September GOTM

[Andyxlh]

That looks fantastic, well done. I love the body colour with that neck.

[adam]

Entry from Steve G. GR-1SFG "Blue Bird"

Mods to the kit,

• Fitted binding to the head stock,
• Ebonised the fret board using Kiwi liquid black shoe polish, works beautifully,
• Raised the neck in the body to allow me to fit a timber bridge under a roller tuneamatic,
• Fitted a Tusque nut,
• Extended the heal on the neck and capped with binding,
• Replaced the 2 linier pots with audios for smoother roll off,
• Finished with automotive acrylic lacquer, I used clear acrylic lacquer to seal the timber. Translucent burst on the top and head stock, (60% clear,20% pearl and20% colour then 6 coats of clear), Solid colour back sides and neck (Grey primer, 80% colour, 20% pearl plus 6 coats of clear). Final sanding to 2000 grit then cut polish.

Great action great sound, I’m really pleased with the finished guitar. To protect it I purchase an Artist JC500BR Jumbo-Large Arch Top hard case, I fitted 10mm of timber flooring foam underlay into the sides and a 10mm to 20mm contoured velvet covered foam packer under the body. The guitar fits beautifully.

[Sonic Mountain]

Wow, that's a pretty pro looking effort.

[Brendan]

Last bids - day to go before closin' time!

[Andyxlh]

Another great guitar, well done Steve!

[Brendan]

And with that - GOTM for September is closed! I'll get to the voting cruë soon and get results out as soon as we can!

[Marcel]

Wow !! Almost a week and still nil result.... The judges must be working hard on this months lineup....

[Brendan]

OK to the comments from the judges - thanks to all - not an easy job as many will attest!

From one of the judges:
The judging guidelines as offered to us were all met at an outstanding level by all of the offerings this month so I have chosen to dwell only on the things that stood out to me in each of the builds.

Superb work by all and the bar has been raised yet again

AndyXLH’s Custom AG
Could very easily have been cliche, but some nice personal touches; the little Angus Devil and the Draper logo on the head stock, changing up the kit buttons for the tombstone pearl ones have really made this pop. Its a well used template for SG’s, the Angus Young look but it still makes a favourable impression when its done this well.
Oh and SHINE FOR DAYS!!! I’d definitely want to hear this thing amped up and see if i could make it Angus.
A very tasty period inspired build that is totally sympathetic with Angus Young's music beast.
Attention to detail is spot on and there is no over the top styling, nice to see the logo on the headstock, half a demerit for losing the switch ring ;-)
Finish slightly marred by what appear to be fine scratch swirls near the bridge but otherwise a brilliant effort complete with sound clip.
Great Angus replica SG. Perfect colour, very shiny, proper bell shaped truss rod cover, love the traditional font logo plus cartoon sticker. Not completely sold on the plastic tuner buttons. I get what you were trying to achieve and feel all chrome may have looked better if you couldn’t run with genuine Kluson’s. Extra points for tasty upgrades and demo video.
The colour is perfect for the style, the finish is deep and shiny and the look is completed by the aftermarket tuners, TRC, and headstock logo and motif. The finish around the neck joint is excellent. Being picky I note the occasional inconsistency in the body stain and the final finish of the scratch plate could be slightly tidier.
Classic cherry SG, came up a treat, nicely finished

D3monBikes AGJM-1
Another pearler of a finish, a bold purple metallic treatment with once again SHINE FOR DAYS!!!
Wasn’t sure at first on the Mirror scratch guard but it echoes the machine heads and the hardware. the more i looked at it the more i thought it fit. I like the restrained detailed touch; keying the screw colour to the saddle colour on the bridge, the razor sharp delineation of the headstock face black to the purple of the HS sides. A simple script logo with complementing gold lettering.
I want to pick this up and play it,
A fabulous single PUP screamer.
Love this one, the polar opposite to Andy's SG with absolute in your face look at me styling, let down slightly by what appears to be a bit of bleed from face to sides on the headstock.
Would be an absolute rock and roll beast.
Another SG done in a more vibrant colour scheme. Love the mirror scratch plate and also satin on back of neck is a really smart and useful finish. Good to see a shiny bell shaped truss rod cover plus your own custom scripted logo. Build diary would have been nice to watch as things progressed.
My word. I've never liked a purple guitar before but this is exceptional. The finish is lustrous and the mirror scratchplate and TRC set it off beautifully. With the simple headstock logo and bling hardware it carefully treads the line of good taste but stays just the right side. Perhaps gold strap buttons might have been a final touch?
another ripper SG, very well painted and the mirror guard goes really well. Top notch build

