Color advice please - so few G&Ls to see here in UK

[NickHorne]

Well, the spec for the wide-necked Will Ray order is getting close to completion.
BUT there are so few G&Ls here in England (or so it seems), I'd really appreciate some thoughts on neck and headstock colours. I wouldn't know a GOT from a light tint if I saw one!

Main scheme is:
Will Ray Asat, i.e. bender etc, so lots of nickel.
Ash body in Lemondrop.
White Pearl guard.
White pups.
Rosewood board, with WR pearl skulls.

So far, so much fun. Quite a Tele / Strat halfbreed of styles, and I like that.

But the neck itself, and the headstock face, are where I come unstuck!
I thought I fancied a plain satin, to keep the white scheme of the guard and the skulls. And headstock face plain too.
Then I wondered whether a light tint neck might work with the lemondrop, and perhaps even make the head face lemondrop too. This would leave just the guard / pups and the skulls as the pale parts.
But I fear that the neck tint could just look like a close-but-wrong sort of half-baked match with the body / headstock face. Trouble is, I haven't any G&Ls to compare. My silver WR has a plain neck, which is fine, but I can't decide on this one!
What would you do? (I think I already know what Louis would do with the guard....)

[blargfromouterspace]

But I fear that the neck tint could just look like a close-but-wrong sort of half-baked match with the body / headstock face.

I think you might be right. I've got the GOT on two of my ASATs and they are both different. One is more of an orangey-yellow that I've seen described as a 'Cheetos' colour, and the other is much more subtle yet still clearly distinguishable from a non-tinted or light tint neck. I'll snap a couple of pics tomorrow along with a 15 year old plain neck for comparison. You can see them in my avatar if you squint hard enough (L-R: GOT, old neck, light tint, Cheetos).

If I were you and going for a matched headstock I'd just stick with the standard satin finish on the back of the neck, not like its a 'presentation area' of the guitar. And please go with a creme pick guard

[gitman001]

Hey Nick,

I have 3 Tint necks...




The Comanche has a much lighter yellow tint as Jamie describes, and the other 2 very orangish. I think the comanche is a light tint but cannot be 100% certain as i don't have a build sheet for it and bought it second hand.

+1 on the creme!

Have you spent much time with the online builder? If you use the z-3 you will get a pretty darn good idea of what it will look like.... It sounds like she will be a killer guitar either way

Scott

[helle-man]

I'm a turquoise guy. Here are a couple of my turquoise WR's. The top one is a factory painted WR including headstock.

The bottom one is a turquoise sparkle that Mac Whiteside did for me. The factory told me they can do turquoise sparkle, but I don't know if that's true anymore.
WR

[NickHorne]

Jamie, Scott and Will, I'm amazed! Thank you so very much.
The tint issue is looking a lot like I feared it might do, next to lemondrop; I am more inclined than ever to keep the neck plain satin.

But can't decide on the headstock face.

Now, a new challenge: a creme guard had not been in my mind! Creme has previously meant to me something like what I did to Strats to warm them up from Fender's refrigerator white. And presumably it would mean changing to black pups (no creme option for Z-coils). Though white pups on creme might be worth a look? This is new territory.

Will, I love your turquoise too! I'm just older and greyer than you, and English as well (though Canadian a generation back, so there's a native-art connection that I feel). But your pearl pickguard and white pups give me hope; I can see that against lemon ash. Realistic pearl guard images are hard to find, they seem to go hand-in-hand with odd color balances in online pics. And I love your guitar design, it's a piece of genius. I'm happier with mine than ever before.

[meowmix]

keep the neck plain satin.

You can take the satin neck and put it in a room that gets sun rays. Over time it will have a nice tan. Or vintage look.

I never seen a discussion on this board if that will actually work.

[NickHorne]

Yes, it ages nicely. My "old" clear satin WR neck has gone from platinum blonde to warm, lightest gold over a decade. Very nice now, and has been all along the way too. And my dry hands have buffed the back to a great-feeling 3/4-gloss, lovely process.

