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Over the years I’ve had several discussions with Lee Garver about building a replica of Warren DeMartini’s grey anaconda Charvel. Last year the discussions heated up again when several other guys from the GMW forum expressed an interest in getting an anaconda snakeskin GMW. With the help of another forum member, we approached Lee about doing a limited run of snakeskin guitars. Lee was excited about the idea and very cool to work with. He priced out a base model guitar for a grey anaconda, including the graphic and G&G case, and allowed each of the customers to modify their guitar for body shape, neck specs, pickups, hardware, etc. For an extra $50, you could even change the color and pattern of the snakeskin. To top it off, Lee threw in a few extras like an angled neck heel and scallop and custom snakeskin case, if the buyer wanted them.
This all came together last August and there were initially 5 of us in the limited run. Lee started the builds on September 1st and gave us progress reports and pics throughout the entire process. If you haven’t bought a guitar from GMW, Lee is great to work with. He responds quickly to emails, he gives you great input and ideas about the project, and he builds a killer guitar!
By the end of September, all the bodies and necks were built.
Next up, the bodies were sanded and sealed.
Followed by the base coats to prep them for the graphics.
At this point, Lee had a few others inquiries about getting into the limited run. One other person eventually joined in the run. So the initial 5 went off to Dan and Glenn for graphics and Lee quickly built a body and neck for the new addition to catch up with the others.
Dan and Glenn cranked out the initial group of snakes and had them back to Lee by mid to late October. When they got the 6th snake, they actually turned it around in 2 days! Here’s a pic of the anacondas when Lee got them back with the graphics.
From there, the initial group was topcoated with urethane and given a satin finish, while the 6th snake got a poly topcoat for a gloss finish.
After time to cure, Lee started loading and wiring up the bodies.
And then final assembly.
As a group, we all decided to wait for all 6 of the snakes to be completed so we could get a group shot of the limited run. And we are pretty stoked that we did! Here’s a few group shots that Lee sent.
The snakes are done and will ship out next week. I can’t wait to finally get my grey anaconda! It’s been a long time coming.
This all came together last August and there were initially 5 of us in the limited run. Lee started the builds on September 1st and gave us progress reports and pics throughout the entire process. If you haven’t bought a guitar from GMW, Lee is great to work with. He responds quickly to emails, he gives you great input and ideas about the project, and he builds a killer guitar!
By the end of September, all the bodies and necks were built.
Next up, the bodies were sanded and sealed.
Followed by the base coats to prep them for the graphics.
At this point, Lee had a few others inquiries about getting into the limited run. One other person eventually joined in the run. So the initial 5 went off to Dan and Glenn for graphics and Lee quickly built a body and neck for the new addition to catch up with the others.
Dan and Glenn cranked out the initial group of snakes and had them back to Lee by mid to late October. When they got the 6th snake, they actually turned it around in 2 days! Here’s a pic of the anacondas when Lee got them back with the graphics.
From there, the initial group was topcoated with urethane and given a satin finish, while the 6th snake got a poly topcoat for a gloss finish.
After time to cure, Lee started loading and wiring up the bodies.
And then final assembly.
As a group, we all decided to wait for all 6 of the snakes to be completed so we could get a group shot of the limited run. And we are pretty stoked that we did! Here’s a few group shots that Lee sent.
The snakes are done and will ship out next week. I can’t wait to finally get my grey anaconda! It’s been a long time coming.
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