Show me your #1 and tell me why

[hemmelight]

That thing is smokin', damn. It's got an understated and refined elegance about it.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Bump thread.

Here's my one and only guitar. I put it together back in 2015 when a friend started a band. Its my one love... tried many better and much more expensive guitars (AZ Prestige for example which was great) but im so happy with this thing.

Partscaster
Spec:
Hosco Japan Alder body.
All nickel hardware. Gotoh bridge.
Seymour Duncan little 59 set. (Bridge is a mini humbucker)
Obsidian Wire Vintage 3-way, premade drop in cabling and such.
Warmoth, 2 piece roasted maple neck. Stainless frets and Compound radius.
I put on Tru-Oil. (Best neck I've ever had... would have liked rolled edges, but it's fine.)


View attachment 7207View attachment 7208View attachment 7209View attachment 7210
Misstakes and unknowns.
Not 100% sure on the neck body line up. Looks fine though.
I split the fretboard from the neck when I mounted it because the last fret were catching the pick guard. Heard a crack and my heart broke....
But I managed to glue it and it's fine since . Neck seems stable and I rarely have to adjust it in the heel part. It has an extra side adjustment which seems to be enough to adjust for seasons.
I wanted one ply, 5 screw and neck pickup screws... probably sacrilege everything about that... so what

 

[EOengineer]

This one is a partscaster I threw together. The body was built by Guitar Mill, neck is AAA flame maple and was finished and leveled at K-Line. Fender Pure Vintage 64 pickups with vintage spec wiring and a treble bleed.

It’s the most lively and resonant of my Fender style guitars, and the beefy neck with heavy rolled edges and nitro semi gloss feels perfect. Killer guitar.



A better look at the maple.

 

[the swede]

That’s f*cking SWEET!

A Tele will most likely be my next guitar and I’ve been thinking about what finish I want it in, you may have just answered that question for me.

I’ve been fantasizing about a thing. You see mine has a 1 ply matte black guard. It kinda pops out from the clear body finish.

What would be really cool is a shiny black guard but the two tone sunburst in silky matte. I almost wanted to matte my tele body but can’t do it. It has to stay this way. Maybe I should matte the backside for fun?

This one is a partscaster I threw together. The body was built by Guitar Mill, neck is AAA flame maple and was finished and leveled at K-Line. Fender Pure Vintage 64 pickups with vintage spec wiring and a treble bleed.

It’s the most lively and resonant of my Fender style guitars, and the beefy neck with heavy rolled edges and nitro semi gloss feels perfect. Killer guitar.



A better look at the maple.

They do look great with those edges around the body. Framing the classic tele look.

I wonder if rolling neck edges is a diy that I can do

 

[EOengineer]

I’ve been fantasizing about a thing. You see mine has a 1 ply matte black guard. It kinda pops out from the clear body finish.

What would be really cool is a shiny black guard but the two tone sunburst in silky matte. I almost wanted to matte my tele body but can’t do it. It has to stay this way. Maybe I should matte the backside for fun?

They do look great with those edges around the body. Framing the classic tele look.

I wonder if rolling neck edges is a diy that I can do

At this point I have a double bound tele addiction. It’s definitely a classic look.

Re: the rolled fretboard edges - you can do it but it’s usually going to require a refinish if you are doing it on a finished maple neck. You could probably do it and then reapply tru-oil after and it might be fine? It’s quite easy to roll a rosewood fretboard after the fact though. IMO nicely rolled edges are a thing of beauty and absolutely worth the effort.

 

[the swede]

At this point I have a double bound tele addiction. It’s definitely a classic look.

Re: the rolled fretboard edges - you can do it but it’s usually going to require a refinish if you are doing it on a finished maple neck. You could probably do it and then reapply tru-oil after and it might be fine? It’s quite easy to roll a rosewood fretboard after the fact though. IMO nicely rolled edges are a thing of beauty and absolutely worth the effort.

Thanks.
I think the finish will be fine, warmoth said the neck didn’t need any kind of finish but I could true oil it to however i like.

My concern is really more about the result of rolling off the edges and how that works with the fret ends. They’re stainless so i don’t think i have anything that bites on the frets… I need to do a YouTube evening on this matter. What it means and how it’s done etc.

 

[Stratzrus]

My #1 for my Jazz and R&B gigs is a 2001 Gibson Memphis Dot Reissue ES-335.

But my #1 for everything else is my 2005 Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster HSS QMT with an ebony fretboard, locking tuners, LSR Roller Nut, Quilt Maple Top, Hot SCN pickups exclusive to this model, and the S-1 Switching System with series/parallel/coil split options.

I had a Strat with the regular SCN pickups and was underwhelmed. The Hot SCNs designed specifically for the QMT Strat are a completely different story. Great Jazz tone in the neck position with the S-1 stealth button engaged. Better for Jazz than any other Strat I've ever played and the gain tones are killer into both an overdriven tube amp or modeler.

Hot SCN​

"Hot SCN pickups were used only on the HSS (Humbucker/Single/Single)[ American Deluxe Stratocaster from 2004 to 2010. Hot SCN pickups claim a hotter output than a standard SCN Strat pickup and were designed for proper balance with a hot humbucker in the bridge position."

