# Baritone, semi-hollow PRS-style 7-string



## JohnIce (Jun 15, 2014)

Having GAS for a guitar that doesn't exist is pretty much a way of life for me at this point.  Still waiting for a Maryland-made 7 from PRS, I thought I'd have a little fun making something cool while I wait.

So a chinese semi-hollow PRS-style body+a Schecter Omen neck = this build 

Chopped off the last 2 frets from the neck and fitted it into the pocket:






Recut and redrilled the headstock to be somewhat similar to an actual SE7 headstock. It's a little narrower and a little pointier on the left side.





Plastic padding for. the toanz.





Done!





World's ugliest McGyver neckjoint! Being that the body was made to be set-neck, I bought the corresponding chinese knockoff neck (for like 25) and cut off the tenon and glued it in. Then bolted the Schecter neck onto the tenon.





Widened the pickup cavities using sharp tooleries of steel. Cue Manowar!





Perfect!





Now, I'm as done as I can get for now. Awaiting hardware (genuine SE7 bridge and tuners from the bay) and some nice metal pickup rings.





Oh and btw, the finish I'm leaning towards is matte black with silver binding (top and back, headstock and f-holes). Something like this:


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## JohnIce (Jun 15, 2014)

Oh, forgot this pic&#8230; even though I'm an absolute hack I _did_ pass the neck pocket test. No screws in this picture


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## JohnIce (Jul 1, 2014)

Today's haul! A genuine SE7 bridge, metal pickup rings, truss rod cover and inlay stickers. Especially the headstock eagle looks incredible up close!


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## JoeyW (Jul 1, 2014)

Looks great man!


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## JohnIce (Jul 2, 2014)

JoeyW said:


> Looks great man!



Cheers!  

Looking for suggestions on finish now though, I just worked at a festival here in Sweden and got an up-close view of Kings of Leon's and BMTH's guitars, and suddenly got the hots for natural brown guitars. Curious how it would look without creme binding though?


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## Tesla (Jul 2, 2014)

Subscribing to this, looks like it's gonna be awesome!

Can I ask where exactly you got the body from? Wouldn't mind sourcing my own!


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## JohnIce (Jul 2, 2014)

Tesla said:


> Subscribing to this, looks like it's gonna be awesome!
> 
> Can I ask where exactly you got the body from? Wouldn't mind sourcing my own!



Thanks!  Not sure on this forum's policies about promoting chinese knockoff products, so I'll tread lightly  Just search around the bay, there are lots of different options 

Speaking of finishes, what do you guys think about this with silver binding+pickup rings? An all brown/silver color scheme.






Something like my old Warmoth:


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## Skullet (Jul 2, 2014)

Looks amazing mate - subscribing for sure !


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## cardinal (Jul 2, 2014)

Very cool and creative!

Curious: why did you cut off the last two frets completely? I've been considering doing something similar to this build, but using that extra length as part of the neck tenion and just sanding/cutting away the fretboard/top of the neck so that the neck humbucker fits over top of it.


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## JohnIce (Jul 7, 2014)

cardinal said:


> Very cool and creative!
> 
> Curious: why did you cut off the last two frets completely? I've been considering doing something similar to this build, but using that extra length as part of the neck tenion and just sanding/cutting away the fretboard/top of the neck so that the neck humbucker fits over top of it.



Thanks! Don't really see how that would work though... The pickup cavity goes deeper than the neck does, so any excess neck would get in the way of the pickup. The tenon needs to be longer and go deeper than the neck anyway so I don't see how the original neck could be used at all as part of the tenon.


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## HurrDurr (Jul 7, 2014)

I'm GASing for this thread to finish so I can see the completed instrument. I know that doesn't make any sense, but I don't know how to describe this aside from feeling intense GAS.


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## JohnIce (Jul 9, 2014)

HurrDurr said:


> I'm GASing for this thread to finish so I can see the completed instrument. I know that doesn't make any sense, but I don't know how to describe this aside from feeling intense GAS.



Haha awesome! I'm still needing ferrules and the correct tuners but other than that the kit is complete. I'll probably start putting everything together fairly soon, then it's just finishing left


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## JohnIce (Jul 16, 2014)

Placed the bridge! Turns out the pickup cavities were ever so slightly off-center to the neck, but I don't think it'll bother me really.


