Hi Jeff, well i'll tell you something; going by your craftsmanship and the attention to detail you put into your work, i reckon your masterpieces will be even better than what fender makes! You're like one of their custom shop guys!

I think you'd be able to sell the guitars you make for a good sum, they look stunning and i'm looking forward to seeing these two beauties finished. I just can't make my mind up yet which one i think i'm going to prefer! i like the flame body, it's a stunner but then again i love the black stealth look too

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Luck won't do it and ignorance can't

George Van Eps.

I can't see how the logo you choose to put on the headstock of a neck acquired from a parts manufacturer should require the approval of that entity. Seems to me that these are all generic items and how they ultimately end up is at the pleasure of the creator.
The manner in which you happen to modify some of your Strat Pluses does not take them far afield of stock hence, I do not see your efforts falling within some of the discussions we've entertained regarding trademark issues with respect to those instruments. They remain, very much, Fender Stratocasters. Where you've replaced brand with generic, it's a known quantity.

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"Another day in paradise!"

Which "Deluxe turned Ultra" was that? What color? Man I have sold so many it is hard to keep track.

Also, some scammer took pictures, from either my website or evilBay auction, of the flamed Strat ultra and had it listed on Craigslist in Philly. I contacted the guy and he told me he was in UK right now and if I sent the money a secure carrier he would have the guitar shipped to me! I reported him and no one would do anything about it. Crazy, eh?

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=64485 Hey, I got the neck. For some reason I had this gut feeling about waxing the neck instead. Well, I did it and it is the best feeling neck I've ever had.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

Going to post some more tomorrow. Lots going on with my work and headed out of town for a few days. I have the Ultra neck cleaned and frets polished and am looking at getting the neck on the Mystic Strat as well. Cherrio!!!!!

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

BUILD #1 Flamed Ultra

I am getting closer to finishing Build #1. Build #2 still needs the body buffed and that will not happen till next week.Here is a sneak preview on what the guitar will look like in more natural lighting. Stunning burl flame!





I have the neck cleaned up, by scrubbing ever millimeter with warm water, mild soap and a tooth brush. Neck are nasty. Think about all the stuff a person's hand touch and then they play a guitar! Gross… anyhow I remove all that stuff this way and towel down the neck to dry and clean it. Here is the neck. The frets are super nice after good polishing and the ebony is mint.



What I did find was a few small nicks on the headstock and the hole was buggered up by some person who was not careful using the allen wrench to adjust the truss rod. I will show in a later post how I will touch this up.



Also on Build #2 Mystic Black, I will be using this mint Rosewood neck. It still has the hang-tag from the store when it was sold in 1996. Retail price back then? $1499.00 with case.







So anyhow, when I get back from this next trip I plan on finishing up both these builds and perhaps adding #3 too!

One more sneak peek at the Flamed Ultra:

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

I am out in the northern middle of Illinois right now! Headed west. Miss the mountains of the Pacific North West! When I get back these will go together fast. I have one more guitar I plan on adding to the mix as well! Do you like this one so far???

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

..Now what kind of a Cruel question is That...

I have found wearing a Lobster Bib while perusing/ogling this thread is a necessity.
Gorgeous build as all your projects are.....

On another note, I have a question, if you have gone to my Build thread lately, I updated that I just found a neck... A Tele Deluxe, 3 bolt micro-tilt maple, 70's style, lightly figured for $20...( I paid a little more since I didn't believe that $20 was honest to pay for a almost brand new neck....) Any suggestion as to the 3 screw tilt issues...? I'm thinking also of doing a flamed or figured maple body, rear routed electronics, 1 vol, 1 tone, superswitch, SCN pups (3 strat pups) hardtail ( german manufacturer, name escapes me at the moment ) Gotoh delta tuners, contoured body like a 50's strat but Tele shape. May also consider Walnut......

Anyway excuse the momentary lapse of reason and hijack of this threads theme....

Ciao....

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

Ok, Now I have time to play and will..... I was gone for a few days, then work and then Christmas (which we had early this year) and this thread was buried 3 pages back! Ok just a bump to stay tuned and we will get these guitars done and maybe do an extra one as well.

