PRS Hot Rodded Project!

I have been fascinated by PRS guitars for quite some time. Probably since the early 90's when they really exploded. I mean didn't it seem like every pro player had a PRS (and a SLO100! lol) in their arsenal?! It always seemed to me like Paul, the man, took the Gibson Les Paul concept and made improvements, to the point that it was then a completely unique guitar. Basically the PRS' are Les Paul in structure; set in mahogany neck, mahogany body, with a maple arched top. It doesn't get much more LP than that. However, Paul made 24 fret necks, used more ergonomic neck shapes, like the wide-thin and of course, the stunning book matched 10 tops! Not to mention the stainless steel vintage trems, and locking tuners w/proprietary nut that actually stayed in tune!! Lastly, the body shape, which is also more ergonomic, easy to play and just plain sexier and slinkier, than a 12 lb. LP! Paul really took the best features of the LP and the strat, and made his own love child! lol

Anyway, I digress. Fast forward to 2002 or so, and I saw a Journey concert and Neal Schon was using PRS guitars. Only, as usual, Neal's looked nothing like the production models! His had Floyd Rose bridges on them, Grover Tuners and sustainers built in! To be clear, I am not a huge Neal Schon fan-boy. I am a real fan of Neals vision of a cool guitar. It should have a Floyd, it should have a set neck, the best hardware available, and it should have two humbuckers. I share the same vision. So for the past 15 years I have been very passively searching for the right PRS guitar to meet my needs. No way was I going to spend $3-4K on a new PRS 24. I thought about a bolt-on, but decided that cheaping out was not the way to go. My father recently started playing guitar and he had a decent MIM Fender Strat. Well, he is a huge Santana fan and just a few weeks ago he blew my mind and bought himself a brand new (leftover) Santana model. He brought it over and let me put it throught its paces. Needless to say, I was hooked. The guitar played great, and sounded even better. The trem also impressed, and stayed in tune. This was just the push I needed, and I amped up my search.

I decided that I wanted the traditional PRS shape and headstock, not the Santana's more symmetrical shape and (honestly) blob shaped headstock. It didn't take long before I found the perfect candidate, on eBay. There is a huge reseller on eBay, who essentially parts out guitars. Selling necks, bodies, and parts, presumably for a profit. Recently even parting out and selling higher end guitars, like real USA Les Pauls and PRS's. He has one of the new S2 PRS guitars for sale, and it matches all my specs. Meaning it is the 24 fret tremelo model, finished in a nice McCarty tobacco burst. Even better, it is brand new, and selling for roughly half the price of a completed guitar. So I pulled the trigger. I mean, this is a perfect USA PRS, no hardware, which I would have junked anyway and no case, nothing else to jack up the price.

I don't want to get too in depth, but I feel an explanation of the S2 series is in order, here. The S2 series is PRS recent foray into less expensive, US built guitars. It falls nicely in between the Korean made SE line, and their top of the line or 'Core' models. The interesting thing is how PRS is building these guitars, and then selling them for 1/2 price or less of their Core models. For starters, they use smaller pieces of wood for the necks. A Core PRS neck is made from a huge 12/4 (roughly 4x4) single piece of mahogany. The S2 uses a much thinner piece of wood, roughly a third of the size, with a traditional glued on headstock, with a scarf joint. Funny thing here is, we all know how much stronger and more stable a glued on scarf joint is, compared to a one-piece neck?! Next, the bodies are the same, mahogany, with a maple cap. Of course, you do not get a 10 top on the S2, more like a 5 top! lol.  In addition, the arch top carve on the S2 is completely CNC shaped. The Core models are shaped largely by hand, with the little divots for the controls etc. Curiously, the cavity covers, which are identical, are not recessed on the S2 line. The paint processes are also different. On the Core line they use the latest technology water based paints. On the S2 line, they reverted to the less expensive poly finishes, used by PRS into the late 90's. Curiously again, a lot of purists prefer the old finishes and the sound of the previous generation PRS, to the new ones?! Lastly, and here is the killer, is the hardware. PRS really cheaped out on the S2 lines hardware. They use the trem unit off of the Korean SE models. They use locking tuners, that look the same, but are Asian made, with no screw tabs on the back. The pickups are also 'PRS Designed' units, which are supposed to be Asian made exact reproductions of their Core model pickups, Oh yeah, it goes without saying the S2's don't come with a case, just a good quality gig bag. So those are the big money differences in the guitars. However the S2's are built in Maryland, use the same woods, fingerboards, frets, all the structure and bones, where it counts they are all the same.

