# LTD EC-400 Naturalization



## rhysmus (Jul 6, 2010)

I recently got a guitar to my collection. I have one thought in my mind when I bought it. Since it's second hand and has had a fair few bumps and nics to it I might just take a dig at stripping the guitar back to its natural timber look like something Nick (TheSixthWheel) had previously done to a few of his guitars.

Having the fact that i work with Nice was a massive help to this idea also. So I got him to come around and give me a few pointers on what and what not to do. So many thanks to him for now and in the future. I'll post new photo and comments as the project progresses.

*+*+*+*EDIT: MORE PROGRESS FURTHER DOWN*+*+*+*+*
*+*+*+*EDIT:EVEN MORE PROGRESS FURTHER DOWN!!!!*+*+*+*+*

Here are some pics of the guitar before anything had been changed:


















So I began my first naturalization on a guitar. Nick told me I needed a few types of sandpaper to remove the coats on the guitar. I bought some 120 Grit, 600 grit and 1200 grit. Haven t really had the chance to use the 600 or 1200 yet. As I started sanding down then guitar we realized that the guitar has an odd combination of coats over the natural mahogany. 
It goes as this:
Clear gloss,
Red gloss,
Odd thick yet see-thru darkened gloss or stain,
then Mahogany. 

Bit of an odd combination but hey, it works. So we used an orbital sander to do some of the work and also a lot of elbow grease. When my arm got a tad tired from being a little bitch I passed on the task to Nick. But then he decided to go home . So the task was back to me and I sanded away and away and this is what I had accomplished. 









Pretty much a few mods to what i want to do is instead of having the little step up of the neck joint i want to sand it down and make it a smooth transition. Also Remove the black paint on the headstock. I've always hated black headstock's when the guitar is a different colour and maybe painting on the Ltd logo again or does anyone have any other idea for this? And maybe one more thing. To smoothen then edges around the body It a bit flat so i want to make it more smooth. 

So whats everyones thoughts?

Ill post more photos like I said as the project goes on.


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## Sebastian (Jul 6, 2010)

Looks like an interesting project


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## cwhitey2 (Jul 6, 2010)

i want to do somthin close to that with a viper deluxe i bought...im still unsure if i want to go all the way down to the wood tho or just flatten the clear coat to give a vintagy look... post more progress when you have time, im real interested to see how it comes out. oh, and are you going to leave it flat wood or clear coat it? rock on


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## TheSixthWheel (Jul 6, 2010)

nice one dude. It's looking way better than when I left, it'll look great once you're finished with it. Tomorrow night I'll bring round a brush, some more sandpaper and anything else which comes to mind


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## MaKo´s Tethan (Jul 6, 2010)

every naturalization project has my vote. keep us updated please.


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## Bungle (Jul 6, 2010)

Gonna look sweet!


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## rhysmus (Jul 6, 2010)

cwhitey2 said:


> i want to do somthin close to that with a viper deluxe i bought...im still unsure if i want to go all the way down to the wood tho or just flatten the clear coat to give a vintagy look... post more progress when you have time, im real interested to see how it comes out. oh, and are you going to leave it flat wood or clear coat it? rock on



I'm going to leave it all natural, But cover it with tongue oil. (I may have miss-spelt that). Ive already got a glossed ESP Horizon so I'm keen to have a different looking guitar.


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## Andrew_B (Jul 6, 2010)

rhysmus said:


> I


 
do i see a stress crack?



> When my arm got a tad tired from being a little bitch I passed on the task to Nick. But then he decided to go home .


 
he's such a lazy ass 




> Pretty much a few mods to what i want to do is instead of having the little step up of the neck joint i want to sand it down and make it a smooth transition. .


 
if the above is a stress crack, im not sure trying to take alot off the heel would be a good move...
you will probably find theres more glue in that joint than wood to wood contact haha. (which if you sand down and find it, will look bad with a clear finish)
also, using an orbital on it a fair bit can possibly heat the glue,
you could probably round it over a bit , or shave off the bottom edge a little,
but yea, those lespaul joints are horrid


goodluck and dont let nick tell you how to apply tung oil 

also, a thin card scraper can help get rid of the finish at the volute and heel, aswell as in the horns


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## rhysmus (Jul 6, 2010)

I'm pretty sure its not a stress crack, It doesn't look very deep. Only about a layer thin so i think its just the clear coat. And If i do make the smooth connection with the neck and the body ill be going it all by hand, The orbital sander moves my body around like a freak haha. Were going to do some more work on it 2night, so if i get time ill post some more pics up then. I wouldn't mind getting the whole back done and then top. Maybe the neck too.


