# Work in Progress - Custom Agile TC-8



## Galius (Jul 15, 2009)

So since the custom shop opened back up I decided to give a custom 8 a go so im making a mock up and ironing out the finer details. I always thought a tele body would be neat as an 8 so I put it to use with the intrepid headstock (reversed) with a natural ash body and bolt on neck. Other features that im thinking but arent set in stone.

QUOTE HAS BEEN SENT!!

EMG 808 (Will replace with Blackout when they are available
Spalted maple top
28.875 scale length
16" neck radius with thin profile
Rosewood fretboard with no inlays
Hipshot 8 bridge

Here is simple template im working with tell me what you think or give some opinions.






Updated mockup


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## OrsusMetal (Jul 15, 2009)

I like it! You could always apply a Paul Gilbert painted on F-hole decal. I think that would look badass with that. But I'm one of the people that really liked that look, and think they look pretty awesome on tele's too.

Either way, it looks awesome!


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## Galius (Jul 15, 2009)

OrsusMetal said:


> I like it! You could always apply a Paul Gilbert painted on F-hole decal. I think that would look badass with that. But I'm one of the people that really liked that look, and think they look pretty awesome on tele's too.
> 
> Either way, it looks awesome!


 
Thanks man. Im not a huge fan of the f hole thing though. If I do decide on anything different for the finish it will most likely be something similar to a darkburst or a transparent green if i do the flame or quilted top.


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## TomAwesome (Jul 15, 2009)

I like it! The reversed headstock makes more of a difference than I thought it would.


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## OrsusMetal (Jul 15, 2009)

Flame top would look better on that in my opinion than the quilted. You have to post pictures when you get it! 

On a completely different note. I want to add f-hole decals to one of my guitars now.


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## whisper (Jul 15, 2009)

Love it. Could possibly lend itself to neck dive issues, given the scale length and the short upper horn of the tele shape ( didn't the Iceman 8 have the same issue because of this?). Definitely a classic


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## OrsusMetal (Jul 15, 2009)

Flame top would look better on that in my opinion than the quilted. You have to post pictures when you get it! 

On a completely different note. I want to add f-hole decals to one of my guitars now. 

Edit: For some reason this posted twice.


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## Galius (Jul 15, 2009)

whisper said:


> Love it. Could possibly lend itself to neck dive issues, given the scale length and the short upper horn of the tele shape ( didn't the Iceman 8 have the same issue because of this?). Definitely a classic


 
I was wondering the same thing. If it comes down to it I could just pick the heaviest wood to go under an ash top or maple top to balance the weight. I really dont want to go any shorter than im at as I actually wanted to fo with 30" at first. I went with a slim neck for that reason on top of being more comfy.


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## Shredcow (Jul 15, 2009)

You could have a _slightly _thicker body... use the thicker hipshot bridge (.175, you can route the bridge mounting area by .05 if the neck angle isn't right)... opt for the hipshot non-locking tuners (super lightweight)... or install a heck of a lot of heavy electronics (vol, tone, toggles, buffer circuit, piezos, etc etc) 


By the way, how about a wolfgang shape?


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## troyguitar (Jul 15, 2009)

I like it, but since the features are pretty much the same as a regular Intrepid I wouldn't want to spend the extra money on a custom myself. 

The thicker and/or denser body wood is a very good idea. I pretty much guarantee you will have neck dive issues if you do 8 strings + 24 frets + 28.875" scale on a regular tele body which is balanced for 6 strings + 21/22 frets + 25.5" scale. Any one of those things individually would put it slightly out of balance, all 3 will make it way off.


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## cyril v (Jul 15, 2009)

go for the 27 frets!!


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## Galius (Jul 15, 2009)

cyril v said:


> go for the 27 frets!!


 
LOL....im not a shredder so I dont think I would need them.


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## troyguitar (Jul 16, 2009)

Galius said:


> LOL....im not a shredder so I dont think I would need them.



In that case you might consider having just 22 frets. That will help your balance out some too.


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## Shredcow (Jul 16, 2009)

Actually, reducing the number of frets wouldn't do much to help the balance... since the scale length of the neck remains the same.


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## wannabguitarist (Jul 16, 2009)

I like it



Shredcow said:


> Actually, reducing the number of frets wouldn't do much to help the balance... since the scale length of the neck remains the same.



