Mick Mars 1989 Kramer telecaster build *COMPLETED*

[greekjgg]

Here's mine, I just finished it 2 weeks ago...I have a paddle neck on order but for now I have a warmoth 24.75 scale neck on it with a charvel logo.

There is no bevel on the mirror so you have to sand it smooth with some 2k grit sandpaper. The routing the shape is easy, but the top of the body has to be completely flat. You also need pan head screws.

For paint its grey, nothing fancy.

 

[ChadVanHalen]

The body got here today! Woot!
Looks well cut, well sanded and well packaged! Now the wait for the paint supplies and neck... Hopefully they'll get here before the Utah winter does

 

[rlord1974]

Booyah!

 

[greekjgg]

The body got here today! Woot!
Looks well cut, well sanded and well packaged! Now the wait for the paint supplies and neck... Hopefully they'll get here before the Utah winter does

Are you doing there girls model or the mirror?

 

[ChadVanHalen]

Hey guys, minor inconvenience update... Upon further look at the body and what I want to do with it I noticed the forearm contour... >.>

I never asked for it specifically not to have it but I don't remember the picture or anything on the website saying it was an option I emailed Mitch asking if it was anyway possible to maybe switch it out for a flat top telecaster body, expecting him to tell me I have to buy a new body which means another hundred down the drain...

Mitch emailed me right back telling me no problem, just send him the old body with a note inside reminding him what I need for the new body!

So, super shout out to Mitch and the crew over at KnE Guitars. Their customer service is incredible and the work they produced for me looked top notch! Seriously, if you're looking for a new body for a project guitar head to KnE guitars, chances are they'll have your body shape with the most popular woods (They even have like 6 different strat shapes... A 5150 and OG Franky models, a "Warren" Charvel model, a rear routed Ibanez looking one and a rear route and top routed OG Strat... Now that's options!)

Aren't small businesses just great? Love personal handling of customer service that guarantees a repeat visit anytime I will build a new guitar (That potential 5150 and George Lynch-y builds are looking a lot more attractive now...)

 

[greekjgg]

Hey guys, minor inconvenience update... Upon further look at the body and what I want to do with it I noticed the forearm contour... >.>

I never asked for it specifically not to have it but I don't remember the picture or anything on the website saying it was an option I emailed Mitch asking if it was anyway possible to maybe switch it out for a flat top telecaster body, expecting him to tell me I have to buy a new body which means another hundred down the drain...

Mitch emailed me right back telling me no problem, just send him the old body with a note inside reminding him what I need for the new body!

So, super shout out to Mitch and the crew over at KnE Guitars. Their customer service is incredible and the work they produced for me looked top notch! Seriously, if you're looking for a new body for a project guitar head to KnE guitars, chances are they'll have your body shape with the most popular woods (They even have like 6 different strat shapes... A 5150 and OG Franky models, a "Warren" Charvel model, a rear routed Ibanez looking one and a rear route and top routed OG Strat... Now that's options!)

Aren't small businesses just great? Love personal handling of customer service that guarantees a repeat visit anytime I will build a new guitar (That potential 5150 and George Lynch-y builds are looking a lot more attractive now...)

To save you even more time, tell him you don't want the topside rounded at all as well. It is COMPLETELY Flat. The mirror goes clear out to the very ends, there is no bevel like a traditional pickguard. Only the backside of the guitar is rounded.

 

[ChadVanHalen]

Hey guys, minor inconvenience update... Upon further look at the body and what I want to do with it I noticed the forearm contour... >.>

I never asked for it specifically not to have it but I don't remember the picture or anything on the website saying it was an option I emailed Mitch asking if it was anyway possible to maybe switch it out for a flat top telecaster body, expecting him to tell me I have to buy a new body which means another hundred down the drain...

Mitch emailed me right back telling me no problem, just send him the old body with a note inside reminding him what I need for the new body!

So, super shout out to Mitch and the crew over at KnE Guitars. Their customer service is incredible and the work they produced for me looked top notch! Seriously, if you're looking for a new body for a project guitar head to KnE guitars, chances are they'll have your body shape with the most popular woods (They even have like 6 different strat shapes... A 5150 and OG Franky models, a "Warren" Charvel model, a rear routed Ibanez looking one and a rear route and top routed OG Strat... Now that's options!)

