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ProtoChicken

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 30, 2009
Messages
689
Late last year while at DuBlado's picking up a guitar I had been waiting 10 months for, Pete and I got to talking about the Lefty fully loaded MD JP7 he had on clearance. There is a lot I like about the JP standards, but they are missing several features which I like on my guitars, which makes it impossible for me to justify buying them.

I had no intention of picking up another guitar that day, and had long since sold all my EBMM's, but with Pete offering me a price almost on par with that of a an unloaded JP6, I realized I may be able to grab it, have it modded to my liking, and still come in below what a loaded JP7 goes for.

I called Steve Morrill, my luthier of 24 years, from the store and told him what I wanted to do and got a quote. Happy with the quote I bought the JP7. I dropped it off and told Steve to take his time as I know he's super busy being 20 feet away from Berklee, and doing tons of setups and repairs, plus he always takes hours of his valuable time when I stop by the shop to talk and teach me stuff, so I figured since that was time he could be working, my project should be of the lowest priority.

Here are the final specs, it turned out exactly as I had hoped. It's what I would order if EB had a custom shop.

Gaboon ebony fretboard

Fretboard radiused to 21" (I normally play on 16" and 20" boards and was curious if I'd notice a difference on 21", it turns out I don't, and the difference between 20" and 21" is just a few more passes of sandpaper).

Jumbo stainless steel frets

Scallop frets 12-24 (no, I'm not an Yngwie fan, but I do love half scalloped boards).

Bare Knuckle Pickups, ceramic Nailbomb bridge, Cold Sweat neck

Push/pull pot added to tone knob. In the down position the toggle gives me, full hum/both hums/neck hum. When the knob is pulled the toggle is, bridge humbucker inside coil only/bridge inside coil+neck inside coil/neck inside coil only.

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New keychain thingy.

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jzeijen

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 6, 2010
Messages
1,067
Location
The Netherlands
Very cool! You really added your own twist to it. That's a lot of scalloping! Never played a board like that, does it feel significantly different?
 

ProtoChicken

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Joined
Apr 30, 2009
Messages
689
That's a lot of scalloping! Never played a board like that, does it feel significantly different?

It really doesn't feel much different at all, and all but one of my guitars is scalloped in this fashion. It's very similar to playing on jumbo frets alone, the real significant difference is that your fingers never touch the fretboard, which means there is no added friction when bending. That coupled with stainless steel frets allows for really easy huge bends. And the 21" radius board allows me to lower the action below 3/64 with out fretting out on bends. I also really like it for legato, it allows you to dig in differently and requires only a very light touch.
 

DR5Guy

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 1, 2010
Messages
140
Location
Chicago, IL
Stunning!

I always thought Mystic Dream will perfectly pair with an ebony fretboard. My dream guitar would be JP6 in Mystic Dream with ebony fretboard and extra jumbo frets.
 

straycat113

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 17, 2009
Messages
2,506
Location
Born and bred in Brooklyn NY
The Proto sig is unleashed! Looks great J and the Ebony looks wicked with the MD finish, really nice job. Like the Blackmore vibe of the half scallop though I never played a scalloped neck.
 

Slav123

Well-known member
Joined
May 13, 2009
Messages
1,744
Location
Hey, u talkin to me? NY
I keep coming back to look at the pics - I'm really blown away by the look of that custom guitar! She's going to sound amazing through the new Axe-FX II unit! Love the "New keychain thingy " too!:D
 
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