So what I got is a real, American Made PRS carcass, with no substandard Asian hardware, that I am going to replace, anyway. Seriously, my only criticisms of PRS, in general are that they fall into the 'overbuilt' category, to me. The insane tops, wood bindings, abalone inlays, all those extraneous appointments, -- I can do without. The S2 line strips all of that away. You do get the PRS signature birds, but they are plain white ivoroid, not abalone. Here are a couple of pics of my newest project guitar:

Dig the cool sunburst finish and the attractive '5' top!
Of course, if you know me, you know what I have in mind! I am going to Floyd this guitar, with a top mounted, non-recessed Floyd. In addition, I am going to put in Duncan pickups a DeMartini RTM and a Jazz model. I will also use top of the line, gold hardware, throughout. Here is a very quick mock up:

The trem is going to have to be ever so slightly recessed, due to the shallow neck angle. Likewise, the locking clamp will have to be mounted on a shim, or a shelf. Other than that, this should be a very straightforward and rockin' guitar!

Here are a couple of bonus picks of one of Neal's guitars, for sale on eBay:

NGD - Kramer Stagemaster Celebrity Owned!

NGD or New Guitar Day! I have been looking for one of these top-quality neck-through Kramer guitars for a long, long time! Really I have wanted one for 25+ years, when I had to 'settle' on a Pacer American, since the Stagemasters and Soloists that I lusted after, were out of my price range. So I found one, on an internet search, at a New Jersey dealer and it looks promising. This particular guitar may even have been previously owned by a well known Rockstar, to boot! This particular guitarist is not known for ever playing a Kramer, or any 80's type of guitar, for that matter. The seller doesn't want any more for the guitar, for the rockstar connection, so I figured that I would take a chance, since it is clearly in excellent condition, and it is a 1986 Standard Model, with only one hum, my personal fave and 1st choice. After buying the guitar, I did my homework, to verify the history of this guitar, and I actually come up with something! Here is a teaser pic, I will add more to the story and a ton more pics, in the next couple of days! :headbang

A couple more pics from the video. I will say that the video and album were released in 1987. The album went platinum and spawned three top 10 hits, including the song for this video. Believe it or not, the bands previous 5 albums sold even better, with all going multi-platinum! (Thanks, Wikipedia! lol) Any guesses?
The guitar is [U]prominently[/U] featured in the video. It is like a 6th member of the band!

This guitarist is not well known for playing any kind of 80's superstrat style guitar. This is really a testament to how nearly every player picked up a Kramer, Jackson/Charvel, Hamer, or BC Rich, back in the 80's.

So here is the answer to the riddle!

