# Frying Pan - my latest build



## NGroeneveld (Jan 23, 2011)

This unique build was conceived and commissioned by Nova Scotia blues legend Joe Murphy. Joe had two Rickenbacher Elektro guitars, one of which was a bit of a parts guitar, and he didn’t like seeing that pre WW2 horseshoe pickup not being used. These pickups are widely regarded as being able to produce some of the best slide guitar tone possible, and I must admit, in Joe's hands, the guitar sounds amazing. 

Joe has a great love for and knowledge of the history of the electric guitar, and wanted to not only use the pickup, but to also to pay homage to the pioneers of guitar building, like George Beauchamp, inventor of the horseshoe pickup. The first guitar to use these pickups were called Frying Pan guitars due to the shape, basically a neck with a body big enough to hold the pickup, and volume/tone controls.

So the concept was to build a guitar that looked like a Frying Pan lap steel, but could be played as a regular guitar, or as a slide guitar. So it has a fretted V profile neck, copied from a 1936 Gibson ES150, and a Marc Rutters Tele bridge, to allow for intonation. This is not a lap steel guitar, although you can play it on your lap if you want to. It has a strap and is meant to be played standing up like any other guitar, with a slide or with standard left hand chords. 

This guitar has a mahogany body, roasted maple neck, ebony fretboard 12 radius, Cocobolo headstock veneer, pickup ring, truss rod cover, string thru plate, and back plate. Tuners are Waverly. Joe has a collection of vintage knobs and picked out a couple of nice ones that are well suited.









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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Very nice-looking finish. Is it prone to neck dive?


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## NGroeneveld (Jan 23, 2011)

Neck does not dive - did some placement testing to determine where to put the strap pin so that the guitar would hang properly, but that was done after these pics were taken actually.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Beautiful!! The finish (as mentioned), wood colours (species), grain, and the overall retro looking design are superb! A fine, unique, instrument and work of art. Congratulations.

Apologies for my insatiable curiosity...What is the purpose of the square piece of wood between the end of the neck and the pickup "surround"? Thanks.

Cheers

Dave


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## NGroeneveld (Jan 23, 2011)

It's the truss rod cover




greco said:


> Beautiful!! The finish (as mentioned), wood colours (species), grain, and the overall retro looking design are superb! A fine, unique, instrument and work of art. Congratulations.
> 
> Apologies for my insatiable curiosity...What is the purpose of the square piece of wood between the end of the neck and the pickup "surround"? Thanks.
> 
> ...


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

NGroeneveld said:


> It's the truss rod cover


Thanks. 

That was my guess/conclusion...I now feel a bit embarrassed for asking.

Cheers

Dave


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

What is the scale length of this one. What would it cost to order one?


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## NGroeneveld (Jan 23, 2011)

Thanks for the compliments !



greco said:


> Beautiful!! The finish (as mentioned), wood colours (species), grain, and the overall retro looking design are superb! A fine, unique, instrument and work of art. Congratulations.
> 
> Apologies for my insatiable curiosity...What is the purpose of the square piece of wood between the end of the neck and the pickup "surround"? Thanks.
> 
> ...


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## NGroeneveld (Jan 23, 2011)

sambonee said:


> What is the scale length of this one. What would it cost to order one?


 You cannot order one unless you can find a pickup! But you could build one with a P90, or I could get something custom wound for you. It's a very low output pickup - 3.0

The scale length is 22.5, based on the model that went into production. That's a lap steel scale so it's a bit different to play lol. Takes a bit of getting used to. I'm planning another build for Joe using the 25 inch scale that one of the other prototype guitars used. We'll be using a Charlie Christian vintage pickup for that one. 

PM me if you want to discuss a build - thanks


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Jason Lollar makes horseshoe pickups, as does Rick Turner. We've had plenty of interesting discussions (generally involving both these wizards) about horseshoe pickups on the pickup-makers forum. The consensus seems to be that they have a knack for remaining sensitive over a longer period of the note's lifespan, such that they seem to add more sustain. They don't really, as near as I can tell, but they _sound _like they do.


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## NGroeneveld (Jan 23, 2011)

Thanks for that info - I will contact Jason Lollar as I'd be interested to know what he would charge for a horseshoe pickup



mhammer said:


> Jason Lollar makes horseshoe pickups, as does Rick Turner. We've had plenty of interesting discussions (generally involving both these wizards) about horseshoe pickups on the pickup-makers forum. The consensus seems to be that they have a knack for remaining sensitive over a longer period of the note's lifespan, such that they seem to add more sustain. They don't really, as near as I can tell, but they _sound _like they do.


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## NGroeneveld (Jan 23, 2011)

I googled Lollar and all can see is that he made a limited run in 2010 that cost $450 US - so thats $650 Canadian with shipping and HST - without correcting for inflation. 



mhammer said:


> Jason Lollar makes horseshoe pickups, as does Rick Turner. We've had plenty of interesting discussions (generally involving both these wizards) about horseshoe pickups on the pickup-makers forum. The consensus seems to be that they have a knack for remaining sensitive over a longer period of the note's lifespan, such that they seem to add more sustain. They don't really, as near as I can tell, but they _sound _like they do.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

well that looks bonkers, and I want to try it!


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## NGroeneveld (Jan 23, 2011)

Heard back from Jason Lollar. The pickup retails for $600 American - that's $739.58 plus $25 shipping and $109.35 HST. So about $863 Canadian. So if you ever see a vintage one for sale, snag it.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Holy crap! You can buy a decent guitar for that money. I'm rather stunned by the price. We discussed horseshoe pickups, but price never came up; only how they work. I gather it's something he makes only for certain customers, as one-offs. Aye chihuahua!

So much for that idea.


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## NGroeneveld (Jan 23, 2011)

mhammer said:


> Holy crap! You can buy a decent guitar for that money. I'm rather stunned by the price. We discussed horseshoe pickups, but price never came up; only how they work. I gather it's something he makes only for certain customers, as one-offs. Aye chihuahua!
> 
> So much for that idea.


Check out this article by the guy who builds them for Lollar - as you'll see by the pics, its quite an elaborate process - hence the price tag

http://www.frets.com/HomeShopTech/Products/Horseshoes/horseshoes.html


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## John Kingma (Jan 30, 2008)

Wow, that is very cool.


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

NGroeneveld said:


> Heard back from Jason Lollar. The pickup retails for $600 American - that's $739.58 plus $25 shipping and $109.35 HST. So about $863 Canadian. So if you ever see a vintage one for sale, snag it.


I have a vintage Ric lap steel I would sell for less than that.


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## NGroeneveld (Jan 23, 2011)

2manyGuitars said:


> I have a vintage Ric lap steel I would sell for less than that.



Sent you a PM


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## Dorian2 (Jun 9, 2015)

A little bit of advise for this build.

Just ensure that you do a good job, and a fairly quick job, if you want to keep this in the best possible condition.......
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of cleaning the eggs off of it if used for that purpose. :congratulatory::congratulatory:

Really nice job on the guitar. I'm just beginning to get into more of this type of thing myself. 

Looks like I can learn allot on these boards.


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## NGroeneveld (Jan 23, 2011)

Dorian2 said:


> A little bit of advise for this build.
> 
> Just ensure that you do a good job, and a fairly quick job, if you want to keep this in the best possible condition.......
> .
> ...


lol - thanks :congratulatory:


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

In a word, exquisite!


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## Dorian2 (Jun 9, 2015)

eggsquisite you mean!

Yeah...I get ridiculous at times.


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