Star Swirl *** 1st build

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cmiller0034
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Re: Star Swirl *** 1st build

Postby cmiller0034 » Mon Jan 05, 2015 6:08 pm

panther wrote:Chris;
I agree, great build, a lot came from it. The Guitar turned out great.
Thanks for sharing.
Onward and upward so they say.
Dan


Great job, sorry to see you finish it though...have enjoyed watching your progress, the ups and downs. Congratulations, what's next!!??
Scott


Awesome! This has been a great build thread.



Thank you Scott GREG and Dan. Thanks for rooting for me. Glad I got it all finished today. No buzz, nice even Low action frets. Guitar sounds great. I got to get a soundcloud account or something to demo the pickups. I suck as a player so don't expect much :lol:

On a side note don't buy Dunlop stings. The last 3 boxes have all broken or come unraveled at the ball bearings on my High E strings. I emailed Dunlop customer service a month ago to voice my discontent and have yet to receive a reply. The pack I put on today began unraveling as soon as I began to tune the strings. Shame on you Dunlop. No wonder they were on sale at Guitar center for $2 a pack. I got to go buy more stings
"If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."- a wise man

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panther
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Re: Star Swirl *** 1st build

Postby panther » Tue Jan 06, 2015 9:31 am

I prefer Ernie Ball for Electrics, and 80/20 Phosphor Bronze for Acoustic. Darco makes the 80/20, a subsidiary of Martin. Which recently discontinued them. They were a very low priced s6tring, and now Martin changed the name, and is charging twice the price. Even they realized they were great strings.
What blows me away, is I found those strings by trying several brands, and turned other very seasoned players on to them, even though I've only been playing a few years. Made me feel like I must be learning something. Maybe because I pointed them out, I cut my on throat.

Dan
"The More People I Meet, The More I Miss My Dog"

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cmiller0034
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Re: Star Swirl *** 1st build

Postby cmiller0034 » Thu Jan 08, 2015 9:48 pm

Left up tom MY OWN DEVICES



Ever have a tune stuck in your head? See what happens when I don't know how to play the guitar very well and I build one anyway. Enjoy this terrible demo!







Again thanks to everyone's help and input on constructing this new Galactic Terror :D I know I suck now, buy hey its 10 degrees outside and I got the Swirl to keep my company indoors. Maybe by the summer I will have a better grasp on music theory. I really like this tune dancing around in my head, maybe when it's fleshed out I'll upload another video.

Bye Bye everybody! Bye Bye.
"If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."- a wise man

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SanchoPansen
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Re: Star Swirl *** 1st build

Postby SanchoPansen » Fri Jan 09, 2015 1:23 am

Too bad this post is over. Enjoyed every bit. And the final result is impressive. It sounds awesome and must be such a good feeling to play a guitar that you've built from scratch! Chapeau!

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Greg_L
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Re: Star Swirl *** 1st build

Postby Greg_L » Fri Jan 09, 2015 5:23 am

Wait, don't go yet. I'd like to see some nice pics of the finished project. That video sounds fine, but doesn't give me much to look at. I wanna see that starswirl in all it's glory. ;)

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Re: Star Swirl *** 1st build

Postby panther » Fri Jan 09, 2015 10:02 am

Maybe a few outdoor shots. Also are you planning a pickguard ?
Dan
"The More People I Meet, The More I Miss My Dog"

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cmiller0034
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Re: Star Swirl *** 1st build

Postby cmiller0034 » Fri Jan 09, 2015 2:39 pm

Your Wish has been granted Long live Jambi


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This summer I'll be starting another project. One with a more comfy neck. Have fun playing and building everyone. :D
"If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."- a wise man

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MWaldorf
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Re: Star Swirl *** 1st build

Postby MWaldorf » Fri Jan 09, 2015 10:34 pm

Congratulations! The guitar looks great and keep working on that tune, it has potential.
Oy vey - it's MESHUGGA BEACH PARTY - The world's premier Jewish Surf Music Band!

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What? Couldn't tell the logo is a link? So click here, what's the hold up? http://www.meshuggabeachparty.com

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Greg_L
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Re: Star Swirl *** 1st build

Postby Greg_L » Sat Jan 10, 2015 8:07 am

Wow, that is so cool. Good job man, it was a pleasure to follow along.

Do you mind if I swipe a couple of those pics just to show some friends?

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cmiller0034
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Re: Star Swirl *** 1st build

Postby cmiller0034 » Sat Jan 10, 2015 11:30 am

Greg_L wrote:Wow, that is so cool. Good job man, it was a pleasure to follow along.

Do you mind if I swipe a couple of those pics just to show some friends?



Sure man, share away! I'm glad you enjoyed the build, I liked posting the updates I rarely get to do anything creative online. This was a great outlet for writing and generally clowning around.





Congratulations! The guitar looks great and keep working on that tune, it has potential.


I consider that high praise coming from a great musician like you Mel :D I hope to soon to be able to hold my own and jam with other players. Playing in a band looks like SO much fun! Got alot of work to do in the meantime.



Postmortem

The guitar turned out better than I thought it would. Yes, there where a few problems along the way and I did change some of the design to "smooth out bumps in the road" but it gave the guitar a unique look.

The biggest change was making a rear mounted control cavity, eliminating the need for a pick guard cover. If I make another rear cavity guitar, the wiring routes will be pre-planned to avoid the headache of drilling them after the fact. I really like the look of the body sans a PG. A pick guard really would have cluttered everything, and detracted from the cool paint effect.

Speaking of paint, it did not come out as well as I had hoped. You can still see the runs and orange peel I had hoped to sand and buff out. And that detracts from the 3D effect. The Urethane paint is tough as nails though and will last alot longer than traditional lacquer, which is a plus.

Unfortunately the biggest blunder was the Scale length which is 24 and 1/4" instead of the 24 and and 3/4" the neck should be. That makes it very uncomfortable and tight at the higher fret for my finger tips. I also should have began the slope of the heel closer to the body, that would have given me easier access to the higher frets as well. Neck Shape is another thing that needs work. The neck feels boxy and flat. I was trying to avoid making a regular C shaped neck like a Strat but chalk it up to inexperience. An Asymmetrical shape really intrigues me, I will have to find some guitars with that type of neck to see if I like them or not. I wanted to do that for this guitar but I chickened out. That might work for the upcoming summer project.

Love the super low action the Zero nut provides. I tend to do alot of hammer-ons which feels and sounds great on this type of setup. Bends are my thing too, but they are harder to do near the lower frets. So there are advantages and disadvantages to the zero fret.

Special thanks to Bob Shade for providing my String Guide and all the advice along the way

I will keep improving my Pickup design, there is potential there for some neat and unique pups.

Playing this guitar is alot more fun than playing my Squier Vintage Modified Surf Statocaster. If my next Mosrite project turns out even better, then I might sell the Squier. And play my Jazzmaster and the Mosrites exclusively.

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So overall this has been alot of fun. Glad I decided to do it. I tried to be as honest and detailed as possible. Hope others can learn from some of the mistakes I made along the way. :lol:

I REALLY got to stop working on this post now. I got nothing left to say. ITs DONE! Show's over folks!
"If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."- a wise man


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