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Banker Builds Guitars!

corpse

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Jun 9, 2007
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Well- not John M- that would be CBRMatt from LPF. He has been at it for some time, but the last 18 months in earnest. I don't know where he found the time to locate the components but it is not your grandmothers collection of bits. The bodies & necks are river salvaged mahogany from Belize; his wood supplier has some tremendous resources.

IMG_0722_zpsrst42jnl.png


The bridge plates, neck plate and forward control plates are Damascus steel- super hardened. This leads to some outstanding ringing tone.
IMG_0732_zpsvs6x0ves.jpg


This is the color I am going with- cereal bowl oxide red (from a 1948 Fiesta piece). Opaque- very little grain showing through.
IMG_1392_zpsxn9zeizj.jpg


This is an ash bodied T style- the aging is very nice (I have a 1952 ash bodied guitar visiting at the moment and it is right there). Bolt-on neck.
IMG_0413_zps0i1ji2xx.jpg


This is one he built that is just finishing up- very rich- the P90's really have a 3d pulsing tone.
IMG_0546_zpsyrvm9x2q.jpg


I am doing 2xP90's; bound red top, with natural back and oiled mahogany neck- rosewood board, unbound. **Change** Black PU covers- black Jr knobs, and a tortoise guard.
So it begins...
 
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jhmp

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Mar 24, 2011
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That seems like quite an opportunity! What neck dimensions are you going for?
 

corpse

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Thinking about between a c/d shaped neck- .890 or so- rolled edges. Modern Am Tele- just a little thicker. I never had a oiled neck before- just coveted them.
These are on the heavy side- the red mahogany one in the pics is #9 or so.
 

corpse

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Matt must be OCD or something- he is over the top on just about everything. He doesn't have a music room- he built a full-on studio (baffles in the AC duct, double dry-wall, glued, ground up cloth acoustic insulation- seriously over the top). All in a very positive way- good guy. This is the best room for showcasing these guitars- he has a Fender 61 Deluxe, a 59 Gibson GA20, a Twin twelve Silvertone- and one of my favorite- a 1990 Fender Vibrolux reissue.
The two of you should work out something- he can demo yours and visa versa.

He has a few of these out there. They will start showing up- Benji Shanks is recording with his.
 

CBRmatt600

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Oct 27, 2015
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Matt must be OCD or something- he is over the top on just about everything. He doesn't have a music room- he built a full-on studio (baffles in the AC duct, double dry-wall, glued, ground up cloth acoustic insulation- seriously over the top). All in a very positive way- good guy. This is the best room for showcasing these guitars- he has a Fender 61 Deluxe, a 59 Gibson GA20, a Twin twelve Silvertone- and one of my favorite- a 1990 Fender Vibrolux reissue.
The two of you should work out something- he can demo yours and visa versa.

He has a few of these out there. They will start showing up- Benji Shanks is recording with his.


Ha! I am 1000% OCD, which is often a pain in the ass but is a pretty useful quality when it comes to building guitars.

Just got a stash of old mahogany in and it's beautiful, I'm looking forward to getting started on yours.
 

corpse

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There is something truly bonding about pulling thru stacks of Belize Mahogany boards and sorting through them- chose one for the body and one for the neck. The neck one is very dark by itself and will look gorgeous with an oiled finish.
The board is Rosewood (Indian I believe) and has some red streaking to it.
Construction will start in a month or so.
Pickups are Tyson 57 P90's and a few other bits (tuners).
The waiting is fun. Picking out the wood with Matt was a trip.
 
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corpse

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IMG_0158_zpsxxvtc4ab.jpeg


Top is joined and glued- 'sinker Mahogany'. Nice color and grain- I was unable to detect any noticeable difference in tone from board to board. I went by smell. This one smelled the best. I knocked and tapped for all I was worth. The neck has been rough cut but I didn't get to see it.
I was able to play a couple of finished guitars yesterday and marveled at the sound and finish. Perfect necks- all made for customers so I didn't want to post pictures until they get delivered. The LP special might be the best guitar I ever played sound wise. It has that vintage "slinkiness" that is very elusive- like you could wrap the strings all the way round the neck.
 

corpse

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IMG_0043_zpsqy7pez3c.jpg


Ah eff it. Here it is. A Loller Mini-humbucker and a Tyson P90. Just a smoking guitar. Dig the fine tortoise binding. Love the knobs off a junky old radio. I need to get a shot of the 1/32" fading cut on the cut-away side for the neck pocket... don't sneeze Matt. The neck join is identical to Matt's '57 Jr- heel, angle, everything. The tone is just a RCH different. Has a great bark with a chewey thing going on- 57 Jr with something modern thrown in. Clay dots. Look at the color on the board...too cool.
 

