New Build/Rebuild

[Perry]

Years ago I had a Washburn A-5 Stage Series Reissue guitar. This was Washburn's explorer-type guitar. I believe the original series was made in the 1980s and the reissue in the 1990s. In my attempt to remove the finish from the body I ended up trashing it, but I did keep the neck.

I also have a Gibson RD. For several years, I have been thinking about how to combine the two body shapes. Below is my first attempt. The body was made from hard maple. The pickups are made by Carvin.

The guitar was painfully bright and too heavy. Recently, I decided to modify the body. I routed a cavity between the pickups and also increased the size of the electronics cavity. I changed the neck pickup to a C22 model. The guitar is now much lighter and the sound has mellowed. I also removed the old finish from the neck and refinished it.

Here are some photos. I realize the pickguard is unusual and may not be "appreciated" by most. It kind of grows on you. I have since replaced the chrome knob with a black one.

Let me know what you think.

This is the first attempt. Basic in the extreme.



Here are photos of the rebuild.





Here's a photo of the headstock. I added a headstock cap of cocobolo during the first attempt to build the body and kept the original truss rod cover.



Thanks for looking.

[stl80]

Nice pictures.
Jim

[Veenture]

Quite an interesting build. Are you leaving it as is (natural) or do you have other plans. I've been counting those pole pieces on the Carvin pickups and come to eleven x 2 on each pickup ...that seems to be rather unusual
Have you played her yet?

[Perry]

Thanks for the comments.

Yes, each pickup has 22 polepieces. I think that's the reference to the number "22" in the model designations--M22, C22. And I do plan to keep the guitar natural. I'm really not set-up for complex finishing. I've recently tried staining and have encountered some problems.

The guitar plays very well. The pickups are quite loud, and there is a nice "hollow" tint to the sound now. I believe it's because I removed so much wood. Before routing the cavities, playing the high strings would actually hurt my ears, and there were sharp overtones. These problems have essentially disappeared. I think the weight is now about 3.5 kg.

I also reshaped the treble horn a little and maybe the "horn" on the bass side. The guitar looks somewhat sleeker now.

[Sarah93003]

Interesting looking guitar. The headstock has a bit of a "hockey stick" look to it.

[brutus]

Quiet Riot anyone? Looks nice.

[oipunkguy]

nice build Perrry, if you ever need help with finishing, gimme a PM.