You can move the bridge back and move the neck further into the body without having to worry about upper-fret access.


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## troyguitar (Jul 16, 2009)

I guess I was assuming the neck pocket would stay in the same place, so the bridge would move back a little.


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## Galius (Jul 16, 2009)

Im sure either way the builders would know all this and do what they can to make it as balanced as possible.


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## Apophis (Jul 16, 2009)

I also like it a lot


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## 7deadlysins666 (Jul 16, 2009)

This is just giving me even More gas for the 7 string tele I want . Quilted "Bent" top (brian moore), floyd rose, single slanted humbucker.. basically an everything that isn't a tele....accept for the shape.


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## Galius (Jul 16, 2009)

I contacted kurt to see if he thinks there will be a balance issue. I was also considering going for the single bridge pickup.....and asked him about the optiion to make it a blackout. Also thinking of making it a flame maple top and go with the tribal green that the Interceptors come in.


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## vansinn (Jul 16, 2009)

Somehow I find the tip of the headstock doesn't match the rounded horn curves on that tele shape - or the other way around.
Can't really see what to change, though.. Change the body and it's not a tele shape; change to head and it's not an Agile shape.
Maybe it's just the straight line across the neck/body joint to the cutaway that goes opposite the pointy head tip cut. Maybe let that line slightly curve upwards to a slightly longer, less rounded, upper horn..

I also think the black board require some thinking about the body finish/tone. As it is now, the board seems too massive.


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## GorillaSalsa (Jul 16, 2009)

Looks a little like Tom Lippincott's 8-string Telecaster.


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## Galius (Jul 16, 2009)

Was doing some research into using mahogony for the neck instead. It would be lighter than a maple neck in case of a neck dive issue.


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## keeper006 (Jul 16, 2009)

OrsusMetal said:


> Flame top would look better on that in my opinion than the quilted. You have to post pictures when you get it!


+1 That shape looks metal with that headstock and setup, but (IMO) quilt on the tele shape would make it "country"-fied. Flame would look sweet, or what about a different woodgrain veneer? Does Rondo have anything as exotic as bubinga or the like? then you could just clearcoat. I'm going wenge top on my next 7 build. But the rest of the mock up is nice just like that. Oh, zebrawood would be sweet with the tele-shape!


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## Galius (Jul 16, 2009)

keeper006 said:


> +1 That shape looks metal with that headstock and setup, but (IMO) quilt on the tele shape would make it "country"-fied. Flame would look sweet, or what about a different woodgrain veneer? Does Rondo have anything as exotic as bubinga or the like? then you could just clearcoat. I'm going wenge top on my next 7 build. But the rest of the mock up is nice just like that. Oh, zebrawood would be sweet with the tele-shape!


 
They have spalted maple as an option.


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## keeper006 (Jul 16, 2009)

Galius said:


> They have spalted maple as an option.


Even better with the dark board, that will look  as hell


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## cyril v (Jul 16, 2009)

spalted maple is the shit!! thats one of my favorite looking tops for a guitar.


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## Galius (Jul 17, 2009)

Ok I have an updated simple mockup. I didnt take the time to add the body/headtock binding or the spalted to the headstock or even the volume knob LOL


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## MF_Kitten (Jul 17, 2009)

sweet! i love tele shapes! 

that last mockup there looks fantastic, and i don´t think it´ll be all that neck-dive prone. it´s a bit worse on iceman guitars, since their bridge starts so way into the body, like an SG.

of course, the 8 string neck adds even more weight, so it could be worse than a normal tele, but i dunno...


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## ralphy1976 (Jul 17, 2009)

the 2nd update looks sick. if you want Huf has got a tele (6 or 7 i can not remember) in progress with a more metal head looking and it looks great too.

the only criticism i have is that for me the head of the agile neck seems out of proportion with the body width wise, but that's just my taste and relatively irrelevant

I would surely like to see this when done!!!


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## vansinn (Jul 17, 2009)

Galius said:


> Ok I have an updated simple mockup. I didnt take the time to add the body/headtock binding or the spalted to the headstock or even the volume knob LOL



Now, that's another story  it's not that I don't like reverse heads, but this fits much better, and the spalted maple looks so raw and pretty at the same time.
And now that massive black fretboard doesn't pup out out of proportions, but communicates business and authority. Me likes!

