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red_riviera
Bronze Member
United Kingdom
111 Posts |
 Posted - 09/27/2009 : 20:36:17
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Just finished this over the weekend, thought you might like to see:
This is a Electrical Guitar Company Standard that I bought second-hand earlier this year. It had a horrible bright green powdercoat finish, so I disassembled the whole guitar, stripped the finish off and water polished the raw aluminium* body. A friend of mine who works at an aerospace manufacturing facility got it anodised.
I rebuilt and completely rewired it with:
Lace Alumitone pickups (mounts tapped out for Allen head M4 bolts)
Fishman piezo-acoustic Tune-O-Matic bridge
Stereo wiring (left channel - mag, right channel - piezo)
Controls: Gretsch-style 3-way pickup switch, 2 x CTS 500k tone pots, 1 x CTS 500k volume pot with treble bleed (for mag pickups), 1 x 500k volume pot for piezo (with push-pull pot to select between mag & piezo when mono output).
Miniature killswitch
First impressions:
It's HEAVY (11+ lbs) and a bit awkward (flat fretboard, no tummy contour, slightly neck heavy, feels cold). You get used to it quickly though.
It's LOUD! With both pickups selected the output is almost the same as the passive Fishman piezo. The Alumitones are a very hi-fi kind of pickup. I was setting up the guitar just into the tuner on Pod Farm into studio monitors... even with no EQ or even amplification they still sound usable with the tone rolled all the way off! Into a clean amp, there are more lows and highs than any other electric guitar I've tried.
It's (weirdly) RESONANT! I can't quite define this, but the hollow body and all-aluminium construction seem to give a very slight shimmer / chorus overtone... haven't tried it with distortion yet, but can't wait.
Lots more pics HERE
* or 'aluminum', if you prefer. |
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jack
Platinum Member
USA
1418 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2009 : 20:49:55
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quote:
Originally posted by red_riviera
THATS JUST F*CKIN SICK!!!
....in the best way possible!  |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2009 : 20:51:30
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 .... excellent  ..but the weight...??? for a 2 hour set live..... still great job well done.....have a couple of these... |
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DeFrag
Moderator
USA
3409 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2009 : 21:32:57
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| Awesome! |
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The_Doc
Gold Member
United Kingdom
509 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2009 : 21:34:17
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Hell - that is both stunning and beautiful - imagine stage lights on that baby!!
Amazing job |
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Laurie
Double Platinum Member
Canada
4854 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2009 : 21:37:25
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All I can say is...
WOW |
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zerksies
Double Platinum Member
USA
3406 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2009 : 21:43:43
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| Very nice looking |
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natthu
Gold Member
Australia
756 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2009 : 09:09:01
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| That looks absolutely amazing. Very impressive. |
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kulten
Gold Member
France
516 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2009 : 23:27:49
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DasBeef
Gold Member
United Kingdom
704 Posts |
Posted - 09/29/2009 : 00:42:33
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| I like more classic looking guitars.....but there is something aesthetically pleasing about that. It looks fecking awesome! Nice work! |
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DeFrag
Moderator
USA
3409 Posts |
Posted - 09/29/2009 : 01:57:50
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| How much $$ for something like that? |
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Ollie
Gold Member
United Kingdom
729 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2009 : 00:35:42
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Theres a really nice retro sci fi look to that guitar VERY nice.
Those pickups look so cool |
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sp-1
Platinum Member
Germany
1454 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2009 : 09:42:02
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very nice indeed  |
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Dr. Bob
Moderator
Australia
6593 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2009 : 11:52:37
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Hi red_riviera
Excellent work & finish. 
As for the "Lace Alumitone pickups",
aren't they some type of Capacitive type pickup,
& not standard coil type magnetic's?
I'm now off to look at your other pics, on Flikr.
Regards Dr. Bob  |
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verivorax
Platinum Member
Canada
1185 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2009 : 13:09:26
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It looks so good - so much better than the green = and I usually like green guitars.
I read the alumitones use a solid cage/ring of aluminum as a kind of wrap-wire for the pickup.. never heard them in action, though. |
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LET'S SEE YOUR GUITARS!
