CS body top options

[Tho]

So I'm actually considering to start saving money to order my very own CS. IF I decide to do this, the guitar will probably be a Death Kelly with a natural finnished top, like Brazillian Rosewood or Spalted Maple. But I can't find those options anywhere on the custom shop quote form. Am I overlooking something?

EDIT: Shit, I'm blind. Have to 'call' for a price quote for spalted maple though. Anyone who knows what this will cost?

And does anyone have an idea what the starting price of a Death Kelly body will be?

Thanks a lot!

Thomas

[MetalDaze]

I'm not sure of the pricing, but with that wood and body shape it will most likely be on the higher end of the range. The good news (depending on how you look at it) is that custom shop wait times are about 2 years or so. Dealers over here only ask for a modest deposit, thus you have plenty of time to save up for when it arrives!

[Tho]

Yeah that's what I thought..

But wow. How does this work? I can just have a CS built, and pay it afterwards? No advanced payment, or only a percentage of the full-price? And how much do dealers ask to get your CS built?

[roodyrocker]

Brazillian Rosewood probably isn't listed as an option because it is not legal to export it from Brazil anymore.

[Tho]

Doesn't matter. Came to the conclusion that it wouldn't have nice tone in combination with an alder body anyway ;-)

But is it really true that you gotta pay when the guitar is done?

[Scholomance]

Some dealers will ask for just a set fee as a deposit to get your order in. Others will ask for a percentage of the total cost. Often you're looking at up to 30% of the final cost to get it started but again, depending on the dealer, it could be more or less than that. I have no idea if it would be different if you used a dealer in Europe, but we've got a few great ones here in the states. You'll have the 2 years it takes to be built to save up for the final payment.

[Tho]

Thanks for the info, Scholomance! If I'm doing this, I think I'll let Matt's Music Centre do the order. Seems like a reliable company.

Who knows what they call this darker kind of spalted maple? It's a lot darker then regular spalted maple:

[Scholomance]

Matt is awesome! You should be really happy working with him. That Warrior almost looks like it has a light transparent brown put over it. Spalt can vary greatly in color and figuring, but if you want it tinted, it can actually take color fairly well. I'd suggest looking up spalted guitars, find the coloring and figuring you like best, then you can send the pic to Jackson to try and match. Quite a few of us have done so. If you drop me a PM with your email, I'll send you a few pics of some spalted Jacksons to check out. Or if you want it figured but more of that caramel color, you could always go with a koa top.

[leftykingv2]

+1 For Matt of Matt's Music. The MSRP is going to be in the high 4K or 5K area for a Death Kelly maybe more considering the regular Kelly's msrp is $4600.00 now. Also don't bother saving the money up that's a waste in my opinion. Put the 20% down that Matt asks you for and then use the two years as a layaway plan. That's the ONLY good part of the two year wait. You can make payments whenever you want over the course of the build time until the guitars paid in full. I am about to order one from Matt and I've got it figured out that it's only going to cost me about $125.00 a month after the down payment. You can save up and pay it all at once if you want to but I like using the full build time to my advantage so I don't have to struggle to come up with a huge lump of cash when the guitar is done.

[leftykingv2]

Brazillian Rosewood probably isn't listed as an option because it is not legal to export it from Brazil anymore.

This is also why one of my right handed friends offered me $500.00 dollars for my old Kramer Baretta neck that has a Brazilian rosewood finger board.

[Tho]

Thanks for the replies, guys!

I've been googling a lot on spalted maple, and they're pretty much all very bright and light. I'm gonna ask Ola from Grave what they did to his Warrior to look this amazing, because I want that! And probably on a soloist model, since I don't think I can afford a Death Kelly ;-)

What do you think the Spalted maple in combination with an alder body and maple neck will sound like?

[leftykingv2]

I always thought spalted maple was used more for it's cosmetic value over it's tonal characteristics. It's just maple with a fungal deterioration in the wood grain. Most of the spalted stuff I have seen was vaneer.

[Tho]

I always thought spalted maple was used more for it's cosmetic value over it's tonal characteristics. It's just maple with a fungal deterioration in the wood grain. Most of the spalted stuff I have seen was vaneer.

I disagree. It's part of the body, so it co-determines the tone. How much difference it makes? I don't know. Not much I think, since I want an 1/8" top. I love the sound of a Blackout trough alder wood so let's hope not ;-)

I agree on the statement in your signature though! ;-)

[leftykingv2]

I wasn't saying it had no tonal value. I was saying it's probably going to sound like a regular maple top. Spalted just looks different but I would think it has the same tonal characteristics as any other maple.

[Tho]

Sorry, misread. Still, spalted maple should have another density as regular maple. But I really don't know if one could hear such a small difference.