# Neck-thru Mockingbird guitar kit on the bay... this looks pretty sweet



## thinkpad20 (May 3, 2009)

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mockingbird-Nec...5|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:0|293:1|294:50

Just stumbled across this... $325 for essentially a custom neck-thru (zebrawood, mahogany, maple and walnut no less), plus of course whatever hardware and pickups you decide to put in there.... if I had the loose change I might scoop one of these up! Quality doesn't look bad either...


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## TimSE (May 3, 2009)

ahh ya its that guy
i was going to get a neckthru and body blank from him but couldnt afford it in the end

i think hes a builder whos clearing out workshop space
or was at least with the stuff i was looking to buy


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## soulrot (May 3, 2009)

wow that looks sweet!


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## thinkpad20 (May 3, 2009)

He says he can build it 6 or 7 strings too


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## Konfyouzd (May 3, 2009)

i talked to him yesterday. says he can build just about any body shape in 6 or 7 strings. he'll put an ebony board/frets on there for $200 more and he'll do 26.5" scales for another $150. i put up a poll about a custom build i'm thinking about doing. i was going to get it done by that guy.


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## HaterLover (May 3, 2009)

Yeah I just emailed him today about making a Jackson kelly 7 string. he said it would cost about $600 for alder body and maple neck trough with ebony fretboard and jumbo frets. And he also said hes making an 8 string for himself. we need to start a poll and make a group buy


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## Konfyouzd (May 3, 2009)

HaterLover said:


> Yeah I just emailed him today about making a Jackson kelly 7 string. he said it would cost about $600 for alder body and maple neck trough with ebony fretboard and jumbo frets. And he also said hes making an 8 string for himself. we need to start a poll and make a group buy



that's exactly what I emailed him about. get out of my head.


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## HaterLover (May 3, 2009)

Konfyouzd said:


> that's exactly what I emailed him about. get out of my head.


 
Oh shit... haha he said I was the second person this week that emailed him about the 7 string kelly lol

let me know if youre goin with the build...


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## Konfyouzd (May 3, 2009)

i'm definitely going to in a couple more pay checks. i have the money now but i don't have the money if you know what i mean. 

i think i might do mine mahogany, reversed headstock with an ebony board and 26.5" scale. either that or an ibanez iceman if he can build those.


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## HaterLover (May 3, 2009)

cool that sounds awesome man
I also need to wait for a couple of weeks for more money


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## Konfyouzd (May 3, 2009)

what options where you thinking about getting? i think i might wanna do a piezo system on this one. that's the only mod that i want that i don't have on any of my other axes.


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## JJ Rodriguez (May 3, 2009)

If there's a short run I'd be interested in getting in on that as well depending on price. Also, would it be just one shape, or could people pick their own shapes as long as we kept the specs fairly similar? Maybe someone should e-mail the dude and send him a link to this thread.


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## HaterLover (May 3, 2009)

Umm I think Im just go with the TOM bridge w/ string thru body just like the stock KE7 and 2 humbucker routings for neck and bridge. I dont want a floyd for this one. 
Piezo would be awesome, what kind of bridge are you goin for?


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## S-O (May 3, 2009)

Thats a pretty awesome price for a electronic/accesorieless-less body. With some nice bells and whistles, one could get a CS Kellyu for less the 1k.


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## Konfyouzd (May 3, 2009)

HaterLover said:


> Umm I think Im just go with the TOM bridge w/ string thru body just like the stock KE7 and 2 humbucker routings for neck and bridge. I dont want a floyd for this one.
> Piezo would be awesome, what kind of bridge are you goin for?



i'm all about the floyds 



JJ Rodriguez said:


> If there's a short run I'd be interested in getting in on that as well depending on price. Also, would it be just one shape, or could people pick their own shapes as long as we kept the specs fairly similar? Maybe someone should e-mail the dude and send him a link to this thread.



that's a pretty sweet idea. we could probably get a slight discount if we did that (i'm assuming that's what you were getting at?)


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## JJ Rodriguez (May 3, 2009)

Yeah. Don't know if it would be worth it, depends if you can get like 10+ people to commit. I wonder what he would charge to finish it, because getting a guitar finished is a pain in the ass too. These are all questions he could answer though. Whoever has been talking with him e-mail him this thread.


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## Konfyouzd (May 3, 2009)

i for one have tons of finishing supplies that i bought for a guitar i never ended up getting. so for me that wouldn't be too big a problem. but i assume it might be for some. hopefully more people will come in and maybe we can get some people to commit. if not i have no problem waiting a month or 2 and dropping the $750 on my own.


