# The Beast



## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

This is a kit from Solo, which was a prize for winning Guitar of the Month there with a JEM knock off build. There’s a thread about that already.

Amanda has this on in her studio now.

The neck and body look excellent. I’m buying a pair of Vineham humbuckers for it.


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

I like the wood grain on that body. Does your daughter work in translucent medium?


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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

This style of headless is great for playing while seated. Really comfortable.

Looks like it has a generous forearm contour and great upper fret access too.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Paul Running said:


> I like the wood grain on that body. Does your daughter work in translucent medium?


She probably could, but we won’t change just for this one.


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## Paul M (Mar 27, 2015)

You've already made 665 guitars?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Paul M said:


> You've already made 665 guitars?



Shit, did I say the Beast? I always drop that "r".

Amanda decided on "the Beast".

It was not a biblical reference.


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## Paul M (Mar 27, 2015)

With the tendency to name some Amandacasters after recently deceased rock stars, there was a non-zero chance this one was going to be Meat Loaf. Bet that one would play some tasty licks.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

It looks like something a Medieval Warrior would carry into battle. 
I envision mostly black… but a lot of red smears.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

When did Kraft Dinner start making bridges?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Paul M said:


> With the tendency to name some Amandacasters after recently deceased rock stars, there was a non-zero chance this one was going to be Meat Loaf. Bet that one would play some tasty licks.


If and when Todd Rundren passes I may consider that.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

knight_yyz said:


> When did Kraft Dinner start making bridges?


If I had a nickel for every box of KD I've eaten over my life I could probably buy a decent guitar instead of having to make them, LOL.


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## Vincent Boissinot (Jun 3, 2017)

Oh that where my Vinehams are going into! Excited to see how this project goes


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

Very cool....reminds me of a Breadwinner sans headstock.


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

Milkman said:


> If I had a nickel for every box of KD I've eaten over my life I could probably buy a decent guitar instead of having to make them, LOL.


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## tomee2 (Feb 27, 2017)

Looking forward to seeing this transformed into something awesome!


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Vincent Boissinot said:


> Oh that where my Vinehams are going into! Excited to see how this project goes


Yes, that's what I was thinking. The Vinehams are F spaced but I'll measure the bridge spacing and hopefully they should be ok.

Better pickups, switch and jack, cloth wire. And with Amanda's art, it seems like that body shape and her art are meant to be combined.


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## jimmythegeek (Apr 17, 2012)

That will look fabulous. What Vinehams are going into it?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

jimmythegeek said:


> That will look fabulous. What Vinehams are going into it?


Hope so, thanks.

These.









Vineham F-Spaced humbuckers set


Here's a F-Spaced humbucker set from Vineham. I had them in a telecaster i'm parting with (and reverted to stock) Bridge pickup is a custom wind from Craig. I don't have the exact specs, but what I asked him at the time was something like a Dimarzio Fortitude (Joe duplantier , from Gojira...




www.guitarscanada.com


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Putting any paint over that grain would be a travesty. Hell, even putting a pickguard over it would be. I'll just remind Amanda that stain can be art, too. There's room for "alternative" sunbursts as well.


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## jimmythegeek (Apr 17, 2012)

Milkman said:


> Hope so, thanks.
> 
> These.
> 
> ...


Oh wow. That’ll be a neat combo.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

CONGRATS on winning! (in case I missed that thread)

That guitar is such a cool prize and it will be a fun and somewhat different build for you!
Is the body ash?
About how much does it weigh?
It is likely a bit of an illusion, but headless guitars often appear (visually) to have disproportionately large bodies.
It is probably just me and the fact that I'm not used to seeing many headless guitars.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

mhammer said:


> Putting any paint over that grain would be a travesty. Hell, even putting a pickguard over it would be. I'll just remind Amanda that stain can be art, too. There's room for "alternative" sunbursts as well.


Everybody does bursts.
She has likely already primed it black.
No pickguard on this one. Rear mounted controls and two humbuckers so I can just use surrounds.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

greco said:


> CONGRATS on winning! (in case I missed that thread)
> 
> That guitar is such a cool prize and it will be a fun and somewhat different build for you!
> Is the body ash?
> ...



Thanks!

If this link still works, it has the article.



https://www.solomusicgear.com/guitar-of-the-month-october-2021/



Yes, the body is ash.

I don't know how much it weighs. Amanda has it presently but I think it was around 7 lbs, not a boat anchor by any means.


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## blueshores_guy (Apr 8, 2007)

Is this body missing some holes? For a 2-pickup setup I'd expect to see 5 holes: one for a pickup selector switch, four more for volume and tone pots. But I see only two holes. (And a pretty small route in the back.)