Have you considered African mahogany for the neck? It's fairly light and, at least on a body, produce an overall bright tone with a good snap. I haven't tried a low-tuned axe like that, though; but at least a low C works well on my 6'er (with a German mountain maple neck).
I also believe it has a good structure for being tainted to match your natural body colors. Is it going to have an oil finish?

I wonder what Kurt will say to this.. I can only imagine quite a few will go gasping; I already feel the need for dipers


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## Galius (Jul 17, 2009)

I just got a reply from kurt. He said he dont think there will be much of a neck dive issue if i went with the maple neck combined with the ash body and maple top but I can put in the notes section of the quote form for them to slightly modify the mass of the body if need be. I can live with that if they need to do it. Also he cannot get OEM pricing on Blackout 8s so it would be kinda expensive so if anything I dont mind an EMG until I could replace it with a Blackout later. 

Now I have a question for you all. I actually like neck thrus but was going to go with a bolt on. WHo thinks I should go with a 5 piece neck thru and leave the headstock as is with the natural maple/walnut showing?


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## keeper006 (Jul 19, 2009)

I came back to this thread just to see if you ditched the quilt for the spalted- nice. I think the neck thru with the raw wood would match great with the spalted, certainly more than any paint you could add, plus that raw look is meaner and more metal than all the black guitars you see nowadays (I noticed all your old guitars you're selling are black, this will definitely separate you from the crowd. If you gig with it, people used to always seeing black axes will surely remember this- I know I would)


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## Galius (Jul 19, 2009)

I like simplicity so thats why I bought those 7s plus the matte finishes dont look all shitty from fingerprins . Mostly though im usually not big on colors so black was it for me but I made an exception for my bloodburst intrepid. But natural finishes have always been my weakness but ive never been able to find one I liked that I could afford. I think the spalted maple tops seem to always look the most unique so if the quote im waiting on dosent turn me off im hoping to follow through with the order and end up with a real one of a kind piece. I didnt include the binding in the quote though because im thinking the body will look better without it but I may have them bind the headstock.


keeper006 said:


> I came back to this thread just to see if you ditched the quilt for the spalted- nice. I think the neck thru with the raw wood would match great with the spalted, certainly more than any paint you could add, plus that raw look is meaner and more metal than all the black guitars you see nowadays (I noticed all your old guitars you're selling are black, this will definitely separate you from the crowd. If you gig with it, people used to always seeing black axes will surely remember this- I know I would)


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## Galius (Jul 20, 2009)

Woo hoo. I just got an email from kurt and it looks like the price range is good enough for me. Just waiting to hear back about a couple changes. Im pretty sure I want to change the neck to a 5 piece neck thru.


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## keeper006 (Jul 20, 2009)

Galius said:


> Woo hoo. I just got an email from kurt and it looks like the price range is good enough for me. Just waiting to hear back about a couple changes. Im pretty sure I want to change the neck to a 5 piece neck thru.


 I'm more excited about seeing this than getting the lefty Pro I just ordered


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## Galius (Jul 20, 2009)

keeper006 said:


> I'm more excited about seeing this than getting the lefty Pro I just ordered


 
LOL thats pretty bad if youre not excited about your own guitar. Mabey I should ask him about doing a figured top like in my mockup (I just used the body of one of the spalted teles I googled for a template). Im sure it would look fine either way.


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## keeper006 (Jul 21, 2009)

Galius said:


> LOL thats pretty bad if youre not excited about your own guitar. Mabey I should ask him about doing a figured top like in my mockup (I just used the body of one of the spalted teles I googled for a template). Im sure it would look fine either way.


 Oh, I'm excited about getting mine to play it, but being a lefty, I only had one choice since I don't have cash for a custom and everyone knows what the nat mahog pro looks like. I really want to see this in the flesh, as I think it's not only going to be unique but one of those guitars that looks like it cost 5X what you actually pay for it. (Most Agiles seem to, but this one is awesome.)


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## Triple7 (Jul 21, 2009)

Galius said:


> Ok I have an updated simple mockup. I didnt take the time to add the body/headtock binding or the spalted to the headstock or even the volume knob LOL





How do you make these mockups? I am ordering a custom 8 as well so I was just curious.