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## JJ Rodriguez (May 3, 2009)

I have a colour changing paint kit here, but I don't have any faith in my ability to make it look decent at all.


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## Demiurge (May 3, 2009)

I'm confused about the state that the "kit" is in. It looks like the neck was tapered and profiled but the truss rod channel isn't routed yet. I thought that was a luthiery "no-no." Still looks pretty nice and I'm sure the guy knows what he's doing.


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## JJ Rodriguez (May 3, 2009)

It says in the auction that the truss rod wasn't routed for people who wanted to take more of an active roll in the building of their guitar. The bridge also isn't routed so you can choose to have a trem or no.


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## Konfyouzd (May 3, 2009)

Demiurge said:


> I'm confused about the state that the "kit" is in. It looks like the neck was tapered and profiled but the truss rod channel isn't routed yet. I thought that was a luthiery "no-no." Still looks pretty nice and I'm sure the guy knows what he's doing.



it depends on how far you choose to have him finish it for you.


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## HaterLover (May 5, 2009)

I emailed this thread to the builder and he said he is willing to give discounts for group buys.

Anybody thats interested or have questions can email him at: [email protected]
his name is Mike and he said to adress the email as "7SGroup"
or you can pm me and Ill send you all of the details that he sent me


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## Konfyouzd (May 5, 2009)

that's all i needed to know. what are we buyin' guys???


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## JJ Rodriguez (May 5, 2009)

I just sent him an e-mail, asking for specifics, ie is it the specs or shape that matter most that we agree upon, how many people it would take, what his cost for finishing it would be, etc. What would people be most interested in for a shape? I think there's a BC Rich 7 string thread up right now that we could rip off  I think personally I'd dig just about anything, preference for a Beast maybe. Trem or no trem?


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## Konfyouzd (May 5, 2009)

can you post the response in here? i've already talked to him and the quote he gave me for mine was reasonable but if changing the scale length would help everyone else get a discount as well i'm flexible and i'm semi flexible on the shape as well. i posted a thread. jakson kelly, 24 fret ibanez saber, ibanez fireman, or ibanez iceman. those are the four i'd be down for. preferably one of the extreme shapes, though. 


Mike


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## synrgy (May 5, 2009)

Konfyouzd said:


> can you post the response in here? i've already talked to him and the quote he gave me for mine was reasonable but if changing the scale length would help everyone else get a discount as well i'm flexible and i'm semi flexible on the shape as well. i posted a thread. jakson kelly, 24 fret ibanez saber, ibanez fireman, or ibanez iceman. those are the four i'd be down for. preferably one of the extreme shapes, though.
> 
> here's a response i got from him late last week.
> 
> ...



If it's anywhere close to the price you already have quoted, you can probably count me in for a kelly or iceman shape. 

*edit* preferably Kelly, I think.


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## Konfyouzd (May 5, 2009)

hell yea!


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## thinkpad20 (May 5, 2009)

7 string, 26" scale, ebony fretboard Iceman 

...but I won't be buying one (unless they are truly cheap and/or some auctions/sales I have going on now do reasonably well) so I'm just a wishful observer


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## HaterLover (May 5, 2009)

BC Rich stealth shape would be killer


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## JJ Rodriguez (May 5, 2009)

thinkpad20 said:


> 7 string, 26" scale, ebony fretboard Iceman
> 
> ...but I won't be buying one (unless they are truly cheap and/or some auctions/sales I have going on now do reasonably well) so I'm just a wishful observer



I'm in the same boat. I'm not going to bother if it's terribly expensive with my KxK's nearing completion, especially considering I've never heard of the dude before. But if the price is reasonable I wouldn't mind grabbing a BCR knock off.


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## JJ Rodriguez (May 5, 2009)

The e-mail I sent:



> Hi, I've been participating in the thread on sevenstring.org and was interested in a possible group buy. I'm just curious whether we all need to agree upon a shape, or if it's the specs, ie I want a 7 string Stealth, but someone wants a 7 string Warlock, is it the specs that matter, such as bridge route, scale length,etc? Also how much do you charge for finish work, since getting a guitar finished can be a royal pain in the ass around here? Also, what's turn around time like? And is it okay if I post your response in the thread, since this is info that would get people interested. How many people do we need for a group discount?