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

blueshores_guy said:


> Is this body missing some holes? For a 2-pickup setup I'd expect to see 5 holes: one for a pickup selector switch, four more for volume and tone pots. But I see only two holes. (And a pretty small route in the back.)



No, it's laid out for a pick up switch and a master volume.

I don't need the extras, particularly the tone controls.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

What's going on with the bridge? I've never seen one like it before.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

player99 said:


> What's going on with the bridge? I've never seen one like it before.


Yeah it's pretty weird. There's a little tool magnetically secured to it that you use as a speed winder.

We'll see how good it is.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

Milkman said:


> Yeah it's pretty weird. There's a little tool magnetically secured to it that you use as a speed winder.
> 
> We'll see how good it is.


Right it's for headless guitars... Where does the string winding go?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

player99 said:


> Right it's for headless guitars... Where does the string winding go?


Not really sure. I think it spools around the tuner. I'll try to minimize that, not sure if I can do the Mandolin method. We'll see.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

By the way, I've always been open and transparent about the fact that a key element of what makes these truly playable and functional instruments as opposed to wall hangers, is the input, mitigation and adjustment done by Steve Blundon on each and every one. Steve is able to make those incremental improvements and corrections that make all the difference in the world.

Well Steve was kind enough to feature our Solo GOTM award in his monthly Guitar Niche news letter.

Thanks Steve. You're a true guitar man.



https://guitarniche.com/how-to-take-a-solo-and-make-it-your-own/?mc_cid=25eb341cc4&mc_eid=69323b92fa


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## Vally (Aug 18, 2016)

Milkman said:


> Hope so, thanks.
> 
> These.
> 
> ...


A set of Rampage would be nice also


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## Vally (Aug 18, 2016)

Does amanda have a color scheme yet


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Vally said:


> Does amanda have a color scheme yet



Yes, I believe she mentioned mostly black and white with one bright orange accent (detail?).


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)




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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

knight_yyz said:


> When did Kraft Dinner start making bridges?





Paul Running said:


>


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)




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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)




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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

Milkman said:


> View attachment 402140


If that was a candy what flavour would it be?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Paul Running said:


> If that was a candy what flavour would it be?



Molecular disruption sorbet?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Amanda is painting the front of this one today. I should have it back early next week and then it's nitro time.

This one is Hum - Hum, master volume.

I may toss in a kill switch.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)




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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Nitro time!


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)




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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)




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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)




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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I hope to get this wired and strung up today. I put a strap on it and checked the balance. It's as good as it gets. The neck rises to a nice angle, like a Les Paul, but of course this guitar is quite light. Looking forward to playing it.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

What are yo going to do with this one?? Sell, keep, use it to rob a bank??


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

SWLABR said:


> What are yo going to do with this one?? Sell, keep, use it to rob a bank??


I don't really think that far in advance, LOL. At some point I, or my heirs will have to sell some of them.

Short term, I just enjoy designing, building and playing them.


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## Paul M (Mar 27, 2015)

Where do you do the nitro spraying?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Paul M said:


> Where do you do the nitro spraying?


Front steps. I had to revert to rattle cans for the winter months because I don't have a warm and well ventilated spraying room.

I just step out front, leave the door open so the heat is coming out. The can and the body are both warm. Then I dart back inside before it cools down.

It works (on warm-ish days).


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## Paul M (Mar 27, 2015)

Sooooo..... not today, LOL!


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Paul M said:


> Sooooo..... not today, LOL!


I have nothing to spray today anyway.

I hope to have another offset (Jazzblaster) ready to spray next week.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)




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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)




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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Well, I had a little set back with this build.

The bridge turned out to be pretty crappy. First of all, there's only one row of mounting screws in a line near the front of the bridge plate. The rear of the bridge was lifted off of the body and the body is quite flat but anyway, when I removed the bridge to try and assess / fix that, one of the saddles broke. The metal seems to be pot metal or something equally flimsy.

There's no fixing it so I ordered a Hipshot that others have used to upgrade these kits.

It's not cheap, but I know Hipshot stuff is generally of excellent quality so I'll suck it up. I don;'t see other solutions and the rest of the guitar seems very good.










6 String Guitar Headless Fixed


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## Paul M (Mar 27, 2015)

What..... you couldn't sneak in a picture of your snowblower with the guitar?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I'm pretty sure the Hipshot bridge requires me to load from the bridge end and that means I either have to modify the neck headpiece or buy the Hipshot (another $140 USD). I'll also have to remove a little wood to seat the bridge properly.

