strat to offset metamorphosis
Sept 24, 2012 22:10:56 GMT -5
Post by chrissh on Sept 24, 2012 22:10:56 GMT -5
In 1999 I ordered a Carvin Bolt kit, a basic screw-it-yourself sort of thing, well made of good materials. I'd never had a strat and this would get me in the ballpark.
So strats are nice and classic but they never really fit my body all that well. I always want the bridge and contours to be elsewhere. But for most of us, they're just sort of the thing to use, you know? Or some variation. Other than Klein, I didn't consider ergonomic options. I had access to big machines for several years and slowly started changing its shape for comfort, some for the better and it turns out some for the worse. I'd mostly modified the shape in the wrong directions. Live and learn, be amused by limitations.
Still, its parts were fundamentally good and I liked some of my changes. I didn't want to scrap it or rarely use the thing. So I contacted Jas (aka dimbulb) in NM. He's a champ in the woodshop and enthusiastic about guitars. He's a really cool guitar player and music maker too, for those of you who don't know him, and has become a mandolin pro. And he's just a good, interesting dude.
He agreed to saw the strat sides off the center of my Bolt body and glue on new sides to make an offset body, so I could use the same neck and bridge. The results would hopefully be a guitar that fit me better. Why not, right?
And it worked! Really well, at that.
It's just arrived and will be unfinished for awhile, just one pickup affixed for now to test the results. The slightly bigger body also lends a fuller sound, kicked the eq out of its notches. Jas did a great job matching new wood as best he could to the existing grain. He was more than willing to blend everything into a more proper form, but I didn't think it was necessary for this guitar. It has much of the character it had before, just had its DNA reframed.
Thanks Jas!
So strats are nice and classic but they never really fit my body all that well. I always want the bridge and contours to be elsewhere. But for most of us, they're just sort of the thing to use, you know? Or some variation. Other than Klein, I didn't consider ergonomic options. I had access to big machines for several years and slowly started changing its shape for comfort, some for the better and it turns out some for the worse. I'd mostly modified the shape in the wrong directions. Live and learn, be amused by limitations.
Still, its parts were fundamentally good and I liked some of my changes. I didn't want to scrap it or rarely use the thing. So I contacted Jas (aka dimbulb) in NM. He's a champ in the woodshop and enthusiastic about guitars. He's a really cool guitar player and music maker too, for those of you who don't know him, and has become a mandolin pro. And he's just a good, interesting dude.
He agreed to saw the strat sides off the center of my Bolt body and glue on new sides to make an offset body, so I could use the same neck and bridge. The results would hopefully be a guitar that fit me better. Why not, right?
And it worked! Really well, at that.
It's just arrived and will be unfinished for awhile, just one pickup affixed for now to test the results. The slightly bigger body also lends a fuller sound, kicked the eq out of its notches. Jas did a great job matching new wood as best he could to the existing grain. He was more than willing to blend everything into a more proper form, but I didn't think it was necessary for this guitar. It has much of the character it had before, just had its DNA reframed.
Thanks Jas!