Alright, so here is cool part of how I found the guitar, and then conclusively linked it to Mick Jones.
I found the Stagemaster on a gbase search. The ad stated that it was previously owned by Mick Jones. Honestly, I could not have cared less, I liked the guitar for what it was. A really cool Stagey, in excellent condition, in my preferred pickup configuration, with a non-recessed Floyd. I did do a quick internet seach, and could not find any pics, or anything whatsoever, linking this guitar to Mick Jones. The seller didn't want any more for the guitar, than it was worth, street value, so I gave the NJ guitar store a call. They were cosigning the guitar for Matt Wells, who is a NYC amp guru, and owner of One East Recording Studio. Coincidentally, Foreigner has recorded at One East. So I bought the guitar and then contacted Matt Wells, for some additional info. Here is what he had to say;
"He [Mick Jones] cleaned out a locker several years back. This [Kramer Stagemaster] was one of many items that I purchased. I've never seen a picture of him playing it but that doesn't mean there is not one out there. He got rid of a lot of odds and ends, things that were used for recording. This guitar probably had Floyd appeal. I think he only performs with LP's. That's all I know.
It came in a 70's fender case which I kept. If you give me a mailing address I will mail you the inventory ID tag that is taped on it.
The rest of the guitars were pretty much non events. An Ovation, a fernandes strat with a funny preset tuning bridge, a kay banjo, a casio midi controller, a couple of cheap basses and a cool mandocello that needed a lot of repair and other stuff he had no interest in."
Now I had no doubt that the guitar belonged to Mick Jones, but I was very, very curious and wanted definitive proof, i.e. a photograph, video, something. So I did a little detective work of my own. I knew that the guitar was manufactured in 1986, so I did a search of all of Foreigners recorded works from 1986-1993, which told me which albums they put out, and also the singles. My first stop was Youtube, hoping that I would find a live video from that era, with a shot of (now my) Stagemaster. As far as still pics, there are none out there, that I could find, Mick appears to have used Les Pauls, exclusively, although there is one weird pic of him playing one of those Hondo/Mako extreme pointy guitars!? Youtube had virtually no live videos from this era Foreigner, so I was resigned to check the regular made for TV videos. The album 'Inside Information' was released in 1987, so it was first. The biggest hit was 'Say You Will' which doesn't even feature the band, at all. Next was 'I Don't Want to Live Without You' and again, no luck.
So I tried 'Heart Turns to Stone', a song which I always really liked from Foreigner, Mark II. As soon as I saw the shot of Mick, in silhouette, carring a guitar, I just knew it was my guitar. As you would figure, Mick is well featured in the video, as he is, IMO, Foreigner. Which means the guitar is also very prominently featured. You can even see on the 24th fret, there is a blank inlay, no 'KRAMER' engraved. There is also a bit of the corner of the block inlay, that is missing, it looks like it was sanded away, before the guitar was fretted, this is clearly visible in the video. So, cool, in a word! To now own a fantastic Kramer Stagemaster, previously owned by Mick Jones, and prominently featured in a Music Video, made me pretty happy.
I have been a fan of Foreigner since Foreigner 4 came out. I can remember staying home sick from school in 1982 and listening to a 'double-shot' of Foreigner 'Long, Long Way From Home' and 'Juke Box Hero' on my am/fm stereo headphones, and just rocking out! lol Here are a few more pics from the 'Heart Turns to Stone' video:

and the best one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7Sn6mOpxt4&nofeather=True

I will post up some pics of the guitar, as she is today, soon. With just a little bit of setup, she plays phenomenally well, and sounds great!
Here is my guitar as she looks today. Other than one nasty ding, down near the rear control cavity, it is in outstanding condition. Hardly any players wear, minimal swirl marks. It really looks like a time capsule, like it was put away 20 years ago, after only a year or two of very light use. Practically zero fret wear, and a nice chunky neck, when compared to a Jackson Soloist or a Charvel strat, which is a welcome change.
It did need a bit of tweaking, to get into playing condition, though. The low E saddle pivot was completely frozen, and I had to soak it in 3 in 1 oil, then WD40, while working it back and forth over a couple of days. The Floyd arms screw in collar was also loose, but aren't they always?! The input jack was also dirty and crackling, but a bit of contact cleaner and simply using it, took care of that. The paint was also starting to delaminate, under the Floyd, only slightly, and the entire piece was intact, so I used a thin, hot superglue to re-adhere it. This was likely caused by the factory 'massaging' of the Floyd route. As frequently seen on Kramers from this era, the route was opened up, a tiny bit, after the paint was applied. So there is some area, with a super clean route, that is bare wood. Funny how they had to do this on so many guitars, and couldn't fine-tune the routing process, so that it was the same, and correct, every time. It really speaks to how each guitar was given a great, hands-on setup, at the factory. The intonation was perfect, which was a nice bonus. The past few guitars I have acquired, needed a major overhaul, in the intonation which on a Floyd is a major PITA. I also scrubbed the Floyd with a toothbrush and 3 in 1 oil, just precautionary, there was no surface rust, as there usually is. I also did the normal hardwood splinters and woodglue into the strap pin holes, and a few of the trem/cavity screw holes needed this treatment as well. I touched up that ding with black touch up, which I had on hand. I plan on color matching the candy red with automotive touch up, and doing it correctly, in the future. The pickup was adjusted a tad low, for my tastes, but thats it. The angled JB pickups give a noticeable different sound than the standard mounted F-spaced Duncans, that I am used to. It may just be nostalgia, but the sound really reminds me of my old '86 Pacer. Here are a few pics;