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## asher (Jul 16, 2014)

I think a vintage worn brown will look incredibly hot when this is done.


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## ThePhilosopher (Jul 16, 2014)

Go with something like violin brown.


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## JohnIce (Jul 17, 2014)

Turns out I wasn't jiving enough with the stain idea&#8230; so this happened 


















Still gonna do a blackburst though, so technically a charcoal burst. Black back and sides incl. neck, and silver binding on the top and back + headstock. Matte or gloss finish is yet to be decided


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## ThePhilosopher (Jul 17, 2014)

Well-played good sir, well-played indeed.


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## JohnIce (Jul 17, 2014)

ThePhilosopher said:


> Well-played good sir, well-played indeed.



Haha thanks!  Got the idea for charcoal burst from this incredibly drool-inducing guitar:



Guess mine will end up a little more similar to this:


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## BlackMastodon (Jul 17, 2014)

Can't find the words. This turned out way better than I could've possibly imagined.


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## Blue1970Cutlass (Jul 17, 2014)

I'm assuming you used a veneer for the top?

Looks great btw


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## JEngelking (Jul 17, 2014)

That is just... oh my...


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## asher (Jul 18, 2014)

Wooooooow.

Tell us more, tell us more!


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## JohnIce (Jul 18, 2014)

Cheers, guys! I skipped a few progress shots cause my phone is acting up on me, but here we go:

Had to hand-drill these but thanks to the help of my sharp-eyed sister we actually managed to get them all very straight! Go team. The splintering at the back is fine because the holes will be widened just a tad for the ferrules, and then the actual ferrules will most likely cover up the rest.






So, about the quilt, it's actually not a veneer  Using a high-res picture of some maple and some trickery in photoshop I conjured up a pretty convincing photo top. Obviously it doesn't behave like real maple under light but I'm not too fussed, it looks a lot more eye-catching than flat black  I'll deal with the one guy every 14th show who actually owns a quilted maple guitar and can spot the difference when that day comes 






So with a scalpel and some patience, here's where I'm at now! For those interested in the photo top process, I simply printed the picture of the maple onto 4 sheets of paper, carefully cut them where they overlapped using a metal ruler and scalpel, then fixed them all onto the body using wallpaper glue. The paper seams run down the middle and along the bottom of the neck pickup. One day later, the glue is dry and feels very solid, no lifting anywhere.






Now, I'm having the hardest time deciding between gloss or satin finish. Gloss is of course the classic PRS style expensive-looking vibe, can't go wrong with it, but I'm also really digging the more unusual and kinda raw looking satin finishes, like this one:


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## Blue1970Cutlass (Jul 18, 2014)

That's awesome man!

I'm sure up close in person I could tell, but I've seen far less-convincing photo tops on production guitars


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## Noxon (Jul 18, 2014)

That's rad dude! Nice work on faking that top.


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## eddiewarlock (Jul 18, 2014)

that looks incredible!! i would love to do that


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## JohnIce (Jul 19, 2014)

Cheers guys!  It's honestly a bit more figured than I'd liked, probably would've preferred a more subtle flame, but finding a hi-res photo of maple from straight ahead _before_ it's been turned into an instrument or furniture limited my options pretty severely  At least getting a perfect book match in Photoshop takes all of 2 seconds 

Any thoughts on high-gloss vs. satin finish?






*VS.*


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## eddiewarlock (Jul 19, 2014)

probably making it satin could help making it less obvious it's not a real flame top...


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## Pikka Bird (Jul 19, 2014)

Satin! And a blackburst, of course.


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## Tesla (Jul 19, 2014)

Hail Satin.


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## JohnIce (Jul 20, 2014)

I think you're right, guys  Satin it is! Unfortunately my paint guy is going away for two weeks so the finish will have to be put on hold till then. The good news is he's amazing at what he does, so it'll not only look great but his finishes are super sturdy as well, more scratch-resistant than most production guitars


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## splinter8451 (Jul 20, 2014)

Wow man this is coming out awesome  

I have been looking at Chinese PRS bodies recently and this is making it hard not to order one


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## thatguyupthere (Jul 21, 2014)

Absolutely killer. Can't wait to see the end result. 

Subbed for sure.


