This is my small bodied model featuring a semi-hollow alder core with bubinga (an African tropical hard wood) top and back. Bubinga is also used for fingerboard and various accents. The guitar is very light and responsive. The neck is a lamination of figured maple and bubinga, and is very stiff. The neck body junction is a set (glued) joint, allowing for unimpeded access to the highest frets. The scale length is 25.5”.

 

that guitar players have the opportunity to enjoy this finish as well. The tung oil finish is very thin and therefore is not quite as tough and resiliant as a lacquer finish. However, the finish is very easy to repair if necessary. This is the first time I have used this finish but plan to use it more in the future.

 

The electronics feature two GFS Dream 180 pickups, a three way pickup selection switch, volume and tone, and a mini switch for coil splitting. The pickups have more high end sparkle than conventional PAF type humbuckers. This is a perfect complement to the overall bright quality resulting from the wood choices. For PAF type humbuckers I generally incorporate a series/parallel switch to allow for a lighter, more trebbily, sound from parallel setting. However, since these pickups sound so good in split mode, I chose to use a series/split mini switch on this guitar.

 

One of my favorite sounds is split mode with the pickup selector in the middle (both pickups). It may not look like a Telecaster, but with this pickup/switch combination it has a nice twang that is reminicent of one.

 

Overall I like this little guitar. The one thing I would change, and will if I replicate it, is the top horn. I would make it a bit smaller and less pronounced.

 

The finish is a hand rubbed polymerized tung oil. This results in a nice open pore satin finish that really shows off the wood, and it feels silky smooth. This type of finish has been fairly common on custom made bases, but not so much on guitars. I figure that it is about time