Explorer Floyd Rose

 Here is my latest project guitar from Dr Floyds mad scientists workshop! I have always had a love for Explorers, first and foremost. From Mathias Jabs white/black Gibson Explorer, to the Explorers that ZZ Top used in all those videos. I even built my own ZZ Top Explorer out of pine and a 2x4!! I painted it white, and it had the black/yellow 'ZZ' down the fretboard! It didn't play, but I was hooked. I also used to look longingly at the Sears Wishbook at those Cort Effector Explorers that used to sell for like $299 and just dream away... But I digress. I have had a few Explorers over the years, and still own a couple of Kelly's, but I always wanted an Explorer, done my way. So I found one of those super high quality Japanese made Explorers on eBay, a Revival, by Hondo. And this one already had one of the pieces to the puzzle -- it had a vintage trem!!! I am 99.99% sure that the Hondo was made in the same factory as the lawsuit Ibanez Explorers. I have seen, handled and played a couple of those, and this Hondo is so identical, there is literally no doubt that this is the same guitar, albeit with a different logo. I picked up this guitar, for a song, but not without a fight, off of eBay! I conducted my usual snipe bid warfare, but another bidder was in the hunt, right up until the end. What I had working for me was the other bidder (a-hole!! lol) was bidding manually, whereas, I had entered the max I wanted to pay, and let it ride. The a-hole ended up bidding the same exact amount, as my high bid, with about 2 seconds to go. Earlier bids of the same amount take precedent, so I won!! The irritating part is that if I could have waited just a bit longer, I could have saved a good amount of $$$, since the a-hole was bidding, manually, and I am a cheap prick, so that still kind of eats at me!! Anyway, this hatches my plan, for an Explorer with the best bridge ever made - the Floyd Rose!! I receive the guitar in short order, and the outstanding seller included a nice hardshell, that the auction did not specify, and the condition of the guitar is just beautiful. It is *almost* a shame to modify this guitar, as it is 100% original, down to a couple of factory stickers on the back of the headstock. However, I did not feel that bad, as the Revival came with crappy no-name pickups, very cheap electronics, and cheap brass/gold plated hardware, save for the real Grover tuners. It is obvious the the Revival series was going for the late 50's Gibson Futuristic Explorer model, due to the finish and hardware appointments. One unusual thing, the Revival series all feature black binding on the guitar bodies? Interesting as Gibson never did this, and it actually adds a degree of difficulty (class) to the building of the guitar?! The first order of business is to ship the guitar off to my luthier extraordinaire, Tucker Barrett, for Floyd Rose routing surgery. Even though this guitar already had a vintage trem, this will be an intricate process. Due to the shallow neck angle, required by the vintage trem, the Floyd will have to slightly recessed, into the body, to match the vintage trems string height. I give Tucker explicit instructions as to how I want this guitar routed. I despise recessed Floyd Rose' and I simply want this trem sunk into the guitar 1/8 or 3/16  or so, as required. NO back routing. Think how the Peavey EVH Wolfgangs were routed and you get the idea. I explained that I wanted the trem to decrease pitch, only, not pull back/up, and for the base plate to rest on the body. Well, long story short, this time my expert luthier really let me down! First he told me I would have it in 1 week, which turned into a month, but that is no big deal. I gladly wait, for the quality of TB's work! We had an understanding that I would get a phone call, before routing, just to make sure we were on the same page, and I get no phone call. When I finally get my guitar back, after another week, and another week, you guessed it -- f'ng traditionally recessed Floyd Rose route! My heart sank when I saw it, and while I was very nice, I did get my point across that I was not happy with the recess job, and I wished that he had not done it that way, which was not as we had discussed. However, Tucker does such outstanding work, and a lot of it for me, I just pony up his usual reasonable fee, and move on. So, enough whining, I am a problem solver, not a person who gives up!! So I resign myself that this is going to work, no matter what! So I make a decent block of wood, and stain it/clear it to match and I fill in that gaping route! I used a piece of industrial automotive tape to hold the block in, if I should ever decide to remove it (unlikely) or sell the guitar, it will be more versatile, with the back routing. I gutted every bit of the cheap electronics, and went with all new wiring, three way switch, pots etc. I did leave in the input jack, and the actual wire between the 3 way and the control cavity, as they were ok. I wired mine up Volume - Master Tone - Volume, so that I can do the RR machine gun thing, switching from a live to a dead pickup, I have this on just about all of my guitars! I also used amber Gibson knobs, like on the original, not the black notched speed knobs that came with it. Including gold knob pointers ala RR! Details! I went with Duncan pickups, with gold covers. I had a double cream F-spaced JB made, and a double cream Jazz for the neck. Again, these pickups are more versatile, should I ever need a double cream, I can swap out plain black pickups, under the gold covers. Gold pole pieces came on the JB, so I sourced gold pole pieces for the Jazz as well. It is all about the details, with me!! (ED: note that the sound of a covered pickup IS altered, and it will take some getting used to!) Oh yeah, I also used a top-mount Floyd locking clamp that I sourced from Carvin, as to not weaken the angled neck joint. The only other thing that I did was have the headstock resprayed black and added a Gibson logo, then 4 coats of clear. Some people may not agree with this, but again, the details and looks are almost as important as the playability and sound, almost. In a bit of Irony, the logo came out like sh!t, as the clear coat did not flow well over top of it, and it kind of buckled and warped the decal, before settling down! But on this guitar it works, a glaring mistake at the bridge and at the headstock -- a matched pair!! I died the rosewood board a darker shade of black, as should be done to all rosewood boards, IMO. Sorry for the long winded story, if you have gotten through all of this, reward yourself with the pics!!