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## SnowfaLL (Jul 21, 2014)

amazing man, I've been very curious with photo-quilt tops lately.. Some companies sell vinyl tops that you heat-wrap so they conform to every carve/nook of the top, and I'm very tempted to try one. I just need to find a guitar to try it on. The quilt finish I want, pretty much no one can accomplish with real dye/stain.

Either way, looks great, wish I had any skills at all to do something like this myself, its expensive going to custom luthiers haha.


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## cardinal (Jul 23, 2014)

Nice dude. Looks awesome.


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## XxJoshxX (Jul 23, 2014)

That photo top is actually pretty convincing, the horizontal seam is completley invisible.Great job!


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## JohnIce (Jul 23, 2014)

Cheers, everybody! 



NickCormier said:


> amazing man, I've been very curious with photo-quilt tops lately.. Some companies sell vinyl tops that you heat-wrap so they conform to every carve/nook of the top, and I'm very tempted to try one. I just need to find a guitar to try it on. The quilt finish I want, pretty much no one can accomplish with real dye/stain.
> 
> Either way, looks great, wish I had any skills at all to do something like this myself, its expensive going to custom luthiers haha.



Yeah vinyl would probably be easier and give better color, but it's also about $50 more expensive than printing on A4 papers  Checked out some local swedish printing companies and they charged even more than that.

The main reason I went with paper over vinyl though is for ease of painting on it. With vinyl you have to sand it to make it suitable for paint and I'd hate to sand through a $50 vinyl print that I've waited weeks to get 

As far as the build process, this particular project is actually the easiest one I've undertaken so far  No routing or large machines required. This kinda build would be ideal for a beginner, because there's not a lot of stuff you can screw up  Especially if you don't do some of my personal preference mods, like cutting off 2 frets and redrilling all the tuner holes.

Basically, to get this build to work took 3 steps:
1: Widen the neck pocket by a few mm on each side (simple). Requires a little saw and a sanding block, which are cheap tools.
2: Widen the pickup routes (simple). Requires a chisel and something to hit it with.
3: Place the bridge. This is fairly easy with hardtails, especially Hipshot-style flatmount ones that screw right into the body. You can do that with a hand-drill.

Post-mounted bridges like Tune-o-matics and tremolos are trickier because the drilling needs to be more precise. You'd better use a drill press for those, which is not something I (or most people) have. But they're easy enough to go and borrow, ask your old woodshop teacher from school 

Anyhow, there you have it  There's really not much to it, just measure 57 times before every cut/drilling and you're good!


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## Chokey Chicken (Jul 23, 2014)

I missed the unfoldings of this thread and that makes me sad. On the other hand, I get to see what came of it all at once. I do agree that satin would be the best way to go though. Sating finishes tend to muffle the 3d/shimmery effect that is inherent of dyed tops. I may also be of the unpopular school of thought, but I really think that matte finishes tend to be a bit classier looking.

The guitar looks good. I'm curious to hear how it sounds, and hear what you think of how it plays when that time comes.


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## JohnIce (Jul 25, 2014)

Chokey Chicken said:


> I missed the unfoldings of this thread and that makes me sad. On the other hand, I get to see what came of it all at once. I do agree that satin would be the best way to go though. Sating finishes tend to muffle the 3d/shimmery effect that is inherent of dyed tops. I may also be of the unpopular school of thought, but I really think that matte finishes tend to be a bit classier looking.
> 
> The guitar looks good. I'm curious to hear how it sounds, and hear what you think of how it plays when that time comes.



I agree about the satin, kind of an understated elegance that comes with it  Thanks, I hope so too!

So I'm wrapping up my to-buy list now. Being in Sweden I ended up getting Schaller M6 locking tuners instead of real PRS tuners, because a set of 6 plus an extra one off the bay would cost me just over $200  Schallers are made in the EU so the price:quality ratio is much higher for me. Haven't tried these particular ones before though, but I've read good reviews!






Also got some ferrules, which thankfully were dirt cheap:





And a duo of PRS black lampshade knobs, which were also f$&king expensive but hey, a gentleman doesn't skimp on knobs.





So there, I've got all the parts! Still waiting for the finishing though.


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## Konfyouzd (Aug 4, 2014)

Looks good for not being a real top. Looks awesome, in fact.


