For my birthday this year, I requested gift cards from Amazon, StewMac and a couple other guitar part / supply shops and received a couple of sizable certs from the family.
So, with gift certificates in hand, there was much debate about what build I would start with. It came down between two classic designs: an Explorer style guitar and a Les Paul style guitar. Choosing between the two was quite a challenge. However, availability actually forced me to choose. The Explorer style guitar kit that I was looking at is sold out until July, meaning, Les Paul it is!
At the end of the day, neither one was a bad choice, and both would produce an awesome heavy metal instrument, so as of Thursaday (5/30/13) I have ordered the parts kit for build #1: a Les Paul.
Some of my most inspirational metal guitarists play Les Pauls.
To name a few:
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| James Hetfield - Metallica |
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| Matt Heafy - Trivium |
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| Jimmy Page - Led Zepplin |
Not really a personal inspiration, but the old man and Bubbles (TPB) would approve:
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| Alex Lifeson - Rush |
Anyways, obviously, the Les Paul style is at the heart of the music I love, and so, starting off with this classic seems like a natural start.
So on to it:
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The build:
Gibson Les Paul Style guitar (http://bit.ly/15r516U)
EMG H4 & H4A Pickups - Black Chrome - (http://bit.ly/11a6QjC & http://bit.ly/11jsLZN) *Tone samples: http://www.emgpickups.com/videos/emgtv/27/215
500K-ohm pots (Pro quality)
Grover locking tuners - black
Tune-o-matic bridge - black
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The kit comes with chrome hardware and white pickup rings & a pick guard. All of this is getting scrapped.
I for one, HATE pick guards on Les Paul style guitars. So that is going to be scrapped. As for the hardware / pickup rings, I am going with black instead of chrome. Those of you who know me, know that I also HATE a mirror chrome finished anything. So, going with black hardware will suit this build much better.
I am kicking a couple color options around. It'll likely be a black body / neck / headstock, but for the top, I'm kicking around a couple of colors... Emerald Green, Engine block Orange, Sapphire blue, or school bus yellow... obviously, the color is going to be bright.
This thing is going to be a full fledged metal machine with the EMG pickups 500K-ohm pots, and set neck... but I'm hoping it'll also perform well in other areas, as Les Pauls tend to lend themselves well to all sorts of genres.
In any event, stay tuned, as I will be posting many photos and such of the build progress.
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