The New Monique Project: new pickups, new wiring, new look

[Mute]

Yeeehaaaayyyy ! The neck is here !!  (Just the day I ship the Messblaster neck w.binding to its new owner.... it was written ! )

It's a hell of a good day for guitar gear: I also received a shipping notifcation for my Vox cab, it will be delivered tomorrow.. I'll still have to wait for my speaker cables (due to next week)... But I think next week, there will be a great Jazzmaster + Orange + Vox orgy in my home ! 

Pics of the neck are coming this evening...
I still haven't open the package as I speak.. I had to recover from the cold ( ) with a cup of coffee... I'll open it right after I have pushed the post button...
3...2...1....

Sounds great! Let us know what you think of the neck when you get your hands on it.

[ugly casanova]

i can't wait to see it finish!

i think this project will never be finished 

Thanks for your support...

oh no, this was not meant to sound like it might have sound to you.
i mean, didn't you talked about the idea of having a guitar on which you can see the development?
that would mean that the final state will never be possible because it's ALWAYS in progress...

do i confuse you? 

[the older brother]

So you have had your hands on that neck for HOURS now and we still don't see any pics of it screwed on the body!  SHAPE UP!


....just me saying I'm curious 

[k o y l]

So you have had your hands on that neck for HOURS now and we still don't see any pics of it screwed on the body!  SHAPE UP!


....just me saying I'm curious 

Hey ! Some people are busy working on a guitar !!! 


The neck feel great so far (so far because I guess you're all aware you can't really "feel" a neck before you actually play it..): I love the satin finish, it almost feel like there's no finish at all. I think it will darken and age quickly wich is a good thing.
- The shape is very close (is not the same) from a CIJ neck.
- The radius is flatter (9,5") but nos as flat as my Jagmaster (I find it too flat) again a nice thing because I'm really thinking of installing a Tune-O-Matic bridge on it. (I started the recording of soundclips of the Curtis Novak pickups I have: on the messblaster, you can hear the Warmoth Modified Mustang bridge buzzing !!  ...so I have to find something else..)
- It looks quite good too: nice figuring on the fretboard

The Bottom line is: despite the skunk stripe, this neck smells very good... 

Here are some pics:





 



Like I kindly said previously ( ), I already did some work on the neck.

You already saw the installed bushings on the previous pics but the biggest part that had to be done was to drill the holes for the kluson tuners... well OK, not a "big" work but one of the first time I use a dremel. I only used it once before to make me a pedalboard so those holes were the first precision work that I wasn't allowed to fuck up...

... I can now proudly said that I did a very good job ! 
The holes are perfectly drilled and ligned up (better than the 1st neck I bought for the Messblaster !)



To drill those holes I had to find a way to keep the neck well in place.... what better way than screwing it on the body ??
...and of course I took a pic (we can't really see the guitar so I modified it a bit..)

 

I'll put the tuners tonight.. 

I also remove the bridge post basically to see if I could... I think I'll order a T-O-M...

[the older brother]

That's more like it! 

[k o y l]

I mounted the tuners: they are perfectly lined-up, there's no need for string retainers anymore. 

I placed an order with GPR in the night: I ordered a modern style Tune-O-Matic bridge, a Needle file set and some other stuff mainly for the Messblaster neck (conversion bushings, a blank nut etc...)
I'll have to wait for it to arrive to keep on working on Monique again...

I'll also wait for the momentary kill switch theworkoffire is sending me as a Christmas present (thanks Ben !  ) before working on the wiring.
As I said, I'll took the Messblaster pickguard/pickups/Wiring assembly but I'll make some improvements: the killswitch and.... the piezo ! yessss ! 

[Santiago!]

piezo, i thought you gorget about it, merry Xmas!

[k o y l]

piezo, i thought you gorget about it, merry Xmas!

Yeah.. but I feel bold!    and I think workoffire pointed the thing I did bad last time, it should work this time.
Merry Xmas to you as well ! 

[k o y l]

Just a little update:

Here are pics of the headstock with the kluson tuners:






Also, my GPR order reached France yesterday.. I should have it very soon and will be able to work on the Tune-O-Matic bridge and wiring but I still have to wait to have the momentary switch theworkoffire sent me to complete the wiring and the project. 

[theworkoffire]

Posted the switch on Fridy last week but with Christmas in the way it's anyone's guess when it will arrive...

[k o y l]

Yes... but I think it will here by the time the T-O-M is installed.  There's plenty of work to do on it (larger the posts holes, file the strings grooves and so on...)

[Santiago!]

kluson (for my point of view) are better than F tuners, so thats a really nice touch! are going to paint the neck with a vintage tone or leave it the way it is??

[k o y l]

These are not kluson branded tuners actually but Fender's.
No I'll leave the neck as it is, I want it to aged naturally.

[Santiago!]

These are not kluson branded tuners actually but Fender's.
No I'll leave the neck as it is, I want it to aged naturally.

that won't take long time in a mexican neck 

[k o y l]

These are not kluson branded tuners actually but Fender's.
No I'll leave the neck as it is, I want it to aged naturally.

that won't take long time in a mexican neck 

Yes . 
This whole guitar will be like some kind of error in time continuum: it will age 10 times faster than any other guitar... which is cool..