Mercury guitars anyone? (Original Fender Venus?)

[live-i-evil]

We have no desire to have Ms. Love promote our guitars. She has been better at producing controversy than producing good press. I think that she has some talent but so do most of my friends who make music. Each to their own though. I think that the "Violet" video and song are very good. Our guitar looks great in the video too.- Tim

Well put. In other news, just shipped off the blue one to Tim and they're sending me a bridge for my red one. I'm also having a hard time trying to decide which new one I want, they're all so cool. That one off sounds pretty tempting though

[Getmad24_7]

Here's hoping you make some lefties ;P

[andnowwhat]

I am checking this post every day just hoping for anything new!

[loveinathens]

The Mercury original is incredibly classy. I wonder how much these would go for once they put them out.

[clickeye]

We are now on the hunt for tools for the operation. Danny is convinced that we should set up for the big picture (Pro Shop, tools, and paint booth etc.) but I want us to build the 13 bodies into whole guitars now on a shoe string to keep momentum until we find the right space. After all, the original shop was basically a shed full of mediocre tools. I have basic woodworking tools, a killer home workshop, and access to a free CNC router and free Booth. It would probably only take a couple thousand dollars in tools to get us going. We'll see. I am a tool junkie addicted to Craigslist, so it shouldn't take long. I'll keep you guys posted. At this point, I consider all the interested members on OSG part of the Mercury underground. I have a load of photos on a card to put up this weekend. Stay tuned. They are pretty interesting.-Tim

[WonderCouncil]

Here's hoping you make some lefties ;P

Well we know there's at least one leftie body done


But honestly this whole thread is pretty awesome. I remember a few years back looking up Mercury guitars when I first found out about the Venus connection. I could find next to nothing on them though and kind of assumed they were some obscure 60's brand. It's cool to find out they weren't and it's awesome that they may be produced again. I wouldn't mind a solid body myself although the thinline is mighty tempting.

I think it was said earlier, and I can understand not wanting to use the color but that GM olive metallic is gorgeous I do how ever second the Silver Fox finish.

[Getmad24_7]

Here's hoping you make some lefties ;P

Well we know there's at least one leftie body done


But honestly this whole thread is pretty awesome. I remember a few years back looking up Mercury guitars when I first found out about the Venus connection. I could find next to nothing on them though and kind of assumed they were some obscure 60's brand. It's cool to find out they weren't and it's awesome that they may be produced again. I wouldn't mind a solid body myself although the thinline is mighty tempting.

I think it was said earlier, and I can understand not wanting to use the color but that GM olive metallic is gorgeous I do how ever second the Silver Fox finish.

How could I live with just one

[clickeye]

Me and Danny met up tonight and decided to start developing the Pickup winding machine first because it will be cheap and compact. That will give us time to keep looking for a small shop and tools . It will probably gang wind the pickups 6-8 at a time. I will model it in CAD after we do some wire stress testing to find out the RPMs. We also talked about the problems we had with the stacked humbuckers and will experiment with Fatter wound single coils with smaller gauge wire to try to get more output and tone. Another conversation was had about Fret board slotting. We will probably get a horizontal milling machine and space a row of slitting saws for that operation. Laser cutting is another option.-Tim

[TalkingBook]

I love reading these updates; keep'm coming!

[live-i-evil]

We are now on the hunt for tools for the operation. Danny is convinced that we should set up for the big picture (Pro Shop, tools, and paint booth etc.) but I want us to build the 13 bodies into whole guitars now on a shoe string to keep momentum until we find the right space. After all, the original shop was basically a shed full of mediocre tools. I have basic woodworking tools, a killer home workshop, and access to a free CNC router and free Booth. It would probably only take a couple thousand dollars in tools to get us going. We'll see. I am a tool junkie addicted to Craigslist, so it shouldn't take long. I'll keep you guys posted. At this point, I consider all the interested members on OSG part of the Mercury underground. I have a load of photos on a card to put up this weekend. Stay tuned. They are pretty interesting.-Tim

Can't wait to see those! This is getting really exciting with things ramping up. How did you guys go about designing the first pickups, did you read up or just go at it?

[clickeye]

That was Danny's game. He always understood electronics. I had a Jazzmaster and I think we were inspired by the fatter pickups at the time. When we get the guitar back we will use it to test the new pickup designs. The shape of them will stay the same. I always liked the way they looked like they sprouted out of the pearloid. We also realized that the Mahogany bodies were thinner to save weight. - Tim

[andnowwhat]

I would love to hear some audio samples!

[clickeye]

The guitar arrived today.I drove home at lunch to look at it. It held up pretty darn well. According the Serial Number it will turn 19 years old next month. It is the fourth one made. We are ecstatic. Here we are in my garage. Danny is in the "Mopar" shirt. Thanks for being so supportive (All you OSG guys) and especially Live-I-Evil for kicking this creative hornet's nest.-Tim

[Gonkulator]

Looks great guys! I can't wait to see the new models you plan on building!

[Mr.K]

This is one of my favourite threads on OSG.