 

[EOengineer]

My #1 for my Jazz and R&B gigs is a 2001 Gibson Memphis Dot Reissue ES-335.

But my #1 for everything else is my 2005 Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster HSS QMT with an ebony fretboard, locking tuners, LSR Roller Nut, Quilt Maple Top, Hot SCN pickups exclusive to this model, and the S-1 Switching System with series/parallel/coil split options.

I had a Strat with the regular SCN pickups and was underwhelmed. The Hot SCNs designed specifically for the QMT Strat are a completely different story. Great Jazz tone in the neck position with the S-1 stealth button engaged. Better for Jazz than any other Strat I've ever played and the gain tones are killer into both an overdriven tube amp or modeler.

Hot SCN​

"Hot SCN pickups were used only on the HSS (Humbucker/Single/Single)[ American Deluxe Stratocaster from 2004 to 2010. Hot SCN pickups claim a hotter output than a standard SCN Strat pickup and were designed for proper balance with a hot humbucker in the bridge position."

That 335 looks KILLER. You got lucky with that top.

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

For sitting on the bed shedding these are my go to planks. The ergonomics are just perfect.

No.1 for 2 decades…
Baker B3 Wood, hollow, Lollar low winds, 1 inch neck, lowest action i was able to set on any of my planks.

Kinda Les Paul meets 335. Mahagony with cedar top, maple neck with ebony board.

Back then they retailed for 6300 bucks. Last one i saw on Reverb a fee years back went for 2500.

Kinda like an inverse of an Ibanez Jem 77 FP that now go on reverb for 4500-6500

 

[2112]

Far out it's been a while since I've thought about Baker guitars. They always reminded me of the Hamer Sunburst/Studio/Artist models, which were also available for absolute bargain prices up until recently.

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

Far out it's been a while since I've thought about Baker guitars. They always reminded me of the Hamer Sunburst/Studio/Artist models, which were also available for absolute bargain prices up until recently.

I had one of those with P90. Was a great guitar got that like mid 90s used fir 250.

The only other Hamer i had was a Standard (Explorer) that i git off Arian Smith that guitar is on the back cover of maiden killers.
Those were then the most expensive guitar available in Germany. It retail for approx 3500$, in comparison my 58 V limited edition from 80 was 1400 and my 76 Explorer 2000
And a real 58 V you still could get for 17k and 60s Vs were like 1200 bucks

 

[laxu]

If I have to pick a single #1, it's this Heatley Tradition. Pics from Heatley.

In 2017 my birthday was coming up and I wanted to buy myself a high end Les Paul style guitar. The first thing I did was check out what my local stores offered for Gibsons. I came back very disappointed. I swear they ship the absolute worst Gibsons to Finland, there were several that needed major work yet were still sold at full price. It was ridiculous.

But as luck would have it, someone was selling the Heatley on the used market for around similar price that Gibson Historic models go used. Looked the part, but had never heard of the brand so I did some internet sleuthing to find out it's pretty high end stuff. So I contacted the seller, we agreed that I would pay him, get the guitar and could try it out and return it if I didn't like it. So I got it, played it and fell in love with it.

It's made in Canada, and is basically perfection. Absolutely gorgeous, it's got all the buzzword "tonewoods" like Brazilian rosewood fretboard, Honduras mahogany body, nitro finish etc. Even flamed maple binding on the fretboard and body. Wolfetone Dr. Vintage pickups, Gotoh hardware, Sperzel locking tuners. It plays like butter, has impeccable fretwork and even solves the Gibson design's neck heel and headstock issues. Couldn't ask for more from this type of guitar.

 

[Achilles]

 

[Texsunburst59]

For me it’s sort of a tie with my 2 most tonally versatile guitars in my collection.

The both play and sound amazing.

‘03 Tom Anderson Hollow T Drop Top

‘09 PRS DGT 10-Top

 

[ejecta]

Suhr Ian Thronley Rouhneck. It’s number one because its bad ass.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Currently this one. It just clicks all the right boxes for me.

 

[jellodog]

Currently this one. It just clicks all the right boxes for me.

View attachment 15018

Partscaster? You gonna spill the specs for us?

 

[FuzzyAce]

Partscaster? You gonna spill the specs for us?

Yep, partscaster.

Warmoth neck -- 1pc Goncalo Alves raw, '59 contour & compound radius, 6100 gold evo frets, 1 11/16 nut
Body -- Fender Deluxe body - alder
Pickups -- Cruiser, Cruiser, Super Distortion, 3-way switch, master volume, bass cut, treble cut controls
Black hardware including Planet Waves locking tuners. Pretty sure the bridge is from WD music, nothing special but works great.

 

[jellodog]

Yep, partscaster.

Warmoth neck -- 1pc Goncalo Alves raw, '59 contour & compound radius, 6100 gold evo frets, 1 11/16 nut
Body -- Fender Deluxe body - alder
Pickups -- Cruiser, Cruiser, Super Distortion, 3-way switch, master volume, bass cut, treble cut controls
Black hardware including Planet Waves locking tuners. Pretty sure the bridge is from WD music, nothing special but works great.

Mmmmm. Cruiserrrrr.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Mmmmm. Cruiserrrrr.

If I could only have 1 neck pickup it would be that.