The Electra Forums

very nice....

The final product is going to look outstanding. Gorgeous!

Very nice work, this is going to be outstanding and an eye catcher when complete.

Thanks guys,now the tedious sanding comes-I sand completely by hand,no power tools.Very slow,but nothing else comes close.
I need some input on the electronics-I believe I am going to install a varitone switch-possibly with a blender instead of a 3 way switch,using a master volume,master tone setup. Maybe a kill switch to boot? Does anyone(more knowledgable than myself-guess that IS anyone )see any issues with this setup or have a better idea? The pickups are Gibson burstbucker pros if it helps. What do you guys think about putting the controls in a horizontal line like Electra? Joe

I think that the inline controls would look nice but thats my opinion. I have no ideas on the switching, I like the three way but also would like other options instead of just a 3 way switch. Kill switch is nice.

I assume you're going without a pickguard? If so, horizontal line of knobs for sure. I think it'd look great!

I want to do something like this:





If you ask me, it's pure genius. Apparently, it's called a "TelePaul."

Those rotary's are a nightmare to wire, and frankly from a players point of view, not very user friendly... just in my humble opinion. I'd go with a standard three way, and if you want single coil, phase or Serial/parallel options go with micro switches, or push/pulls on the pots (there are wiring diagrams for serial/parallel options out there available). Kill switch huh... are you gonna play some Norman Greenbaum? (wink wink) Looks killer man, good luck.

Whoa "Spirit in the sky" was exactly what I was thinkin! Spooky I wouldn't attempt wiring the varitone myself,but I found one pre wired includes switch,pos. plate,chickenhead,2 wire hookup.
Notch frequency
0-bypass
1-1937
2-1220
3-711
4-464
5-386
I'm not using a pickguard,want as much of the wood as possible-looks like a go on the horizontal knobs,all positive so far

I think it all depends on the guitar. I played one or two old vintage hollowbodies with varitones, and they were awesome. then I wired a varitone in a tele (ok, a hollowbody tele with a charlie christian pickup) thinking it would be similarly awesome, and it jsut wasn't - only one of the settings spoke to me at all. So now I've got a guitar with a varitone you don't want to vary. Hmm... My theory is that a hollowbody guitar gets a lot of low-mid resonant overtones that the varitone selectively focuses - on a plank guitar like a tele there's little advantage. (frankly the hollow in a hollowbody tele dosn't do much)

There are also varitone pedals, although maybe that spoils the fun.

Thats sage advice X189player -the only varitone I have played was in a hollowbody,also thought that was awesome. So after reading your post,I found a solidbody with a varitone setup in a local shop,test drove it and was also unimpressed-only setting I liked was the "woman tone",but still not worth the added expense and trouble. Still pondering the options,only drawback is the burstbuckers have the vintage style single conductor and braided ground. Joe

Latest update....decided to go with the Dimarzios I have,master volume with separate tones,2 mini toggles for split coil,series,parrallel and a 3 way toggle for pickup selector. I routed the pickup and control cavaties,neck pocket-lookin' good so far
http://s929.photobucket.com/albums/ad13 ... ect026.jpg
well,why not test fit the neck and take a look
http://s929.photobucket.com/albums/ad13 ... ect028.jpg
Is it me or does this look like the Edsel of the guitar world? Something just doesn't look right I went and took another look at some Rics and Corsairs and realized the difference is the scale-much longer neck seems to balance out the super deep and wide cutaways. Looks better in the playing position,but still Edsel-ish
http://s929.photobucket.com/albums/ad13 ... ect030.jpg
At this point,I am seriously considering cutting off the top horn,taking out and rounding off the apex of the lower bout(under your arm),maybe do something similar to the X120 or a modified paul....
Let me know what you guys think,one way or the other

Your pictures seem a little distorted. On the stand the body looks much too slender, while in horizontal position it looks fairly normal. What is tricking my eyes? And the headstock shape is what throws it off, at least in the horizontal image. I'd keep it as is for now, but like I said something is messing with my eyes there.

I like it!

though with such a long looking upper, it almost made me think of this, but yours looks way better

I can't believe how quickly you got this thing together. 'Edsel of the Guitar world' great phrase! (But that would be the Gibson RD series if you ask me) I think you did pretty respectfully considering you didn't have something to trace, that and the misfortunate dog incident! I think if you take anything more off the lower bout, it will just look that much more skinny... you can tell the top horn isn't exact, but it doesn't look bad or anything.

I was gonna ask you what the hole behind the pickup was for, but then I figured out it was for the Bridge Ground wire. How is the balance when you have the neck on there? Thanks for documenting this, it's fun to see the progress, and looks like it's been a lot of work, salute.