Oakland Axe Factory Autumn 2012

[thatguy87]

1) Body shape - Same as last year, but superthin if possible

2) Scale length - 27"

3) Woods - rosewood neck, alder body perhaps? I'm fairly open on this.

4) Electronics layout - H-H

5) Number of strings - 8!!!!! would really only be interested in a 7 if it was multiscale, but would prefer an 8 by far.

6) Other features ie. luminlays, flush mount strap locks etc - flushmount locks, luminlays, offset dots.

7) Price range - last year's price range is what I'm shooting for...

8) NOT HEADLESS

I am so disappointed that I didn't get in last year's run, I am definitely not going to miss out this year.

[JamesM]

Originally Posted by Stealthdjentstic

SSO: the only place where 2000 is always too much for a custom headless fanned 8 string guitar.

Sorry couldnt help it

Right?!

[celticelk]

Originally Posted by thatguy87

7) Price range - last year's price range is what I'm shooting for...

I don't want to discourage you unduly, but I wouldn't hold my breath for that. I took delivery of an OAF custom 8 with the same specs as the BFR guitars a few weeks before Tom announced the run and its pricing, so I know exactly how much he discounted his usual price for you guys. That works as a one-time deal to get some instruments out into the community and build up a rep, but Tom's got a family to support, and I doubt he can do it by continuing to work on that profit margin. Even if this run had exactly the same specs as the BFR, which seems highly unlikely, I'd expect the price to go up at least a couple hundred bucks. And you'd still be getting a killer deal.

(Just to clear up any potential misunderstandings: I'm not resentful about the price I paid. Tom and I had discussed that build for a few months before I put the deposit down, and he was very up-front about what it was going to cost, and I still feel that it was a fantastic price for the instrument that I received. It gives me a special appreciation of what lucky bastards the BFR guys are. )

[Danukenator]

Originally Posted by celticelk

The stuff you said.

This.

If the people involved are expecting to pay in the sub 2000$ range, they should drop out now. It's not a realistic expectation.

[MF_Kitten]

I'd be careful with making it too thin. make it around ibanez S series at most. I was one of the guys who got one of those super shitty Roters, and that had a really REALLY thin body. It looked really intriguing, and it was acoustically loud, but i'm pretty sure i could break it in half over my knee if i wanted to

Just in case people bring with them the same associations, ya know? You don't want people to think you're "pulling a Roter" or something.

[thatguy87]

Originally Posted by celticelk

I don't want to discourage you unduly, but I wouldn't hold my breath for that. I took delivery of an OAF custom 8 with the same specs as the BFR guitars a few weeks before Tom announced the run and its pricing, so I know exactly how much he discounted his usual price for you guys. That works as a one-time deal to get some instruments out into the community and build up a rep, but Tom's got a family to support, and I doubt he can do it by continuing to work on that profit margin. Even if this run had exactly the same specs as the BFR, which seems highly unlikely, I'd expect the price to go up at least a couple hundred bucks. And you'd still be getting a killer deal.

(Just to clear up any potential misunderstandings: I'm not resentful about the price I paid. Tom and I had discussed that build for a few months before I put the deposit down, and he was very up-front about what it was going to cost, and I still feel that it was a fantastic price for the instrument that I received. It gives me a special appreciation of what lucky bastards the BFR guys are. )

Well, I'll have to hold my breath until I turn blue in the face, but your point is certainly a no bullshit piece of advice.

[Danukenator]

Regarding the body shape, in terms of the profile, are people looking for a uniformly thin body (think Blackmachine) or a body that gets thin towards the edge (Ibanez Saber/BRJ Slant top)?

How thin do people want it, if at all?

[Tom Drinkwater]

ALLPARTS is working on a quote for me on the ABM tuner single string bridges in black.

I'll work up a base price over the next day or two and hopefully by then we'll also have the info we need on the ABM and Hipshot stuff.

[Murdstone]

Put me on the 'avoiding this thread like the plague' list. Damn it.
As much as I really really don't need it, I'd love to see a headless multiscale 8 show up in my paws. That'd be phenomenal.

[celticelk]

Originally Posted by Danukenator

Regarding the body shape, in terms of the profile, are people looking for a uniformly thin body (think Blackmachine) or a body that gets thin towards the edge (Ibanez Saber/BRJ Slant top)?

How thin do people want it, if at all?

Personally, I'm entirely satisfied with the "standard" body depth that's on my OAF 8. I'm also wary of overspecifying design details. This isn't a full-custom job - it's a limited-run production model. Tom has been kind enough to allow us to vote on certain aspects, rather than just saying "the fall run is a multiscale 8-string - who's in?", and *very* generous in giving individual buyers the option to pick their own woods (at an upcharge, of course). I don't want us to fall into the trap of design-by-committee and end up with people pulling out of the run because they don't like the way the vote went on body thickness or the curve of the lower horn or something. I'd prefer to get the broad specs decided and trust Tom's art for the details, and let *him* tell *us* where he would like input on the design.

[thraxil]

If it's a multiscale 8, I'm in. The *only* reason I didn't sign up for the last run was because I promised myself that the next 8-string I get will be multiscale.