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## TheSixthWheel (Jul 7, 2010)

Andrew_B said:


> do i see a stress crack?



I ran my thumb over that area, and I didn't really notice any finish crack. I'll have a better look later.



Andrew_B said:


> he's such a lazy ass


 
You're a massive fat girl's blouse.



Andrew_B said:


> if the above is a stress crack, im not sure trying to take alot off the heel would be a good move...
> you will probably find theres more glue in that joint than wood to wood contact haha. (which if you sand down and find it, will look bad with a clear finish)
> also, using an orbital on it a fair bit can possibly heat the glue,
> you could probably round it over a bit , or shave off the bottom edge a little,
> ...



This card scraper would be used with heat gun? sounds lame, and I don't think Rhys plans to take much of the wood off at all, I think rounding it over a bit was the idea, we're not trying to make it like a Parker heel . My orbital wouldn't really be a good choice for using on the underside of the neck. We'd probably be doing that by hand with sanding blocks due to it being so close to the binding and fretwork, so thankfully we don't have to worry about the orbital sander generating much heat there.


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## Andrew_B (Jul 7, 2010)

rhysmus said:


> I'm pretty sure its not a stress crack, It doesn't look very deep. Only about a layer thin so i think its just the clear coat. And If i do make the smooth connection with the neck and the body ill be going it all by hand, The orbital sander moves my body around like a freak haha. Were going to do some more work on it 2night, so if i get time ill post some more pics up then. I wouldn't mind getting the whole back done and then top. Maybe the neck too.


 
sounds like you have a plan, good stuff 



TheSixthWheel said:


> I ran my thumb over that area, and I didn't really notice any finish crack. I'll have a better look later.


 
strange, let us know lol



> You're a massive fat girl's blouse.


 
well...... you can do your own refrets from now on!! 



> This card scraper would be used with heat gun? sounds lame, and I don't think Rhys plans to take much of the wood off at all, I think rounding it over a bit was the idea, we're not trying to make it like a Parker heel . My orbital wouldn't really be a good choice for using on the underside of the neck. We'd probably be doing that by hand with sanding blocks due to it being so close to the binding and fretwork, so thankfully we don't have to worry about the orbital sander generating much heat there.


 
naaa, a card scraper is just a rectangle of steel, burnish an edge and scrape scrape scrape, its how i finish shaping my necks after spoke shaving...
a scraper will get rid of finish quick smart, just have to sharpen it back up when it starts to get dull, like any tool lol

sounds like you two have it covered


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## TheSixthWheel (Jul 7, 2010)

Andrew_B said:


> naaa, a card scraper is just a rectangle of steel, burnish an edge and scrape scrape scrape



Oh yes, I've made them a couple of times in the past. I've never heard them referred to as a card scraper before...I've heard them called flat shave or square scraper because you use a flat/square piece of metal AND it's related to the job performed by a spoke shave. They can actually be quite sharp and very consistant.


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## rhysmus (Jul 7, 2010)

Andrew_B said:


> sounds like you have a plan, good stuff



yes it does sound as though we have a plan, lets just hope it goes this way.


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## rhysmus (Jul 7, 2010)

WOO HOO!!! 
More progress.

The cutouts ion the body i did purely by hand, either with the sanding block, an anti-insect bottle wrapped with sandpaper or my fingers wrapped in sand paper.





This is a good picture to show the layers of the coating, previously i said it was three layers but im sure its four now.
The clear coat,
then red stain,
then another clear coat,
then the thick black annoying coat,
then timber.





So after doing a fair bit of work nick came around again and helped me out and we listened to some mad tunes we found in a collection of cds. But what time was this, it was HAMMER TIME!!!!





So enough with the crap heres what we got done.




















I flattened out the join from the neck to the body, and damn it feels a lot better. 

