the new Billy Corgan Reverend. FFO EKWATTS

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Thu May 03, 2018 5:14 pm

its got burns mojo feathers all over it.

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Thu May 03, 2018 5:16 pm

the robroe signature is like 300 cheaper.

jcyphe · Post by **jcyphe** » Thu May 03, 2018 5:20 pm

There was a thread about this already.

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Thu May 03, 2018 9:23 pm

2 years ago

Noirie. · Post by **Noirie.** » Thu May 03, 2018 9:28 pm

► Show Spoiler

theshadowofseattle wrote:

just thought i'd share, in case anyone else is thinking about custom builds.

The Williams Special

The Williams Special is a Les Paul-Strat-Mustang-Explorer hybrid, with hollow body cavities, Mustang scale length,
built like a paul with mahagony and maple top, with vintage-dimension strat body, explorer headstock.

(semi-related: my first 'good' guitar was a '75 Fender Mustang.)

This guitar was commissioned in 1986.

It is a Gibson Les paul-Fender strat-Fender mustang-Gibson explorer HYBRID.
-built by Stan Williams, Rome Georgia.

-based on the Fender Mustang scale length at 24.0"....this design is also similar to brian may's red special.

*honduras mahogany body, with air cavities carved in the body below the maple top.
*flame maple top, 3/8" thick.
*vintage-dimension strat body.
*2-piece flame maple neck, with ebony fingerboard.
*no truss rod!
there are (2) rectangular pieces of aircraft aluminum running the length of the fretboard.
*flame maple veneer on headstock; front, sides, and back.
*jumbo frets, nickle alloy
*custom inlays: mother of pearl, diamond shape, with a split diamond around the center pickup.
*Kahler 2300 pro tremelo.
*(3) off/on switches
*master volume, master tone, 3rd pot now unwired-
*Pickups: originally equipped with a EMG SA assembly, and the 3rd knob was the presence control.
--now has (2) bill lawrence L-280's, and a duncan Little 59 humbucker in the bridge.
*explorer headstock shape, true to scale.
*long tenon set neck
*13 degree tilt back headstock
*graphtec nut, with locking kahler nut mounted behind it.

*Wood: the Flame maple used on the top and neck, and veneers, was from a large timber
(143 years old as of 2018) salvaged from a barn in Illinois.

The honduras was acquired long before there were conservation laws on that particular wood
(blank dates back to pre-1980).

___________________________________________________________

design criteria:

the les paul connection:
the basics of the les paul (the obvious basics) are:

slab mahogony body;
maple top;
strings on top of body;
2 piece maple neck;
glued in neck, long tenon;
tilt back headstock, no string trees required.

later, in 2008, they started weight relieving the standards, but remember, i built this in 1986.
so, the Gibson nod starts there.

This one has:
Honduras mahagony body -- maple top -- strings on top of body via the Kahler -- 2 piece maple neck
-- a glued in neck with long tenon -- tilt back headstock.

My design tried to improve on my favorite aspects of the 4 different guitars, the mustang, explorer, strat and paul.

for example:

*the volute on the explorer headstock is inherently stronger than the les paul (commonly known over time for breaks at the neck),
plus i liked the headstock shape

*the weight relief is secondary-- the sound cavities i had routed strictly for that semi-acoustic property,
making the guitar, at stage volume, extremely lively - this followed the basics of the Brian May Red Special,
which was my starting point. his guitar is designed more like a 335 than mine, but i went there as much as i could
without floating the top over a central beam

*the ebony fretboard brings out more les paul-style tonal characteristics than, say, a rosewood fretboard would have

*the glue in neck was a must, and unlike the les paul, which has that awkward heel, mine is smoothed out right into the back of the body, without so
much as a line, almost invisible. the tonal effect with the glued in neck, and the long tenon is an obvious connection to the les paul lineage

*the tilt back headstock was unnecessary with the kahler locking nut, but i added it anyway,
feeling that the downward pressure of the strings still helps to maintain a strong connection to the neck,
vibration wise, and this is very much in les paul territory

*the strings on top, versus thru the body, is a very important link to the overall sound,
and the use of the kahler is a great way to bridge the gap between a stop tailpiece and a floating trem.

*though Kahler did not have it then, they now have a 'hybrid' tailpiece, that can lock as a hard tail, or float as a trem.
best of both. i have one on my '84 Carvin DC200k, and will eventually updgrade this one with one as well.

aen · Post by **aen** » Fri May 04, 2018 2:12 pm

Noirie. wrote:
► Show Spoiler
theshadowofseattle wrote:

just thought i'd share, in case anyone else is thinking about custom builds.

The Williams Special

The Williams Special is a Les Paul-Strat-Mustang-Explorer hybrid, with hollow body cavities, Mustang scale length,
built like a paul with mahagony and maple top, with vintage-dimension strat body, explorer headstock.

(semi-related: my first 'good' guitar was a '75 Fender Mustang.)

This guitar was commissioned in 1986.

It is a Gibson Les paul-Fender strat-Fender mustang-Gibson explorer HYBRID.
-built by Stan Williams, Rome Georgia.

-based on the Fender Mustang scale length at 24.0"....this design is also similar to brian may's red special.

*honduras mahogany body, with air cavities carved in the body below the maple top.
*flame maple top, 3/8" thick.
*vintage-dimension strat body.
*2-piece flame maple neck, with ebony fingerboard.
*no truss rod!
there are (2) rectangular pieces of aircraft aluminum running the length of the fretboard.
*flame maple veneer on headstock; front, sides, and back.
*jumbo frets, nickle alloy
*custom inlays: mother of pearl, diamond shape, with a split diamond around the center pickup.
*Kahler 2300 pro tremelo.
*(3) off/on switches
*master volume, master tone, 3rd pot now unwired-
*Pickups: originally equipped with a EMG SA assembly, and the 3rd knob was the presence control.
--now has (2) bill lawrence L-280's, and a duncan Little 59 humbucker in the bridge.
*explorer headstock shape, true to scale.
*long tenon set neck
*13 degree tilt back headstock
*graphtec nut, with locking kahler nut mounted behind it.

