Kinda NGD #3 Gilmour CAR Strat Replica

[RevDrucifer]

I don’t have it yet and it’ll take a few weeks, but I just placed the order for my Gilmour CAR Replica Strat via MJT.

It’s only $540 from them to do the body/paint then relic it along with the neck. I was initially going to find a used ‘57 Vintage Reissue, but the prices have skyrocketed and since they’re only 7.25” radii, FUCK THAT. So I’ve got a neck coming from Musikraft going directly to MJT with a 12” radius and med/jumbo stainless steel frets. At least I’ll be able to bend the fuckin’ strings.

By the time I’m done putting it all together, it’ll have cost me right around $1K, which isn’t bad for a custom made guitar. MJT has made one CAR relic recently and did a pretty damn good job getting the relic right, so I’ve got faith they can pull it off again.

Now that’s REALLY it. I ordered my FM9 today so I am DONE spending money!

That said, I set aside $3500 from the house money to do whatever the fuck I wanted to with. I didn’t even hit that amount and the extra $10K I got from the house just went right back into the bank.

[Budda]

I like the MJT stuff I have and have had. Med/light relic option, I think.

[playstopause]

Whore.

[Adam]

so I am DONE spending money!

😅

[RevDrucifer]

I should say, "I'm done spending the money I got from the sale of my house.", as the remainder has been placed in a CD until next year when I buy another house. I'll still buy plenty of shit, it just won't come from that money. (And yes, I'm aware a CD is not the most lucrative way of earning interest, I don't care, I just don't want to spend it).

[RevDrucifer]

I like the MJT stuff I have and have had. Med/light relic option, I think.

I rarely see complaints about their stuff and when I have, it's generally communication issues or an honest mistake.

When I went to the Gilmour auction, I got as many close-ups as I could of the CAR Strat, specifically for this reason. I'm giving the link to MJT and just saying, "Do the best ya can!" I don't expect a $25,000 exact reproduction like Fender did with the YJM's, Frankie or SRV Strats, but what I saw them do with the other CAR Strat was pretty slick and I know they didn't have as detailed of pics to use as a source, so I wouldn't be surprised if they're able to get it a little closer than the other one I saw.

[RevDrucifer]

Whore.

At least guitars don't force relationships on me or come with pregnancy scares.

[jacksonplayer]

The Gilmour strat is just about the coolest thing ever. Looking forward to seeing this one.

[RevDrucifer]

The Gilmour strat is just about the coolest thing ever. Looking forward to seeing this one.

it's the guitar that made me want to play! I converted my MIM Strat to vintage specs, well, as much as I could with using the same neck/body, and was originally going to have it painted CAR, but I got impatient and just painted it black. I stripped the neck of the poly coat and used nitro on it, put a vintage decal on it and all that, so that'll probably end up being my Black Strat, though, admittedly, I'm not the biggest fan of the Black Strat, either it's look or the tones. My favorite Gilmour tones all came from the CAR Strat and the EMG's.

[playstopause]

At least guitars don't force relationships on me or come with pregnancy scares.

[Mike]

At least guitars don't force relationships on me or come with pregnancy scares.

[Webdood]

At least guitars don't force relationships on me or come with pregnancy scares.

that is sig worthy

[Soopahmahn]

DAVEY G BEND DEM STRINGS WIT NO MORE THAN 7.25" RADIUS BOY

Also, CAR for the MTFW. Great taste, can't wait to see. Needs EMG DG set...

[RevDrucifer]

DAVEY G BEND DEM STRINGS WIT NO MORE THAN 7.25" RADIUS BOY

Also, CAR for the MTFW. Great taste, can't wait to see. Needs EMG DG set...

Covered!

I bought one off Cam a couple months back but could not get it to work no matter what I did, so I just bought one brand new. Put it in my Classic 50’s Strat the other night and started dialing in some PULSE tones. Got pretty damn close to the intro of “Sorrow”, enough to make my dad say “Holy fucking shit” and nothing impresses him. I have zero interest in replicating any other guitar tones aside from Gilmour’s and Eric Johnson’s. The Strat coming after this one will be my EJ Strat, which, for the same reasons I’m having the Gilmour one made, I’ll have MJT make the body and Muskraft make the neck and have the guitar for under a grand.

I think I’m going to have my Classic 50’s re-fretted with med/jumbo as well, because the frets are pretty well worn and dented…..and I once I go past the 1-step mark, it frets out unless I jack the action way up. Both EJ and Gilmour have re-fretted their Strats with bigger frets because bending on those tiny ass frets is a pain in the ass.

I’ll be putting a Callaham bridge on it as well. I’ve already got two of their shortened Gilmour whammy bars for my current Strats. I’m pretty sure Gilmour put a Callaham in his CAR Strat as well, since there was a Callaham sticker on the back of it.

[jacksonplayer]

Covered!

