November GOTM.

[Sonic Mountain]

Just went back through this. It's going to be a hard contest. The two very unique teles are standouts, however overall my vote would go to either Spawn for the finishing on his IB or John for the overall cohesiveness of the look on the LP.

There is a distinct lack of head stock logos this month which is disappointing. Naming the guitar and putting your own logo on it is one of the most fun aspects for me.

[wazkelly]

Totally agree with you Sonic.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

[Brendan]

So to the judges comments!

Souhail’s EX-1
Nice work for a first guitar and some nice pickup and other upgrades. It’s always nice to get one finished - and this was worth the effort.
Very tactical looking instrument, I’m sure it feels great in the hands. A lot of care has gone into the set up of the neck. Nice touches, two heads are better then one. Love the fret board details a lot!
Clean and simple uncluttered look works well with the fretboard stickers, skull shaped control knobs and top loaded pickups. Maple neck looks rather pale compared to natural Ash on back of the body and acknowledge trying match differing timber shades under a natural finish is not easy to achieve. Upgraded pickups with split coils sounded great on the demo video.
From afar it’s nothing fancy, but it’s the little details that make it something special.It almost feels like the headstock should have been a bit “sharper”. But an amazing first build.
A slab of natural beauty. Some great extras on this EX model, inlays, switches, electrical trickery, skull knobs. Is there a ding in the bottom corner, I don't know but its personal preference how much oil you put on.
An outstanding and understated build, the clear finish has allowed the grain to become a feature but at the same time not draw the eyes away from the inspired fret markers.
The quality of the upgrades and creative wiring of the electrics will ensure that this is not just a one trick metal machine
Not sure whether it should be a point on or off for the headstock decal 😉

Spawn25’s IB-7
Excellent first build and a great burst. Great looking finish, nice work.
When six strings just won’t do. Choices and execution very appropriate coming together in a synergy of shredding perfection. What needs to be said about that finish? Nothing, just use your eyes, it speaks for itself.
Absolute stunner. Not much to fault other than lack of a headstock logo and use of the daggy kit truss rod cover. Curious to know if intonation had been done as lowest 3 string bridge saddles appear staggered in front of the D string.
A Truly gorgeous beastie. Appears to be flawless from here.
This thing is gonna shred lucifers face off!! damn, I know how hard it is to get the binding on the front looking like that. So many strings to choose from!. The colour is unique for me as well, me likley.
Beautifully executed burst and the finish has a depth that you could probably dive into and the black hardware simply sets it off perfectly.
The only letdown is the lack of a headstock decal, perhaps a Trivium logo would have closed the deal
Time to unleash the thunder

Amber’s TLA-1
Exquisite is probably not a strong enough word to describe this guitar, the thought and effort that have gone into creating this is simply amazing.
The only let down is the apparent string misalignment which could be caused parallax error or the bridge being slightly off.
Quality upgrades are the cherry on the top of the cake.
I am lost for words and can't wait to see Amber's next builds.
Lots of work here and it shows. Another entrant with an epic first build. You’ve gone to a lot of trouble to get the end result - and it looks amazing. Love the infill work and the general look overall.
Electrifying! I’ve never seen the Litchenberg effect on a guitar before, I hope to see more builds like this in the future. A truly creative effort. I don’t think there would be an un-Litchenberged piece of timber around my house if I owned one of those devices.
Very unique finish that looks really cool and it would have been interesting to see it all come together under a build diary. As was mentioned in GOTM thread the neck alignment looks off centre and bridge saddle positions suggest intonation had not been done. Tele Control plate also appears to be sitting at a slight angle to the bridge. Nice choice with upgraded pickups.
An amazing effect with the finish. Not sure the headstock shape fits the guitar. Hopefully you have the guitar into Nate’s properly now.
I'm stunned, have never seen anything like it. I've built some luthieric tools in my time but I've never built a Litchenberg device out of an old microwave transformer! That “fractal/lightning” pattern pattern with blue resin is amazing. really.hats off to you and you should be proud. If I may throw out a suggestion, I think rounded corners on the back panel plate and the custom pickguard would gel really well with the control cavity shape and the neck plate.