[blargfromouterspace]

Nick, here's the neck finishes. L-R: Cheetos GOT, a lighter GOT, 15 year old satin, light tint.

[Elwood]

I'm digging the 'Mac-ified' headstock ;



elwood

[NickHorne]

Thank you very much, Jamie; your photos are a great reference and a big help.

Now I'm just chewing on this creme pickguard issue, and pup color to go with it. Hadn't expected this one to come up! I'm really not sure now. I keep looking at Will's pearl'n'white, like I first thought of, and liking it. But creme..?...? maybe!

And yes, Mac's headstock job is great.

[gitman001]

Here is an iPhone shot of my s-500 (creme on white) and a students s-500 (creme on black) make the guitar look totally different IMO

You can also see how much the creme guard has aged. Mine is a mid 90's and the one on the right is a brand new 2012

Scott

[NickHorne]

Great reference pics - thank you Scott!
I'm really going to have to be patient and think about this for a while.

[gitman001]

Will,

Here is a factory finished turquoise metal flake from last year.... Put some skull inlays on it and i can see you really diggin on this thing!!


Scott

[helle-man]

Some variations of pickguards.
WR

[darwinohm]

WR, thanks for sharing, I love the Blonde with the pearl PG.-- Darwin

[NickHorne]

Thank you Will! You have some great-looking instruments (and what looks like a seriously experimental switching setup).

I strongly agree with Darwin - your blonde with the pearl is gorgeous. And your skulls look very fine and subtle in the maple neck; not something the online builder can hope to do justice to. It all sits very sweetly together, a really lovely guitar.

[helle-man]

Here's the full shot of "Blondie". The skulls are much more subtle against the maple fingerboard.
WR

[willross]

Or this:






Cheers,

Will

[darwinohm]

WR, that is a masterpiece. I like Maple necks and the skulls do it sweet justice!-- Darwin

[NickHorne]

Damn! I am struggling with desire for WR's blonde!

I would absolutely love it, but for my helpless dread of maple boards going shabby with lots of bending.
I do lots of bending. Quite aggressively so sometimes, so that I shall spec stainless med-jumbo wire to try and keep the wear down. Not imagining that I'm J Donahue or anything special, but I do enjoy trying to get somewhere near! Lots of multiple / contrary bending of other strings against the b-bender.

What's the experience of maple-neck G&L owners? How does the modern lacquer hold up?

I could make a right mess of nitro in a couple of years (and yes, my nails are as short as they will go, I'm just talking about skin-or-strings-on-fingerboard abrasion). But if G&L's modern stuff is really tough, I'm sorely tempted to go with the maple. Will's skulls look stunning.

[Elwood]

Damn! I am struggling with desire for WR's blonde!

.... I'm sorely tempted to go with the maple. Will's skulls look stunning.

I have to agree. I'm partial to the look and feel of maple, but it seems that WR blondie was
designed in a dream ( a good one ).

I'd just order two necks and you should be good for a decade at least.

I envy your struggle

elwood

[blargfromouterspace]

What's the experience of maple-neck G&L owners? How does the modern lacquer hold up?

It's bomb proof and your fingers are no match for it. Hell, look at Will Ray's fingerboard - he's a fretboard magician and there's barely a mark on it. Combined with medium jumbo frets your fingers are barely going to touch it unless you're gripping hand belongs to the Hulk.

That said, I reckon the skulls look a billion times better in rosewood. They really "pop", as the kids would say.

[NickHorne]

Order two necks??!
Is that possible? - I'd do it in a heartbeat if I could.
Is it possible to find out?

I'd just keep the spare attached to a length of hardwood with strings on, to keep it used to being part of a guitar, until its duty eventually calls.

My struggle is not getting easier (just more enjoyable..)

