Guitar Builds 2014

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Fri Sep 05, 2014 11:03 am

I'm working on a new guitar for one of Beca's old high school friends. He is giving the guitar to his daughter this coming Christmas. This will be a copy of one of my first customs that I built in my garage before I got into my first shop in commercial space in 1991. I had seen several iterations of skeleton styled guitars in the 80's but none of them really got me very excited. So I designed and built "The Skull" below:

I ordered a neck from Warmoth Guitar up in Washington as I am very familiar with their quality and precision. It's a similar style to the original in build #1, and has an Ebony FB, with gold frets, Hard Maple neck with side of heel truss rod adjustment (a very new feature) so neck removal is not required for adjustments. It also has a compound radius on the FB 10"r at the nut to 16"r at the heel. It will also have all gold hardware, a Schaller Floyd trem and one of my fancy shmancy paint jobs. The original is antique white with black shading and #2 is to have antique white with black and copper shading with an overcoat of gold pearl in the clear coat. The copper color is a 2 color flip-flop. Here's a close up of the beginning:

Here's the full view with the neck:

It's also a 2 piece Alder body which just got glued together yesterday and I will be starting the routing work pretty soon.

Slayer · Post by **Slayer** » Fri Sep 05, 2014 11:50 am

Superb Tom! Superb!

Reminds me of a J Frog Custom Guitar that was made for George Lynch except that I like yours better! There are some other cool skull guitars out there too

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Sat Sep 06, 2014 2:04 am

Slayer, If I had to choose one from the group you sent I have to say the last one, the Flaming Skull. I still do though like the simplicity of the PEAR Skull.
At the time I was working with a band called Murder Bay for which I did a their band logo that includes a red lipstick kiss on the side of the skull. For the show I put the kiss on the guitar as well.

The coolest thing happened with that kiss and was something that no one had anticipated. I asked the guitarist if he would play the guitar for a couple of numbers which he did and when the lights went red the lips disappeared and when they went to blue the lips reappeared. The crowd caught on to that and went crazy. The lighting guy also started flipping the red and blue back and forth and it was mayhem. What a show it was the talk of the town for quite awhile. Aw, the good old 80's! That show was at the OMNI in Oakland, CA.

tukoztukoz · Post by **tukoztukoz** » Sat Sep 06, 2014 2:27 am

...teenage memories...

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Sat Sep 06, 2014 2:37 am

There's probably a zillion skeleton themed guitars out there. It would be fun to be able to see a full collection of them.

doublev2 · Post by **doublev2** » Sat Sep 06, 2014 5:06 am

I am not kissing ass here but I like the pear the best

Slayer · Post by **Slayer** » Sat Sep 06, 2014 12:01 pm

AZGuitars wrote:Slayer, If I had to choose one from the group you sent I have to say the last one, the Flaming Skull. I still do though like the simplicity of the PEAR Skull.
At the time I was working with a band called Murder Bay for which I did a their band logo that includes a red lipstick kiss on the side of the skull. For the show I put the kiss on the guitar as well.

The coolest thing happened with that kiss and was something that no one had anticipated. I asked the guitarist if he would play the guitar for a couple of numbers which he did and when the lights went red the lips disappeared and when they went to blue the lips reappeared. The crowd caught on to that and went crazy. The lighting guy also started flipping the red and blue back and forth and it was mayhem. What a show it was the talk of the town for quite awhile. Aw, the good old 80's! That show was at the OMNI in Oakland, CA.

I like yours the best!
It might be fun to start a different thread with pictures of all the different skull guitars but it would be better to do that elsewhere as I have no intention of this thread getting hi-jacked and steered away from the central topic which is your current builds. Let's keep this particular thread about new AZG Guitars shall we and I apologize for getting hyper and in my vodka haze posting a plethora of skull guitars as with a clear mind today this doesn't seem to be an appropriate location for that.

I like everyone else am looking forward to see the next works of art that come from AZG Guitars.

I can't wait to see the skull guitar come together Tom!

Kev

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Tue Sep 09, 2014 2:42 am

Not real exciting but progress none the less . . . . Do-in the Glue-in.

Slayer · Post by **Slayer** » Tue Sep 09, 2014 11:40 am

AZGuitars wrote:Not real exciting but progress none the less . . . . Do-in the Glue-in.

Very interesting

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 4:23 am

Skull guitar II

Post by **Genebaby** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 6:46 am

Nice progress.

poserboy71 · Post by **poserboy71** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 9:35 am

shramiac · Post by **shramiac** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 11:04 am

Now THAT is a Floyd Rose template!

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 11:24 am

Since I started building in the mid 80's I've been using hot press double weight illustration board for my templates. I draw out the cavity outline, enlarging it by 1/8" to account for the router guide and 1/4" bit, then it's cut out with an X-Acto knife. This way they are fast to make and easy to modify or repair if need be. I also use thin super glue around the inside edge to harden it up and keep it smooth.

Slayer · Post by **Slayer** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 12:38 pm

shramiac wrote:Now THAT is a Floyd Rose template!

Just like TJ's LOL

shramiac · Post by **shramiac** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 6:57 pm

Slayer wrote:
shramiac wrote:Now THAT is a Floyd Rose template!
Just like TJ's LOL

Yeah..........ain't I a stinker?

