New Custom Guitar Build

mickie08 · Post by **mickie08** » Thu Oct 25, 2018 5:29 am

So earlier this year my Grandpa passed away. Being a long time woodworker (he taught me most of what i know) he had a garage full of 30-40 year old wood. In remembrance I decided to bring enough of the wood home to have a guitar built. Nothing crazy. Basic Tele in general. He sent me a link o the build progess and I figured I would post it up.

It has been so long since i used the uploader I no longer have a password there.

so here is the link for anyone curious.

http://www.watsonguitars.net/MAG088.html

Mostly cherry and cocobola. Hand wound pickups. hot bridge, p90 front), aged bronze hardware. pickguard made out of same material as fretboard. Fretboard inlays are the 4 card symbols (spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs) with my grandpas wooden toyshop name inlayed at the 12th (all our of the body material)

Can't wait to get this thing.. I hope it is a fitting tribute.

gusman2x · Post by **gusman2x** » Thu Oct 25, 2018 5:58 am

That looks cool. So the body will be clear coated to show the laminate sections?

Also, your Grandpa had a wooden toyshop? That's super cool.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Thu Oct 25, 2018 7:00 am

That's really cool Mickie and will be a nice tribute to him.
Look forward to seeing the finished guitar.

mickie08 · Post by **mickie08** » Thu Oct 25, 2018 4:28 pm

gusman2x wrote:That looks cool. So the body will be clear coated to show the laminate sections?

Also, your Grandpa had a wooden toyshop? That's super cool.

Yep. He worked full time managing a small mine/quarry and built wodden toys and small home items on the side. I grew up in that woodshop.

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Thu Oct 25, 2018 6:48 pm

Great idea, looks though it's coming along nicely.

mickie08 · Post by **mickie08** » Thu May 23, 2019 8:00 pm

hadn't posted on this in awhile. Here are updated pics in this link

Watson Guitars

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Thu May 23, 2019 9:48 pm

Nice. It's taking a while, though?

mickie08 · Post by **mickie08** » Sat May 25, 2019 4:57 am

definitely taking ahwile but thats becuase my friend is building it for me for almost nothing so it goes on the backburner when he is busy(part of the deal). His work is super in depth. For example, both the top plates and bottom plates are bookmatched pieces. The neck has 2 graphite piece inlayed in under the frtboard for added strength/stability. Neck is hand carved. Pickups custom wound for me. All the design elements, none are off the shelf except the switches and the metal hardware (and even that is aged bronze which was VERY hard to source) even though its just a tele. Body is also chambered. Pickguard is a laminated cocobola as is the fretboard. Neck and body are all Cherry with 2 small strips of cocobolo running all the way through body and neck. The cocobola and cherry came from my grandpa's (who passed away last year) barn and has all been sitting up in that barn for 30-40 years.
Basically, hes building me what would cost probably 3 or 4K to have custom built for cost and beer money.

So I can't complain.

I am loving the results but am ready for it to be done

mickie08 · Post by **mickie08** » Wed Sep 25, 2019 5:27 am

So this project is finally done. You can see it on the shortscale FB Group or check out the link that details the build. Pretty killer guitar. HEAVY with a fat neck (but I like that kind of thing)

Here is the link again

Watson Guitars - Mickie Arnett

mickie08 · Post by **mickie08** » Wed Sep 25, 2019 5:31 am

turned into a pretty cool homage to my Grandpa.

Here is the basic rundown/story

About 18 months ago my grandpa passed away. I learned many things from him but one in particular was wood working. He ran a small woodshop he called Nite Owl Toyshop.

In his barn I found these pieces of cocobolo and cherry and asked my grandma if I could bring some back to California from Ohio to build a guitar out of. I then contacted Alex Watson of Watson's Guitars.

So that's the start of it.

You'll notice the nite owl inlay on the 12th fret. Also the fret markers are card suits (my grandma loves to play cards)

There is also a dedication to him on the back.

Design wise, I am a tele guy. So its traditional tele to some degree..

BUT the neck is thick/wide. I wanted that because I play acoustic so much that transitioning to a small electric neck can be an issue.

It's also heavy. The body AND neck are cherry. Not some light alder, maple, or even ash. Think 70s les paul heavy.

Now... pickups.. custom wound for me...p90 neck and a warm tele bridge pickup (little hotter than standard)

Hardware... I wanted antique bronze (not easy to find).. but I think it works great.

Construction... well both the neck and back of the body have 2 pieces of cocobolo laminated into them. The neck has a graphite insert for stability as well as the truss rod.

The top is book matched from the same cherry as the back.

Finish wise it's just got a very slight tint to the clear. No stain I don't believe. (Alex will correct me if I'm wrong)

So this guitar is a tribute to my Grandpa, William DeGroat. I think about him every day and happy to have this piece to keep it that way.

Here is the link to the build for anyone interested.

Post by **Doog** » Wed Sep 25, 2019 8:27 am

Looks fierce, man- what a great tribute

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Wed Sep 25, 2019 8:45 am

Nice - in all respects.

plopswagon · Post by **plopswagon** » Wed Sep 25, 2019 4:46 pm

damn, that is sweet looking!

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Tue Oct 01, 2019 12:17 pm

That is super cool.

mickie08 · Post by **mickie08** » Thu Oct 03, 2019 4:47 pm

thanks.

It's off for a quick tune up and hopefully at a gig this weekend. Had a minor grounding issue causing some extra noise. I probably could have fixed it myself but might as well let the pro do it. Ill definitely bring it down to ALBQ in January for anyone who wants to check it out. IT's as great piece of history for me personally.