"Bladecatcher" DC Esquire

[bargeloobs]

It's been a little while between builds and my withdrawals had finally got the better of me so put my order in for a TL -1 kit which I must say was on my doorstep within the blink of an eye, once again top marks to Adam for some of the best service on the planet.
Upon first inspection it's a really nice kit, good clean routs, no heavy sanding marks and the neck pocket fit is tidy and snug. The only real negative I could find was a bit of sloppy fret work with the wire not coming out to the edge of the fingerboard on a few of the frets but hey I can live with that, all in all totally stoked.
I wasn't interested in just "putting a kit together" this time around so I plan to try a few techniques that are totally new to me and really push the limits of my abilities.
The plan is a double cut Tele Esquire. I'm plugging the back pup cavity and re-routing for a humbucker (SD SH8b Invader). Doing away with the ashtray bridge and installing a Ping Nashville Tune o Matic I scored off a Gibson LP Traditional.
Instead of a tailpiece I'll be putting in ferrules and going string through with this one.
I've ordered some nice white pearl binding that I'll be installing on top and I'll be customizing an esquire pickguard.
I've ordered some black Grover 106 locking tuners for the other end that should hopefully compliment the black finish nicely.
Still undecided about satin black top or a gloss yet...I'm tending towards satin at this stage.
I've attached a rough sketch I put together in Photoshop of my final concept but I guess time will tell, could be cool or equally a massive disaster!
I'm aiming for the playability and feel of a Tele but with a no nonsense Metal/Hard Rock sound, this ain't gonna be no country axe:-)

[ultpanzi]

That looks great!! Can't wait to see the progress pics and sound clips. Invaders are awesome, theyre probably the most versatile high gain pups from duncan. If the fretwork isnt perfect, why not do a refret??

[bargeloobs]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from ultpanzi on August 29, 2014, 09:46
If the fretwork isnt perfect, why not do a refret??

Shit....that might be one step too far out of my abilities I think. If I had the right tools for the job I might contemplate it but at this stage unfortunately I'll have to leave it as is, I'd just ruin a perfectly good neck otherwise.

[ponch]

This looks killer mate. X2 on invaders being great pups.

[pablopepper]

Sounds like a rad project. I love the look of the render. Just remember, you will need to recess the tune o matic slightly in to the body otherwise it will be too high for the strings to sit flat along the fretboard.

[wokkaboy]

cool project Barge, double cut tele will look way cool.
look forward to see this beast progress

[west0288]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from bargeloobs on August 29, 2014, 09:40

I wasn't interested in just "putting a kit together" this time around

If you call your LP "putting a guitar together" then I have absolutely no hope at all. You're crazy man. :P

I am keen to see this one come alive though. 'Different' builds are always exciting.

[bargeloobs]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from andrew on August 29, 2014, 09:57
This looks killer mate. X2 on invaders being great pups.

Yeah I've heard them in action and the sound is monstrous, even the clean should have a nice thick sound, should be interesting.


@pabs - Ooo good point man cheers, I didn't even contemplate the lack of break on these things. How deep you reckon?

@wokks - cheers dude, feels good to be back in the saddle again

@ brodie - ahh shit man those builds you got goin' at the mo are killer. Don't get me wrong anything to do with building these guitars is a challenge but(personally)I just thought it'd be cool to try some new techniques.

[pablopepper]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from bargeloobs on August 29, 2014, 10:38
How deep you reckon?

Apparently about 1/4 of an inch. 6.5mm in normal person talk.

[bargeloobs]

"normal person talk" bloody mericans!
Roger that man, cheers.