Bubba's Guitar Build Thread - 2016/17

[Bubba]

I think it looks great, Bubba!

Thanks, Tad.

[JD01]

Does look great, mate.

[ido1957]

Love the burst - it looks really really nice. I'm on the fence with the black screws but I think they would be cool.
It does look like an SG but "beefier" (is that a word?). Like a good weapon in a bar fight whereas an SG might shatter when it hits the guy's head.
The whole unit looks really good and can't wait for you string it up and play a sample for us.

[Minerman]

Very impressive Bubba, love the gloss finish dude, that looks great!!!!

Love the p'up packaging too Mutt, very cool!!!

I'm gonna assume the new guitar will make an appearance in the Tone Thread before too much longer, correct???

Looks good!!!

[Bubba]

I finished building this guitar today. I finally sorted out the wiring and I finished cutting the nut and setting the action this morning. It plays well, though I think it would play a little cleaner with a fret dress and polish. It won't bother me. I may spend a little time shaping the nut and polishing it because the slots are quite deep now. I don't like to see the strings really sunk down in there.

I'll try to get around to recording some clips and posting some final photos today.

[liv_rong]

Looks awesome!

[JD01]

Cool. Get the pics up. Looking forward to seeing this, it's been looking great so far

[Bubba]

So... the guitar project is finally finished! It's been over three months and quite a few quid in the making, but it's complete and I'm very happy with it. Thanks to muttley at Archtop guitars for the advice and other stuff, Terry the lacquer sprayer for the clearcoat finish and John at Rock Factory for wiring tips.

Pickup specs are:

Bridge - Bare Knuckle Riff-Raff custom-wound humbucker with coil split.
Neck - Custom designed and hand-built P90 in a humbucker case by Muttley (archtopguitars.co.uk).

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[Greg_L]

Wow that's badass Bubba! nice job.

[Bill L]

That's fantastic! Can't wait to hear it.

[Bubba]

Wow that's badass Bubba! nice job.

Thanks, Greg. I actually find it hard to believe I've got here from those chunks of tree a few months ago! It's better than I thought possible.

Onwards and upwards! A white LPJ next.
Oh, and some tone clips for this baby. I'll try to sort something out tonight.

[Greg_L]

Thanks, Greg. I actually find it hard to believe I've got here from those chunks of tree a few months ago! It's better than I thought possible.

Yeah you really did great.

Onwards and upwards! A white LPJ next.

Holy crap. Now I'm jealous. Is it gonna be a double cut? You should make you own neck this time.

Oh, and some tone clips for this baby. I'll try to sort something out tonight.

Awesome. I'm curious to see what you think of the Riff Raff. I love mine.

[ido1957]

Wow - excellent job on the build Bubba - it looks amazing

[Bubba]

Cheers, guys It's a bit late in the evening for clips now, especially as I just had to do a string change. I put the Rotosound 10-46s on (that Bare Knuckle sent me as a freebie) and they are absolute garbage. I've literally never heard strings that bad. They wouldn't even intonate properly. Pure shit.

I just put a fresh set of Ernie Ballsack's on and played them in. I think the guitar sounds good. The Riff-Raff isn't as bright as my SG-2000 one and it's a lot rounder in the bottom end, but it's articulate as hell. It really responds to height adjustment, too. Just a little closer to the strings and it drives the JVM so much more. The coil split works very well. At first when you click it in it sounds like a volume drop but in fact there's just a thinning of the meat of the sound. This again is very articulate and it still has enough oomph to push the amp.

The MuttPups B90 is a different animal entirely. It's very loud, very warm and very full compared to the Riff-Raff. I suspect I have it much too close to the strings. I'm going to drop it tomorrow and see where I end up with it.

The revelation is how good the Riff-Raff and the B90 sound together! Really, really good. I really want to sort out these clips and get everyone's opinions but I'm not doing it with the amp on "1".

Tomorrow, for sure.

[JD01]

Looks amazing bubba. It also looks very, very expensive.

[Minerman]

Wow Bubba, that looks just fabulous to me man, I think you did a really, really good job on this, very impressive!!!

[Bubba]

Looks amazing bubba. It also looks very, very expensive.

Do you mean it looks like it cost me a lot to build, or that it would cost a lot to buy? There are a few defects that a customer would not be happy with, and I've wasted a fair bit of cash down blind alleys. I wasted twenty quid on lacquer that I didn't use, for instance. The biggest expense was the Riff-Raff, second biggest was the neck. I don't know how much I'm into this thing for, but it has to be less than three hundred and fifty British quids. Perhaps less than three hundred.

[Bubba]

Wow Bubba, that looks just fabulous to me man, I think you did a really, really good job on this, very impressive!!!

Thanks very much, Miner - I hope you like the sound, too!

[JD01]

Looks amazing bubba. It also looks very, very expensive.

Do you mean it looks like it cost me a lot to build, or that it would cost a lot to buy? There are a few defects that a customer would not be happy with, and I've wasted a fair bit of cash down blind alleys. I wasted twenty quid on lacquer that I didn't use, for instance. The biggest expense was the Riff-Raff, second biggest was the neck. I don't know how much I'm into this thing for, but it has to be less than three hundred and fifty British quids. Perhaps less than three hundred.

Yeah, I mean it looks like it would be very expensive to buy. Obviously I don't know what it looks like close up and how it feels but it looks like a guitar that would be quite pricey

[muttley]

Well done Bubba that looks really good. I'd be pleased witht that. I know you've had some ups and downs over this build but the best thing of all is that you never gave up, you've learned a heck of a lot and you cant buy that. I promise you that everytime you play that guitar you will get an extra kick from it. You should be proud. I dont mean to be patronising if it's coming across that way but you deserve praise and encouragement. I know I build em for a living but I love it when other people grab a piece of that sense of achievement I get every day even after the many many that I've put together. The next one will just grow in your hands.

Hang fire on the LP jnr build as I am definitely going to do a build along thread here very soon. Probably starting within weeks rather than months.

The MuttPups B90 is a different animal entirely. It's very loud, very warm and very full compared to the Riff-Raff. I suspect I have it much too close to the strings. I'm going to drop it tomorrow and see where I end up with it.

The revelation is how good the Riff-Raff and the B90 sound together! Really, really good. I really want to sort out these clips and get everyone's opinions but I'm not doing it with the amp on "1".

Tomorrow, for sure.

I'm really stoked that it works well with the RiffRaff... Thats what I was going for as I know thats prolly how you will use it most. Keep in mind that it is in the neck position which is typified by the charactoristics you have assigned it in your description....... loud, full, warm. A p90 is very much a fat full single coil, thats its appeal.

Yes you can balance the output of the two together or switching too and fro by raising the pickup or lowering it. Do that first and then set individual string balance with the pole piece adjustment. Careful there though, keep in mind that we never fully fixed the cover and I'd hate to have it pop off on you. Its only held on with a spot of epoxy, go slow and make sure the poles dont snag on the case. Once they are free you can go at it..

Well, done mate you should be proud. I'm really looking forward to your sound clips and others opinions on the b90... Finally I could do with a decent in situ pic if ever you get the time. Up close would be good.

Now on to the next one....