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## Galius (Jul 22, 2009)

Im not sure how other people do it but I just used photoshop and modified the body of a fender tele and slapped an intrepid neck on there and so on.


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## vansinn (Jul 22, 2009)

IOW.. you just did what marketing people do when trying to sell us some ugly and completely useless crap - the difference being that you're designing something beatyful and useful


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## MF_Kitten (Jul 22, 2009)

i'm gunna need to make a mockup of a singlecut bass that i'm having made... is there any easy way of doing this?


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## ralphy1976 (Jul 22, 2009)

MF_Kitten said:


> i'm gunna need to make a mockup of a singlecut bass that i'm having made... is there any easy way of doing this?


 
you can always try with microsoft "paint" program which comes with nearly all windows version. it is basic, doesn't have all the option you want, but you can copy and paste straight bits of pictures, so i guess for that purpose it is ok.


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## MF_Kitten (Jul 22, 2009)

i DO have photoshop, dude 

the thing is, i need the dimensions to be correct, and the shape to be exact. is there a specific tool i can use to make the shape perfect and smooth and stuff?


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## ralphy1976 (Jul 22, 2009)

sorry, i misunderstood your point!!!

i saw on one of the threads here 2 guys who were pretty hot with 3d drawings, i'll try to find it again and post the link.


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## MedShred (Jul 22, 2009)

Wow, very nice. I love the natural finish. Amazing.


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## Galius (Jul 23, 2009)

I have Kurt changing my options for a 5 piece neck thru and headstock binding. Looks like that alone will up my price by $150. 

I worked on the mockup a bit more and tried to get the proportions right and made one to see what the back should look like.


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## vansinn (Jul 23, 2009)

From an asthetic POW, I think the neck running through the body looks less good than a bolt-on. What about a veniered back, to restore the pure tele look?
IIRC, you chose alder for the body; bolt-on ought to do well sustain-wise. You don't think a neck-through splitting the body may result in less snap? (I'm thinking tele'ish tone to go with the looks).


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## 7deadlysins666 (Jul 23, 2009)

Galius said:


> I didnt include the binding in the quote though because im thinking the body will look better without it but I may have them bind the headstock.



You might want to think about binding. No it does not Have to be bound, but if you're going with spalted maple, spalted maple is basically a dead, rotting wood. Thats how it get such an odd and unique grain and figure. It sucks up a LOT of clear coat, and most of the time is unstable. Sometimes it HAS to be bound to make sure it remains stable...or atleast to help it remain stable.


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## CrushingAnvil (Jul 24, 2009)

Cool man, I would have gone for a neck through option myself


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## vansinn (Jul 24, 2009)

7deadlysins666 said:


> You might want to think about binding. No it does not Have to be bound, but if you're going with spalted maple, spalted maple is basically a dead, rotting wood. Thats how it get such an odd and unique grain and figure. It sucks up a LOT of clear coat, and most of the time is unstable. Sometimes it HAS to be bound to make sure it remains stable...or atleast to help it remain stable.



Do you have experience with oil finishing spalted maple?

WRT binding, do you mean binding the wood surface or bindings to the edges?


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## 7deadlysins666 (Jul 24, 2009)

vansinn said:


> Do you have experience with oil finishing spalted maple?
> 
> WRT binding, do you mean binding the wood surface or bindings to the edges?



Binding the edges. I have never owned a spalted maple guitar, but this is what i've heard from many luthiers. Oiling it im sure would suck up even more finish than regular clear coat.


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## Andrew_B (Jul 24, 2009)

Galius said:


>


 

i like that


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## ralphy1976 (Jul 24, 2009)

vansinn said:


> From an asthetic POW, I think the neck running through the body looks less good than a bolt-on. What about a veniered back, to restore the pure tele look?
> IIRC, you chose alder for the body; bolt-on ought to do well sustain-wise. You don't think a neck-through splitting the body may result in less snap? (I'm thinking tele'ish tone to go with the looks).


 
i sencond Vansinn view here, it seems to clash a lot whereas the original design had a more "flowing" touch to it...


