NGD! The guitar to replace all my other guitars! (Warning: very very pic heavy!)

[Goldtop75]

Just got this in last Thursday. A brand new custom built LP-DC style guitar by Jason Schroeder.



I posted the build thread here: My Jason Schroeder Custom build: Lemon Drop Shorty

Here are the updated specs:

• Shorty Style 22 Stainless Steel Jumbo Frets
• Quartersawn Flamed Top
• Lightweight 1 piece Honduran Mahogany Body
• Honduran Mahogany Neck
• Brazilian Rosewood Fretboard
• 24.75” Scale
• 2 Custom wound Skatterbrane Humbuckers (A4 in the neck, A2 in the bridge)
• 1 Master Volume, 2 tone
• 3 way switch
• Graphtech Resomax NVS Bridge with Aluminium Schroeder Tailpiece
• Schaller Locking tuners with pearloid pegs
• 59' thickness, top carve and neck angle.
• Vintage Amber burst with cherry back.
• Nitro Lacquer Finish
• Ivoroid binding all around except headstock.
• Ivoroid pickup rings
• Custom designed MOP + wood Inlays

The guitar turned out to be extremely light (7.9lbs), resonant, long sustain, and very sweet sounding. It's solid bodied. No chambering, yet is acoustically as loud as my chambered Les Paul.

Honestly, and without trying to overstate the fact, this is very possibly the BEST guitar I have ever owned (more than 30 guitars) and played in my 22 year playing history.

I really feel that I can now (and I will) let go of most of my guitars because of this one. It is 22 years of personal experience rolled into one guitar, with a 7 string as the only other variant I'd like to have custom built.

Without further ado, I hereby present: "Lilith"

Note the shading on the neck


Tummy cut! Super comfortable!


Check out them Ivoroid Rings holding the Skatterbranes!



Ivoroid tuning pegs on Schaller locking tuners!


Nice clean neck joint


Custom inlay based on a 18 year old design I did back then.


Brazilian Rosewood!


I cannot believe he polished a TUSQ XL nut!!!!


Custom made lightweight aluminum tailpiece


RS Guitarworks Electronics semi-hidden! (Jensen PIO caps inside!)


Custom jack plate (A Jason Schroeder Signature feature!)


Full guitar!







The back view!


Check out HOME | www.schroederguitars.com

[CajunGoo]

Simply beautiful. I like the inlay work design as well. A very unique touch to a custom instrument.

[LtKojak]

Congrats! That's quite the looker.

Jensen PIO caps? You're a man after my own heart.

May you enjoy playing it in full health.

[HOT-BRIT]

enjoy that beauty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[randelli]

Very nice!! Congrats

[wwit]

Grats, very nice looker there.

[G Man]

Very nice! Reminds me of a Hamer Studio, in a good way. Enjoy.

[Hector Arcadius]

Honestly, this is one of the best looking guitars I have seen in this forum (and we have seen quite a few...). And you have your name on the headstock as well? How cool is that?


Many. many congrats Lionel! A custom-built instrument is one of the finest things money can buy... I'm totally envious.

[mftaqiyuddin]

Woww.........beautiful!

[adamajah]

Originally Posted by Hector Arcadius

A custom-built instrument is one of the finest things money can buy... :

Ditto. Congrats on this great custom instrument.

[LesPauI+SG=Win]

Wow man!

[Goldtop75]

Thanks for the kind words guys. This is a great guitar indeed!

Originally Posted by Hector Arcadius

And you have your name on the headstock as well? How cool is that?

That's totally cool. Until you try to sell it. That writing is BENEATH the lacquer! Hahahah!!! Nah. Not about to sell this.

Originally Posted by G Man

Very nice! Reminds me of a Hamer Studio, in a good way. Enjoy.

I actually think the Studio (or the old Hamer Modern Classic) was an inspiration to Jason Schroeder for this model. NOT the PRS Santana or West Street that many think it is.

[Phildog]

Congrats! Beyond that, I'm speechless with GAS!!!

[BrianM]

Originally Posted by Goldtop75

Custom inlay based on a 18 year old design I did back then.

Wow! I like that alot.

[socialhero]

Stunning!

[blamo]

mmmmmm i ahte these DC threads....brings up my GAS attack...

[rjudo]

WOW!!

[Goldtop75]

Another thing I'd like to mention: This guitar would really also not be possible without the winding genius of Rod Kinkade of Skatterbrane Pickups.

