Two projects: Prehistoric Mustang/Petrified Jagmaster

Narco Martenot · Post by **Narco Martenot** » Thu May 29, 2008 11:23 pm

I actually wanted all of the hardware to have an antique bronze look, but I do not know how to go about doing that or if it's possible. I know there are paint kits, but I have a feeling that would not turn out so well.

I also thought about relicing the hardware, but I can't bring myself to do it just yet.

dodgedartdave · Post by **dodgedartdave** » Thu May 29, 2008 11:37 pm

It would be cool if you just made new plates out of copper.

Ask around here on the boards. Somone will have info on how to relic your hareware.

Narco Martenot · Post by **Narco Martenot** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 1:47 am

I recently took some new photos of the guitar, I thought I would post a few:

Mo Law-ka · Post by **Mo Law-ka** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 2:09 am

looks neat.

i like the gigantitude of the knobs.

Jagermeister · Post by **Jagermeister** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 2:09 am

I feel sorry for the dinosaurs you killed to make that.

More Flintstones than fearsome, but if it's any comfort, the only things that really bug me are the lack of a bridge pickup or any single coils in sight... Rather than your aesthetic modifications

Pickguard actually looks amazing.

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 2:34 am

whats the story with the nut?

Narco Martenot · Post by **Narco Martenot** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 2:34 am

Thanks.

I actually did not want any pickups to be visible at all, but with the thick wooden pickguard I figured that was not an option. I wanted as much of the pickguard to be showing as possible, so I opted for one only. I was going to go for just a bridge pickup, but it looked too cluttered in that area to me.

I am currently working on a project that is inspired by the 60s Framus Strao de Luxe and Fender Maurauder Type II guitars. It will start off as a 2008 Jagmaster, and will have a petrified body and neck (not nearly as bold as the pickgaurd on the Mustang), large copper control plates (like the Framus), and an ostrich skin pickguard hiding three or four pickups.

I'm not sure how well the hidden pickups will work, but I figure with some really powerful pickups it should be okay. Does anyone have any expriences with hiding pickups? I figure the worst thing that can happen if it does not work I will have to cut pickup holes in the pickguard; which isn't a big deal.

That's a rough layout of what it will look like. The tortoiseshell pickguard in the image will instead be ostrich skin. The strap will have some ostrich skin as well, but will mostly be made of wool. As far as controls, it will probably only have a kill switch for each pickup.

Basically, I want this guitar to be balls out, and able to withstand any abuse I give it; unlike the Mustang which is really fragile.

Narco Martenot · Post by **Narco Martenot** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 2:35 am

robert(original) wrote:whats the story with the nut?

It's the same nut that was already on the neck. I assume it's the original.

Mo Law-ka · Post by **Mo Law-ka** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 2:43 am

new project sounds really out there. I LOVE IT

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 2:46 am

no way, that nut was cut by someone, novice most likely, fender designs work best with a nut that only encompasses 1/3 of the string and otherwise can sometimes cause catching and mess with tuning.
that new design looks pretty amamzing!

Mr.Ripley · Post by **Mr.Ripley** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 2:47 am

That project sounds really cool! Can't wait to see how it goes.
Are you planing on using original chrome parts or are you getting custom made ones?
Trem? Yes plz?

Narco Martenot · Post by **Narco Martenot** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 3:03 am

Robert - I never really noticed that, but I had intended on replacing it with a real bone nut anyway.

As for the hardware, I am probably going to copper plate all of it. I almost have the control plates finished. I cut them by hand and shaped the edges a bit. They are a little rough as I do not really have proper metal working tools, but I don't think it's rough in a bad way. I suppose it's about what you would expect from metal that has been cut by hand with no machinery involved.

Here is a photo after I had just cut the plates, before any filing or shaping was done:

That is the back of the guitar, and the back plate. The body paint is not nearly complete in that photo.

There will be no tremolo.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 5:38 pm

'mazin.

James · Post by **James** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 7:36 pm

The Mustang stylings are not to my taste, but I salute the balls. This new thing sounds fantastic. Stealth pickups, ostrich skin, multi-toned wood. It all has the potential to look stunning.

Narco Martenot · Post by **Narco Martenot** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 12:32 am

About the hidden pickups -- I am concerned that with the pickups being so low, and the layer of ostrich skin between the strings and pickups, that it might sound too weak. Should I just go with extremely hot pickups, or maybe just use some sort of booster?

I would like to use a variety of three or four pickups.

Also, what is the general opinion of GFS pickups? I am interested in their Dream 180 pickup.

Jagermeister · Post by **Jagermeister** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 12:51 am

Narco Martenot wrote:About the hidden pickups -- I am concerned that with the pickups being so low, and the layer of ostrich skin between the strings and pickups, that it might sound too weak. Should I just go with extremely hot pickups, or maybe just use some sort of booster?

I wouldn't even worry about tone, as I don't think mounting any pickup that far from the strings is an optimal solution to anything anyway, I can imagine something with retarded high output would find application here however, and when placed far enough from the strings would likely yield a decent amount of sounds from your amp, and give cleaner tone than typical for the variety (I can see Hotrails coming into place).

I'd ponder actives, but I don't know enough about their mechanics and responsive traits...

A Dream 180... That pickup seems to be mentioned in the same sentence as PAF, so I'd assume the output would be a bit low for your application.

Also, I wonder if you could shave a bit out of the neck pocket to bring the strings closer to the body... Just be prepared to you know, deal with that.

Narco Martenot · Post by **Narco Martenot** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 3:36 am

What do you think of the GFS Lil Killer? The "hot" model has a 15k output.

All of their pickups are priced very low, which seems very questionable to me; but it would be great if these were actually nice.

Mr.Ripley · Post by **Mr.Ripley** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 9:42 pm

Narco Martenot wrote:What do you think of the GFS Lil Killer? The "hot" model has a 15k output.

All of their pickups are priced very low, which seems very questionable to me; but it would be great if these were actually nice.

I haven't had the chance to use this particular model but the pickups I have installed have been very nice and I've only seen good reviews of them on the board. Though these pickups are cheap it is all really down to what you like. For example I remember Rob(og) talking about how good mighty mite P-90's were (5$?) and I've heard them compared to Lindy Fralin P-90s so as I said it's all up to taste some pickups just bring out what you want and they may be 100$ pups or they might be 20$ pups.

Narco Martenot · Post by **Narco Martenot** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 5:42 am

The ostrich and emu skin that I ordered arrived. I really only ordered the emu because it looks so incredible, but it would take about three pieces to make a pickguard; it is much smaller than the ostrich. The two tan pieces of ostrich will be used for the pickguard -- I am not sure what I will do with the other piece of ostrich and the emu skin.

Here are some pictures of the progress:

Ostrich and emu skin (the dark skin is emu).

Emu.

Ostrich for the pickguard.

Mockup.

So far I have put about ten or so coats of clear on it, with some wet sanding and other work in between a few of the coats to give it some depth.

I decided to go with Krylon Crystal Clear acrylic lacquer again, which I used on the petrified pickguard for the Mustang. It dries very, very quickly (I am able to give it a fairly thick coat every 30 minutes or less) and it really seems to give it the glass-like depth that I need; and since I do work in between every few coats, I really need it to dry fairly well in a short period of time.

I have been painting with it being about 30 degrees or less outside, and quickly bringing it inside to dry. I probably look nuts painting outside in this weather, but I have done this enough to know what I am doing, I think. At least I have not ran into any problems by doing it this way.

Right now, I am working on finishing the pickguard, and then I will do some wet sanding and resume giving it coats of clear.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 3:01 am

BacchusPaul wrote:'mazin.

Seriously.