Koicaster guitar

[maier54]

Here is my first guitar that I routed on my Shopbot.
The body is poplar wood and the neck is a Warmoth bolt-on with stainless steel frets and Fender locking tuners. The pickups are TV Jones Filtertron Classics. I painted it with alkyd resin and then sealed with polyurethane. I have had several professional level players and groomed noodlers give it a test drive and they tell me it is a great axe. It is lighter than a Telecaster and sounds somewhat like a Gretsch. I am now hooked on making guitars and I have some new designs I want to route as soon as I get another Shopbot since I sold my PRT.

[pappybaynes]

awesome guitar!

[Brady Watson]

Wow! That is really cool! Nice work!

-B

[bob_s]

Tom
Very nice work. Did you sculpt the koi and lilies, or are they from another source?
Thanks
Bob

[ssflyer]

Looks great! Always a bonus when it plays well, too!
I always liked the Gretsch sound...

[maier54]

Hey Bob,

The work is all original since I am an illustrator. My wife is also a jeweler and she is designing silver frogs that will eventually be the control knobs for this guitar. We both sculpt so this design or some version of it has also been sculpted in clay before I decided to route it on what started out as a Telecaster body.

Thanks, Tom

[maier54]

Thanks! We will be working on silver frog control knobs to go on top of the lily pads since my wife is a jeweler.

[maier54]

Hey Ron,

I also kind of lean toward a Gretsch sound instead of the Les Paul. I never thought I would take a liking for Telecasters but my main guitar is now an all natural wood Tele with standard single coil pups and a maple neck. I guess that is why I ended up with this Koicaster hybrid- Tele shape and pups that you usually see in a Gretsch. I had a professional level player drive it thru country, jazz, rock, blues and metal tunes one day and he said it played really well.

Thanks for the response,
Tom

[maier54]

Thanks for the response. I think I have figured out what I want to do when I grow up....of course I turn 60 this November. Better late than never.

[scottp55]

Just keep growing is the thing Tom. Last year at this time I would/did say "Shopbot? Oh Yeah! The Blue ones---Right?"
A year and half ago, I would have told you, you were crazy, and went back to sharpening my chisels.