Building a tiny guitar, because, you know, it's a tiny guitar.

When you want to test your luthiery skills but can't afford another guitar, weird things happen.  As in, matchbox sized guitars for no real reason.  Anyway, it sure is adorable in it's own funky way, more after the break!

Partscaster Paintjob Mockups

Some "concept art" mockups of ideas I have for paintjobs for this Partscaster here, gotta love that GIMP.  Feel free to comment your thoughts below!

"Beat It" Solo

My less-than-perfect cover of the solo from "Beat It" by Michael Jackson and Eddie Van Halen.

This was a really difficult solo but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  This was also my first demo of my handmade Frankenstrat replica so check that out if you haven't already!

"Make America Great Again": How Four Words Say Virtually Everything About Trump's Campaign

          Kinda catchy, don't you think?  Certainly most people do, considering how often this phrase has turned up this year since the rise of Trump.  Considered as a meme (Richard Dawkins meme, not the internet kind) it has proven extremely successful, having stuck around for nearly 40 years since Reagan's campaign, and has found a new host in Trump's campaign.  It's fascinating to consider how appropriate this simple and enduring slogan has proven in describing this (thankfully) unique campaign.

Building an Eddie Van Halen Frankenstrat Part 2 of 2

If you haven't seen Part I: The Painting yet, go ahead and check that out first: if you have, now's the time to check out how this fantastic Frankenstrat turned out for only about $100.

"Blondie" the B-Stock Partscaster

As my third Partscaster build, this has been one of my favorite transformations from a pile of leftover junk into a surprisingly nice playing guitar all around and a pretty unique build from the paint to the wiring.

How to Paint an Eddie Van Halen Frankenstrat Guitar

My latest project guitar has been hugely interesting, trying to recreate a 10 year journey of one of the most famous guitars of all time.  Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstrat is famous for its complex and semi random design, but isn't too terribly difficult to make if you know what to do.

New Project Guitars

          Two and a half guitars I picked up as material for some new projects.  At least one Frankenstrat in the works at the moment, and a blank slate for another project afterwards.  Lots of pics of the works below!

D'Addario Strings Customer Service Review

          Here's a little shout-out to the customer service at D'Addario, guitar string and accessory manufacturer.  I purchased and received a new set of strings for my 8-string guitar, and by some quirk in the manufacturing process, only received 6 strings in the 8-string pack.  

          I contacted D'Addario customer support to let them know that there might be some holes in their string Q.C. (I haven't had any other issues over probably a dozen other sets of strings) and they sent me not only the missing strings, but another complete 8-string set as well.  S/O to D'Addario for taking care of your customers right away!

Kashmir Improv

Some on-the-spot improv to Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" in DADGAD tuning.  Learned along the way that the laptop's built-in mic is never good enough.

Jazz/Funk Fusion Backing Tracks

A few more excellent jazzy backing tracks I've jammed along to recently, enjoy and be sure to check out the official Free Backing Track page for more!

"Reel Character" Woodybucker

The second hand-wound pickup I've built by hand with the "Reel Great" pickup winder, the"Woodybucker", an asymmetrically wound humbucker with wood bobbins and hex polepieces.  A humbucker is an even bigger pain to wind than a single coil but opens up a lot of opportunities for unique tone as well.