The next SUB1 project (and now for something completely different...)

[e.mate]

Been absent for a while, but now it's time to share another story...

I made a steal of a SUB from ebay, which is an early 2000s promo guitar.....



Okay. As I am not very fond of all that marketing stuff on the front, I decided to go for something new. As I am also incapable of doing good guitar craft, I asked my trusted local luthier to rip that thing apart. So he did...



Coincidentally, I got in touch with a guy who does "stuff wrapping" for a living. That small company usually wraps cars, furniture und anything else for advertising purposes. He showed me a variety of foils (basically PU material) and told me, he'd love to do it. I chose "Atomic Glass Blue" and he went on...



Unfortunately, that stupid little Corona virus got in the way, and I am currently not permitted to go back to my tech, to have that SUB re-assembled. But, as soon as it is done, I will let you know This is just the teaser...

 

[edhalen]

I like the color! Very nice!

 

[ThePod]

Excited to see the end result!

 

[TripHazard]

Blue is the color - I like forward to following this one

 

[banjoplayer]

Hey e.mate,
great to hear from you!

I didn´t see this SUB1 on ebay, but those Emergenzas pop up every now and then.
Maybe they were stylish years ago (I can´t remember...). Today..., nahhh

The first pic of your blue body looks great! Was the original finish removed?

What are your plans regarding the pickups? Stock ones or something different!
Keep us updated. The SUB1´s are so great, I love mine

 

[e.mate]

The first pic of your blue body looks great! Was the original finish removed?

What are your plans regarding the pickups? Stock ones or something different!
Keep us updated. The SUB1´s are so great, I love mine

Hey there

No, that is one of the advantages: You don't have to remove the original finish for wrapping! There are also a couple of disadvantages, of course. The foil is very thin (which is good), but every ding and dong will also appear on the wrapped surface (like it would with a new finish without priming). Secondly, you cannot wrap the body in one piece (I will get back to that later, when I show you the completed guitar). And last but not least, the wrapping is quite expensive, but the job was done perfectly

The pickup will be a single hum design, and I will try something new and ordered a Bareknuckle Silo (yapp, that is the name...) from the UK. It will also receive one of the Chandler custom pickguards that I have in stock for more projects

 

[e.mate]

So...here we go...



Basic Guitar: EBMM SUB1
Surface: PU Foil elastic "Atomic Glass Blue", and heavy duty "Black Camo"
PU: Bare Knuckle Silo
Pot: Allparts 500k (knob from Q-Parts "Abalone")
Extras: TESI Killswitch ("press to kill")



The initial approach was based on the idea of a no-BS guitar (like the SUB always was) in a more or less radical single-hum design, which would reflect dynamics through contrast in the colour scheme. René (the foil tech guy) and I discussed several approaches, including some "extreme bling wrapping", an "all brushed surface look" and other, partly weird wrapping ideas. However, some crafting limitations led to the concept of a two-colour contrast design...

So, what are the limitations?
The body cannot be wrapped in one piece of foil, there has to be a joint somewhere, where the end of the foil comes together. As René is an extremely experienced guy, he showed me the options of how to do it with a guitar body like the SUB. To adapt to the symmetry of the body, I went for a "fake frame" solution in a "brushed camo" tone, while the front and back of the guitar would be covered with this shiny, greenish blue (in reality, there is more green in the blue, than you could see in the pics)



The blue foil is rather thin and elastic, while the camo is a thicker, extreme heavy-duty material, which they also apply to trucks and SUVs for protective reasons. Therefore, the thinner material will reflect all dents of the surface below, while the thicker will "cover" most of these.
When I first touched the camo foil, I decided to refrain from the idea to use the Chandler custom pickguard that I still have at home, as it would have added a third "wild" pattern to the guitar. So, René took the original SUB pickguard and covered it in "black camo". Here comes the interesting part: Depending on the angle from which you look at the guitar, and also depending from where the light shines on the surface, pickguard and fake frame look the same or different....I would love to take it on stage instantly, but for reasons we all know this won't happen too soon...

What about the electronics?
The most radical step is probably, that for this project I went away from my beloved DiMarzios. But I didn't regret it, as the Bare Knuckle is one of the best PUs I ever used. It is very versatile, and will fit the weird Alternative and Classic Hardrock mixture of the band perfectly. As I do never user Tone controls in that specific outfit, I went for a TESI killswitch to fill the hole. And, before you ask... yes, I do use it I have one on the other modded SUB as well.

Questions? Shoot...!

 

[beej]

Wow! That looks wild.

 

[fbecir]

Really nice !

The SUB is a great guitar and yours is definitely very nice.
The body paint is indestructible and your solution is great.
(it's funny : the body paint is indestructible but the neck paint is so thin)

 

[DrKev]

Fantastic!

 

[banjoplayer]

nice!

 

[Tollywood]

What a great project. You and your people did a really nice job.