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

Standing by!!

Well, Over Christmas I started to finish up these two builds and then ran into a serious setback. As I take you through these pictures of finishing Build #1 The Ultra Flamed Strat, you will see I get mounted the Ultra Ebony neck on the body and get the guitar nearly finished. I then strung the guitar an immediately saw there was something wrong. The strings were up about 1/2 from the fretboard. I checked the truss rod setting and the strings were about 1/4 high at the 8th fret. I pulled the neck and found out, somehow, it developed a serious bow. I am not sure how this happened but it was a real depressing find. Look at the picture below and note the light coming under the center of the neck. I took the nut off so this bow is from 1st fret to 22nd fret. You can see how much is is lifted up off the table in the middle.



So I had to change courses on this build as the neck is unusable. I will get to that later, but for the time being, let's pretend that there are no problems with this neck and I will start where I left off on the last post. The first thing I did in order to get this guitar finished was to break out my neck plate and input jack boxes. I keep a good supply of pre-wired input jacks and neck plates off various Strats and Teles on hand.




I gently pushed the neck into the neck socket and then turned the guitar over and then careful inserted the screws through the neck plate. I make sure the neck fits tight and feels like to sits naturally in the socket. One needs to make sure that after you tighten the neck screws, as if tightening the bolts on the head of a motor, that the micro-tilt adjustment screw is snugged up against the neck to prevent it from coming loose, in case you end up not needing to use it.






Then the guitar is turned over and some of the finishing touches are added. First thing is to get the strap buttons mounted. This is really pretty easy.








Next comes the drilling of the pick guard screw holes (Scratch Plate for you Brits!) It is always fun drilling holes all over this nice finish!!! LOL! I drill three holes and then put the screws in to hold the guard in place then drill the other holes. The jack plate is also mounted at this time.






This will have the hipshot-tremsetter system in it so a hole needs to be drilled for that in the back of the trem-cavity, then the bridge can be mounted. Note the long shafted screw driver used to drive the screws in for the tremolo spring retainers. You always want to protect your work as much as possible to prevent scratching the body. I use Fender polishing clothes for this.





OK lets get the pickups assembly wired in and mounted on the body. It is always exciting to get to this point, as the guitar starts to take shape. Even though I have worked on 100s of guitars, I am still like a little kid when it comes to finishing a project. There is a certain passion involved with this type of work. Remember if you try to do anything like this ALWAYS protect the body. Hot solder can burn right into a finish.





OK<<<<NOW I DISCOVER THE NECK IS WARPED!!!!!>>>>> I put the bridge in and strung the guitar. Talk about taking the wind out of my sail! So a new plan had to come into effect. I took the New old Stock Rosewood Neck from BUILD #2 Mystic Black Plus and put it on this guitar. (So this mean that build is on hold till I decide where to rob neck for it!!!) I had not other options. When I put the neck on, what a difference. It laid right into place with very little adjustment. and fretted almost flawlessly up and down the neck with very low action.

Setting up a guitar is done with some science but in reality, after setting up 100s of guitars, part of it is "feel." I can look at the bridge saddles and think, "un uh, that is about as high as they need to be." Then with my eyes closed, can adjust the micro-tilt screw and know how much to add—all by feeling. I check the truss rod adjustment by pushing down at the 1st and 22nd frets and look at the gap at the 8th fret. BTW, this guitar—WOW—plays great and talk about TONE! The neck pickup sounds like an old Les Paul. Rich and full. And oddly enough, there is still a lot of nice quack when operated with the middle pickup—that is not always the case in mixing a humbucker with a single coil. ENJOY THE PICTURES

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

Jeff you are a guitar manufacturin' genius! That guitar looks gorgeous and i wish i could hear it, i can only imagine how good it sounds. Too bad about the neck problem on the other neck that must have been horrible to get it all strung up and then discover that. But you more than saved the day with this beauty!

Absolutely outstanding work and that has to be about the coolest striped guitar body i've ever seen

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Luck won't do it and ignorance can't

George Van Eps.

Just one word : waow

Respects, sir. Beautiful guitar.

Nicely done!!

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"Another day in paradise!"