Vintage XII Build -- help me pick a color!

[copacetic]

Howdy gang!
Thanks in no small part to the wonderful community we have here, im happy to say my business has been thriving in the past few months and I am finding myself in a position to build and work on guitars i used to drool over and fantasize about. A happy by-product of this is im finding myself with a little more disposable income as of late to build some of these amazing guitars and keep them for myself... After all the chef needs a little taste every now and then to stay inspired and come up with new flavors..

So I've wanted an XII for the longest, and due to the lack of availability of reissues i like, (the ARXII is cool but has several spec choices that irk me) I resolved long ago I'd have to build my own. This brought me down a rabbit hole figuring out how to source all the parts. I found the routing templates and plates from Faction Guitars and sent them to our own ThePearDream to get a custom body and pickguard made. Scored some used Curtis Novak XII pups for a nice deal, which left only the neck. Being that I'm a huge vintage fender nerd i started brainstorming a way to convert a Villager 12 String acoustic neck to an electric, which would involve reshaping the weird concave heel and quite a bit of surgery. I was almost ready to give up because of how daunting of a task that would be when I realized something amazing..

The Fender Shenandoah Acoustic has a standard Strat style heel, 25.5" scale and an electric profile/construction!!!

So of course i found a neglected 1966 Shenandoah for a STEAL and harvested the nitro finished B width neck+vintage klusons. To my delight, the measurements are pretty much perfect for this build, the only difference being a slightly wider heel than the template called for.
Neck heel thickness: 1"
Heel width: 2 3/8"
Nut width: 1.71"
21 frets, 25.5" scale, rounded strat style heel.

To my estimation, the necks are the single element of a vintage fender that is nearly impossible to replicate. There is just something magical about a 50 year old piece of wood with some frets that has soaked up decades of "mojo" and the vintage specs/construction, handshaped feel, finish/fretwork quality etc, is simply second to none imo. With the most important piece of the guitar being vintage, it makes the whole guitar feel vintage.. at least to me!

Now the dilemma arises of what color(s) to paint my dream xii...

TLDR;
Basically, I'm building my dream "Vintage XII"
Help me pick a color!

Ive all but settled on spraying a burst finish. The first option is the one im leaning towards most. Inspired by seeing my "Firemist Aquamarine" next to aged IBM or Willow Mist.. The golden limey green with the metallic aqua gave me serious surf burst vibes, and i think this really will be the winning combo. **note: i may invert the colors and do the outside color on the inside of the burst. feedback on this is very welcome!**

"surfburst" - (aged IBM: example firemist aquamarine: example OR Willow Mist: example Atlantis Aqua: example )


"Desert Roseburst"


"Periwinkle Surfburst"


I reserve the right to veto whichever one wins, but im very interested to see what the offset masses think is the best colorway!

Cheers

[Nudger]

Well done scoring the Shanandoah neck!
Have you sourced a vintage style XII bridge?
Going off your work,whichever of the options you go with its going to be exceptional.
Im currently in luv with pelahm blue bursts.

[ThePearDream]

I like the idea of a IBM-Firemist Aqua Surfburst with the Aqua on the outside. Blues and greens always win for me though.

[glennleaguesny]

Surfburst!!!

[SignoftheDragon]

I'm voting for option 1, though I'm not sure how I feel about all of these bursts- I'm trying to like them, but I guess I need to see one in the flesh before I could decide for sure.

If it were mine, I'd always be calling it "Soiyf-boiyst" (attempting to phonetically approximate a New Joiysey accent is harder than I expected!)

[JVG]

Honestly, I feel like all these options are ‘novelty bursts’ which may lose their appeal after the initial thrill of a wild paint job subsides. The central colour of each of these would look great on its own - there’s a lot happening visually on a 12-string already.

Anyway, it’s great to see another XII in the works and i look forward to it completed, whatever the colour

(Sorry if this sounds too negative…i do love seeing your work!)