I bought one off Cam a couple months back but could not get it to work no matter what I did, so I just bought one brand new. Put it in my Classic 50’s Strat the other night and started dialing in some PULSE tones. Got pretty damn close to the intro of “Sorrow”, enough to make my dad say “Holy fucking shit” and nothing impresses him. I have zero interest in replicating any other guitar tones aside from Gilmour’s and Eric Johnson’s. The Strat coming after this one will be my EJ Strat, which, for the same reasons I’m having the Gilmour one made, I’ll have MJT make the body and Muskraft make the neck and have the guitar for under a grand.

I think I’m going to have my Classic 50’s re-fretted with med/jumbo as well, because the frets are pretty well worn and dented…..and I once I go past the 1-step mark, it frets out unless I jack the action way up. Both EJ and Gilmour have re-fretted their Strats with bigger frets because bending on those tiny ass frets is a pain in the ass.

I’ll be putting a Callaham bridge on it as well. I’ve already got two of their shortened Gilmour whammy bars for my current Strats. I’m pretty sure Gilmour put a Callaham in his CAR Strat as well, since there was a Callaham sticker on the back of it.

EJ also has a 12" radius on his Strats. The sig models come that way, and he had his personal vintage ones planed to that radius, also with putting in jumbo low frets. They play almost nothing like a "typical" Strat.

I find 7.25" pretty much unplayable for what I do. G&L Legacies and S-500s used to come with 12" radius stock, but thanks to all the vintage fetishists they switched to 9.5" radius a few years ago. That's barely acceptable, and I much prefer 12" or compound 10-16".

[RevDrucifer]

EJ also has a 12" radius on his Strats. The sig models come that way, and he had his personal vintage ones planed to that radius, also with putting in jumbo low frets. They play almost nothing like a "typical" Strat.

I find 7.25" pretty much unplayable for what I do. G&L Legacies and S-500s used to come with 12" radius stock, but thanks to all the vintage fetishists they switched to 9.5" radius a few years ago. That's barely acceptable, and I much prefer 12" or compound 10-16".

Agreed. And actually, the EJ neck is why I decided on a 12” radius. My initial plan was to find an EJ neck on Reverb and slap it on the CAR Strat, but the few EJ Strats I’ve played were a bit chunkier in the neck than I’d prefer for a Strat and it seems like only every other 3 weren’t sticky. The majority I’ve played all had a sticky nitro neck, opposed to the glass-feeling ones I’d occasionally find.

That chunky neck thing is also the only reason I didn’t buy a Virginia Strat the day the house money went into my account. There isn’t one to try in a store anywhere and I’ve already heard a few people say it’s definitely chunkier like his sig Strats. As it should be; every actual 50’s Strat I’ve ever played has had a pretty chunky neck on it, especially the 54’s. I went with a medium C for the Muskraft neck.

Just discussed the project with Peyton at MJT last night and supplied them with some very detailed shots of the actual CAR Strat and told him while I’m not expecting an exact replica, some time spent on the more obvious areas would be greatly appreciated.

In between getting fire alarm calls for one of my buildings, I was fucking around trying to get some of those PULSE tones dialed in. Man, that tone in “Coming Back To Life” is really something else.

There just enough dirt in it to get the guitar to feedback while still sounding remarkably clean. I’m in the ballpark but there’s a top end quack to Gilmour’s tone I can’t seem to figure out what’s making it. Got a compressor into a Tube Driver into a HiWatt Low Power and the core tone is there, it’s just that little sparkle in the high end when he’s on the neck pickup I can’t quite figure out yet. The EMG’s definitely do a LOT tonally and really, I think those are the biggest ‘secret’ to the overall tone. The EXG/SPC expanders are pretty cool, but still getting used to how they work.

And this is all entirely so I can just dick around and play Floyd tunes in my studio with all the lights and lasers, pretending I’m Gilmour.

And hopefully, whatever cover band I join this year will want to throw a couple Floyd tunes in……so I can bring my lasers and pretend I’m Gilmour.

Playing over some of those songs, I used to have them down fairly note for note back in my teens, but after so many years of playing metal/learning how to shred, my feel is so off. I think for the next few months I’m really going to dig into Gilmour’s playing like I did when I was 12 and really get that phrasing and those licks down. Dude plays the most simple shit and just delivers while I’m finding myself adding too many notes!

[Soopahmahn]

One thing you *could* try is narrow-tall frets, Dunlop 6105. It's halfway between vintage and jumbo fret width, but taller than either. Gives precise intonation and that "floating" bendy feeling that's so easy to play. Just an idea.

[beneharris]

I've never heard of MJT, but their website has some cool stuff. I bet this will turn out great. What sort of turnaround are they quoting you?

[RevDrucifer]

One thing you *could* try is narrow-tall frets, Dunlop 6105. It's halfway between vintage and jumbo fret width, but taller than either. Gives precise intonation and that "floating" bendy feeling that's so easy to play. Just an idea.

