Aziraphale

So here's the idea:

The body and headstock of an ESP Horizon:



Silverburst finish:



Chrome binding and dragon decal in line with my 6-string Warmoth:



Here are the specs:

Body: Swamp Ash
Neck: Maple
Fretboard: Ebony
Finish: Silverburst
Hardware: Chrome
Pickups: HSS config, 1x DiMarzio PAF 7, 2x RioGrande Tallboys
Bridge: Hipshot non-locking trem

The guitar will be pretty much the same thing as my Warmoth, but 7 strings. The only real difference is the wood (Swamp Ash+Maple instead of Mahogany) and a 25" scale on this one. I'd rather have gone with 25.5" but Warmoth's 7-string options are horribly limited. 22 frets, top-adjusted trussrod and angled headstock would've been great too, but again, Warmoth just won't offer that for 7-strings. The Super 7 neck they offer is much more modern in its design, but it only comes with one pre-cut headstock... it's a bit stone-age, having to adjust the trussrod from the butt-end of the neck, but I guess I'll have to deal with it.

Anyway, on to the pics:

Body blank from StewMac:


Neck:



They were at least cool enough to not drill for the tuner holes, as I asked for in the comments on the order form. Even if they're not a full-on custom shop their customer service is still excellent and they're easy to communicate with. I got some nice birdseye figure on the maple too:





It's a bit of a bummer that they didn't dye the ebony though, like they did on my last neck... so I'll have to buy a can of ebony dye too, wasn't expecting that.



I did a rough outline of the body contours, but I'm not satisfied yet... unfortunately I don't have a Horizon and I traded away my Schecter C-7 Hellraiser, and my 6-string Warmoth is away at the moment too... so I had to use my Woodo 7 as the model for now, but it's a bit more asymmetrical and RG-like than I'd prefer. The main issue right now though is getting a good center-line and neck pocket, I'll worry about the contours later.



I also did a quick, free-hand estimate of what the headstock will look like. I'll use a proper scaled picture of an actual Horizon headstock later on.



More updates to come! Cheers!

eddiehimself

Keep us updated!

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Glenn Guitar

Un-dyed ebony looks cool man.

I like that fretboard how it is.

fantasyh

Stickied.

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Aziraphale

Yeah, I'll give it some lemon-oil and see if it pops before I dye it, right now it just looks dry though.

Cheers for checking out the project, dudes

guitaristren

I'll be watching this.

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Aziraphale

I think I've finally got a body shape I'm happy with, and also a good center line. I ended up using one of my sisters' equestrian plaques to get 90 degree angles in the neck pocket... whatever works, I guess

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...7_8355876_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...6_5338521_n.jpg

lostcreation333

Looks like Macassar Ebony? I used some of that previously and it did look dry... until I put some lemon oil on it.

Aziraphale

Alright, after some more measurements and conceptual sketching I'll probably cut this tonight or tomorrow. I'm happy with the body shape, everything seems to fit and nothing seems to get in the way etc.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...1_7122020_n.jpg

I think that's the closest to a Horizon I'll get just from looking at pictures and doing a ton of freehanding and drawing/erasing curves.

I'll probably move the knobs a little bit further in and down, I don't want them to get in the way of the pickup switch, the trem arm or my picking hand.

Terrible-Lie

You've given me so much GAS now

SoulSlaughter

+1

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EmilGD

This build looks sooo promising!!
Personally I prefer the look of the 6-a-side headstock though.

espplayer400

I love you. Ill be watching this.

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Aziraphale

Haha cheers dudes!

I've now cut the body and headstock and started carving... I'm only using chisels and an electric sander so I'll need some creativity to get the "S" shaped carve I'm after, rather than the RGA style carve it's getting now.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...9_4670907_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...0_5785237_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...1_1693610_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...2_2490385_n.jpg

archenemyfan

ohhh..this looks promising

stickied!

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SlayingDragons

Same here.

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Aziraphale

Thanks guys!

It's too late in the evening to do any more sanding, but I could at least dye the neck... I'll make one or two more layers of black and then probably top it off with a walnut stain. Tasty!

salgala2000

Looks real nice ..

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xxxandryxxx

good job friend