The response:



> Thanks for getting in touch with me, it's a pleasure just to be talking and working with you guys on some quotes. The body shapes on everyone's does not have to be the same, nor does the scale length, pickup routing, bridge options, etc as well. It would definately be easier and a little bit quicker to complete them all if they were but I doubt everyone that would get one would be willing to go with the same shape and specs. With the group discount if there's 5 or more I'd do 10&#37; percent of each individual's quote/bill and then if there's 10 or more it would be 20%, that's the most I could do as far as discounting and I think that's pretty good since I'm already fairly reasonably priced and sometimes underpriced (or so I've been told). Especially for work that's being done by one person and no CNC machining. So, for anyone thats interested, just send me an email and in the subject put 7SGroup. In the message include the body shape that would be desired, scale length/# of frets, routing for pickups, and bridge you'd be using, the wood combos you'd be looking for, etc. Don't worry about being too detailed, too much info is better than not enough. Also, let me know if you're wanting the "barebones kit" that would have all routing complete, but you'd need to install the trussrod, fretboard, frets, and nut. Then the next option would be the "ready to apply finish and assemble kit" with those things already installed. Please remember that you will need to adjust the trussrods on these and possibly have a little more leveling done to the frets, once there's tension on the neck and trussrod is adjusted. If you want the "kit" a step above that, you can send me your tuners, bridge, and the type of strings you use most, I can install them and then make any adjustments if necessary to assure there won't be any fret buzz. So, let me know which of these 3 stages you'd want as well. Also, on the finishing I can do a clear glossy finish for $200 or a natural hand rubbed for $75, if any other finish is desired please let me know and I can quote it. For the glossy finsih that would add about 4 weeks to the build, I don't and won't rush that part at all. With a group build I'd like to be able to start it at the beginning of a month instead of in the middle, just to keep myself on a better schedule. For instance if I were to be starting this in june, I would like everyone's choices to be in 2 weeks before the start of the month, that way I have time to make sure I have everything on hand when I start them, this actually saves a lot of time when the building starts. Also, I need 50% down on each before I start or order any materials, I do all online business through paypal for safer transactions. For you guys what I'll also do is take pictures of each build as it progresses and then send 4x6 photos when it ships so that you can have a photojournal of the build. I think that covers most everything I can think of now. My email is [email protected] Thanks guys and look forward to hearing from you and working with you on your builds! I can get a timeframe out as far as how long it would take to have them ready to ship, once I see how many are interested and what options/choices you make.


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## Konfyouzd (May 6, 2009)

umm... let's do this...?


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## JJ Rodriguez (May 6, 2009)

I sent him an e-mail for a quote on either a Beast or Ignitor, pretty much a complete guitar sans hardware and pickups. Just waiting to hear back.


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## Konfyouzd (May 6, 2009)

scale length? im debating between 25.5 and 26.5... is the extra scale length worth the money? and how would we go about submitting this group order?


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## dooredge (May 6, 2009)

This is sweet too! Neck Thru Project Jem Purpleheart Sapele 6 / 7 String - eBay (item 260379263653 end time Mar-22-09 20:54:10 PDT)


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## Konfyouzd (May 6, 2009)

very nice


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## JJ Rodriguez (May 6, 2009)

In his e-mail, he says just e-mail him for a quote with a subject line of 7SGroup. I don't think the specs need to be the same really.


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## Konfyouzd (May 6, 2009)

sweeeet

i think i'm just gonna bit the bullet and email him now the wait is killing me. but i still cant decide between the kelly and the iceman. and for some reason a 7 string S series is still looking good to me. but the s already comes in a 7 string (although they don't make them with 24 frets yet). i'm thinking i should go with an extreme shape since i can get a custom for relatively cheap.


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## JJ Rodriguez (May 6, 2009)

Are you sure he can do those shapes? I'm just hoping it ends up being pretty cheap.


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## Konfyouzd (May 6, 2009)

JJ Rodriguez said:


> Are you sure he can do those shapes? I'm just hoping it ends up being pretty cheap.



i know for a fact he can do the kelly. or at least thats what he told me. im going to email him now about the iceman. did you ask him about neck profiles? i don't wanna get a sweet guitar w/ a tree trunk for a neck


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## JJ Rodriguez (May 6, 2009)

I'm sure if you specify he'd be able to work with you. I asked for Schecter neck thickness on my quote because by default I'm sure he probably does thinner neck  Also, how many of you would be getting complete guitars vs kits? And are there anymore people than you and I interested?