So then instead of having some hard edges i smoothed it all out, and i love it!





























So this is what i had done so far on my first naturalization. and its DARN TOOTIN fun!

I done a little more on the edges but didn't take anymore pictures. So hopefully ill have time to do more tomorrow or the next day!


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## cwhitey2 (Jul 7, 2010)

rhysmus said:


> I'm going to leave it all natural, But cover it with tongue oil. (I may have miss-spelt that). Ive already got a glossed ESP Horizon so I'm keen to have a different looking guitar.


 

that will be sweet when your done! thats what i want to do as well, i have a fetish for oiled guitars. 

wow i like the pics, looks like your making good progress 
best of luck finishing her up


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## nojyeloot (Jul 7, 2010)

Lovely, sir. I did similar with my ESP and Custom (Made out of maple counter tops)


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## TheSixthWheel (Jul 7, 2010)

Awesome, you got heaps more done after I left. Can't wait to see you finish final sanding and start doing tung oil coats. It'll look great, you can tell already.


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## rhysmus (Jul 8, 2010)

Didn't have much time to work on it last night. My gf stole my working trackies so drove over stole them, put them on, worked on the guitar for 45 minutes then went to a gig. Was hoping it was going to end early, this is just way to much fun, I cant wait for the finished project.


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## TheSixthWheel (Jul 9, 2010)

Good that you're having fun with it dude. Gimme a yell when you want some company.


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## Despised_0515 (Jul 9, 2010)

So far so good man! Cool stuff smoothing out the heel too.


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## rhysmus (Jul 13, 2010)

Sorry i havent posted in a little while guys, every time i got to do some work id only work for about 30 mins and then get caught up doing something so then i would think ive done sweet F all and not take a photo. But now i got to a stage that im happy with! 

Heres some more pics!














How flipping amazing does the middle strip of mahogany look!













Now onto the backside 

























Im so pumped with how this looks. Now all i have to do is make it a fuck load more smooth! And for the headstock my sign writer friend is making me a ltd stencil. I think ill put that on. Or I might even do my own who know? but defiantly going to stamp the serial number into the headstock.

So whats everyone think so far?


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## TheSixthWheel (Jul 13, 2010)

Looks SO much better dude, I think you've chosen a really great candidate for a resurfacing. Loving the 3 piece headstock following through from the neck (well, technically 5 piece headstock ).


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## rhysmus (Jul 15, 2010)

WOO HOO now im on to 1200 grit!


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## Andrew_B (Jul 15, 2010)

looking good man


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## rhysmus (Jul 16, 2010)

Andrew_B said:


> looking good man



thanks heaps man!


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## rhysmus (Jul 18, 2010)

Just finished doing the first coat of tung oil and wowie it is looking mighty fine!





Fear Nick! I SAY FEAR HIM!!!













Check out the side-boob in this photo!









After we stamped in the serial number, Nick read the piece of paper that i wrote the code on, he then turned to me and said "Ohh dude, you forgot the 9!". To which i responded "FUCKKK!!!!"  But then we fixed it up! and yeah I still think it looks rad as! But yes it was MY bad!





And this is how I look on a Saturday. (EDIT WRONG DAY! ITS SUNDAY! I FAIL!) Not having had a shower, brushed my teeth, nor wearing good clothes. This is my fail! But the guitar looks sick haha.





So i wont bore anyone with anymore pics until i put the design on the headstock and/or have the guitar full complete with all the components in it.


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## TheSixthWheel (Jul 18, 2010)

Rhys you goose, it's Sunday. And that tung oil looks great. Gimme a yell if you need an assist with the next coat.


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## rhysmus (Jul 18, 2010)

TheSixthWheel said:


> Rhys you goose, it's Sunday. And that tung oil looks great. Gimme a yell if you need an assist with the next coat.



haha i fixed it up, i fail! And yeah I always need help


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## tekkadon d (Jul 18, 2010)

lookin mighty fine 
lovin the natural finsh and white binding


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## rhysmus (Jul 18, 2010)

tekkadon d said:


> lookin mighty fine
> lovin the natural finsh and white binding



fancy thing was it was originally a cream colour but because I sanded back the gloss coating it went back to plain white, looks so much better.