ps. The 342 on the control cavity cover is my badge #!

My Floyded Les Paul

 OK, so here is the story of my Les Paul with added Floyd (LPF):

 Neal Schon had just come out with his Gibson LP signature guitar. I have always thought that Neal's old Floyded LP was as cool as shit, and the new ones were even better, save for the recessed Floyd. However, I did not like the $8K price tag, and I also did not like how the back of his guitars are cut up like swiss cheese, for the sustainer, battery etc. So I set out to build my own!

 1st order of business is to find a guitar, of course! I searched for almost a year, mostly eBay. I found a couple of the super lights with Floyds, and a few Epiphones that were available, but nothing really did it for me. So I resigned myself, that I was just going to have to build it, rather than buy it, that is a good thing! Builders know what I am talking about, here. One night, around 2:00am, I am surfing eBay, and I find a 'well-used' 1970 Les Paul Custom. This thing was beat to hell, major belt buckle rash, paint worn off of the neck, the entire guitar had been cleared over at some point, horrid Grover Imperial tuners, you get the picture. I email my good buddy, Mike Hickey, and ask him to check it out. He looks it over, and agrees with me, that at that price (I think it was around $1600) it was a good deal. So I hit the 'buy it now'.

 The seller is very cool, and emails me a couple of times, and actually wants to speak on the phone, so I send him my number. When we talk, I get the feeling that I am being 'interviewed' as to whether or not I am suitable to take custody of 'his' guitar. I do NOT let on to my plans for the guitar, to spare the owners feelings. He gave me some backstory on the guitar. He lives in Ohio, and he bought the guitar used, in 1971. The story is that a local player, and heroin junkie bought the guitar new, then pawned it. The owner checked it out at the pawn shop, and wanted it but did not have the cash on him. The pawnshop owner said he had somebody coming in to buy the guitar. Further that the buyer was a well known player and collector, so my guy had better act fast. He gets the cash together, and buys the guitar right out from under the collector, who turns out to be Gary Ricrath of REO Speedwagon fame. According to the guy I bought it from, Ricrath was always scouring the guitar stores and pawnshops, and buying up all of the Les Pauls he could get his hands on, and we all know what kind of collection he has, even to this day!

 Anyway, my guy gets the guitar, and keeps it for over 30 years, before selling it to me. He played in a band called 'Arndt' I think that they may have been a Christian type band, maybe? This guitar definitely saw the inside of smoky bars, more than the inside of its case, judging by the yellowing of the binding -- awesome!! He said that he just didn't play it anymore, and he could use the money. I must have passed his interview, because he felt that the guitar was going to a good home! (which it did, I love this guitar and will never sell her!)