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## Andrew_B (Jul 24, 2009)

7deadlysins666 said:


> Binding the edges. I have never owned a spalted maple guitar, but this is what i've heard from many luthiers. Oiling it im sure would suck up even more finish than regular clear coat.


 
some wood soaks up finish like a sponge,
and some wood doesnt...

you just build up your coats of oil... 
sslather on, leave for a while, buff off, repeat....
actually, depends what oil you are using....


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## gatesofcarnage (Jul 24, 2009)

That is brutal and pretty much the exact idea I would order if i had any moneys congrats!!


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## Galius (Jul 24, 2009)

Im not going for the classic tele look, just the body shape. Kurt said hes never had any people with problems from an unbound spalted top. I really prefer the neck thru.

Soo.........does $1300 sound resonable to you guys?


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## MF_Kitten (Jul 25, 2009)

sounds like a perfectly fine price, considering the specs


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## AfterTheBurial8 (Jul 25, 2009)

that guitar looks like a BEAST.. can't wait to see the pics once she's been made.. $1,300 is a great price too, works out to just under £800 I think, which is a great price for a custom.. I think I would put a neck pick up on it though, and would consider changing the ebony fretboard.. but it still looks b-e-a-uuuutiful!


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## Apophis (Jul 25, 2009)

ntb version looks great imo


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## Galius (Jul 25, 2009)

I was thinking about a neck pickup but I NEVER use them so its just a single. Thats actually another big thing that turned me on to the clean simplicity of the the single pickup intrepids. I was almost thinking about ebony too but it looks like the ebony option on an 8 is a big price hike and I almost hope to get one of those rosewood boards that has some variation in lightness and such, I think it will look natural with a spalted top. But if its a darker rosewood it should work out as well because ive had alot of rosewood boards that were so dark they may as well have been ebony . I sent Kurt my last mockup of the front and back because he thought mabey I was thinking of having the neck thru show through the front and just have the spalted on the wings, and also to see if they could put the figured top. He dosent think it should be an issue but hes going to get with production and show them to make sure they can pull everything off. I really hope I can rake some cash together.


AfterTheBurial8 said:


> that guitar looks like a BEAST.. can't wait to see the pics once she's been made.. $1,300 is a great price too, works out to just under £800 I think, which is a great price for a custom.. I think I would put a neck pick up on it though, and would consider changing the ebony fretboard.. but it still looks b-e-a-uuuutiful!


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## ivancic1al (Jul 26, 2009)

wow, that thing looks amazing! and the price is shockingly low, considering the very sleek specs. wow, that kinda makes me want one now, but i don't have the $  oh well, next time


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## keeper006 (Jul 29, 2009)

You should call it the "OctoTele"


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## Galius (Jul 29, 2009)

LOL nice. Im currently working numbers to see if I can pull this off. Kurt sent my specs and mockups to production and said that there is no problem making it just like I pictured.


keeper006 said:


> You should call it the "OctoTele"


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## cyril v (Jul 29, 2009)

sweet stuff... he did mention that you only need half to start the build right? so, thats always comforting and makes it a bit easier to gather rest during the 5-month build time (guessing here).


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## Galius (Jul 29, 2009)

Yeah and it looks like the other half I could pay off with my tax returns. But I have to sell my 7 strings to pay for the first half.


cyril v said:


> sweet stuff... he did mention that you only need half to start the build right? so, thats always comforting and makes it a bit easier to gather rest during the 5-month build time (guessing here).


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## Shredcow (Jul 29, 2009)

Are you going to have a beveled cutaway?


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## Galius (Jul 29, 2009)

Dont think so im not too worried about high fret access since I play rythm. Sometimes I play higher fills but never the last 4 frets or so.


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## patata (Jul 4, 2013)

So,where is the guitar?


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## simonXsludge (Jul 4, 2013)

That bump is so necro, it actually smells kinda rotten in here.


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## Galius (Jul 5, 2013)

Holy crap, blast from the past!!! I never followed through with the order. I would still love a tele 8 though


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## patata (Jul 6, 2013)

Galius said:


> Holy crap, blast from the past!!! I never followed through with the order. I would still love a tele 8 though



I'm stuck with the idea of a 27'' 7 string tele.Let's hope the dates of the Hannes 7 release and my payday are close to each other.


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## Estilo (Jul 7, 2013)

May I refer you to this thread good sir 8 String Teles! Hope you find inspiration on there and inspire us when your built is done!


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