Strathead parts build -- flakes, kahlers, and other stuff, oh my!

[metalhobo]

Got the first of two major pieces in the mail today! Let's see what's inside...





big box for some small parts... but wait, there's more!


there she is





so the story is, when I was ordering my jackson c/s dinky this year, I had spec'd it out with black holoflake paint, which was (and still is) on the options sheet. however, my rep came back and said that j/c, and fender for that matter, are not spraying holoflake any more due to environmental regulations boooo! not to be squelched, I went ahead with the j/c order for a different finish and starting planning an alternative for my holoflake needs... here we are.

specs: poplar rear-route body (late 80's jackson thing going on here...). h/s route, kahler prep + angle neck pocket. pretty standard stuff other than the kahler prep.


couldn't resist doing a mock up this afternoon! the bridge is a NOS x-trem 4300 which you can still buy from whammyparts for $200. seems pretty equivalent to the current hybrid model. also got an upgrade stainless heavy metal bar to go with it.








and some camera flash to bring out the flake






and some videos for the flip flop effect (click for video)

[metalhobo]

and by some unholy coincidence, on the same day I received my body, a holoflake sl-1 appears out of nowhere on the verb! https://reverb.com/item/36022657-jac...sa-93-megarare the stars have aligned!

[Number Of The Priest]

That looks killer! What pickups are those? Bridge looks like a DiMarzio.

That 1993 guitar is a Soloist Custom, essentially the predecessor to the 1996-present SL1.

[metalhobo]

That looks killer! What pickups are those? Bridge looks like a DiMarzio.

That 1993 guitar is a Soloist Custom, essentially the predecessor to the 1996-present SL1.

thanks! dimarzio paf pro and true velvet. never tried the true velvet, so we'll see how that goes

[slayer]

The new Kahler`s look different than the old ones. The sides look sharper. I wonder what that`s gonna feel like pal muting. Interesting. Very cool though. Can`t wait to see it done and full report!!

[metalhobo]

The new Kahler`s look different than the old ones. The sides look sharper. I wonder what that`s gonna feel like pal muting. Interesting. Very cool though. Can`t wait to see it done and full report!!

the x-trem 4300 is the cheaper line (like the hybrid 7300) compared to the professional 2300, though it's still machined in usa. but yes, it is a little bit rougher and sharper around the edges than the 2300, even the current line. overall the quality seems there, though. I guess the first tune up will tell.

hopefully a month or so until the neck gets here!

[slayer]

the x-trem 4300 is the cheaper line (like the hybrid 7300) compared to the professional 2300, though it's still machined in usa. but yes, it is a little bit rougher and sharper around the edges than the 2300, even the current line. overall the quality seems there, though. I guess the first tune up will tell.

hopefully a month or so until the neck gets here!

Cool man! Can`t wait to see it together.

[JJ119]

That's really Nice!!

[freedom's door]

I love that finish. If I ever ordered a body from Warmoth, that would probably be my choice.
I have the True Velvets in the neck and middle of a Strat (with an Injector in the bridge), and I think they sound great as long as you can deal with the hum.

Can't wait to see the finished guitar!

[metalhobo]

I love that finish. If I ever ordered a body from Warmoth, that would probably be my choice.
I have the True Velvets in the neck and middle of a Strat (with an Injector in the bridge), and I think stye sound great as long as you can deal with the hum.

Can't wait to see the finished guitar!

thanks everybody!

yeah, I was really really pleased with the finish, which is saying a lot as I've been pining and fantasizing about the color for the better part of the year before I made the order two months ago. I can't even think of one builder/painter/painter besides warmoth who is spraying holoflake like fender and jackson used to do, with just the right amount of flake. even though I've always wished warmoth would offer more options with their stuff (like heel width, body edge radius, i.e. stuff that's only relevant for j/c fans) it as more than worth it to sacrifice those things for this finish. good to hear about the pickups! unless I'm playing clean I usually always use a sentry noise gate, which has always worked remarkably with the single coil guitars I have.

[CaptNasty]

Like where you are going with this!

[Razor]

Damn that looks awesome. Can't wait to see the finished product.

I was dicking around on Warmoth's website a few weeks ago and printed out a couple of spec sheets that my wife saw and about shit bricks over. If things keep going the way they're going I may have to ask for a Warmoth build for next Father's Day...

[metalhobo]

thanks, everybody!

Damn that looks awesome. Can't wait to see the finished product.

I was dicking around on Warmoth's website a few weeks ago and printed out a couple of spec sheets that my wife saw and about shit bricks over. If things keep going the way they're going I may have to ask for a Warmoth build for next Father's Day...

yes, I cannot wait either. it is figuratively killing me. an 18 month c/s I can wait for, but when I have a body in hand and the neck is incoming it becomes hard to compartmentalize. it was kind of funny because I ordered body and neck within about a week of each other (neck is coming from musikraft) and at the outset, warmoth quoted 12-13 weeks for the body and musikraft quoted 8 weeks for the neck. but then it got swapped, and somehow warmoth delivered in 7 weeks and some change, and musikraft got pushed back to 12+ weeks. I don't blame musikraft, they got hit by the storm in august after all, it's just a funny irony.

yeah I have put together a lot of fantasy parts builds on paper, but never really got around to executing any of them since I get worried about the resale value of parts guitars. but then I remembered I've only ever sold one guitar in my life...

[metalhobo]

well after 15 weeks the neck finally got here

rather long box...



i feel about foam peanuts the same way dr. jones feels about snakes



well packaged



there she is!



money shot




this is a quartersawn 3A flame caramelized hard rock maple neck. I did NOT expect it to be such a deep dark brown. I am pretty damn pleased. I put it on one of my walnut coffee tables for a color comparison. the luster is INSANE. beyond happy with the figure.




no apprentice marks I can see anywhere on the wood. fretwork looks good, too. there's a tiny bit of glue around the 21st and 22nd frets, but that should come off when I buff out the fingerboard (why don't these guys buff the fingerboards before they put the frets on? would be so much easier... but I already knew they didn't so that's not a surprise.)

over the next few days and weekend I'll be evaluating the neck and then strapping it on the body. I realized the straightedge on my combo square is out of whack as it was saying the neck was backbowed. but I checked it with my level (which should be a better reference) and that said it was flat if not a tiny bit of unloaded relief. so I might get a better combo square and check it again. and then also check it with a stretched out string.

[Razor]

WOW the flame on that neck is insane. I have a Musikraft neck on a Model 2 mutt and it is my favorite. That neck is going to look so good on that body. Hurry up and get it completely together why don't you Dr. Jones?!