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## technomancer (May 6, 2009)

hmmm nevermind


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## technomancer (May 6, 2009)

JJ Rodriguez said:


> I'm sure if you specify he'd be able to work with you. I asked for Schecter neck thickness on my quote because by default I'm sure he probably does thinner neck  Also, how many of you would be getting complete guitars vs kits? And are there anymore people than you and I interested?



I'm interested, though I'd like to know what shapes he can do. Might email for a quote on a mockingbird or stealth tomorrow (heading out atm)


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## JJ Rodriguez (May 6, 2009)

Just e-mail him. He seems to have quite a few BCR shapes, and I see a very rough JEM kit in one of his other auctions.


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## Konfyouzd (May 6, 2009)

i emailed him about the iceman. what body woods are you going with JJ?


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## JJ Rodriguez (May 6, 2009)

Maple body, alder wings, ebony fretboard.


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## Konfyouzd (May 6, 2009)

solid maple?

i think i'm gonna go w/ a 5 piece neck like in his auction with mahogany wings and an ebony board. i think that'd look damn sexy on an iceman.


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## thinkpad20 (May 6, 2009)

JJ Rodriguez said:


> Maple body, alder wings, ebony fretboard.



That's gonna be a briiiight guitar....


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## JJ Rodriguez (May 6, 2009)

Konfyouzd said:


> solid maple?
> 
> i think i'm gonna go w/ a 5 piece neck like in his auction with mahogany wings and an ebony board. i think that'd look damn sexy on an iceman.



Doh, I meant maple neck, alder wings (neck through obviously).

I don't think I need a 5 piece neck, would probably add to the cost, and I'm getting a solid finish. If I get a thicker neck it'll be less prone to moving anyways. I asked him about the logo on the headstock as well, what he prefers to put there, if he has a logo for his company or what. I would prefer to NOT put a BCR logo on it, just because I'd feel dirty as fuck


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## JJ Rodriguez (May 6, 2009)

thinkpad20 said:


> That's gonna be a briiiight guitar....



Yup, and it's going to be 27" scale, also asked about stainless steel frets too, but that's not a deal breaker for me. I like bright, lots of attack. I can just tame it with pickup choice and EQ'ing of my amp.


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## Konfyouzd (May 6, 2009)

i just like the look of the 5 piece neck. i think the one in the auction is a 5 piece. i think the wood colors would look really nice together. what exactly is the difference aside from the way it looks?



JJ Rodriguez said:


> Doh, I meant maple neck, alder wings (neck through obviously).



yea that's what i meant


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## JJ Rodriguez (May 6, 2009)

Konfyouzd said:


> i just like the look of the 5 piece neck. i think the one in the auction is a 5 piece. i think the wood colors would look really nice together. what exactly is the difference aside from the way it looks?



Supposedly it makes the neck more stable by putting 2 laminates of stiffer wood in there. I could care less about looks since I'd be getting the whole thing painted over anyways.


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## JJ Rodriguez (May 6, 2009)

Just got my quote back, and unless we get 10+ people for the group buy I'm out. Without hardware and pickups, it's $1100. So we'll say $200 for pickups, $200 for a bridge, and $100 on decent tuners and it's already up to $1600. For a little bit more I can snag another KxK. The wait time was 8-10 weeks with the finish curing and all.

EDIT: And I don't mean this in a bitchy way, I understand dude's time is worth money and shit, I just seen the price of his other kits and thought it might be cheaper


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## Konfyouzd (May 6, 2009)

wait... just for your kit it's going to be over a grand? he quoted me at $700 for mine. it'd be cheaper if didn't ask for stainless frets and a thinner neck profile. that's intense. what were your specs?


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## JJ Rodriguez (May 7, 2009)

I was asking for a complete guitar with finish and everything. Here's the specs:

27" scale
Beast or Ignitor shape
24 fret (stainless if the upcharge isn't crazy)
Maple neck, alder wings, ebony fretboard, no inlays
routed H-H, and for an OFR7
Finish either solid black for Beast, or purple or something equally obnoxious if it was an Ignitor.

I can't think if there was anything else.

Dude came back and checked this thread and e-mailed me to clear some things up, and I replied to make sure he knew I wasn't slagging his business in any way. If we do get the people, I'm still in for a group buy, but it seems there's only 3-4 people interested at this point.

When you compare the price of his guitars to others they're pretty good, I mean a 1527 will run you a grand, and I'm sure the quality of those can't touch this if the dude knows how to build a guitar, which it seems like, his feedback on ebay is great.


