NGD: It's done (almost)

[Markus]

Here it is! There's still some finishing touches to be done (file nut, add 2 springs to the trem, add a tip to the switch, setup etc.), but it's already quite playable. I was a bit worried that I'd screw up the soldering, and later the drilling of the trem claw, but everything went very smoothly. And I think it looks pretty fantastic!

[d8200]

Dat neck...

The black hardware pops too. Nice work!

[Budda]

Ooh yeah!

[Valtteri]

That is one tasty looking axe! Black hardware is the way.

[Leah]

Nice! Love how it looks.

[bigdave]

Very nice, and I love that color.

[Chris]

That looks fantastic.

[jacksonplayer]

That is awesome.

[Budda]

Is that an aftermarket fender neck? I know you can buy their american professional necks, but didn't know about the roasted maple.

[Naren]

Love the black hardware, black fret dots, and the roasted maple fretboard.

[Mike]

Excellent combination - that looks fantastic.

[Markus]

Thanks everyone!

Is that an aftermarket fender neck? I know you can buy their american professional necks, but didn't know about the roasted maple.

Yeah, it’s a Mexican Fender neck. Luckily it’s much darker than in the pics on Fender’s site.

https://shop.fender.com/en-FI/parts/....html?rl=en_US

[Adam]

Perfection.

[Iron1]

Nice job! Tis sweetness.

[Ryan]

I'm not normally a fan of roasted maple necks but it works so well with everything else you've going on with the guitar, great stuff man.

[playstopause]

Well done, Sir! Looks fantastic.

[Markus]

I'm not normally a fan of roasted maple necks but it works so well with everything else you've going on with the guitar, great stuff man.

On most guitars I also think a normal maple neck looks cooler - a RG565 or a black strat wouldn't look right with a roasted maple neck. But yeah, here I think the darker wood works really well. I think it's something about the combo of a pastel color and roasted maple that just works. (I also think black hardware looks better than chrome pretty much on all guitars)

I got this mostly set up yesterday and it plays and sounds great - I'm pleasantly surprised by the cheap Wilkinsons. I was sort of going back and forth on if I should get the vintage 60's or hot 60's version of the pickups, but I think the vintage version was the right choice.