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## Blue1970Cutlass (Aug 4, 2014)

PRS knobs!

Love 'em but never been willing to shell out the $$$


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## JohnIce (Sep 19, 2014)

Stringed up!  Nothing like playing a guitar you built for the first time  This thing is LOUD, not quite as loud as my 335 but close  Seems like the action will be great too, needs a fair bit of truss rod adjustment first.


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## jwade (Sep 20, 2014)

Totally missed the part showing that it's not a real top. Clever!


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## JohnIce (Sep 20, 2014)

jwade said:


> Totally missed the part showing that it's not a real top. Clever!



Thanks! 

Not that anyone asked, but after string height adjustment and intonation, it's actually really shreddable. Can't adjust the truss rod right now but it needs very little really. For doing so much total winging with the neck joint I thought I'd set myself up for disappointment, but that wasn't the case  The intonation is spot-on now with a good margin both forward and backwards, something I managed to screw up a bit on my last build.

The only "issue" is that the bridge is set just a hair too far to the left, misaligning the strings a little to the pickups. It's really only a cosmetic issue, I could get covered pickups or something like Blackhawks just for looks but I'll try it first with some D-Activators my co-guitarist has lying around.


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## shadscbr (Sep 20, 2014)

Great Job, what a cool project 

I love the raccoon face in the lower middle of the top 

Shad


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## JohnIce (Sep 20, 2014)

shadscbr said:


> Great Job, what a cool project
> 
> I love the raccoon face in the lower middle of the top
> 
> Shad



Haha I hadn't noticed that, you're right!  Now I also see a TMNT and an upside-down Führer... it's like a totem stick


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## CD1221 (Sep 21, 2014)

That is genius.

Love the printed top.


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## Stijnson (Sep 21, 2014)

Looks awesome dude, pretty shocking that it's just a printed out paper top! Never expected that to look so convincing. Atleast on pictures. Do you have to be extra careful so the paper doesnt come off or something though?


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## JohnIce (Sep 21, 2014)

Stijnson said:


> Looks awesome dude, pretty shocking that it's just a printed out paper top! Never expected that to look so convincing. Atleast on pictures. Do you have to be extra careful so the paper doesnt come off or something though?



Thanks!

For now, I try to be careful cause it's not clear coated. But it's actually pretty sturdy, I did go back and patch up some places with stronger glue, mainly the seam at the bottom where the centerline is. I also sanded all the edges so there's no folded parts that can come loose, now it's got like a 1mm "masked binding" along the edge of the top


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## Prophetable (Sep 21, 2014)

Maybe some of that car pinstripe fake binding would be good for this build to protect the edges a bit and conceal the nature of the top?


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## JohnIce (Sep 21, 2014)

Prophetable said:


> Maybe some of that car pinstripe fake binding would be good for this build to protect the edges a bit and conceal the nature of the top?



Oh that won't be necessary, I'm having it painted by a pro  There will be a thin silver binding around the top and back and f-holes, and a black burst on the top with black back and sides.

Something like this but silver binding instead of cream.


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## JohnIce (Jan 22, 2016)

White smoke, guys!  Just got these sent from my painter man! Obviously not completed, but glossiness aside this is what it'll look like. I noticed he did binding on the bottom cutaway, but he was cool with changing that now


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## CaptainD00M (Jan 22, 2016)

7 strings+22 frets+hollow-body=win

did you buy the body stock or have it made?


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## JohnIce (Jan 22, 2016)

CaptainD00M said:


> 7 strings+22 frets+hollow-body=win
> 
> did you buy the body stock or have it made?



Thanks! I got it off ebay, luckily without any bridge routing.


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## Spicypickles (Jan 22, 2016)

The "maple" top is awesome! Technology rules.


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## Vrollin (Jan 22, 2016)

Sen....ingsational!


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## Minoin (Jan 22, 2016)

Wow, this is amazing!

It comes close to my "perfect" guitar


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## JohnIce (Jan 23, 2016)

Thanks guys  Yeah I'm so stoked on this, I'm having a creative peak right now too so I'll have plenty of material for video demos when it's done  Hopefully it can inspire some other newbish people like myself to try out a build like this, cause it really was beginner difficulty level all the way through.


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