*Wood: the Flame maple used on the top and neck, and veneers, was from a large timber
(143 years old as of 2018) salvaged from a barn in Illinois.

The honduras was acquired long before there were conservation laws on that particular wood
(blank dates back to pre-1980).

___________________________________________________________

design criteria:

the les paul connection:
the basics of the les paul (the obvious basics) are:

slab mahogony body;
maple top;
strings on top of body;
2 piece maple neck;
glued in neck, long tenon;
tilt back headstock, no string trees required.

later, in 2008, they started weight relieving the standards, but remember, i built this in 1986.
so, the Gibson nod starts there.

This one has:
Honduras mahagony body -- maple top -- strings on top of body via the Kahler -- 2 piece maple neck
-- a glued in neck with long tenon -- tilt back headstock.

My design tried to improve on my favorite aspects of the 4 different guitars, the mustang, explorer, strat and paul.

for example:

*the volute on the explorer headstock is inherently stronger than the les paul (commonly known over time for breaks at the neck),
plus i liked the headstock shape

*the weight relief is secondary-- the sound cavities i had routed strictly for that semi-acoustic property,
making the guitar, at stage volume, extremely lively - this followed the basics of the Brian May Red Special,
which was my starting point. his guitar is designed more like a 335 than mine, but i went there as much as i could
without floating the top over a central beam

*the ebony fretboard brings out more les paul-style tonal characteristics than, say, a rosewood fretboard would have

*the glue in neck was a must, and unlike the les paul, which has that awkward heel, mine is smoothed out right into the back of the body, without so
much as a line, almost invisible. the tonal effect with the glued in neck, and the long tenon is an obvious connection to the les paul lineage

*the tilt back headstock was unnecessary with the kahler locking nut, but i added it anyway,
feeling that the downward pressure of the strings still helps to maintain a strong connection to the neck,
vibration wise, and this is very much in les paul territory

*the strings on top, versus thru the body, is a very important link to the overall sound,
and the use of the kahler is a great way to bridge the gap between a stop tailpiece and a floating trem.

*though Kahler did not have it then, they now have a 'hybrid' tailpiece, that can lock as a hard tail, or float as a trem.
best of both. i have one on my '84 Carvin DC200k, and will eventually updgrade this one with one as well.

FARTBARF

Dillon · Post by **Dillon** » Sun May 06, 2018 5:38 pm

What's with the bridge / bridge pickup placement and shorter overall length on the single coil model? Is it an short scale?

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Sun May 06, 2018 6:42 pm

FFO 2015

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Mon May 07, 2018 10:49 am

Dillon wrote:What's with the bridge / bridge pickup placement and shorter overall length on the single coil model? Is it an short scale?

Apparently it's a hardwired capo version. In a robroe thread and all.

The 21.5" short-scale of the Reverend Billy Corgan Terz allows for punchy, shimmering tones with a G-C-F-A#-D-G tuning rather than capoing at the third fret.

Post by **Doog** » Mon May 07, 2018 11:32 am

FINALLY, all that time and effort I can save by not putting a capo on my more-flexible existing guitars

plopswagon · Post by **plopswagon** » Mon May 07, 2018 2:56 pm

Nashville tuning?

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Tue May 08, 2018 2:22 am

Nashville tuning utilizes light/unwound strings on a regular scale so that the 4 heavier strings can be tuned a whole octave higher (like a 12-string without the original notes); this seems to be a guitar that you whack heavier strings on and tune up merely because it's too small, like an Erlewine Chiquita but without the McFly/Tufnel recognition.

Totally pointless and likely just to make it seem like Corgan isn't actually miserable as fuck switching to Reverend. A couple years ago he was sticking AV 57 necks on his signature Strats that he used live because he hated the necks on them. I don't think he knows what he wants.

I've heard him describe his Reverends as having "a more modern top-end," most likely meaning he didn't even like the fact that his signature Strats had DiMarzio buckers running through 250k pots (totally a "modern" sound FYI, just a shitty and sludgey metal one).

Noirie. · Post by **Noirie.** » Tue May 08, 2018 9:43 am

Is there a price for the wee guitar? I need a good laugh.

Post by **Doog** » Tue May 08, 2018 9:47 am

wtf does Billy Corgan know about "modern"?

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Tue May 08, 2018 10:13 am

Noirie. wrote:Is there a price for the wee guitar? I need a good laugh.

Ã‚Â£950

Noirie. · Post by **Noirie.** » Tue May 08, 2018 10:17 am

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Wed May 09, 2018 9:42 pm

Huh... it would seem they actually usually cost $1200, same as the full-scale dual pickup model. I was honestly very shocked to see it listed for as much as $999.99 retail in the States and instantly thought "god I hope it isn't a thousand frigging quid over there" due to experience with Fender/Gibson flipping the ol' currency symbol and nothing else.

Sure enough, the world is still a vampire.

And they hilariously seem to lose a lot of value just by getting bought. All but one of the full scale ones currently on Reverb are $700-$950.

ultratwin · Post by **ultratwin** » Thu May 10, 2018 12:35 am

Didn't the Beach Boys use a freakishly short scale guitar to get those Wouldn't It Be Nice opening coupletoanz?

I imagine you'd still have to strongRoe a capo way up the neck on the Rev to get that high with open voicings.

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