I have a rosewood WR, and the skulls do indeed "pop".
I have also now been on the planet for nearly the same length of time as my Dad had when he left it, and sometimes the skulls have a bit of an effect on people (or am I just becoming paranoid about being thought of as a sad old guy? Heck, am I just becoming a sad old guy? After all, I am suddenly falling in love, or at least in bed, with Blondie )

Thanks everyone, all this help which is prolonging my struggle is really appreciated.

[helle-man]

Just for the record, I normally hate maple fingerboards because of the lacquer. But on blondie, I asked them to NOT spray lacquer on it. I like satin necks and fingerboards because they feel more natural and strings bend better on them, at least for me.

Will

[Elwood]

Order two necks??!
Is that possible? - I'd do it in a heartbeat if I could.
Is it possible to find out?

I'd just keep the spare attached to a length of hardwood with strings on, to keep it used to being part of a guitar, until its duty eventually calls.

To me it seems like prudent thing, for all involved, but it might be a problem once serial number tags and log books are considered.
Maybe you could make a custom order for a really nice neck attached to some hardwood and call it a guitar

(Leo's pickup test bed comes to mind, so it's not like they don't have a proto already )

elwood

[NickHorne]

Will Ross's blondie is seriously pretty too.
This is a nice problem to have...

[NickHorne]

Plus, I would generally agre with what WR says about bending being easier on rosewood (less stiction than on lacquer).
BUT with jumbo frets on, I know it's less of an issue.
And now I'm thinking back to my Jerry Donahue reference; he likes all his Teles maple, and he's the monster bender. I'm thinking that there just could be a playing technique issue here (that perhaps I should explore): is there something to be gained by first bending with the finger clear of the board and then, to hold the bend at pitch while doing something else, angling the bending finger so as to benefit from a sort of "parking brake" effect on the board?? As I say, generally I agree with WR, but for getting a bend to stay bent and in tune, while bending something else, I'm not sure. Intriguing.
And also the far side of $4,000 once it gets from a UK dealer to my hands. Can't do it twice....... and the whole point was to make the nut wider, not experiment with possibly making everything else different.
Still a fun problem to have!

[JagInTheBag]

Personally, I'd go color matched headstock, rosewood fret board and satin neck. That would give you a nice contrast on the neck to coordinate with the Lemondrop/pearl pg combo. The rosewood gives you skull inlays that pop and the bending action you want. My $0.02

[NickHorne]

Thanks! My thoughts keep tending back to this, though I'm going to try as many maples as I can, just to see if I'm missing something.
You would have a matching head with lemondrop? That's reassuring, I hadn't been too sure whether it would work or not.

The two Wills have now got me going over blonde as well, burt it would have to be pretty see-through, not thick'n'milky. (edit: theirs look great).

[blargfromouterspace]

And also the far side of $4,000 once it gets from a UK dealer to my hands.

Holy moly At that price wouldn't it be cheaper to fly to the US, pick it up and smuggle it back in as a guitar you've had forever? "Oh, this old thing? Had it for years Mr. Customs Officer, sir...".

[Goat]

And also the far side of $4,000 once it gets from a UK dealer to my hands.

Holy moly At that price wouldn't it be cheaper to fly to the US, pick it up and smuggle it back in as a guitar you've had forever? "Oh, this old thing? Had it for years Mr. Customs Officer, sir...".

By the time things hit these shores, we are raped on price. I wish the customs thing worked, but they tend to magically know if you flew out with a guitar, and even covering the case in battered guitar mag, Marshall and gig stickers doesn't seem to work! I did get away with it coming back to the UK with a guitar I bought while living in Malaysia, but they knew I'd been there a long time and had no record of what had gone out with me.

That's my main worry with a GbL LE2 - what sticker price goes on the shipping docs - because customs and shipping are going to whack the price up. As a non-production model, as long as the price seems realistic...

[NickHorne]

I still think my extra-wide WR G&L will be decent value. There's no other way of getting anything equivalent, except for "custom", at pretty similar prices but without the security. Plus I know everything will be right; I have spent some time with a 1 3/4", and loved it, + the rest of the guitar I already know.
G&Ls in UK are still good value, no comparison with Fenders. Love 'em!

