The “Inspector” guitar tribute build

[Don O]

As mentioned in Robert’s thread, in this thread I’ll post about the guitar Robert and a friend of his at Fender hand built the neck and body. The neck and body are very well made, with it being a neck through design. Unfortunately when he drilled and mounted the tailpiece, it was not centered. He was bummed and almost threw the husk in the trash. I think he left it at Fender with a “take me” note on it and no one wanted it.




It was going to be a partscaster, made with stuff he had lying around. He asked me if I wanted it and was like “I have 5 Warmoth builds sitting on the shelf”. He insisted, in a very friendly way, that I take it and just work on it when ever. He dropped it off around May along with a bag of parts. About a month later I did some measurements and ordered some 1/2 inch dowels. It then sat for another month or so.






I certainly want this thread to be interactive, so please feel free to comment.

 

[Don O]

So I finally got around to pulling the tailpiece inserts out. I used a 1/2” walnut dowel for the plugs. I glued them in along with some sawdust to fill in around the dowel hole and about a week later I sanded them almost flush.

 

[Don O]

 

[Don O]

This is where I left off until yesterday.

 

[Clockworkmike]

So is the SG he talked about building?

 

[JohnnyGoo]

Don is this a wraparound or ?

 

[Don O]

So is the SG he talked about building?

Yes, he and a coworker at Fender hand built the neck and body. He had posted about a tongue and groove neck through design. That was his Scratch GS build thread. Here’s some pics I copied from that thread.

 

[Don O]

Don is this a wraparound or ?

The tailpiece? I don’t think Robert ever top wrapped his guitars.

 

[JohnnyGoo]

No i ment is this SG gonna be a wrap around tailpiece lile say a JR would have or its looking more like a TOM bridge and stop tailpiece set up.

 

[JohnnyGoo]

Looks sturdy thats for sure.

 

[DirtySteve]

What are the details on hardware and pickups and such. Do you have everything already?

 

[Don O]

What are the details on hardware and pickups and such. Do you have everything already?

Here’s some details from Robert’s Scratch build thread. The tuners are Wilkinson, the bridge is a Gibson ABR1, I’ve got 3 TOM tailpieces, 1 aged and 2 aluminum. There’s 2 CTS tone pots and a Fender TBX kit. The volume pots are push/pull. I need to go look at the pups, they are black 4 wire HB without covers. The only thing I don’t have is a back cover. There’s a set of no name strap buttons, but in Brad’s honor I might install a set of WH buttons.

 

[Clockworkmike]

Look forward to seeing it finished! So he planned on coil splitting the pickups?

 

[DirtySteve]

Cool, looks like you already have everything I could possibly have helped with. That's really why I asked, was wanting to know if there was anything you still needed. I can't help with a control cover.

 

[Clockworkmike]

If you wanted, I'd donate to the cause and get ya the control cavity cover. Standard Gibson dimensions I'm sure?

 

[syscokid]

If you wanted, I'd donate to the cause and get ya the control cavity cover. Standard Gibson dimensions I'm sure?

Well, the cavity does look very Gibby SG-ish, but need to verify with an actual template.

 

[Thatbastarddon]

Look forward to seeing it finished! So he planned on coil splitting the pickups?

Knowing him, he liked his Page setup with the out of phase action in play.

 

[Don O]

Look forward to seeing it finished! So he planned on coil splitting the pickups?

Yes.

 

[Don O]

If you wanted, I'd donate to the cause and get ya the control cavity cover. Standard Gibson dimensions I'm sure?

It sure looks like it, but I have not tried a cover from one of my SGs. I’ll do that and report back.

What I could use help with is a graphic artist for the headstock logo. I was thinking Von Herndon on the headstock and “The Inspector” on the TRC, in tribute to the “The SG” and “The Paul” and “The V”.

 

[Don O]

Knowing him, he liked his Page setup with the out of phase action in play.