ESP MH-50 "Fauxrez"

Mad Max is back for 2017 with another sacrilegious remodelling . . .

I've had this delightfully smooth to play ESP "shop bought" axe for a few years, but just couldn't face having an "ordinary" guitar in the collection any more!
Because I'm a Blues Tragic (who isn't?) I decided to create a kind of "Blues Fusion" guitar which, to me anyway, will look the business (SOMEDAY I'm gunna hunker down and actually learn to play the Blues properly) This baby will be be my main weapon.

The most obvious trick is fitting a resonator plate for appearance, but also to allow "cutaways" in the body for weight reduction. I have a real aversion for heavy guitars.

I will be fitting a single coil bridge PUP (Hidden under a chrome HB cover) for that sharp goosebumpy "twang" which I find a bit elusive, but keep the orridgy neck HB (with a matching cover) for mellow moments.
Also plan to retain the chromie Floyd Rose bridge & whammy for looks & effect. the whole thing should be uber chrome & black when it's done.

The headstock is just about rebuilt to mimic the Dobro look too, with thanks to DB's time honoured dowelling method!


Soo let's have a dekko at progress so far . . .

Pic1: Before the mutilation started.
Pic2: The "plan" ha ha.
Pic3: Oh sh-t, the plate's too big?

Ooops - pics are frack to bunt for unknown reasons.

Heeeeer's more:

How to reduce the diameter of a reso plate (everyone needs to know this?) and a jig for cutting a perfect (I hoped!) circular rout.

Looking forward to seeing this Max.

More:

The rout ( prior to chiselling for a convex result)
Reduced plate first fit.
The beginning of the end of the original 'stock

Where the 'stock work is at now . . .

great to have you back building Max, you always come up with the coolest ideas. Can't wait to see this build playing. Keep up the good work mate !
You got the circles looking like fresh donuts top job with the routing jig. Also you do the best headstock remodels !

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

great to have you back building Max, you always come up with the coolest ideas. Can't wait to see this build playing. Keep up the good work mate !

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Thanks a heap Wokks.
You are truly a star of the show my friend.
Yes indeed, it's good to be back in the (bridge?) saddle.

haha nah there are much bigger stars than me Max. Hopefully this axe will sound like a resonator. Bet the ESP fans are spewing haha

Probably the first person to attempt playing something other than shred on a ESP!

Go for it Max. It takes lots of balls to do what you have planned and hope it turns out all good for you.

Cheers, Waz

Quote:

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Originally Posted by maxaxe

Where the 'stock work is at now . . .

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I had to look at this several times before it sunk in!! I thought you would be adding a different neck, not adding wings and reshaping the existing headstock! That's brilliant!!

Yet another inspired build Max. Can't wait to see the final result.

cheers,
Gav.

That headstock is a transformation and a half! Good to see you're not doing any too radical this time...

Awesomely daring as always Max!

I like your brand of crazy. Lookin forward to this!

It's certainly amazing just how much a change of headstock shape changes the whole look of the guitar. May you continue to work marvels on it, Max!

Yes Max! Love this. It reminiscent of Molonator guitars.
http://molonatorguitars.com

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Originally Posted by Fretworn

Yes Max! Love this. It reminiscent of Molonator guitars.
http://molonatorguitars.com

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Thanks gents for your interest in this little project.
Wow! Those Molonators are cooool. New to me & very clever.

Bit more work done . . . . wired the PUPs with the bridge SC concealed as planned. Deleted the tone pot. Vol pot is 500k which according to Simon B. will enhance the treble?

Headstock job Mk 1
Laid out to assess
Blacked out guts

Your certainly don't hang about! Looking really good.

You'd get most treble without a volume and tone control. The volume pot interacts with the pickup (which is itself a low pass filter) to lower the cut-off point for that filter. The higher the resistance value of the pot, the less the cut-off point is lowered, so the brighter the overall sound is. A single coil will almost always have a higher in-built cut-off frequency point than a humbucker, so will start with more high-end, which can sound overly brittle. This is why single coils typically use 250k pots and humbuckers use 500k pots.

Obviously the choice and spec of pickups has changed significantly since the 1950s when those 'standard' pot values were selected. Now single coils can vary and powerful ones can have more resistance and inductance than a classic humbucker, and really powerful humbuckers can have three of four times the resistance and inductance as a classic humbucker (and this pushes the pickup's cut-off point/resonance peak frequency down), so sometimes going with the standard pot values isn't always appropriate as the pickups can then sound too dark. For the price of a few different value pots, it's worth experimenting to see what you think works best.

Thanks VERY much for the insight into PU/Pot tech Simon.
I will indeed play with with different configs now I've been enlightened.

A bit more advancement has happened here meantime . . .

Got a pair of chrome HB surrounds coming from the far north.
Also playing around with the headstock "label/cover" graphics.
Fitted the selector and vol pot to the reso plate.
Made an "all in one" back cover/acess plate (complete with a bend for the scallop) from clear Lexan. I'll spray this black from the inside for a shiny finish. This will also make the front view through the reso plate punch outs look more dramatic?
Just shallowly routed the back to take this plate.
Hafta trim/paint the rough rout edges a bit I suppose (never ends - does it?)

Back to work . . . .

No problem at all, sir. It's all coming along nicely.

Back plate came up OK, but the edges of the rout are as rough as bags (see pic)
Might "finesse this mess" with some black binding material that's kicking around - If I can actually be bothered.

Trimming the conjunction of the rez plate/cap with thinnish black stereo cable . . . WTF?
I'm happy enough with how it's done the job.

looks very cool Max. How will you stick the resonator plate down ?

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

looks very cool Max. How will you stick the resonator plate down ?

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Thanks Wokks. The plate is screwed down around its perimeter.

ah cheers Max I can see the small screws on the plate. How much weight has the axe lost after all the routing ?

It has been on a fair Jenny Craig diet !