[NickHorne]

My grateful thank to everyone who has shared thoughts and great pictures on this topic! What a fantastic bunch of guitar folk you are.
Out of these collective efforts, a very happy result has landed.
Will Ray's Blonde ash, Pearl guard, white pups (looks classic, underplays that big Z-3 guard, makes the Z-coils blend in as more strat-looking, and subtle in the pearl);
Willross's rosewood board against the blonde, still with WR's skulls. I tried a photoshop mockup from two of WR's pics, and this looks classic, with slight secret-weapon undertones..
Will Ray's Asat headstock, completes the classic-but-secret-weapon vibe.
Blarg's clear satin neck. Nice pure white to go with the pearl, skulls, and blonde.
Less is more! Hardly any colour at all. Who'd have guessed it?
Fantastic, everyone! A skull-board guitar fit for a b-bending pensioner!!!! EDIT: NOT YOU, WR!! But my Mrs will love this Asat, endless feminine humour about how it matches its owner's hair will surely result.
Best,
Nick

[Elwood]

[NickHorne]

Thanks for that link, that's really smart looking!
I'm still planning on a rosewood version of WR's blonde right now, though I'm tempted by a maple board; I know it would look great, and with jumbo frets on it wouldn't feel draggy, and it also might sound great (maybe just a little more kinda forthright and glassy than a rosewood?) but I still dread it looking messed-up with the amount that I bend. Like I said, I'm no Donahue for skill or experience, but I just can't help feeling any maple neck of mine will end up looking like one of his, i.e. trashed... and then Will's great skulls will be at the mercy of the refinishing the neck will need. So I'm still hiding behind the rosewood idea for now, though my mind's not made up.

[burnt999]

Guys ! Just got in from Mercury and saw this floss...Tinting necks @ home can be fun or not.It`s mandatory in my book as I think only girls should be nekkid !! I tint ALL of WR`s, front and back. Fire is used to help it feel right and give it "attitude". I don`t always roast them though.Now, on this maple stuff.I had the shop kustom order 2 maple necks with white skulls and 2 with black skulls. They built BenderBoy this beautiful, maple necked Z-3 Blondie and I built him an ASAT equipped,flame maple topped Comnanche in his team kolor, Translucent Turquoise w/micro silver flake.( and I mean micro !) complete w/saddlelock, a WR Hipshot, and an semi-polished aluminum pick guard that used the other white skull neck.Maybe he`ll throw that pic up. Oh yeah, the 2 maple/black necks ? One is on his dual Z coil,Hipshot equipped, burnt cigar box guitar that CigarBox Willie plays on TV and the other ? Hmmmmm...well, THEY stand out real well on that maple board ! Now tint those necks and NOT orange neither ! Pluto it is !

[burnt999]

Might add these notes about the pictured guits that Will posted a long time ago when we were older.

The burnt guitar is a flame maple topped beauty to begin with.Seemed proper.

All my F-hole guitars have black painted F-holes, some with people in them..like the orange "Mindbender" coming up. Seems more refined.

All of my WR guitars with white pearl guards are tinted slightly as are my necks. Slightly classier but then, that`s just my liking to kolor stuff.

The Mindbender, with ti-tinted aluminum guard/control module, has the capability to arrange the pickups in any number of combos that could exist. Period. Plus every p-up has it`s own tone and volume control. A master volume is alone at the bottom.( Each p-up can be split using only the top,or the bottom coil, or all, or off. I wired his 12 and another with the top 3 treble coils with the lower 3 neck coils and visaversa, in # 2x4 positions using a Superswitch w/ the middle p-up on a push-pull (THE 12 ? It`s middle p-up is under the guard and nobody EVER asked what scale length it was ! )...probably the 2 best combos of split coil useage). That`s why I called this the Studio Pro. The "Mindbender" name is a result of trying to get it wired correctly ! And the pic inside the F-hole ? Guess who ?
Yes,Saturn feels quite good now !