stock G200, Ollie has setup a few before - they all came out very, very playable)...But we did think of doing a "Super Strat" next, so I'll be PM'íng ya - thanks again!

Stick a recording of the Joker's laugh and possibly the old "nananana Batman!" theme song in with the bat signal like that old limited edition Joker guitar. Every time you press the button the joker laugh plays through the signal chain and the bat signal lights up!
I used this one http://www.radioshack.com/9v-recording-module/2761323.html#.VIrI3qSUdVg

Or don't... Coz I'm definitely stealing the idea for a modge podge guitar! ? Very cool project! But please tell me you didn't really destroy a bunch of 80s comic books :'(

Chocklit_Thunda wrote: Stick a recording of the Joker's laugh and possibly the old "nananana Batman!" theme song in with the bat signal like that old limited edition Joker guitar. Every time you press the button the joker laugh plays through the signal chain and the bat signal lights up!
I used this one http://www.radioshack.com/9v-recording-module/2761323.html#.VIrI3qSUdVg

Now that's a original & quite a grand idea, nice one! I'd go for a sample of the 60's batman tune Graham has on vinyl or maybe something cheesy from one of them old 60's batman shows (Holy rusted metal Batman!)... :? Although I'm kinda against a battery in the guitar - though, if the led's do get installed, it would be silly not to...

Chocklit_Thunda wrote: Or don't... Coz I'm definitely stealing the idea for a modge podge guitar! ? Very cool project! But please tell me you didn't really destroy a bunch of 80s comic books :'(

It's hardly a original idea, though I havn't seen one quite like we're intending. There was a super neat batman P-bass someone did a similar vibe on, they really did a amazing job...literally custom shop result, we're aiming more garage-caster.

Yes, three comics were sacrificed, a early 80's batman and two late-80's detectives...I did look around for some more suitable ones, but -all of a sudden- back issues are bloody hard to find. So I trawled my small collection (+/- 500 batman/detective) for zero-value ones (v.poor condition) that I either had duplicates or they weren't worth re-re-re-reading - there were others that would have looked better, but they had some inherent value (storyline/rarity/condition/etc). Yeah, we could have printed out some legit looking images, but I wanted authentic comics.

The sacrilegious act would be to sacrifice the 1988-90 Todd McFarlane Amazing Spiderman's for the spidey-strat, or open up the sealed "death of superman" (No 75) for the super-strat :?

Hold on stop everything where is this death of superman issue?? I will pay goooooood money for it! ???

Chocklit_Thunda wrote: Hold on stop everything where is this death of superman issue?? I will pay goooooood money for it! ???

Heh, safely stashed and there it will stay ?

Along with a few other gems...

V8 wrote:
We were bandying about the idea of backlighting up the interior (errr...bat signal!) with a few led's -

Wow super duper delicious extra cool idea !!!

V8 wrote:

Chocklit_Thunda wrote: Stick a recording of the Joker's laugh and possibly the old "nananana Batman!" theme song in with the bat signal like that old limited edition Joker guitar.

Now that's a original & quite a grand idea, nice one! I'd go for a sample of the 60's batman tune Graham has on vinyl or maybe something cheesy from one of them old 60's batman shows (Holy rusted metal Batman!)... :? Although I'm kinda against a battery in the guitar - though, if the led's do get installed, it would be silly not to...

I've been tinkering with mods for those modules... they're really cool for an added gimmick. They can be used as an onboard looper, sound effects, hooked up to trigger other fx. Quite nifty and usually easy to mod.
The 60's batman theme would be really cool! Just hook the speaker wires to the output jack with a trim pot to keep the volume level equal.

It's hardly a original idea, though I havn't seen one quite like we're intending. There was a super neat batman P-bass someone did a similar vibe on, they really did a amazing job...literally custom shop result, we're aiming more garage-caster.
Yeah, we could have printed out some legit looking images, but I wanted authentic comics.

Very cool final result though! I've heard of people using printed fabric as well!

Okay...this really should have been done by now - but <shift> happens. :?

A little lo-res teaser of the *hopefully* final stages of assembly & setup. Since the last post, there's been about 10 coats of the modge-podge gloss lacquer (by brush, I reckon it adds to the garage-esque vibe of it), headstock got batman'ed, pickguard got wired up, Olly fabricated a Bat logo input jack plate and there's a little gimmick being wired in as well...



We're hoping to have it playing sweetly by the 30th May for the Gear Junkie's "Builders Day/Swop Meet" in Cpt.

Chocklit_Thunda wrote: Wait elaborate on this swop meet thingy? It sounds cool!