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## tekkadon d (Jul 18, 2010)

would look cool with a maple board (that tape looks like maple looking quickly lol)


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## Andrew_B (Jul 18, 2010)

looking good 
pity about nick sneeking into one of those pics though...


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## Despised_0515 (Jul 18, 2010)

Don't forget to dye the board black... 

Looks so good with the tung oil.
Can't wait to see more man, great job!


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## Andrew_B (Jul 18, 2010)

VicerExciser said:


> Don't forget to dye the board black...


 
Ewwww


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## rhysmus (Jul 18, 2010)

VicerExciser said:


> Don't forget to dye the board black...
> 
> Looks so good with the tung oil.
> Can't wait to see more man, great job!



Yeah i dono. I'm more going in the direction of as natural as possible, then again if speaking of that i should put some strings on the trees outside and try and play them haha. But yeah i might or might not.


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## TheSixthWheel (Jul 20, 2010)

Looking forward to tomorrow for the 2nd coat? Remember that if it's too soft still, we'll have to wait another day or so.


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## cwhitey2 (Jul 20, 2010)

that guitar just keeps getting nicer and nicer and nicer...


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## Kapee (Jul 20, 2010)

Looks really nice! Allways wanted to see EC's naked


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## CrushingAnvil (Jul 20, 2010)

Andrew_B said:


> Ewwww



While I don't think that warranted an 'Ewwww' - Rosewood can look amazing with some nice shiny frets.

This looks great, Rhys.


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## Prydogga (Jul 20, 2010)

Looks great, stellar job dude, can't wait to see the finished project


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## rhysmus (Jul 20, 2010)

TheSixthWheel said:


> Looking forward to tomorrow for the 2nd coat? Remember that if it's too soft still, we'll have to wait another day or so.


Haha yesssss i cant wait! gonna be sweet! But yeah i flippin hop its all dry! DAMN WINTER!!!




cwhitey2 said:


> that guitar just keeps getting nicer and nicer and nicer...


 i will just reply with a smile because thats what your comment made me do!



Kapee said:


> Looks really nice! Allways wanted to see EC's naked


well now you can see it, just don't let your parents catch you looking at it.... might get a little awkward!




CrushingAnvil said:


> While I don't think that warranted an 'Ewwww' - Rosewood can look amazing with some nice shiny frets.
> 
> This looks great, Rhys.


I did a whole guitar setup on this before i started, buff frets, oiled the neck and put new strings on it, lets hope it hasnt really changed, but that again i never put elixirs on it so thats going to defiantly be changed when im done!




Prydogga said:


> Looks great, stellar job dude, can't wait to see the finished project


ME Too!


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## ZXIIIT (Jul 20, 2010)

rhysmus said:


> So i wont bore anyone with anymore pics until i put the design on the headstock and/or have the guitar full complete with all the components in it.



Nooo, I like looking at "in progress" pics!


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## tekkadon d (Jul 22, 2010)

ZOMB13 said:


> Nooo, I like looking at "in progress" pics!


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## rhysmus (Jul 22, 2010)

Yeah? Theres not much difference with the coats, just a tiny bit darker. But my friend is going to print me up the stencils and I'm pretty sure I'm going with the Headstock design with a Hat Mustache and a tie!


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## s_k_mullins (Jul 22, 2010)

The "au natural" look is great! Good work dude


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## rhysmus (Jul 31, 2010)

Just done my third coat of tung oil, waiting a while for a stencil to be made up but im defiantly going with the top hat, mustache and tie idea!


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## cwhitey2 (Aug 3, 2010)

rhysmus said:


> Just done my third coat of tung oil, waiting a while for a stencil to be made up but im defiantly going with the top hat, mustache and tie idea!




nice i cant wait to see the finished product


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## Johnboy_Ice (Aug 5, 2010)

Dude you're actually using the one with a hat???
I saw your original design with just a tie and mustache in another thread and being super bored I drew on a hat with paint and posted it.... (and some eyes if I remember correctly) 

anyways, looking awesome so far.


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## rhysmus (Aug 6, 2010)

Johnboy_Ice said:


> Dude you're actually using the one with a hat???
> I saw your original design with just a tie and mustache in another thread and being super bored I drew on a hat with paint and posted it.... (and some eyes if I remember correctly)
> 
> anyways, looking awesome so far.



haha feck yeah i am! I re-drew the hat though so this is how it will look.