Musikraft already started the neck with med/jumbo’s, but I almost got 6105 just because I’ve seen it used by so many people over the years. That sounds fairly ideal and I’ll have to keep an eye out to try something with them.

[RevDrucifer]

I've never heard of MJT, but their website has some cool stuff. I bet this will turn out great. What sort of turnaround are they quoting you?

Seems to vary depending on the project, but 1-3 months is the general turn around rate. They’ve been GREAT to work with so far; you make your initial order on the website, giving just a rough idea of what you’re going for. They reach out to you to confirm details and send you a spec sheet to fill in what you want, wood type, color, the amount of relic’ing you want, etc. What surprised me here was how willing they were to use my pics of Gilmour’s Strat. I sent the pics and told them I wasn’t expecting a faithful recreation of every dent, but they also had me pic the amount of wear I wanted, which falls right around Medium by their standards/examples. I got a reply back asking if I wanted them to go off the pics I sent or their own examples, so they’re definitely willing to put a little extra care into something.

They’ll reach out 3x during the process; once the initial color is painted on the guitar to make sure you’re happy with it, a progress shot once they start the relic’ing and then the final shot for you to approve. Really, as long as they get the color right and get the relic’ing 75% in the ballpark, I’ll be happy.

I also ordered some pretty cool lasers I’m going to mount in my living room, so when I’m really in wannabe-Gilmour mode, I can pull it off that much easier.

[RevDrucifer]

Buuuuuummmpppp…..it finally showed up!






They didn’t follow my instructions to the T, but I don’t care that much in regards to cosmetic stuff. They got the neck wear spot on to Gilmour’s, it’s just not as glossy as I want it so I’m going to try polishing the shit out of it and see if I can get some more shine out of it. Neck (Musikraft) feels GREAT. Perfect medium C.

I’ve had to stare at this thing since 12:30 while counting down the clock until I get home to put it all together. I just got the Callaham trem for it last week, that thing is pretty heavy duty and the finish on it is flawless. Pop-in trem because fuck screw-ins!

[Leon]

[Budda]

Calling in tomorrow?

[RevDrucifer]

Holy shit, getting nitro off frets is a pain in the dick! Since the neck was shipped with the fretwork finished (and it looks like they did an outstanding job on them) and MJT sprayed nitro over it, while they remove it from the crown of the frets, they leave it on the sides and that’s just not how stainless steel frets should look. I taped the neck off and went to town with some fret erasers. 2.5 hours later my hands hurt so damn bad I couldn’t do anything else. I got the pickguard lined up so I can drill the pilot holes for the pickguard screws and then tapped out.

Tomorrow I’m grabbing some cutting polish to get the nitro on the neck shiny like glass. Small cosmetic thing, but I love the way those glass-like nitro finishes look. Installed a Tusq nut tonight. I have to switch the EMG’s from one pickguard to another, so I might do that tonight but my wrists are barking at me just thinking of turning a screwdriver.

It’s starting to look like a Strat, though! I went with a Callaham trem for it and man, that thing looks and feels like it’s worth every penny. My only real gripe was they didn’t tape the neck pocket off when they painted it, so when I went to fit the neck it was so snug it ended up taking a good chunk of the finish off around it. If this weren’t beat up already, I’d probably care a little more but I think I’ll be ok.

Calling in tomorrow?

I wish. Instead I’ll be touring prospective buyers around the campus. Some of these guys have been spending a little too much time in “I’m a millionaire and say offensive shit because I can get away with it” land and I have to sit there and laugh because they could end up being my boss.

[Iron1]

Holy shit, getting nitro off frets is a pain in the dick! Since the neck was shipped with the fretwork finished (and it looks like they did an outstanding job on them) and MJT sprayed nitro over it, while they remove it from the crown of the frets, they leave it on the sides and that’s just not how stainless steel frets should look. I taped the neck off and went to town with some fret erasers. 2.5 hours later my hands hurt so damn bad I couldn’t do anything else. I got the pickguard lined up so I can drill the pilot holes for the pickguard screws and then tapped out.

Tomorrow I’m grabbing some cutting polish to get the nitro on the neck shiny like glass. Small cosmetic thing, but I love the way those glass-like nitro finishes look. Installed a Tusq nut tonight. I have to switch the EMG’s from one pickguard to another, so I might do that tonight but my wrists are barking at me just thinking of turning a screwdriver.

It’s starting to look like a Strat, though! I went with a Callaham trem for it and man, that thing looks and feels like it’s worth every penny. My only real gripe was they didn’t tape the neck pocket off when they painted it, so when I went to fit the neck it was so snug it ended up taking a good chunk of the finish off around it. If this weren’t beat up already, I’d probably care a little more but I think I’ll be ok.







I wish. Instead I’ll be touring prospective buyers around the campus. Some of these guys have been spending a little too much time in “I’m a millionaire and say offensive shit because I can get away with it” land and I have to sit there and laugh because they could end up being my boss.

This looks suspiciously nothing like a hot pink 1984 BC Rich Warlock...