[ForThisGift]

Like Celticelk has said, I think we are best served waiting for base specs. So the vote took place to help Tom determine those and I am sure we will get them in due time; remember, it is June. If you are interested in being part of a run in Autumn, start saving and check the specs when released to be sure it is right for you.

Personally, I have already started saving even with the specs trending towards being an 8 string, which I will NOT be purchasing. The good news is that if it goes that way and I have saved anyway, I can simply get the guitar I am looking for outside of the run if I so choose. The run isn't going to work for everyone, but I am sure there will be enough interest in the final specs to make it worth Tom's trouble.

I am confident of one thing and that is that first time OAF owners will be pleasently surprised with the outcome of these guitars, whichever way the specs turn out.

[thatguy87]

Originally Posted by celticelk

Personally, I'm entirely satisfied with the "standard" body depth that's on my OAF 8. I'm also wary of overspecifying design details. This isn't a full-custom job - it's a limited-run production model. Tom has been kind enough to allow us to vote on certain aspects, rather than just saying "the fall run is a multiscale 8-string - who's in?", and *very* generous in giving individual buyers the option to pick their own woods (at an upcharge, of course). I don't want us to fall into the trap of design-by-committee and end up with people pulling out of the run because they don't like the way the vote went on body thickness or the curve of the lower horn or something. I'd prefer to get the broad specs decided and trust Tom's art for the details, and let *him* tell *us* where he would like input on the design.

The body shape really doesn't bother me much; if the body shape is the same as last years, I would be more than ok. I'm just worried about the ergo shape... that Shankey was hideous. I am willing to be pretty open on this run, as I really would like to get my hands on one of Tom's 8s... I'm pretty full up on 7s though.

[MetalGravy]

I'd prefer a multiscale 8 using a DC shape, but if it's not an ergo I'll drolly be happy. The only ergo shape that I can really get into is the strandberg.

[Tom Drinkwater]

ALLPARTS got back to me but I needed further info. They said they quoted me full retail which is $52 for each ABM bridge. I don't think the person knew I am an ALLPARTS dealer because he/she said that I could go to pretty much any music store that deals with ALLPARTS to place my order so I had to clear that up and am waiting on the email response.

So, at retail the ABM bridges would be $364 for a seven string and $416 for an 8. That makes the 7 string headless multiscale around $200 more expensive than a standard multiscale 7 and the 8 string is $225 more. If $52 is full retail and we get my normal discount applied it will be considerably less expensive than that.

I think that $200 is pretty reasonable figure for a headless multiscale upgrade. That basically means that even a headless multiscale could be had for under $2k for this run.

So, I'm thinking that the multiscale guitar base price should be around $1600 and the headless multiscale should be around $1800.

[Tom Drinkwater]

Standard specs are 2 pc. ash body, maple neck, maple fretboard, Lace pickups, black hardware, luminlay side dots, dunlop flushmount straplocks, .25" maple top, transparent one color or natural satin finish, matching headstock overlay, volume/tone/3way with coil taps, 25.5-27 scale,

[ikarus]

hey Tom, thats some good news.

So will there be different options for this run like multiscale or not, 7string or 8 string?

headless 8 string with normal frets/scale would be awesome.


edit: but I'm also in if only fanned frets are available, haha

[celticelk]

Sounds fantastic, Tom! Are we still going with the optional $150 upgrade for Toone's IPNP? You also mentioned an upcharge for players interested in different woods: do you want to post guidelines for that, or is it easier for you to negotiate with us individually?

[Tom Drinkwater]

Yes, we'll definitely have the IPNP profile available.

Wood will probably have to be quoted seperately due to the nature of the upgrades. A ziricote top or something like that could be anywhere from $250 to $400 depending on the actual piece that I need to buy and have resawn. Something as simple as a mahogany body would be easier because I could just buy one from the same vendor as the ash when I'm getting the materials together. There probably won't be much of an upcharge for most typical body woods like mahogany, alder etc.

Here are my thoughts on multiscale and headless being an option. Due to the nature of this build and the amount of time I'll have to create the guitars I'll need major specs like the scale length, body shape, and neck design to be the same for all of them.

[Tom Drinkwater]

ALLPARTS just got back to me and my dealer discount will apply to the order so that means that the headless multiscale just got alot cheaper. In fact there is almost no difference between the two now. So that makes the headless multiscale for this run $1600. If it were up to me I'd say let's do a headless multiscale run but it's still up to you guys.

[mphsc]

So are your waiting on a consensus from the mass on 7 or 8 string run? Is that a 25.5 - 27 scale for both the 7 & 8 string options or would the 8 be larger, like 25.5- 28?

[celticelk]

Singlecut headless multiscale 8. Bring it.

[Tom Drinkwater]

The scale that I normally use is 25.5-27 for 8 string guitars. I find that really easy to adjust to and doesn't make the pickups angle more than they should but I'd probably leave that up to the group that is purchasing the guitars though because they have to play them, not me.

[JamesM]

Oh. My.

[mphsc]

thanks, I'll ride it out & see what everyone comes up with.