[copacetic]

Well done scoring the Shanandoah neck!
Have you sourced a vintage style XII bridge?
Going off your work,whichever of the options you go with its going to be exceptional.
Im currently in luv with pelahm blue bursts.

the faction templates call for a Gotoh 12 string bridge with a surround plate they make to keep the xii aesthetic. I kind of like the look of it, similar to the alternate reality xii
ARXII gotoh bridge

[Nudger]

Well done scoring the Shanandoah neck!
Have you sourced a vintage style XII bridge?
Going off your work,whichever of the options you go with its going to be exceptional.
Im currently in luv with pelahm blue bursts.

the faction templates call for a Gotoh 12 string bridge with a surround plate they make to keep the xii aesthetic. I kind of like the look of it, similar to the alternate reality xii
ARXII gotoh bridge

Goto bridge is a great piece of kit, have used on builds and they do the job but I have no love for the style of em.
Shame to bung a modern looking bridge on whats looking very much like a vintage correct XII.
Heres some of my more vintage looking experiments but i think yours is crying out for the fender XII type.. Havent seen one for sale for years but shapeways do a 3D printed version..

[Britfingersisback]

You may find that the bridges you are thinking of using are designed for a standard strat neck width. I may be wrong but I think that the neck you obtained will be wider than standard. Original xiis and some xii acoustics had a wider heel. Best check. Hope it all works.

[Nudger]

You may find that the bridges you are thinking of using are designed for a standard strat neck width. I may be wrong but I think that the neck you obtained will be wider than standard. Original xiis and some xii acoustics had a wider heel. Best check. Hope it all works.

Yup.. May look a bit gappy either side of the Es.
I did a build with a similar width heel but it was fine as I had a custom bridge made "compton".

[copacetic]

You may find that the bridges you are thinking of using are designed for a standard strat neck width. I may be wrong but I think that the neck you obtained will be wider than standard. Original xiis and some xii acoustics had a wider heel. Best check. Hope it all works.

I thought about that when picking out the parts but decided to go ahead with it since its what the templates were designed for/around, down to the oddly uneven/offset string thru holes. Plus i already had the bridge on hand with no other use for it in the foreseeable future and didnt know of any other options that would be readily available/affordable. (the whole idea here is to end up with a "vintage" XII for under $1500 or so)

The difference between the heel width the templates called for and the heel width of this neck is only just under 3/16" which i dont think will make a huuge difference, especially given that the nut slots on this particular example seem cut awfully close to the edge of the fretboard anyways. IF it ends up with an uncomfortable gap on the edges, i may go about rigging up my own improvised bridge or even get someone to machine me one. But honestly im pretty optimistic that the gotoh bridge will suit my needs

[Futuron]

I really think the dark colour will look better on the outside, even though it's pretty cool as is

[Britfingersisback]

A few years ago myself and member Ludobag got our heads together and had some vintage spec bridges made. You may be able to customise a bridge you have to make it work. I'm following your build.

[copacetic]

Well gang, the day has finally come. I am proud to say this "vintage" XII is complete and it has exceeded even my highest hopes for it. Simply the best 12 string Ive ever put my hands on. I ended up taking the advice of the commenters suggesting I use the darker color on the outside, and man am I happy I did.. Couldnt imagine it any other way! I've taken to calling this finish "Tideburst" in lieu of surfburst as i dont want to confuse people who are familiar with the famous Fender Surfburst finishes. Very well might be my favorite finish ive ever sprayed, and i find myself wanting to experiment with weird bursts even more now!

HUGE thanks to Doug aka ThePearDream for his help with the body! And also huge thanks to the OSG community for your help picking the colorway :-)

Specs:
-Alder body
-1965-66 Fender Shenandoah XII neck, original tuners and string tree
-Curtis Novak XII Vintage pickups
-NOS 60s pointer knob, 4-way rotary switch, vintage correct wiring
-mint pickguard
-Faction XII plates
-Knock-off Gotoh 12 String Bridge - aged

The upper fret access was a concern of mine give the neck heel extends ~1in further up the neck than a traditional XII neck due to being made for an acoustic body, but honestly i barely even notice it while playing. To be honest i dont find myself compelled to play in the area where the difference can be felt anyways, 12 strings definitely "shine" in the cowboy chord area and middle of the neck anyways! If i ever get to a point where it does bug me, i can always sand down the upper heel to a normal XII size and respray the neck finish to hide it. I dont think i'll bother with that anytime soon though since its already so awesome!

Feast your eyes on (in my opinion) the raddest vintage style XII ever made!!
















I will surely be jangling on this sucker for years to come. Its a lifer i think!!!

[SignoftheDragon]

BEAUTIFUL!