John’s LP1-S
These always looks good and this is no exception. Some nice upgrades for a very slick and simple look.
Sheer class. I’m not a fan of LP’s at all, but I want to take this guitar home. The gold hardware on the spalt is exquisite. No headstock embellishments, nor should there be, leave that spalt alone.
Highly desirable spalted maple LP. Black sides and back plus gold hardware, including gold pickup rings perfectly allow the spalt to take centre stage. Rosewood truss rod cover was a good choice but still looking for the missing headstock logo?
Perfect choice of hardware & finish to accentuate that beautiful spalt.
A beautiful LP recreation by any standards the spalt jumps out and is set off perfectly with the gold hardware.
Quality upgrades and the spalted veneer on the headstock make this rather special indeed, a decal would have spoiled the headstock but something on the TRC would have covered that minor short coming

Ed’s TLA-1
Awesome looking Tele, with some excellent mods and upgrades. Lots of work here and it shows - you should be proud.
Eye catching, unique looking TLA-1. The more I look at it the more I want to take it home. Love the pick guard and the overall look.
Second Tele entered this month that has also cleverly used resin as a highlight. The shadow tone creates a brilliant optical illusion. Nice touch with the hand crafted veneer scratch plate plus very tasty upgrades. Also missing a logo.
A Novel approach. I’m not sure if it’s a by-product of the purifying giving the illusion of a different shape, but the neck pickup looks crooked to me.
Massive slow clap John, this was an epic build mate. I wasn't sure if you'd ever get it finished either. The front of this guitar is nothing short of a symphony for the eyes. I could stare at it for hours. I am mesmorised by it. Not a fan of the back, sorry person pref.
Mindblow!(boom) what am I looking at? this thing is c r a z y. I love it. great job on the string through mate. Im a fan of the maple fretboard with this design. I am sorry though, I know that bridge is a gotoh but it kind of clashes withe the awesomeness. Other than that the originality of this tele is awesome.
Wow, just wow
Two totally stunning TLA kits in the same month with design approaches that are not just so far removed from the Fender original but take them to some alien place.
The contrast between the stains gives us a burst within a burst and then theres the blue pearl in the purfling, truly inspired.
A headstock logo would have provided the finishing touch on a brilliant build

Stratal’s FS-1
Great looking blue burst. Another great first effort. Don’t worry about the small imperfections – it’s a learning process and you made a nice guitar with some cool mods, well done.
Lovely piece of grain to work with and you’ve certainly highlighted it. Great looking oil finish. Very unique, excellently executed.
Interesting distressed blue appearance, a colour that seems to be one of the hardest to get looking just right. Personally, I would have preferred colour tones around jack socket area replicated across the top as that is where most of the flame grain pop is happening. Genuine Gibson LP pickups upgrade should sound good providing more warmth and depth than standard kit PUP’s.
A real pretty guitar. I can’t work out if the trapeze tailpiece is crooked or not though.
I normally don't like FS models but this is great. That triple black.blue grey burst is fantastic. God this is a tough month. beeswax satin finish, great idea, bet is smells yum. Good job.
A hollow body setneck has got to be a brave choice for a first kit but Alex has shown us here what can be achieved when you take courage in both hands and have a red hot go.
The blue burst has come up a treat and has a bit of a faded/worn denim look about it, a relic that is not a relic.
I'm not sure about putting Gibson pickups in a Fender inspired guitar but I guess we have all done worse over the years and it's having the tone that the owner wants that matters, plus the Seth Lover humbuckers from that era cost a fortune.
There are so many wonderful images from Greece's past that one of them incorporated into headstock art would have topped this one off

[Brendan]

And the runners up - yes we have two!
Congratulations to:
Spawn25 and your IB-7


and JohnH and your LP-1S

[Brendan]

And the winner!

Congratulations Ed Gomez for your TLA-1!

[wazkelly]

Congrats to all entrants and in particular Ed, Spawn & John.
The final votes tally must have been very close.

[DarkMark]

Congrats to all entrants and in particular Ed, Spawn & John.
The final votes tally must have been very close.

I’m sure it was so close you would not of been able to squeeze a cigarette paper between places. Congratulations to everyone, the standard was unbelievable. Very different guitars but all outstanding.

[blinddrew]

Another month of amazing guitars, well done to all and especially the winners.

[EdGomes]

Oh man... I am so happy!! What a surprise, I would like to thank everybody in here, because I had some doubts during this build and I did some search at this forum before taking any step, my achievement was possible thank you all.
Thank you judges and community, I guess It was very hard to decide which one is the winner due to the astonishing instruments displayed this month.

Congratulations to everyone involved in this contest, let's keep searching, innovating and creating great instruments.
Thank you again!

[stan]

All entrants should be very proud, so many great first builds here
Congrats Ed, killer axe , sir