(Hopefully) Quick and Easy Parts-V

[B'Lark]

Hey guys,

I've decided to put together a quick build, partially because I was craving building something that was quick and fairly easy, and partially to do something fairly unique with it. So I'm putting together a Flying V.

I'm using almost entirely stuff from GuitarFetish (I've been interested in some of their stuff for quite a while) and I pretty much saw a potential build, planned it a bit and with a bit of luck, it should be a staple guitar for me.

So, the general parts:

White V body



Maple LP-Style neck (Initially because they just didnt have any V headstocks, but looking at some V's with that headstock, I prefer it, have a Google for Albert King or Matt Tucks Flying V's for some examples)



GFS X-Trem (Bigsby style vibrato)



GFS Gold Foil pickups (I really like the sounds of these, especially the cleans so I was kind of looking for an excuse to get them too)



On top of that, All black hardware, White Pearl pickguard (which I'm going to cut myself so that I can use different controls). Also considering organising a Strat-style input jack on the front, but that would be a good chunk of work and I'm not sold on it in my head just yet.

I'm also going to be a little lazy with the headstock. What I SHOULD do is paint the headstock white to make it match, but I'm just going to oil the headstock as well with the back, and I might later take the oil off and paint it.

The other tricky thing is the X-Trem. I did a little mockup (which I don't have on this computer) and the screws, as the holes on the trem are located regularly, don't actually fall on the body. What I am planning to do, is drill a couple of holes further up. I am 90% sure that I will be able to do it, BUT in the case that I cannot, I will forgo that for the time being, and just use a stop-tail, then down the track get a Bigsby and Stop-Tail Vibramate.

So yea, hopefully it will be arriving Monday or Tuesday and I'll update on how things go!!

Edit: Couple of little extra details: Firstly, all up, everything cost around $750AU (thanks to shipping costs and exchange rates haha). Second, I'll also adding a pair of Push-Push pots, with Master Series/Parallel and Master Phase Switching.

[Andy40]

Great stuff B'lark.

Geez those GFS pups look great

[Dedman]

you can mount a Bigby on a Vee this way, there is even a kit for it. Not saying I'd do it though

[B'Lark]

Yea I love most of what I've seen of those pickups. Cool design, super nice cleans, and while I think I'll need to be a bit picky with my distorted sounds, I've heard some good stuff there too.

Yea Dedman I have seen that mounting kit, I think it looks kinda goofy that way though, haha. I'd be looking at the V5 Vibramate, that way I can just plug it in to the stud holes that are already there.



Another good take on it is the Duesenberg style that they have on the Rocket, which is really cool and well done but that's probably not something I'd be able to get my hands on.

[Fretworn]

you can mount a Bigby on a Vee this way, there is even a kit for it. Not saying I'd do it though

Hey, if it was good enough for Lonnie Mack...

[B'Lark]

Alright!! The package of goodies arrived today!! And everything was there.

Body is nicely finished, I was a little worried about it before it got here, but there was no problems with it at all.







Welp, problem number 1: Pickguard blank isn't big enough. Kind of annoying, but I could work with the original pickguard for now



Ok maybe not. So first thing I need to get is some pickguard material. Kinda annoying, but we'll still get there.

[B'Lark]

X-Trem looks nice and feels fairly solid. Looking forward to getting that on there. Also going to have no worries with screws being too short or not having a place to drill the extra holes, thankfully.



And the Gold Foils look really nice too.



Locking tuners because we're dealing with a vintage vibrato and everything helps



And free decal came with the neck. Chose the "Stooge Boguscaster" one because Stooge is a fantastic word. Not sure if I'll actually use it here, might use it with a Strat build I'm planning.

[wokkaboy]

looks good B'Lark, who painted the body white ?

[B'Lark]

Finally the neck. It came a but more "unfinished" than I was expecting. Feels like it's only been sanded back with 80 or 120 grit, so definitely will need to hit that a little bit before getting some oil on there. But it's nicely sized and it seems fairly solid. Just some refining to do on it.



I don't think you can really see it, but the corners of the heels are a little ratty. Just some shavings hanging off the edge. Nothing some sandpaper won't fix.



And a quick mockup, I think it looks quite nice.



Overall, pretty happy with the parts. The pickguard holes being cut wrong is kind of sloppy, and I think I'll have to send an email off to at least let them know, and the neck pocket isn't a particularly snug fit, but I've got a bit of a Maple veneer lying around that I'll use to beef up the sides of the neck. Honestly, it was all fairly cheap, and this isn't part of GFS's top range stuff, so I wasn't expecting perfection.

Would have been nice to have everything fit together instantly, but this way I have to earn it!!

[B'Lark]

Wokka, bought it like that. One of the pre-finished bodies from GuitarFetish.