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## clouds (Aug 6, 2010)

That headstock idea is so awesome! Wish I could think of something like that. Might just pinch it anyway and not tell you .

Oh, the guitar is nice too. MOAR PICZ!!1


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## rhysmus (Aug 7, 2010)

The whole bodys been coated three times so i think after i put the stencil on ill just coat the front headstock 2 more times and not the body, it will be better that way, and easier.


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## TheSixthWheel (Aug 7, 2010)

Easier? Sure...Better? Nope. Remember, more coats means a hardier finish. When it comes to guitar modifications, nobody gets very far by taking shortcuts.


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## rhysmus (Aug 9, 2010)

TheSixthWheel said:


> Easier? Sure...Better? Nope. Remember, more coats means a hardier finish. When it comes to guitar modifications, nobody gets very far by taking shortcuts.



Yeah i understand that, but the body seems dark enough to me, and by more coats its gets darker. Just still thinking of that to do.


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## Andrew_B (Aug 9, 2010)

rhysmus said:


> The whole bodys been coated three times so i think after i put the stencil on ill just coat the front headstock 2 more times and not the body, it will be better that way, and easier.


 
do a test, i dont know if tung oil likes to go over other products


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## rhysmus (Aug 10, 2010)

Andrew_B said:


> do a test, i dont know if tung oil likes to go over other products



Brilliant idea haha ill try that now.


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## rhysmus (Aug 15, 2010)

finally done the design






So this is the body with 3 coats of tung oil.













and this is my cat.


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## rcsierra13 (Aug 15, 2010)

LOL love the logo


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## Andrew_B (Aug 15, 2010)

meow


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## rhysmus (Aug 19, 2010)

Just done the final coat of tung oil on the headstock! So next photos will be of the final product, give me about 4 days


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## cwhitey2 (Aug 19, 2010)

rhysmus said:


> Just done the final coat of tung oil on the headstock! So next photos will be of the final product, give me about 4 days




sweetness, i cant wait to see


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## rhysmus (Aug 19, 2010)

cwhitey2 said:


> sweetness, i cant wait to see



Same, this process has been a little too long. Relying on your mates can take a little bit of time.


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## rhysmus (Aug 22, 2010)

ITS FINALLY DONE!!!
























































So i still haven't played it too much, but it feels flippin sweet and i love it, my work of art!

Going to take it to work tomorrow and play it through a couple of amps.

Whats everyone think.


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## ascender (Aug 22, 2010)

Dude! That looks siiiiick! Super digging the decal on the headstock too ... quite classy, sir.


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## scherzo1928 (Aug 22, 2010)

ahaha!! THAT HEADSTICK OWNS MAN.


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## Andrew_B (Aug 22, 2010)

nice job dude


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## metal_sam14 (Aug 22, 2010)

that headstock screams: el bandito


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## ittoa666 (Aug 22, 2010)

That looks fucking great.


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## Raoul Duke (Aug 23, 2010)

Nice work dude


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## cwhitey2 (Aug 23, 2010)

pure awesomeness!


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## rhysmus (Aug 23, 2010)

HAHA im so retarted! After i put it together i played it for a bit and it sounded bad. This was an incredible disappointment for me, so i bought it to my music shop and tried it through a few amps. Still bad. What could be wrong, so i started playing with it on clean. And what do u know! I had the toggle switch backwards haha. So i was playing the neck constantly on distortion, and i hate that so bad!

But now i fixed it, and its amazing hehe! Feels soooooo smooth!


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## spattergrind (Aug 23, 2010)

rhysmus said:


> After we stamped in the serial number...



Dude that's what I would do to my guitar if/when I naturalize it. That or wood-burning the serial at the bottom of the headstock would be sick! But anyways..


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## rhysmus (Aug 24, 2010)

spattergrind said:


> Dude that's what I would do to my guitar if/when I naturalize it. That or wood-burning the serial at the bottom of the headstock would be sick! But anyways..



Defiantly would not recommend wood burning, it could get too messy and too hard to fix up. Stick with the stamp letters and numbers.


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