Geddyfan’s RC-4
Off. The. Hook.
Good things take time, and that time has been well spent here.
A superb red and black finish, a beautiful flamed veneer, echoed across the TRC.
The extra ergo work, and the level of attention to final look is wonderful.
The only potential negative for me aesthetically is the busy set of controls, while it is well laid out aligned and tidy, i would have preferred a minimal approach here, maybe push pulls for the coil tap? But that’s a personal thing.
A year and a half well spent, the body mods are both superb and functional, fit and finish is of the same stunning level.
For me let down by not having a headstock logo and the TRC appears not to sit flush, I would have also liked to have seen black screws used.
Nice design for the logo on the control cavity but I feel it could have appeared on the headstock or TRC.
And the meek shall inherit the earth….. was well worth the whole 18 months it took to complete as that quilted top looks amazing. Lots of custom touches has resulted in a truly unique one of a kind Bass that looks like it would be a ton of fun to play.
I have a soft spot for Ricks, red guitars and flame maple tops. The unique pick-up and control layout would immediately draw me to this in shop. The finish appears to be brilliant, and I like the control cavity logo, shame there's no headstock logo and the finish on the headstock doesn't appear to be quite up to the standard of the back.
beautiful build, love the triple buckers and the colours, awesome effort

Marcels IB-1Q
Given the issues with the finish i think this has worked amazingly, though i am not a huge fan of the colour combo. The care and effort that has got into getting past these issues is obvious and deserving of high praise.
The carrying of the theme through the rear of the neck and even into the logo treatment is wonderful, but the difficulties of colour matching across basswood and maple make themselves obvious. The upgrades to Pups and controls (one imagines) would make this thing scream and my inbuilt like of Ibbys would make me want to play it.
Another guitar that meets the word and intent of the design brief, the burnt appearance of the finish conjures up images of having been breathed on and charred by the mythical beast.
The upgrades are totally in harmony of the intent of a shredder guitar and the electrics show a lot of imagination as might be expected given that Marcel has laid hands on it.
This could have been a winner in my mind but in the pics the area around the output jack lets it down a little.
Nice smoky and sultry looking quilted top. Upgraded pickups and coil splitting are in keeping with the serious attitude that goes with this style of guitar. Not a fan of stock kit supplied truss rod covers but otherwise a stunner.
The first impressions are excellent and the overall look of the guitar is perfect for the style. A couple of things mark down this entry for me: the burst effect on the headstock is a little to hard-edged for me, similarly on the rear of the body the stain is a bit inconsistent. It looks like the edge of the top may have been over-sanded in a couple of places. But I love how the neck has taken the stain around the heel and the subsequent sudden transition to the headstock. It's crying out for a more interesting TRC.
top looking Ibey and the quilt top looks fantastic, well done

Steve G’s "Blue Bird” GR-1SFG
The blue shading moving across the body is gorgeous. The subtle echo of grain through the sky blue of the arch top is like looking at waves for the beach from a drone above. The deep looking blue of the sides is rich and heavy. the colour is set off by it’s shine and polish. A wonderful, wonderful effort.
This guitar looks opulent, expensive and says Jazz, jazz, jazz.
The only let downs for me:
Stock TRC - This really deserved something custom, perhaps with pearl inlay to echo the fret markers.
No logo - This is something special, that deserved a stylish logo or personal brand for recognition and accolades.
Beautifully understated but luxurious at the same time with the gold hardware the wonderful blue finish and importantly the body cavity having a lick of black to make it like looking into the abyss.
Unfortunately I have been unable to find a build diary of any posts about the build so I can't comment on upgrades
Let down only by the lack of headstock logo.
Very nicely finished Falcon. Additional binding on the vertical neck joint and neck heel work well as does the binding added to headstock. Build diary would have been good to see how it all came together. Again, not a fan of the stock kit supplied truss rod cover with plenty of alternatives out there for not much money. Missing a logo too.
Oh for a headstock logo! I love the customisations on this, the headstock binding, the wooden bridge plate, the heel cap - and that subtle burst finish is fantastic. I am a little confused by the intonation but I'm assuming these are pre-set-up photos. Another guitar that really deserves a custom TRC though.
love the blue burst goes great on this model. No headstock logo to say you built it, otherwise a great looking axe

[Brendan]

And the results - the runner up with a stunner of a custom AG - Andyxlh!


And the winner to cap out a month of AG's - take a bow D3MONBIKES - too many AG's is obviously not enough!

[wazkelly]

This was a seriously tough month to judge and probably explains why some comments from fellow judges were a bit more picky than usual.

Congratulations to all entrants as they were all worthy contenders with kudos to Andy as runner-up & D3monBikes taking out top spot.