The Spincaster Project

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neverfoundthetime
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Sat Jan 27, 2018 1:35 pm

Wow, looks fabulous Mark, congratulations! Really great looking guitar!

Eric, we have had a few builds here over the years, its awesome that you have the ability to do this.

"Thanks! Methinks it's just a matter of being interested enough in the project to be willing to learn whatever it takes to make it happen. Also the willingness to make a right dog's breakfast of it now and then until you get it right."

Precisely put Mark, I agree!


tombo1230
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Sat Jan 27, 2018 2:39 pm

Wow Mark, congratulations, what a beaut! Nice job all around. I really like the wood you have used. Hopefully you will record something when you are happy with your setup. Great job!

Tom Nicol.


spinland
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Sat Jan 27, 2018 3:17 pm

Thanks, Tom!

Yeah, I've let the parts settle into place long enough that I should be able to do the finer tweaks on the action now without risk of the bridge and/or neck settling any more. Problem's been work stuff (I was up until 1:30 this morning doing client stuff on this consulting gig I landed. Great money, and those were all billable hours, but there's some pressure associated). I couldn't sleep in very late (it's hard for me to do that for some reason, regardless of how late I'm up) but I just got up from a midday nap which helped. Now it's quiet time while my lady fair does the same, then dinner out with her.

Hopefully tonight I can fire up this vintage (otherwise known as old and beat-up fixer-upper I'm rehabilitating because it's a classic with amazing tone) amp and let 'er rip a little. :side:

Mark


Craig
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Sat Jan 27, 2018 5:26 pm

Congratulations Mark! It's beautiful. I hope you have the sense of accomplishment that is well deserved!

Craig


spinland
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Wed Jan 31, 2018 8:18 pm

Craig wrote:
Congratulations Mark! It's beautiful.
Thanks, Craig! :side: I feel so very, very fortunate to have stumbled across that body on clearance before someone else snapped it up.

This build is still very much a work in progress, and I just finished re-wiring it to overcome some weaknesses in my previous design. Being my first-ever custom rig I have much yet to learn about what works (and what doesn't) tonally. It's almost as fun a journey as the one learning to play these things! :silly:

Appearance-wise I've bowed to pressure from several friends and am getting a custom transparent pick guard made to show off all of the wood rather than have so much covered up by the traditional Strat guard shape. I already had the internal bays copper lined for shielding purposes so just trimmed the edges (it was hidden under the guard before so didn't bother). The re-wire was done carefully to look neat and presentable under the see-through cover. Here's a shot ready to receive the new guard.

Image

Image


spinland
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Sat Feb 10, 2018 10:14 am

Well, the Spincaster is all but done. Still going to try a transparent pick guard on it and see whether that works for me, and I might make a custom headstock decal.

Image

That "iLoud" is my current mobile amp. It's really a "sonically transparent" mobile studio monitor but I can hook it to one of the pedals on my "nano" board and it sounds great. Four speakers totalling 40W so it's also killer loud. Just mic that up (it and my board now run on batteries) and no need to jack in anywhere.

I'm taking a lesson this Tuesday from the head guy at my local shop and I'll be leaving it with him for a professional fret dressing and leveling. That's one luthier task I'd rather not try to learn on this guitar; I have "junk" ones I use for my experiments but this instrument I want to have everything right on.

You'll be seeing (and hearing) it soon as I get some recordings posted. :side:

Mark


elennon
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Sat Feb 10, 2018 1:50 pm

Looking great Mark. Will be interested to see how a transparent pick guard looks. Are you coming to IGC this year, maybe you will bring it with you


spinland
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Sun Feb 11, 2018 9:46 am

elennon wrote:
Looking great Mark. Will be interested to see how a transparent pick guard looks. Are you coming to IGC this year, maybe you will bring it with you
Thanks, Eric!

Yep, already signed up for IGC2018 and very much looking forward to it! I'm only planning to bring one guitar this time (two was a nightmare to fly with) and that will probably be an electric. One of the reasons I've been building this one with so many tonal options is to be that One Guitar to Rule Them All that I'd bring with me, so there's a good chance it'll be there. :side:

Here's a long, rambling sound test I did this morning. Thus far I'm quite happy with how this thing is developing.

Spincaster First Sound Test

Mark


crieniecat
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Sun Feb 11, 2018 11:43 am

Looks stunning Mark!! So very cool you did this B)
Wooow


spinland
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Mon Feb 12, 2018 5:13 am

crieniecat wrote:
Looks stunning Mark!! So very cool you did this B)
Wooow
Aw shucks. :blush:

Thanks! :side:

Did some test recordings yesterday; the results (discounting the quality of the playing) were quite good. Gotta knuckle down and get some playing "on tape."

Mark


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