New offset project: flat-top Starmaster

Talk about modding or building your own guitar from scratch.
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whatisdust
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Re: New offset project: flat-top Starmaster

Post by whatisdust » Mon Jun 14, 2021 8:57 pm

The color on this guitar is really great! Outstanding job, looking forward to seeing it completed.

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Lost In Autumn
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Re: New offset project: flat-top Starmaster

Post by Lost In Autumn » Sun Jul 04, 2021 2:05 am

Here it is, the 4th of July and here's my completed guitar, presenting the Sparkle Motion Swoon Starmaster:
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[img]xhttps://i.imgur.com/89l5vyN.jpeg[/img]
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the images don't quite capture just how pink the stain is, but by and large, I'm pretty pleased with how this has turned out, although I might make some minor changes with the neck one, just to fine tune the design a bit. the pickups have a very Hi-Fi quality about them, particularly in the neck and middle positions- the Curtis Novak Thunderbird have a peculiar but pleasant tone, I might describe them as having the bottom end response of of a P90, but the top end clarity of a gold foil, without the hum of either. The Wide Range Humbucker JM has a great, warm, Telecaster-esque twang that does clean and distortion with equal amounts of warmth and snarl. Combined, the pickups sound bright, yet sweet, with days of clarity and chime.
I am having some issues with the Göldo DG vibrato than may not necessarily have anything to do with the unit itself- I'm finding the bar sets too low for my taste and raising it by rotating it, places it at an odd angle. I used a 1º Stew Mac shim in the neck by default when I assembled it, partly because that's what I had on hand and I think that may a bit much- I have a .25º and a .5º shim on the way and I think less of a shim will lower the bridge and negate some of the issues with the vibrato arm. it it doesn't resolve them completely, I may either put it in a vice and bend it to a shape that's betteroir put some nylon washers beneath the lock collar to raise it up. Otherwise, I find its operation to be fine- I'd chosen it in part because of positive results with the Les Trem II that they make, partly because of the price point, which is in nine with the Fender AVRI units and partly because it didn't have a logo on it. It feels similar to the Les Trem, with a light spring action and smooth operation. It is quite subtle in operation, though- offset tremolos have never been associated with dive bombs the the DG is no exception; it does, however do quite well with shoe-gazey swoons and glides. I'm going to need to dial it in a little more, though. Big thanks to our own WhatIsDust for the hookup and great service!

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Vendetagainst
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Re: New offset project: flat-top Starmaster

Post by Vendetagainst » Thu Jul 08, 2021 11:59 am

Awesome job! That looks absolutely incredible, loving the pink sparkle!

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Rockabilly69
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Re: New offset project: flat-top Starmaster

Post by Rockabilly69 » Thu Jul 08, 2021 1:43 pm

That came out great all the way around.

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