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## SnowfaLL (May 7, 2009)

anyone know if he is good at communication/meeting time demands/etc?? I might be interested in this also, since my original builder for this is obviously not serious about finishing my guitar anytime soon, or communcating.


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## JJ Rodriguez (May 7, 2009)

All I know is his feedback on ebay. He's been really good about getting back to my e-mails, so shoot him an e-mail and see what he has to say. If you get in on a group buy if we get enough folks then you'll get it even cheaper.


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## SnowfaLL (May 7, 2009)

I'll email this dude later, but im thinking.. Kelly 7, 27" scale, maple fretboard (fretted).. no paintjob. Think he could do that for a good price? (anyone with a kelly 7 price yet?)


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## JJ Rodriguez (May 7, 2009)

Paintjob is a $200 upcharge for glossy, so probably.


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## Konfyouzd (May 7, 2009)

NickCormier said:


> anyone know if he is good at communication/meeting time demands/etc?? I might be interested in this also, since Chris Woods is obviously not serious about finishing my guitar anytime soon =/



well so far he's been emailing me back within about an hour and a half to an hour EVERY time i email him. he also said that he could provide pictures throughout the course of the build just to let you know how things are going. 



NickCormier said:


> well.. I am thinking of doing a Kelly 7 also, because Chris Woods doesnt seem to have time/be catching up enough to finish mine.. I havent seen an email from him since February.
> 
> I'll email this dude later, but im thinking.. Kelly 7, 27" scale, maple fretboard (fretted).. no paintjob. Think he could do that for a good price? (anyone with a kelly 7 price yet?)



i asked him about something similar:

Kelly
26.5" scale
ebony board fretted
unfinished
routed for ofr7

he quoted me at about $750


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## SnowfaLL (May 7, 2009)

hmm yea. Thats not bad. I have a "crazy" speced idea (27 frets, 27") but that might cost more, so Ill email him a price quote on both, and see the difference. 

How much is the deposit? Any word on the wait time?


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## JJ Rodriguez (May 7, 2009)

I was quoted 8-10 weeks of a wait for a finished guitar, so less than that for unfinished I'm assuming. Deposit is half down. Check the e-mail I posted from him.


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## SnowfaLL (May 8, 2009)

So is anyone else going thru with this? I am really considering it.


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## Konfyouzd (May 8, 2009)

i just put in an order for mine. he said it looks like there's already 4 people interested. he gave me the 10% off. this is what i'm getting:

ibanez iceman body - mahogany wings
routed for floyd rose 7
wizard 7 neck profile
ebony board/stainless frets
5 piece neck like the one in your mockingbird auction
hum/hum pickup config
2 control holes 
25.5" scale length
24 frets


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## SnowfaLL (May 9, 2009)

yeh KJ I got the email he sent you also.. so I think Im gonna dive into it too possibly. I'll let you guys know if I go thru with it, and show my specs I guess.


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## Konfyouzd (May 9, 2009)

DOOO IT!


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## SnowfaLL (May 9, 2009)

money is gonna get really tight if i do, but hopefully it'll work itself out..


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## Konfyouzd (May 9, 2009)

yea i know the feeling...


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## SnowfaLL (May 11, 2009)

I think i'll do the 25.5" scale, its cheaper and I think I might be playing some chords on this guitar so it would be better with 25.5" .. I just played my strat 7 for about an hour which has 25.5" and its not that bad, since I dont tune any lower than A standard, it should be fine.


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## SnowfaLL (May 26, 2009)

So, anyone go thru with this? Any updates on it?


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## Konfyouzd (May 26, 2009)

i put in my deposit about 2 weeks ago. he says he'll be starting early june.

so... next week-ish??


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## alexander12014 (Aug 18, 2009)

how do i contact this guy and where can i go to see some of his work


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## Konfyouzd (Aug 18, 2009)

alexander12014 said:


> how do i contact this guy and where can i go to see some of his work



unfortunately he's had a ridiculous string of bad luck lately and is struggling to get his current orders done. he's actually offered us all refunds if we don't wanna wait for him to get his shit together, but i'm stickin' it out as i think he's probably gonna do a damn good job once he gets around to it. plus, it'll give me time to save up some money for the rest of the cost since i only paid a 50% deposit. 

it sucks but your best bet is probably to find another luthier for now.


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## alexander12014 (Aug 18, 2009)

oh.. that suks,well thanks and i hope you dont have to wait too long.


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## Konfyouzd (Aug 18, 2009)

no problem. i'll PM you next time i hear from him. you never know, he may get things together sooner than we think.


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