# OAF 8-string singlecut



## celticelk (Sep 6, 2011)

Just got the first pics from my Oakland Axe Factory build, so I thought I'd go ahead and get a build thread started here. This is a bolt-on neck 8-string, similar to Tom's "standard" single-cutaway model from his 2011 lineup (OAKLAND AXE FACTORY - MODELS), with a couple of small variations: I opted for a single scale instead of multiscale, and tweaked the pickup selection a bit. Here's the idea:

8-string single-cutaway
27" scale (will be tuned to F# standard)
Ash body
Maple neck and fretboard, with face dots
Black stain sanded back to natural, similar to ReubenBerges' recent UniCut: see http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/extended-range-guitars/166254-ngd-unicut-custom-8-string.html
Hipshot hardware
Lace custom ToneBar pickups (Tosin's custom model)
1 volume, 1 tone, 3-way switch

Neck and body blank:






Body blank:





Building should begin in earnest very soon; more pics as they come in!


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## Murdstone (Sep 6, 2011)

Sweet, I'm sure it's going to turn out awesome.


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## Jarabowa (Sep 11, 2011)

I can't wait to see progress on this. Of the few single Single cut 8 designs I've seen, Tom's is pretty damn sexy.


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## anne (Sep 11, 2011)

Another Ann Arbor 8er. Nice!


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## celticelk (Sep 12, 2011)

anne said:


> Another Ann Arbor 8er. Nice!



Another Ann Arbor singlecut 8, no less. Can't wait to see how your Strictly 7 build turns out!


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## celticelk (Sep 21, 2011)

Just got a ton of new pics from Tom last night; here's a selected group to show off current progress.

Template:






Lace ToneBar pickup:











Body routing:











...and shaping:











Neck work should be coming up next. I'll keep you posted!


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## turenkodenis (Sep 21, 2011)

Clean work.
And beautiful body and headstock shape!!!


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## Mysticlamp (Sep 21, 2011)

lovin that body


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## Fred the Shred (Sep 21, 2011)

This has everything to result in a beautiful guitar.


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## scherzo1928 (Sep 21, 2011)

Oh I'm loving that body shape!


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## motomoto (Sep 21, 2011)

mamma mia


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## TomAwesome (Sep 21, 2011)

That Tone Bar looks pretty interesting.


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## BlackMastodon (Sep 21, 2011)

TomAwesome said:


> That Tone Bar looks pretty interesting.



Agreed, I've never even heard of these. What kind of magnet and output is it?


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## celticelk (Sep 21, 2011)

BlackMastodon said:


> Agreed, I've never even heard of these. What kind of magnet and output is it?



The Tone Bar is part of Lace's Alumitone series, in this case intended for steel guitars (and, for all practical purposes, identical to their Bass Bar series for basses). You can get more info at Lace's site: Lace Music Products | Since 1979 - Lace Sensor electric guitar pickups, Alumitone, bass pickups, California Acoustic pickups - A pickup for any style of music.. The specific pickup I'm using is a custom variant that Lace made originally for Tosin Abasi's Strandberg guitars, which incorporates elements from the Aluma 90 for a more P-90-ish sound; you can see and hear them on the recent YouTube videos featuring Tosin. I wanted a passive pickup that wasn't designed for high-output metal playing, and this seemed to fit the bill. The route that Tom's using on my guitar will fit Blackouts/EMGs if I ever change my mind.


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## XEN (Sep 21, 2011)

Man, I love that shape. One of these days Tom, one of these days......


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## HaMMerHeD (Sep 21, 2011)

That is probably the nicest tele-ish shape I have ever seen.


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## thatguy87 (Sep 21, 2011)

Yeah Tom is the only guy who has made Tele shaped bodies that I actually want... badly I might add.


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## celticelk (Sep 22, 2011)

Thanks for the kind words, guys! The more I look at this body shape, the more I love it - it's got the Tele thing happening, obviously, but there's a passing resemblance to the Carvin Holdsworth as well, and something slightly Parkerish about the truncation on that lower horn. (Pattern recognition - I haz it.) I'm already plotting next year's follow-up build, which I think will be more in the ES-135/335 vein, to complement the hot-rod-Tele theme happening here: semi-hollow with PAF-type pickups (BKP Mules, maybe?) and possibly a piezo. We'll see what Tom and I can work out. In the meantime, *dying* to get my hands on this one!


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## celticelk (Oct 3, 2011)

No new pics on this one just yet, but an interesting pickup observation: the general wisdom has been that 8-string players looking to get an Alumitone should get the Bass Bar 4.0/Tone Bar 10, which is approximately the same size as an EMG 808/Blackout 8. The pickup I'm using in this instrument is in fact the size of a Bass Bar 3.5, and Tom indicated by email that its magnet coverage is comparable to or even a little wider than the Dimarzio passive 8. This might provide an additional alternative to players looking to replace Agile's stock passive pickups who don't want to go active or reroute, though I would suggest measuring your current pickup route before ordering. (Specs for the Bass Bars are available at http://www.lacemusic.com/pdf/BB_specs.pdf.)


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## awesomeaustin (Oct 3, 2011)

what a great looking body and headstock. I can't believe I haven't heard of Oakland Axe Factory before this.


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## Tisca (Oct 3, 2011)

Cool shape, looks promising.


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## Solodini (Oct 5, 2011)

What a babe. The Tonebar is the most beautiful pup I've seen. Looking forward to how this turns out.


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## celticelk (Oct 5, 2011)

More pics should be coming in over the next couple of days, but here's a teaser in the meantime. It's nearly finished!