Aren't small businesses just great? Love personal handling of customer service that guarantees a repeat visit anytime I will build a new guitar (That potential 5150 and George Lynch-y builds are looking a lot more attractive now...)

To save you even more time, tell him you don't want the topside rounded at all as well. It is COMPLETELY Flat. The mirror goes clear out to the very ends, there is no bevel like a traditional pickguard. Only the backside of the guitar is rounded.

Ya, in our email exchange he suggested we do that as well, thanks!

 

[ChadVanHalen]

Hey everyone, remember this thing?

Well after a bit of a delay due to miscommunications, vacations to Vegas, work and me shipping things to the wrong address it's taken me a bit to get everything in order with my guitar and when I was told my band is playing a show on Halloween I knew I had to kickstart this thing in the heart...

I had an unheard of 2 days off at work the week my guitar came so I was able to get it painted (Shout out to Guitar ReRanch 101 for the supplies and know how on how to do it) despite a few set backs of heavy rain and a bit of snow even...

If you're interested in close up and step by step-ish pictures, you can find em on my Facebook page here but what you all want to see is the finished product

Now all that is left is spending the rest of tonight/tomorrow getting her all wired up and go to the place that will cut my mirror and she'll be done... I may even have time to have her set up at my local shop before the show...

 

[rlord1974]

She's coming along well!

I'll be here anxiously awaiting the completion pics!

 

[ChadVanHalen]

Well, my deadline of getting her done for my show on Halloween fell right to the last hour (Literally drove from Salt Lake City to the place checking my wiring in my spandex and hair all done up straight down south to my show in Provo, tuning her up and getting the bridge all set during sound check!) but I got it done. Once I got it painted I went to my local guitar shop and had the guys I know there set her up since there's no way in hell factory shipped parts would be set up right and also asked them to check my wiring and make sure it all works properly, being the amatuer with the soldering iron I am, but their electrician guy comes in and out as he pleases so no guarantee that he'll get it done before my show which had me driving it from one guitar shop to another guitar shop to get it done right in the nick of time... But ba da da dum here she is in her (almost) finished beauty.

There was no way I'd get the mirror on with the deadline I was pushing but now I have until January I think to get a mirror cut and screwed on before my next show...

And for those who care still after all this she plays great, the custom strap is a bit high but that's not the guitar's fault and playing on 10's will take a little getting used to, and sounds great... And thank God because all the last minute stress of little minute details I overlooked (Like the kind of shaft the pot had versus the knob I needed? That was a last minute surprise of information I didn't need after having all the parts shipped to me) but it was all worth it getting to use her at as big of a venue and stage we had on Halloween to play some Crue songs with.

(And no that Marshall is not torn and road worn, she's more torn and puppy worn...)

 

[locoed]

Cool, I've always dug "Metal" Tele's.

 

[greekjgg]

Well, my deadline of getting her done for my show on Halloween fell right to the last hour (Literally drove from Salt Lake City to the place checking my wiring in my spandex and hair all done up straight down south to my show in Provo, tuning her up and getting the bridge all set during sound check!) but I got it done. Once I got it painted I went to my local guitar shop and had the guys I know there set her up since there's no way in hell factory shipped parts would be set up right and also asked them to check my wiring and make sure it all works properly, being the amatuer with the soldering iron I am, but their electrician guy comes in and out as he pleases so no guarantee that he'll get it done before my show which had me driving it from one guitar shop to another guitar shop to get it done right in the nick of time... But ba da da dum here she is in her (almost) finished beauty.

There was no way I'd get the mirror on with the deadline I was pushing but now I have until January I think to get a mirror cut and screwed on before my next show...

And for those who care still after all this she plays great, the custom strap is a bit high but that's not the guitar's fault and playing on 10's will take a little getting used to, and sounds great... And thank God because all the last minute stress of little minute details I overlooked (Like the kind of shaft the pot had versus the knob I needed? That was a last minute surprise of information I didn't need after having all the parts shipped to me) but it was all worth it getting to use her at as big of a venue and stage we had on Halloween to play some Crue songs with.

(And no that Marshall is not torn and road worn, she's more torn and puppy worn...)

when you install the mirror top., You will need a volume pot with an extra long dial or you will need to cut the top of the axe. The thickness of the mirror eats up the length of the dial and won't stick out enough to put the volume knob off. Most likely there is a 1/4 inch between the top of the guitar and the bottom of the control cavity plus the thickness of the mirror.