Hasn't been officially advertised (there's a Gear Junkie newsletter pending I hear) - there's a bunch of guys who are building all sorts of interesting things (Wizard, Lapdawg, Manfred, Danie & Paul Searle, amongst others) and there's quite a cool trade culture going - bits/favours for favours/bits. So we reckoned it would be cool to get em all together on the same day, shoot some footage for Gear Junkie Tv and have a chance to have everyone swop their bits and stir the pot of inspiration.

Chocklit_Thunda wrote: Also is the gimmick a recording module with the original "nanananananananana batmaaaaaan" theme song that plays every time you end a song

I doubt it - actually wanted to chat to you about sourcing one, I still want to do something like that! Olly decided on something else, I suspected something when I got given this jack to for assembly...

one of the most fantastic 'build' threads thus far. hope to see (and hear) the final product soon!

domhatch wrote: one of the most fantastic 'build' threads thus far. hope to see (and hear) the final product soon!

Thanks Dom - though I'd rate Lapdawg's 59 LP, Wizard's Violincaster and Chabeda/Neon Gecko tele builds as 10/10 and this one as merely amusing ?

Although when I laid the parts out on Sunday I did think that for around R1500 (guesstimate of parts & materials - inc donor Cort G200) and +/-40hrs build time it's a fine example of an alternative to a DIY build. But with far better electronics - we had a quick test yesterday and it's promising...

Pics and video in a few weeks!

Wellllll, builders day came and went and the bat strat was finished...and so was my thumb after a brief altercation with a french chef knife ??? - so no play testing as yet...

Olly wiring up the "gimmick"...



And all 4 led's lit up in all their glory...



I'm told it's nicely setup, action & intonation are solid and the pups (2xhot duncan designed singles + tonerider bucker) sound really good together, loads of squeally g0odness & there's even a hint of clean tone glass-y-ness in pos 4!

Excellent, are you using a coil tap on the humbucker to give you a single coil option as well?

Position 4 is that second from the back or second from the front, 2nd from the back is my favorite selection especially for the Dire Straits stuff, quacks lekker.

Greg Perkins wrote: Excellent, are you using a coil tap on the humbucker to give you a single coil option as well?

Position 4 is that second from the back or second from the front, 2nd from the back is my favorite selection especially for the Dire Straits stuff, quacks lekker.

No coil tap on the humbucker - It's a tonerider generator neck we popped in the bridge, +/- 8k output, I think it would be overwhelmed by the singles if it was tapped - the middle single is 8.8k and the neck one is around 12.5k!

I've always thought of 1=bridge and 5=neck, thus 4 = one back from neck - I think of it was SRV position ?.

I was honestly surprised that these had any audible quack/glass at all (hotter single coils not noted for this) - pos 2 & 3 are also usable, fairly surprising for a set of pups chucked in back to front (neck humbucker in bridge. bridge single in neck & the middle single is for the neck) ???

looking sick!

Thanks to all for the input & encouragement!

Allllllrighty, it's done - 7mths and about 100hrs of fettling and we're super chuffed with the result.

A quick re-cap : Under the skin it's a Cort G200 that someone had attempted to mod. The neck was straight, frets as new, but the body was slightly abused and pickups & pickguard were trashed.

Graham, Olly and I were brainstorming what to do with it and the idea to modge-podge using some old & trashed batman comics from my collection became the "Bat-Strat".

I organized the parts, Olly & Flicki did 98% of the hard work (great job on the design Flicki!).

Custom touches include : 3x genuine 80's comic books plastered all over the body w/10 coats of a clear poly , see-thru pickguard, hand made bat logo input jack cover, 4xblue leds that light up when the input jack is connected, new pickups (tonerider humbucker, 2x duncan single's) & a few tiny details (neat wiring, black string tree's, chromed vol, tone & pickup selector knobs)

It looks the business...and now that I can actually play test it here's my 0.02c

How does it play...? Ok - I'm biased - it plays like a champ! It's wearing a low 'n sexy setup like a batsuit (err... ?) No fret buzz, intonation is good and plenty scope for adjustment for personal taste.

How does it sound? Surprisingly inspiring. Gain tones are sweet, it handles crunch to high gain with no worries. We shielded as much of the wiring as we could, so very little hum and rf noise. Even the middle and neck pickups can be encouraged to produce pinch harmonics =D

The clean tones - in all positions - are real good too. The neck pup is a full strat neck sound, no mistaking it. Pos 2 (bridge and middle) was a pleasant surprise - very interesting full sound too.

If you be around the gear junkie in cape town, pop in and give it run.

Saw this on your video. Absolutely divine and original