Finally! After 7 months I present to you my Arcee tele custom:
Body:
2 pc swamp ash
String thru
3 tone sunburst with faux binding
Babicz bridge
Oak Grigsby 5-way superswitch
250k CTS pots
Wilde Keystones
Gripper buttons
Neck:
One pc maple
22 medium jumbo frets
C shape
Sperzel staggered tuners
Bone nut
Neck joint similar to Stephen's extended cutaway
What can I say?
Well, first and foremost it all started with a desire to have a go-to tele guitar that pretty much could handle different tones from jazz clean to rock grit. I talked to sir Ruel last February 2014 and the two options I had in mind were: (1) simple neck heel contour (similar to a Fender deluxe) or (2) Stephen's extended cutaway. With sir Ruel being able to make the latter for a couple of bucks more, I chose it simply to have a more useful access to higher frets. Not to mention the uniqueness that it makes to the overall appearance of the guitar. I then ordered the parts via Pedallion Gears and Nellden Music (thanks guys for doing business with you!) and started the project a few weeks later. Every once in a month I made sure to visit sir Ruel and his son, Ralph, to see if every detail was met. The cool thing about them is that they show you how they do the actual thickness planing of the slabs, routing of the neck, mating the neck and body, drilling holes, etc. So for straight 7 months I also took photos of the progress of the guitar just to have a little documentation for myself and voila!
It was definitely worth the wait and the investment knowing that my expectations were exceeded with a fast neck, easy access to higher frets, smooth gloss finish, and superb tone! I must say those Wilde pups really creates a magical acoustic sound plugged and unplugged. Definitely a keeper! Very nice and fine craftsmanship! I'm definitely looking forward to more projects with them if time and pocket allow me to. Thanks Arcee Guitars for a nicely done guitar! More power to you!
