NGD: Tesl-ish 8 Build

[Randy]

Random unobtainium GAS, so I decided to make one.

- Teuffel Tesla-based 8-string
- 27" Scale
- Neckthru
- 5 piece neck maple and padauk
- Walnut wings
- Padauk fretboard
- DiMarzio D-Activator set
- Hipshot headless hardware with lo-pro headpiece
- 2k matte finish

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Looks badass, man. You really captured the vibe.

 

[JimF]

That's incredible! I didn't know what to expect so have to admit it made me laugh at first, but after the shock died down I'm in love! I love how organic it looks, it looks more like its been grown. Especially with the figuring of the wood having the knots and occlusions.
Love it!

 

[Concerto412]

Beautifully interpreted, the finished product looks fantastic! Love the orange tone of padauk against the walnut, and that heel is a thing of beauty!

 

[Randy]

That's incredible! I didn't know what to expect so have to admit it made me laugh at first, but after the shock died down I'm in love! I love how organic it looks, it looks more like its been grown. Especially with the figuring of the wood having the knots and occlusions.
Love it!

Thanks, you definitely read the vibe I was going after. Kind of the Rick Toone thing like the guitar bits were grafted onto a log found out in the wild.

 

[JDB123]

So freakin' cool. Looks like a retro-futuristic weapon of war, Halo Korva-pattern fuel rod gun type vibes. Really sweet build, another Randy banger!

 

[Captain Shoggoth]

Dude! Speechless, impeccable homage to the style of both unobtanium T-builders, definitely thought of Toone when I saw it as well.

Really cool stuff with the carved neck - how come you didn't keep that thickness until the end of the fretboard? Structural concerns or just sticking to the arc of the Tesla body plan?

 

[Randy]

Really cool stuff with the carved neck - how come you didn't keep that thickness until the end of the fretboard? Structural concerns or just sticking to the arc of the Tesla body plan?

Thanks!

Truth be told, it's my first time using the Hipshot lo-pro style headpiece and I was a little confused on how it would fit in 3D space. A Steinberger style headpiece has the neck radius (sorta) build into the plate so that gives you a guideline for how the neck should terminate. This was a little odd with the shelf-like design but then screwing into the end of the fretboard.

I actually ended up machining it with a big bulky end and shaping it by hand down to how it is. I think now that I've got one under my belt, I would probably attempt the full tapered profile next time.

 

[Thesius]

Real ones saw it first . Love the back on this thing

 

[Masoo2]

unreal build

 

[ArtDecade]

Reported. For being dead sexy.

 

[Yul Brynner]

You built it?? Are you like a custom builder or something? That's badass!

 

[Randy]

You built it?? Are you like a custom builder or something? That's badass!

Thank you!

I do build, yeah. It's kind of a side gig. I usually have an ongoing project for myself and just one or two commissioned builds going at a time to keep it manageable. I typically stick to working with people I get along with and projects that I think are cool to keep the stress down and enjoy what I'm doing.

 

[Randy]

Some build pics

 

[budda]

Madman.

 

[Yul Brynner]

That's awesome man. I wish I had that kind of skill.

 

[Randy]

That's awesome man. I wish I had that kind of skill.

Much of the foundational stuff I picked up on here and project guitar many moons ago. Never too late to start.

 

[BlackMastodon]

Beautiful build, man, that turned out great! Was going to ask if there was a build thread in the Luthiery section so I can drool over progress pics.

 

[Randy]

Beautiful build, man, that turned out great! Was going to ask if there was a build thread in the Luthiery section so I can drool over progress pics.

Thank you.

Truth be told, I think I've concluded the more I talk about a project the less likely I am to complete it. Might be that I get the dopamine fix just from planning and sharing it, and it tapers off before I get to the finish line.

So trying this new approach where I'll get it done behind the scenes and post everything afterward.

 

[BlackMastodon]

Thank you.

Truth be told, I think I've concluded the more I talk about a project the less likely I am to complete it. Might be that I get the dopamine fix just from planning and sharing it, and it tapers off before I get to the finish line.

So trying this new approach where I'll get it done behind the scenes and post everything afterward.

I know that feeling all too well. Kinda glad it's become a bit of a hassle to share pictures on SSO over the last few years (especially since I'm almost always on here in mobile), so now I can collect pictures of projects until I'm done and then post them like you said. Definitely something to be said about the excitement of starting a project vs actually finishing it.