 

[ChadVanHalen]

Well, my deadline of getting her done for my show on Halloween fell right to the last hour (Literally drove from Salt Lake City to the place checking my wiring in my spandex and hair all done up straight down south to my show in Provo, tuning her up and getting the bridge all set during sound check!) but I got it done. Once I got it painted I went to my local guitar shop and had the guys I know there set her up since there's no way in hell factory shipped parts would be set up right and also asked them to check my wiring and make sure it all works properly, being the amatuer with the soldering iron I am, but their electrician guy comes in and out as he pleases so no guarantee that he'll get it done before my show which had me driving it from one guitar shop to another guitar shop to get it done right in the nick of time... But ba da da dum here she is in her (almost) finished beauty.

There was no way I'd get the mirror on with the deadline I was pushing but now I have until January I think to get a mirror cut and screwed on before my next show...

And for those who care still after all this she plays great, the custom strap is a bit high but that's not the guitar's fault and playing on 10's will take a little getting used to, and sounds great... And thank God because all the last minute stress of little minute details I overlooked (Like the kind of shaft the pot had versus the knob I needed? That was a last minute surprise of information I didn't need after having all the parts shipped to me) but it was all worth it getting to use her at as big of a venue and stage we had on Halloween to play some Crue songs with.

(And no that Marshall is not torn and road worn, she's more torn and puppy worn...)

when you install the mirror top., You will need a volume pot with an extra long dial or you will need to cut the top of the axe. The thickness of the mirror eats up the length of the dial and won't stick out enough to put the volume knob off. Most likely there is a 1/4 inch between the top of the guitar and the bottom of the control cavity plus the thickness of the mirror.

Thanks, and I was thinking about how I'd do it... I'm probably just going to cut around it so the knob is sorta sunk into the mirror, same with the humbucker ring

 

[greekjgg]

You wouldn't want to cut around anything as that will look cheap. Think of the mirror as one big pickguard that covers the entire front. Basically the cutout should be the same as the top of the guitar. You cut the pickup hole identical to the cavity for the pickup then you drill the 4 small holes of the screws and mount the ring on top of the mirror along with everything else.. It's actually fairly easy at this point as the hard stuff is done.

 

[greekjgg]

Chad, it wouldn't let me reply to your PM, it let me email you though. Check your junk mail if you don't see it.

 

[ChadVanHalen]

Hey remember this thing from like a year ago?

Well I finally finished it thanks to one greekjgg who isn't even a member on here except to comment on this one thread about this guitar (and thank God he did cause if not I'd still be S.O.L.!) I had it all ready to only play Motley Crue songs with my cover band but I loved it so damn much I wanted to use it with my main band when we play for a lot of peeps this summer (Use this thing in front of a few drunks or opening for Vince Neil, Night Ranger, Quiet Riot and on a short tour with Last in Line... Hmm...) so I installed a Rockinger Black Box, which is a German trem blocker that has some sort of felt built into the end the blocks the trem block, I didn't hear any others that did, and put a D-Tuna on it since we drop for one song... I'm so happy about it, it isn't funny. Rehearsal yesterday everyone (especially the singer) kept looking over and admiring the guitar, and by admiring the guitar I mean looking at their reflections seeing how they look!

Much props to greekjgg (Not sure if he wants me to use his real name on here or not, so I'll stick with user name...) not only did he do this, he helped through every stupid question I asked about it AND told me he'll keep the layout so if I need another one I wouldn't need to send him the guitar... Highly recommend his services!

Anyway, here she is...

The last picture shows how despite my best packing job the shipping company beat the living hell out of it, but I'm too lazy to fill the pock marks so I'll just keep it, no one will notice they're too busy looking at the mirror anyway

 

[mctallica1]

That is REALLY cool!

Great thread too!

 

[rlord1974]

Very cool. Brings back memories. Would love to see some better pics of her all polished up and laid out in a more professional manner. (Eg, no strap lying across the top)...

Nice work.

 

[H Golf Sport]

So this Rockinger Black Box, it lets you have a floating trem and use the d-tuna at the same time??? And you can still pull up?
Does it work good?
Nice guitar.

 

[H Golf Sport]

Ok I know this is in spanish but it looks like a great invention.