unfunk's EX-5 build diary: Beauty Omega

[unfnknblvbl]

Quarks are my theme, and baryons are my... er... neem. I have thought about this waaaay too much.
There are six different quarks; Up, Down, Strange, Charm, Top (Truth), and Bottom (Beauty). This gives me alllll kinds of naming options, since every combination of three (aka a Baryon) has its own unique and (imho) interesting name and/or symbol. This will also give me standard nomenclature should I actually branch out and start building lots of axes.

This one is the Beauty Omega (ssb).

So anyway, it's arrived! I purchased a Pitbull EX-5, and also some copper sheets from a jewellery supply store to use as a body inlay material... and that arrived today as well!

Pictures!



Mock build:



...and with one of the copper inlay sheets (holy hell, they're heavy!):



So, initial impressions.

Wood:
It's actually a really nice piece of body wood. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but not this. It has a nice grain with a faint ripple that will come up nicely when stained & oiled, then finished with shellac.
The neck also feels quite nice. The fingerboard feels lovely, and the frets are almost level - there's only 3-5 high spots that I've found so far with my makeshift rocker.

The neck joint, though... it's very loose. Nothing that can't be solved with some veneer shim, but kinda disappointing. I understand why it is, though. Definitely not worth returning it over.

Hardware:
I think "uninspiring" is the polite term, but I knew it would be. Of course, I've not wired anything up just yet, so I've no idea how the pickups sound. For all I know, they could be sleepers!

Since this is just a practice build for a properly customised kit, I'm not too fussed about the quality of all that crap anyway.

Todo:

• Round off the upper rear so it has more of a dome top than the flat edge. See how that looks.
• Cut a belly curve. There's no more denying that I have a belly!
• BURN IT!!! (well, scorch parts of it)
• The rest

[churchie]

Nice stuff.

Interested to see what you do with the copper

[JohnH]

Ha ha ha, glad to hear there's another particle physics nerd kicking about (and that I'm not the only one who spends time thinking about quarks). Look forward to seeing what you do with it - particularly curious about the copper and the scorching.

[unfnknblvbl]

yeah, I'm going to have to rethink my body inlay design a bit - I completely forgot that the bass would have the bridge way further back in the body than the guitar version hahahha

[phrozin]

its a nicely matched body be good candidate for a stain job the hardware is ok for starters machine heads need a upgrade but all kits are the same and you can get upgraded stuff on the PB store

[unfnknblvbl]

Here's a (too small) paper cutout of the inlay, plus some light scorching, and some... extras...



The inlay is going to be tarnished in a special way to be bright and colourful and accentuate the design of the phoenix.

[Andyxlh]

Wow this looks interesting!

[unfnknblvbl]

Thank you!

I should have been in bed two hours ago, but I had an idea of how to get my cheap-arsed pen blowtorch to work. That went off without a hitch, and so I went at the axe with it. It's kind of amazing, because you can use it like an airbrush. The downside is that some bits will scorch faster than others for some reason.

Anyway, I gave her a scorching, then rubbed her down with some paper towel.



I tell you; the scorched parts are so smooth, I think I could get away with not sanding!

Anyway, I'll be getting my hands on some tru oil tomorrow (and saving the Crimson Guitars Finishing Oil for Charmed Sigma udc (the guitar build), and giving this thing a rub down after scorching the back and sides. Hell, I might even scorch the neck, it feels so nice!

I've noticed though, that one of the body joins is not holding up well under the heat. I hope that's not a sign of things to come...

[Fretworn]

Natural scorchburst! Noice!

[DarkMark]

Phoenix rising from the ashes (scorch marks)? I like it!