 When I receive the package, it is the best packed guitar I have ever seen or received. The seller literally carved out a LP case shaped cavity, from a huge block of styrofoam!! Needless to say, the guitar arrived in as good a condition as it shipped out in. The previous owner had been going for a Jeff Beck 'Blow by Blow' look, so he had swapped out the pickup rings for creme ones, and there were later Dirty Fingers pickups in her, the whole deal. Mike Hickey helps me sell off all of the lightweight Gibson tunamatic parts, and the Dirty Fingers etc. and I end up making a few hundred back, which is cool.

 Next step is; I gotta get this thing routed for a Floyd! So I ship the guitar off to a local luthier, Tucker Barrett. He is the man. This guy build violins and acoustic guitars and his luthier skills I would put up against anyone in the country. He honed his skills in NYC in the 70's and 80's I think. So he routes the guitar out for the Floyd Rose and re-frets it. The guitar was on at least its second set of frets, when I got her, and they were almost non-existent! Tucker put on some huge Dunlop 6100 frets, which were the biggest I could get, lol!! The routing job is superb, and he actually uses a unique rout on the face of the guitar, which is only big enough for the spring block, and then a small 'hole' for the backside of the trems bar assembly, it is a separate route. Sorry, no pic of this. I don't remember what Tucker charged me, but Mike and I agree, I got about $800 worth of luthier work for less than a third of that!! As I said before, Tucker is the man!

 Last step is the final assembly, which was done by me. I had previously picked up the Sustainiac Stealth system for a LP. I had a hard time with the guy at Sustainiac, because he kept pushing the system that uses the sustainer as a passive pickup, and I wanted the single coil sized system, that allows for my choice of a single coil sized neck pickup. The system he was pushing used a lame dummy pickup for humbucking applications. Luckily, I get the system I want, that the builder/owner of Sustainiac says they are phasing out. I took a tip from Stew Mac, and make a LP control cavity template, so that I can wire up this spaghetti mess, outside of the guitar. I nearly go blind, soldering up all of the tiny little intricate joints, but I get the job done. The beauty of the Sustainiac system is that it all fits in the LP control cavity. No separate battery compartment, no separate compartment for sustainer guts etc. All switching is handled through push-pull pots, so no minis added etc. I highly recommend the Sustainiac product! I went with a DiMarzio single coil sized humbucker rail type pickup, whatever Neal was using, honestly I can't remember. I went with a  DiMarzio super distortion in the bridge. Normally I am a total Duncan man, but I took a chance, and I'm glad I did for this particular guitar. I went with gold hardware, because I feel that it looks classic on a LP custom. Top mounted the Floyd locking clamp, so that I never have to worry about the neck joint. I also replaced the tuners with proper Grover rotomatics, which I rebuilt. Finding the right tuners took months of scouring eBay, btw, total pain in the ass! I also used some aged speed knobs, to go with the totally beat up relic look of the guitar. She plays like a dream, and it is on the lighter side, for a Les Paul. The Floyd is blocked, like on all of my guitars, as well. Sorry for the long rambling story, on to the pics:

 Floyd route took care of all of the belt buckle rash!! Kind of a greener black color??

 See, everything actually fits in the cavity, no swiss cheese, like Neals!

 I hate leaving holes in any guitar, I would rather have a lonely old screw-head

 About the same height as an early Soloist, which works well for me!

 Tucker even routed the back for a recessed plate, awesome!! I painted it black...

 Peter Frampton finding his original 54 Les Paul, inspired me to modify mine, once again. I have always liked the versatility, and honestly, the look of a 3 pickup Les Paul. I figured what better guitar, than this one, as it is already a Frankenstein, of sorts! Here is an updated pic:

 The addition of the 3rd pickup, does effect my playing, a bit. The center pickup gets in the way, when you are really 'digging in' with your pick. When I'm strumming or speed picking, there virtually is no difference. Time will tell if I can live with this, or not. There is more to this story, that I will reveal, after I first get some feedback about this.