I had a certain tone in mind for this guitar, and though i've done some business with Rod in the past, none of his sets really scratched the itch I was after. Don't get me wrong, his PAFs are among the best offerings out there, and I'd gladly stand byhind any set of those any given day, and I did, before this guitar came out.

I was after something I couldn't find in other winders standard work. (as far as my trials went). Not Bareknuckles, not Tom Holmes, not Lollars nor even Gibson stock pickups. I also went through the usual suspects of running through DiMarzios and Duncans. No, not even Rod's own pickups had that, though everyone always offered some semblance of what I wanted, but never the complete package.

What I wanted was a Satriani-esque neck tone, without the muddiness and compression the PAF Joe offered. I also wanted the complexity and overtones of the PAF-type pickups. They had to be low output, and extremely clean sounding, which was a problem with many PAF-type neck pickups. I wanted something open, and almost single-coil-like in attack, yet with the warmth of a humbucker. No, a P90 didn't work either. The tone had to be nice and bitey at lower portions of the neck, but at the upper registers, had to stay open, not tighten up, but still have an increasing "ooo" tone, and still bloom like a PAF!

Then, for the bridge, I wanted something hotter, that screams. Still keeping in the vowel-like tone of PAFs, but without the edge. Something really big and creamy, without the compression and loss of detail. Similar to a SD APHII kind of tone, but with more clarity and more "3D-ness". I didn't want twang, but more of a "brraaannnngggg" sort of sound, if that makes sense. That is how it's supposed to sound when I play chords. On lead, it should open up into voice-like vowel tones. It had to work well with all sorts of music, even for hard hitting metal, yet still retain the tonal complexities of a nice vintage PAF and have a very woody tone with the right amounts of gain.

The pickups had to be extremely controllable, and pick sensitive. Hit it just right, and you get a straight forward tone. Hit it softer, and the notes round up, and become almost voice like. Hit it hard, and it opens up into a scream. All of this without adjusting your volume level or gain level (imagine a Crunchbox on full?)

I corresponded with Rod over this custom set for a bit. He knew what I was shooting for, but I got the feeling he never made something like before, and Joe Satriani was hardly his cup of tea. This was a guy who was into Derek Trucks and Steely Dan. Very old school. Yet he said he will try, and deliver the tones I wanted. He made the set, put in an A4 magnet in the neck, and an A2 in the bridge. The rest of the details, he won't tell me.Things like wire gauge and the number of turns I guess remains his secret.

Well, all of that's history now, and what I have in my hands is a guitar that not only is made of the materials I'd like to own (at least once), like BRW and lightweight Honduran Mahogany, made to my own specified dimensions. And what really completes it is this set of pickups that Rod has made. They deliver EVERYTHING I have asked for. I honestly didn't except him to be able to pull it off. I thought I'd end up with a nice set of pickups, and that's it. I did not expect him to give me exactly what I expected, as I mentioned, I thought that wasn't his cup of tea. And yet, he has kept the measurements of this set and the materials used well within PAF variant specs. how he has done this, I have no clue.

But like I said, I'd like to take the chance to thank not only Jason and team for building me a dream guitar, but also Rod for completing the package with his pickups.

[JohnnyPhatsaqs]

Gorgeous. That's gotta be the best inlay I've ever seen.

[RobP]

Sweet!

[Crusader Rabbit]

Wow.

[Goldtop75]

Audio clip recorded today: Voices of Lilith

Gear used: MI Audio Crunchbox, TS808HW, PODXTLive, Lilith.

Or here: http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=10603884

[Leendrix]

Holy chit! Happy New B-E-A-UTIFUL guitar day!

[nutsauce]

That is just gorgeous. I find it really cool to own a custom built guitar also, just kind of knowing you have something that's a bit different from anything else out there. I picked up a couple custom built guitars from a luthier here in NC and I just love those guitars. That inlay work is awesome!!

[MNDZA]

That looks incredible. Congrats!

[MNDZA]

OMG I just saw that it took over two years to get this made! Worth it, but I have no patience unfortunately. Congrats again!

[Goldtop75]

Yes, 2 years, but it's not like I didn't have other NGDs to keep me busy in the interim. Heh...

[Bullfrog]

That's a beauty! Enjoy.

[Supernova]

she's beautiful

health to enjoy my man, and I hope you never part with it

[Jakeislove]

Awesome!!

Can't wait for clips!