CBRmatt600

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Oct 27, 2015
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IMG_0043_zpsqy7pez3c.jpg


Ah eff it. Here it is. A Loller Mini-humbucker and a Tyson P90. Just a smoking guitar. Dig the fine tortoise binding. Love the knobs off a junky old radio. I need to get a shot of the 1/32" fading cut on the cut-away side for the neck pocket... don't sneeze Matt. The neck join is identical to Matt's '57 Jr- heel, angle, everything. The tone is just a RCH different. Has a great bark with a chewey thing going on- 57 Jr with something modern thrown in. Clay dots. Look at the color on the board...too cool.


I should have some nice tone videos of this one after the weekend, I’ll be delivering it to the new owner and he will probably have a friend or two around to give it a run through a few different amps
 

corpse

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Ren
Damascus is a process for processing steel like Bessemer. The ringing tone it produces is easily discernible.
 

corpse

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Fretboards- second from the left works
IMG_0179_zpswovev1vp.jpeg

All of the wood parts
IMG_0180_zpsvjj0exsr.jpeg

Rough neck- look at the striations in the wood- hopefully they will be there after shaping- some naptha on there
IMG_0183_zpsblxmqbsx.jpeg

Body sides- magical.
IMG_0184_zps4hwqoemo.jpeg

IMG_0185_zps1pe19avb.jpeg
 

renderit

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Ren
Damascus is a process for processing steel like Bessemer. The ringing tone it produces is easily discernible.

I know what Damascus steel is. But nobody knows how it was made. Supposedly started with India sourced steel (I recall it started with a V or W by name) and had additives folded in that changed the temper within the very piece of metal. That unit you have there looks cute with the etched lines. Ain't Damascus though. It may sound absolutely awesome however.

But 'Dam as cus' is such a great word. It has it all!
:) THAT is why I was laughing!

Please don't feel like I am cutting at you though! I am not. This looks like an absolutely fantastic project and I am looking forward to seeing more of it.
 

corpse

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Depleted plutonium for all I know Ren. I know there was no snarkiness in there. Damascus is a fun word, like borborygmi, or tumbleweed.
It appears to be some folding process that yields a very hard metal. The guys that cuts the parts knows his stuff and breaks tooling on them regularly.

Matt is committed to the process- last night he texted me about a new shipment of fretboard wood and we switch up the parts. And it ain't science- wood is fickle and there are a ton of pitfalls. Minding your own business with a router and "ping" suddenly the gorgeous neck has a gaping divot that was completely hidden and goes into the scrap pile.
Exceeding all expectations- I have heard 5 of Banker's pieces finished and the tone and playability is stellar.
One guy has taken delivery of a P90 tele and ordered two more based on the newest designs.
 

CBRmatt600

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Oct 27, 2015
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I know what Damascus steel is. But nobody knows how it was made. Supposedly started with India sourced steel (I recall it started with a V or W by name) and had additives folded in that changed the temper within the very piece of metal. That unit you have there looks cute with the etched lines. Ain't Damascus though. It may sound absolutely awesome however.

But 'Dam as cus' is such a great word. It has it all!
:) THAT is why I was laughing!

Please don't feel like I am cutting at you though! I am not. This looks like an absolutely fantastic project and I am looking forward to seeing more of it.

A good friend of mine, who is a knife maker, fabricates these components for me. He takes multiple layers of steel, 10 or more, stacks them together, heats them, and puts them through a press several times to compact them into a billet. It then gets milled into these bridges by another friend. The lines you see are the different layers of steel in the piece, highlighted by an etchant solution.

i don’t know much about metal working, but I’ve always known this to be called “Damascus” around these parts, and that’s what he calls it as well. I do know that it is harder than hell and routinely chews through endmill bits on my buddies CNC. And it sounds incredible.
 

corpse

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IMG_0182_zpscf6dsm5t.jpeg


A shot of the neck/headstock with some naptha on it. Very nice grain.
 

Pellman73

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Aug 9, 2016
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Depleted plutonium for all I know Ren. I know there was no snarkiness in there. Damascus is a fun word, like borborygmi, or tumbleweed.
It appears to be some folding process that yields a very hard metal. The guys that cuts the parts knows his stuff and breaks tooling on them regularly.

Matt is committed to the process- last night he texted me about a new shipment of fretboard wood and we switch up the parts. And it ain't science- wood is fickle and there are a ton of pitfalls. Minding your own business with a router and "ping" suddenly the gorgeous neck has a gaping divot that was completely hidden and goes into the scrap pile.
Exceeding all expectations- I have heard 5 of Banker's pieces finished and the tone and playability is stellar.
One guy has taken delivery of a P90 tele and ordered two more based on the newest designs.

Rick Barry once wrote that “Weasel” is one of the funniest words and if you want to make something funny you just add “Weasel” to it.

like if we said, “The pup covers were finished in a complex Steel Weasel process?

See that? It’s funny.

Steel Weasel. Man that is a good band name....
 
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