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## HaMMerHeD (Oct 5, 2011)

Wow. That's the flattest neck profile I've ever seen. Or at least it looks that way in the picture. Dig the flame, too.


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## Murdstone (Oct 5, 2011)

Jesus, Tom flew on this one.
Looks great


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## Solodini (Oct 5, 2011)

5+3 is the icing on the cake!


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## celticelk (Oct 5, 2011)

Murdstone said:


> Jesus, Tom flew on this one.
> Looks great


 
It's a pretty simple build: no top, no exotic woods, no complex wiring scheme. Beauty in simplicity. 

The next one...well, the next one will be a little more complex, we're thinking. Chambered body, all-domestic woods (salvaged, if we can find something good), and probably a piezo in addition to the pickups. But that's next year. =)


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## orakle (Oct 5, 2011)

damn I LOVE the body shape

and that neck profile is like totally my kind, I like them super flat


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## celticelk (Oct 6, 2011)

orakle said:


> damn I LOVE the body shape
> 
> and that neck profile is like totally my kind, I like them super flat



Yeah, that body shape is sex. I'm looking at my poor Omen-8 these days and can't help but think that it looks like all the other sorority girls. =) It's served well as a gateway drug for 8-strings, but will probably be sold in the next 6 months to some interested neophyte 8-string player to help fund the next build.

When Tom was shaping the neck, he mentioned that most of his customers go for a thinner C-shape but that it was currently at an intermediate stage that he described as "wide flat" and "more like a classical guitar" which is his other preferred shape. Since I'm coming from a more traditional electric (Fender/Gibson) realm instead of the Ibby/ESP/Jackson shred world, I opted to try it this way. If I really can't stand it, I suppose we can reshape the neck, but I have faith in Tom's luthier instincts.


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## celticelk (Oct 6, 2011)

Solodini said:


> 5+3 is the icing on the cake!



Yeah! Tom was the first builder I saw using that headstock, and it immediately just made sense to me, especially for a guitar of the Fenderish persuasion. A lot of pointy headstocks just leave me feeling cold.


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## Solodini (Oct 6, 2011)

celticelk said:


> Yeah! Tom was the first builder I saw using that headstock, and it immediately just made sense to me, especially for a guitar of the Fenderish persuasion. A lot of pointy headstocks just leave me feeling cold.



Agreed. Also, to my mind, 5+3 makes more sense if you're tuning with 2 extra low strings below a 6er.


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## Murdstone (Oct 6, 2011)

I have the same flat neck on my 10 that Tom made me. It definitely takes some getting used to - right off the bat it feels like a whole other animal. But it's nice.


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## celticelk (Oct 6, 2011)

Murdstone said:


> I have the same flat neck on my 10 that Tom made me. It definitely takes some getting used to - right off the bat it feels like a whole other animal. But it's nice.



I wonder how similar it is, if at all, to Rick Toone's trapezoidal profile? (Not that I'm likely to get a shot at one of Rick's necks anytime soon....)


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## Murdstone (Oct 6, 2011)

I'd definitely like to try the trapezoidal neck. If only I knew someone on this coast who had one


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## celticelk (Oct 7, 2011)

Toone's in New Jersey - just drive to his house and lie in wait. =) Or I suppose you could mug Tosin the next time he comes through on tour....


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## Murdstone (Oct 7, 2011)

Wait, he's in Jersey?
I could have sworn he was in California somewhere.
Shit, I'm definitely going when I go home this winter.


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## celticelk (Oct 14, 2011)

MOAR PICS


























Tom's still waiting on the strings we selected, so it's currently strung up with a 6-string set for testing the electronics. Should be in my hands next week.


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## XEN (Oct 14, 2011)

Holy gawd that's hot!


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## peagull (Oct 14, 2011)

Woah, That looks even better than I imagined it. You lucky devil you!


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## Solodini (Oct 14, 2011)

I'd like a finish on it but that's cool, fo sho.


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## aWoodenShip (Oct 14, 2011)

That's damn impressive!


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## celticelk (Oct 14, 2011)

Solodini said:


> I'd like a finish on it but that's cool, fo sho.



It's satin-finished - did you mean you'd want a color on it?


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## Solodini (Oct 14, 2011)

Yeah, basically. I'm not keen on uncoloured bodies on single-wood guitars, for some reason.


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## celticelk (Oct 14, 2011)

Solodini said:


> Yeah, basically. I'm not keen on uncoloured bodies on single-wood guitars, for some reason.



I'm sure Tom would happily offer you a choice of colors on your own build. The sample single-cutaway 8 on his website is purple, after all. =)


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## celticelk (Oct 19, 2011)

It's here!

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/ex...ory-8-string-i-once-killed-boy-56k-modem.html


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## Rook (Oct 20, 2011)

HaMMerHeD said:


> Wow. That's the flattest neck profile I've ever seen. Or at least it looks that way in the picture. Dig the flame, too.



I agree, that looks very flat at the back. Interested in how that would feel.

Looks amazing though, little bit like a Decibel AMX.


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## celticelk (Oct 20, 2011)

Fun111 said:


> I agree, that looks very flat at the back. Interested in how that would feel.
> 
> Looks amazing though, little bit like a Decibel AMX.



It was a little strange at first, but less than I thought, and I'm adjusting to it very quickly. I really like the feel of it - it's easier to shift my thumb around to accommodate moving between low and high strings, and I can get a nice bluesy thumb-wrap playing on the treble strings. It feels much more suited for my non-shred style of playing than the Schecter I've been playing. For the record, contrary to my speculations above, this isn't anything like Toone's trapezoidal profile; it's more of a rounded-sides rectangle.


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