WildHeart4ever · Post by **WildHeart4ever** » Fri Oct 03, 2014 1:06 pm

AZGuitars wrote:Skull guitar II

Tom, thanks for posting these! I’m the kind who appreciates seeing the process and progression, so, these pics are very cool to me.

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Tue Oct 07, 2014 12:03 pm

More progress on the skull . . . .

Post by **Genebaby** » Tue Oct 07, 2014 12:08 pm

Ooh, it's all three dimensional now!

poserboy71 · Post by **poserboy71** » Tue Oct 07, 2014 12:43 pm

Slayer · Post by **Slayer** » Tue Oct 07, 2014 12:45 pm

Very cool Tom

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Wed Oct 08, 2014 1:17 am

Wait until you see the paint job on this one. I've gotten a lot more specialty paints in my stock since I built the first Skull so this one is going to really sing!

Post by **Genebaby** » Wed Oct 08, 2014 7:53 am

Sweet!

doublev2 · Post by **doublev2** » Thu Oct 09, 2014 7:54 am

Tom this is amazing. I really wish I could get an azg

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Wed Oct 15, 2014 11:27 am

Doublev2,
I've got a couple of Scorpion guitars that have been sitting around for quite a while that I'm thinking of letting go at a good discount. I'll post some photos when I get the chance.

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Wed Oct 15, 2014 11:45 am

Looks like the Skull is going into the spray booth tomorrow to get it's new coats 'o' paint. Going to start with a nice base coat of brownish yellow cream white followed by an over coat of intercoat clear with gold pearl in it. Next will be airbrushing the dark detail shadow color which will be black with a light overcoat of copper flip-flop. I'll be adding some other gold details including all gold hardware to finish it off. Stay tuned for the show as I will be posting photos as I go along.
As soon as the Skull is out the door my next endeavor will be posting some final construction and painting photos of Wolfi's new guitar. I'm going to have to buy a new can of Pink Neon and I'll have a lot left if anyone else is interested in having a guitar painted Pink Neon.

Streetbeat · Post by **Streetbeat** » Wed Oct 15, 2014 1:05 pm

You are a real real master !
Great Beautiful work Tom !

doublev2 · Post by **doublev2** » Thu Oct 16, 2014 9:40 am

Yeah please post any old guitars you may have for sale.
Am I looking at alder wood on the skull guitar?

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 3:26 am

The wood on the Skull is Alder as was the original. The two Scorpions that I have are also Alder. I'm kind of slammed today but I will post some pics of them as soon as I can. One of them is black base color with overcoat of red pearl and the other is same base with gold pearl. Hardware is all black, Schaller Floyd 2's with low inset routing, bolt on necks (purchased from Stuart MacDonalds in Ohio. I get lot's of parts from them) and modified by me, painted headstocks to match the bodies. Single pickup route no pickups installed, volume only no tone (80's style for big or small rack driver amp). Case included. Oh yeah, PEAR & Scorpion logos on head stocks (designed by me of course). I'll throw in some close ups when I post them.

metatron · Post by **metatron** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 9:02 pm

What's the most complex build you've even done

Post by **Genebaby** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 9:44 pm

I'm keen to see the Scorpions Tom.

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Sun Oct 19, 2014 1:56 am

Dear Mr. Metatron,
I'm working on a new Ukelele that's going far beyond the norm as Uke's go. I have a buyer for it already and I need to get'er done this year and I will be posting the result here when I finish it. Thanks for asking.

shramiac · Post by **shramiac** » Sun Oct 19, 2014 9:07 am

Sounds cool, Tom.

metatron · Post by **metatron** » Sun Oct 19, 2014 11:32 am

AZGuitars wrote:Dear Mr. Metatron,
I'm working on a new Ukelele that's going far beyond the norm as Uke's go. I have a buyer for it already and I need to get'er done this year and I will be posting the result here when I finish it. Thanks for asking.

doublev2 · Post by **doublev2** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 9:53 am

Is that the Uke with a titanium floyd?

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 1:30 am

No it isn't, it's actually a Ukelele with a baritone scale. Same size and shape as my Mini guitars. It's still in progress but I may post some pics after I add some binding on the body. No Floyd on this one.

doublev2 · Post by **doublev2** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 4:22 am

Look forward to seeing it.

I always wanted a baritone guitar like George lynch used talking if baritone

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 4:57 am

When I was still California I was thinking about building a Baritone guitar. I guess I just transferred the idea to the Uke. I got the Uke idea from a surfer dude that was camping at my shop for a while. He was from New Zealand and was working on some new performance enhancement concepts for surfboards and wind surf boards which I was helping him with. He had told me that the new thing, which was real big back home was Ukeleles and that's when I started thinking about a Guitar/Uke hybrid. Once I get done with Wolfi's guitar I'm going to finish the Uke as it's just too cool not too.

doublev2 · Post by **doublev2** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 9:42 pm

I really like the sound from the kala ukulele u bass

[youtube][/youtube]

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 1:46 am

That's pretty neat. Almost sounds like a normal bass but just a bit different. Must be fun, as he said, to show up at a gig with one of these.