I hope I can modify the existing one.


💡Maybe a set of double ball (Steinberger) style strings......


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I received an e-mail from the folks at Hipshot. My new bridge has shipped. I selected USPS (UPS was one of the shipping options) so it's possible I may receive it late next week as it's coming from New York State.

Looks like a slick and well made bridge. I'm hoping double ball Steinberger strings will work but I guess that's one of the elements of building these things. You have to be able to adapt and modify et cetera.
Depending on where it must sit, I may have to carve out a bit of body to accomodate the offset tuning knobs,


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

Did you reach out to Solo about the shotty bridge that came with the package? I know it was technically free cause you won it, but it was still poor craftsmanship. I’d imagine they do sell this kit…. Not just have them to give away. No?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

SWLABR said:


> Did you reach out to Solo about the shotty bridge that came with the package? I know it was technically free cause you won it, but it was still poor craftsmanship. I’d imagine they do sell this kit…. Not just have them to give away. No?


Oh I don't think the bridge was shoddy. It has cheap materials and a quirky design, but no, I broke the saddle removing the bridge. That's on me.

At the end of the day, I'd prefer to have a better, more stable design.

Other people who have built the same kit have upgraded to this Hipshot.

Should be good.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Canada Post cracks me up. I mean generally speaking I'm ok with their performance, but this one is funny.

As indicated above, I ordered a HipShot bridge from Interlaken, NY. It made it to Brantford this morning. It came via USPS but they have to hand it off to CP at some point

I just received a text from USPS indicating that:

"Your item could not be delivered on March 2, 2022 at 8:14 AM in CANADA due to the addressee not being available at the time of delivery. It is being held while the addressee is notified."

I'm sitting six feet from my front door and have a security camera aimed at the mail box.

Nobody tried to deliver anything here or even to "notify" me.

Maybe they're looking for duty or taxes or something.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Yup, $62.32 COD.

Sure hope it's worth it. This is now a $460 bridge.

Insert your favourite expletive here XXXX.


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)




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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Well I got the bridge. I may be able to recover some of the COD as most of it was taxes and I have a status card. I'll have to fill out some paperwork but I may do it.

The bridge looks well machined and has nice surface treatment (plating) but as I suspected, in order to position it correctly for proper intonation, I'll have to creatively excavate a little wood. With something like this I like to measure five times and cut once so I'll taker my time and think before I cut.

On this bridge the ball end loads at the bridge. I went ahead and bought a set of double ball (Steinberger) style strings.

Hopefully they will work on this.

Stay tuned.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Found a good clip of a guy restringing the same bridge on a Kiesel headless (very helpful).


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)




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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

Looking good milk. Thats an odd duck of an ax but I think you just might have stranged it up enough to work =)


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Well I’m not claiming victory just yet, but confidence is high.
Adapt and overcome.
I’ll brush a few coats of lacquer over the wound tomorrow, and buff it up, then reassemble the guitar.
Fingers crossed.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

As luck would have it, the double ball strings won't work (tiny bit too short), so I just ordered a couple of replacement locking nut / headpieces.

One should arrive next Friday and the other a couple of weeks later.

I ordered two so I can choose the one that I like best.

I swear this f%$king thing will NOT defeat me.

Who knows, it may still turn out to be a killer guitar.


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)




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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Paul Running said:


> View attachment 406134


And more than a few F-bombs.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)




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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

In fact, I'm giving serious thought to renaming this one the Samuel Jackson model.

Go ahead. Say I need to order another part one more time. I dare you....


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## Paul M (Mar 27, 2015)

Milkman said:


> In fact, I'm giving serious thought to renaming this one the Samuel Jackson model.
> 
> Go ahead. Say I need to order another part one more time. I dare you....


I think it needs more cowbell.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Paul M said:


> I think it needs more cowbell.


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## Paul M (Mar 27, 2015)

Milkman said:


> View attachment 406168
> 
> View attachment 406167


On second thought..... I have no idea what it needs, or if it needs. That is one odd looking geetar. Good thing music is mostly about sounds. I suspect the tuning stability will be 1st rate or better on this one.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Paul M said:


> On second thought..... I have no idea what it needs, or if it needs. That is one odd looking geetar. Good thing music is mostly about sounds. I suspect the tuning stability will be 1st rate or better on this one.


The neck is really nice. Viineham pickups.
Balance is perfect. Light weight.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Well, the first headpiece (I bought several on Amazon to find the best fit / function) appears to have been lost during shipping.......

