The mahogany S7 i built

[scott from _actual time_]

i posted some pics of this guitar almost done in another thread, but i finally got the tone knob installed this weekend and took some nice pics.

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i'm still tweaking the pickups, Duncan Jazz and Custom + Alnico 5, as blathered about here. they sound incredibly thick and chewey--yay mahogany. i added a treble bypass capacitor to the volume knob, and now they have a nice extra bit of brightness when i turn the volume knob down.

 

[jammy]

A beautiful guitar! Well done!
A mahog veneer on that headstock would really finish things off though

 

[scott from _actual time_]

A mahog veneer on that headstock would really finish things off though

it sure would--if the neck hadn't already been sprayed when i got it, i would've considered that. if i ever refinish the neck....

 

[yevetz]

good work

 

[Thomas]

That's awesome. I'm interested in hearing some soundclips, especially cleans, of this thing. Did you build everything from scratch?

 

[FortePenance]

Old-school neck joint is

Good going man! It looks killer.

 

[djpharoah]

Very Nice

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Can you post your routing template?

I have some Stew Mac templates with the center line on them, which is great, I swear by having that centerline reference. But for the life of me I can't find any 7 string versions.

 

[technomancer]

Glad to see that finished, it looks awesome

 

[Shawn]

Glad to see that neck I sold you being used and it looks so awesome on that body, nicely done!

 

[scott from _actual time_]

thanks dudes!

That's awesome. I'm interested in hearing some soundclips, especially cleans, of this thing. Did you build everything from scratch?

i built the body from scratch, but i bought the neck, from Shawn who posted above (thanks, Shawn). i like the old-school neck joint too--with the thin neck plate, it never gets in my way.

i'll track some soundclips at some point. the high-gain sounds are fantastic, but cleans are a bit dull, not very sparkly. i'm experimenting with the humbuckers really low from the strings, ~3/8", like noodles runs his. it makes the high-gain sounds rounder, but it makes things less bright.

Tony, i can't post my router templates because i don't have them in any digital format. i made them all by hand by tracing my old 540S7. as far as i know, nobody makes 7-string templates of anything. i had to make all of mine.

 

[Cyanide_Anima]

daaaaaaaaaaaymn. nice job man! that guitar is gorgeous! can't wait to hear it!

 

[noodles]

Gorgeous guitar, very clean and understated.

What single coil is that?

 

[scott from _actual time_]

Gorgeous guitar, very clean and understated. What single coil is that?

thanks! yeah, the understated is totally me--rhythm guitarist at the back of the stage. the single is a Rio Grande Tallboy that i scored off Ebay. it's not as loud or as "pushed" texas SRV as the Muy Grandes, which i have two pairs of, but it works nicely in the middle positions with the split humbucker coils.

i'm still not completely sold on the pickups lower from the strings, like you have yours. they do sound smoother and rounder and fatter, but i have to crank the gain higher and boost the treble to compensate for the lack of output and compression that i was getting with them not so far away from the strings. i may track some tests, then raise mine back up and track again to compare. but it's certainly been neat to hear the difference.

 

[budda]

sexy

 

[BCrowell]

Dude, to do the body that well from scratch! Well... extremely impressive and beautiful! Nice job man!

 

[gregj]

looks very nice, really really nice

how much would you want for one that has bolt on neck (plate makes playing in hard position impossible), and with volume knob behind the bridge, and lower (like in JPM models) ?
what's the scale lenght ?

 

[noodles]

i'm still not completely sold on the pickups lower from the strings, like you have yours. they do sound smoother and rounder and fatter, but i have to crank the gain higher and boost the treble to compensate for the lack of output and compression that i was getting with them not so far away from the strings. i may track some tests, then raise mine back up and track again to compare. but it's certainly been neat to hear the difference.

It is one of those things that is highly dependent upon playing style. Some guys love high action, which makes it far less of a problem. Some guys never go that high up the neck, so they'll never hear a problem. You have two less frets, so that help, too.

However, I go right up to the 24th fret and bend on a couple of solos, and I really hear notes just die up there with the pickups higher. I use a tube screamer and a the modern channel on a Recto, though, so I have no problems getting notes to sound big.

 

[Seedawakener]

Looks awesome! Very clean! And the mid singlecoil somehow fits the S-body very well!

 

[playstopause]

Wow, very well done!