Rap Hat
the:pawn.project
(more pics are in second post lots of words ahead so feel free to skip)
I wanted to be the first doing an NGD, but things came up and its been delayed until now.
Back in November I was in talks with Tom about getting the (then-titled) Lace Aluma-Djent pickups for my Agile 8-string, and he mentioned he was going to do an 8-string Black Friday run. I was on the fence about grabbing another custom 8 since Im still waiting for a Rico Jr. BFR, but the more I researched the more I wanted one. While talking to Tom I discovered hes located in Oakland, ME, almost right next to one of my familys orchards, and hed been there a bunch with his kids. It was mind-blowing to have this connection to an amazing luthier so I jumped in to support a local business.
Thanks to the location I was able to visit over Christmas and meet the man behind the guitars. Tom was kind enough to chat a bunch, and let me pick out the pieces of rosewood for my neck and fretboard.
Seeing the pieces of wood I picked out get carved and glued was nothing short of amazing. Tom plowed through the process, while making sure each instrument got the attention to detail it needed. I cant speak highly enough of how involved he gets the clients; the massive amount of pictures, descriptions, and explanations kept the wait from feeling like a slog.
Anyway, onto the guitar!
Specs:
8 String Singlecut Style
27 Scale
1-Piece Indian Rosewood Neck (Unfinished)
Indian Rosewood Fretboard with 16 Radius, 24 (Extra?)Jumbo Frets and Zero Fret
2 Abalone Dots @ 12th Fret
Luminlay Glowing Side Dots
Ash Body with Belly Cut, Arm Contour and Deep Cutaway
Flamed Maple Cap + Headstock Overlay
Hipshot Bridge + Open Gear Tuners
Custom Rosewood Knobs (To Match Neck & Fretboard)
Lace X-Bar 4.0 Pickups
3-Way Toggle Switch, 1vol, 1tone
Dunlop Recessed Straplocks
Ocean Blue 2-Step Satin Finish
-
This instrument is great; the components seem to come together and make a very comfortable guitar. The unfinished rosewood neck feels smoother than silk, with a rockin asymmetrical profile. Its somewhere about 19-20mm at 1st, 21-23mm at 12th, and totally lacking the fatiguing shoulders that my Agile 8-string has. The neck width at the nut is 2¼ and ~2.71(about 23/32) at 12th. Fret access is decent for a singlecut, I can reach 24th on the plain strings no problem but it starts to get cramped going down. Its just about where I expected it to be; I dont solo much, and when I do its bluesy so I dont need space for shredding.
The shape of the guitar is reminiscent of Teles, while being something else entirely upon use. The curve at the bottom means the guitar fits better using classical position, a boon when I feel like playing properly. I wasnt sure about the arm contour at first its a bit jarring seeing the body wood on top. Matching the top color nixed my aesthetic concern, and its so damn comfortable. The guitar is balanced nicely, though a hair neck heavy thanks to the lightweight ash body. Non-recessed straplocks would probably balance it a hair more theyd also look worse, and push the guitar away from my body.
In terms of acoustic resonance, the OAF is brighter and slightly louder than the Pendulum 82527 and waaay more resonant than the PRS Mushok SE. It doesnt quite have the acoustic sustain of the AL-627, but thats a 10.2lbs hunk of solid mahogany. Plugged in it seems to have a smooth low end, not as boomy as the Pendulum (also with an X-Bar) with less low-mids and a bump around 1500Hz. It has a slight tonal similarity to a Strat/Tele hybrid, which becomes very apparent when going through a cranked DSL100 or Mesa F30. Running through the Axe-FX has been interesting; my patches using a sludgy Rockerverb tone sound quite different than the Pendulum. The two guitars definitely complement each other and Ill be doing some joint tracks to show this off.
The only area where I have some issues is the pickups. The X-Bars sound great, dont get me wrong. But for some reason these have a bit lower output than my production X-Bar. It puts them at a lower output than the classic style pickups in my Agile AL-627 (my lowest output guitar), which is the total opposite of my experience with Lace so far.
Besides the output level, trying to play the guitar through an amp brought forth this awful hum. I know theres a lot of interference in my studio so sometimes instruments will buzz like crazy, but this was something else. I tried troubleshooting it with no luck so I took it to Tom when I visited Maine. He went all out, shielding the cavity and using multi-core shielded wire (Thanks Tom!). While he was doing this I noticed the leads coming out of the X-Bars were exposed, they didnt have the thick shielding my production X-Bar has. Im not 100% sure its the cause, but with the amount of interference in my studio I wouldnt be surprised that the leads are acting like antennas.
Toms work has helped a bunch, and while its still a minor issue I can work around it now. It shows his dedication to customer service that hes taking the time to help me fix a problem thats in no small part thanks to the crappy wiring in my studio.
That issue aside, the wiring/electronics is great. Stock it was very clean, with everything was soldered nice and tight. Its even better now
. The Tele-style controls took a little getting used to, but a few minutes got me accustomed to the sideways 3-way. Custom knobs are an excellent addition and look beautiful to boot.Im still in the process of nailing down my preferred action; a lack of time has forced smaller changes more spaced out. Right now I have it close to my ideal of 1.2mm bass, 1.0mm treble. By this time next week it should be there.
Would I recommend Oakland Axe Factory? Hell yeah! While this specific model isnt a shredders wet dream, it handles the sludgy, doomy music I play with aplomb. Im sure Tom can pull off whatever a player could need anyway. Ill definitely be working with him again does a double-cut, multiscale, semi-hollow, bubinga-bodied(and boarded), bamboo-necked eight string sound good?
*A soundclip or two will be coming within the week. It doesn't sound different enough from the other X-Bar equipped guitar to go crazy with tons of new songs*
Photobucket Collection: http://photobucket.com/RapHatOAFBFR2011