I swear, this guitar is fated to be either one of the best I've built, or a complete disaster.

The first one, which I'm not really confident in using, was supposed to arrive on Friday.

The tracking was....bullshit. At 8:18 PM on Friday evening, tracking suddenly showed a milestone of having arrived in Brantford at 9:57 PM......(evidently they can see into the future).

I'll end up with a refund I guess.

The next ones which I do think will fit are due to arrive around the end of March.


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

Milkman said:


> Well, the first headpiece (I bought several on Amazon to find the best fit / function) appears to have been lost during shipping.......
> 
> I swear, this guitar is fated to be either one of the best I've built, or a complete disaster.
> 
> ...


Are you a superstitious person?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Paul Running said:


> Are you a superstitious person?


Nah, just blowing steam.

I'm not superstitious at all. That includes belief in "higher powers".


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

The “lost” part arrived this morning.

I guess it’s sort of a good news / bad news sort of thing.

The string spacing is good, but as I feared but couldn’t tell from the Amazon pics, the mounting flange is 90 degrees from the fretboard.
I could make it fit with a little milling of the wood on the end of the neck, if the next headpieces don’t fit but I’m fairly confident they will fit with no modification to the neck.

I’ll be…..patient.


















The old (non-locking) part.


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

grrrrrrrr


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Brunz said:


> grrrrrrrr


It's ok. At least I have something I know I can make work and look normal. I just like the design of the angled flange as it provides better stability as opposed to only using the screws to secure it.

The "correct" pieces should hopefully arrive by the end of March / beginning of April.

By the way, that's not a booger on the notebook. It's a piece of dried glue.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

Milkman said:


> I'm not superstitious at all. That includes belief in "higher powers".


It’s real!


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Ok, maybe it _was _a booger....


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

And, it’s a guitar again. Great bridge! It was easy to intonate, lots of travel on those adjustments.

I may look for a headpiece that has double locks but it’s now playable, stable and ready for final set up.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

And.....nope, the headpiece I had waited so patiently for does fit perfectly, but is not secure enough to provide stable tuning.

So, I'm gonig to plan C.2 (must be that many by now). I'll use the one I received earlier but which has double locks (the one on the right). That means I'll have to mill away a little wood on the end of the neck, but I've already laid that out and should be able to do it on my router table today. Never give up, never surrender. By Grapthar's Hammer....


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

Good luck buddy, you show that thing who is boss.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Well, I finally took this one in to Steve for final adjustment / refinement.

I'm not thrilled with my workmanship on modifying the neck to accept the double locking headpiece in terms of the fit and finish. Functionally it seems really good.

We'll see.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I had left it and moved on to the new offset I'm spraying and when I picked it up this afternoon it was still dead nuts in tune so I think the new headpiece is locking well. Intonation and action were pretty much there also, but Steve has the tools, know how and attention to detail that always makes a good guitar better. I like the way these kits line up. The neck joints and the necks themselves are worth more than the kit costs IMO. This one has a really pretty grain.

Again, the Hipshot bridge seems like a really top quality piece. I guess I got it in the right spot because there's plenty of intonation adjustment travel in either direction.

And, it has two Vineham humbuckers.

NGD soon!


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Well, after a long battle (seemed like it anyway) and several design improvements, this thing rips like there's no tomorrow.

The neck is beautiful, smooth and easy. Tuning with the Hipshot bridge is super stable, and the Vinehams sound amazing.

Feels like a Gibson to me (easy to play).

With the missing headstock it looks tiny, but it's a 24 fret neck. Cool.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

Beautiful.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

knight_yyz said:


> Beautiful.


Thank you. I appreciate that.

All Amanda.

I'm a fan.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

She’s doing stained glass lately.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)




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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

How did you manage to make such a mess of your stereo?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

laristotle said:


> How did you manage to make such a mess of your stereo?
> View attachment 413295



Buffing with McGuiars compound.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

One thing I've noticed is that this guitar seems to really work well with drop D tuning.

It's strung with standard 10's (Ernie Ball Slinkies) but it feels like 9's.


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## 2N1305 (Nov 2, 2009)

Milkman said:


> In fact, I'm giving serious thought to renaming this one the Samuel Jackson model.
> 
> Go ahead. Say I need to order another part one more time. I dare you....


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I have to say, this is by far my favourite hardtail guitar, ever.

SO freaking loud unplugged, rings and sustains like a bell and the Vinehams are beautiful.

Scale is 25.5 but it feels slinky like a Gibson. Go figure.

I'm seriously thinking of ordering another kit or maybe two. It's a great feeling neck for sure.


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