Innovative Custom and Semi-Custom Electric Guitars

 

 

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The Idea

The Tele and the Strat may be the most successful and recognizable electric guitar designs in history. That alone has lead hordes of

builders large and small to replicate these and other iconic guitars with varying degrees of exactitude. Perversely, it was that fact

which, for many years, kept me from producing any kind of Strat, Tele or Les Paul variant. I even stated on my website

that I was not interested in building anything which resembled anyone else's design.

But the one constant in life is change, and as I developed my own ideas about guitar construction, I slowly came to

the conclusion that maybe the musical world would be willing to make room for instruments which resemble their

old favorites, but which try to address the traditional shortcomings of previous iterations. In the case of the Strat and Tele,

it is not only that awful chunk of wood sticking out of the body to support the neck, but also the short fretboard,

falling shy of two full octaves, and the flat headstock with those cheesy string trees which, to me, smack of

band-aid engineering. I decided that if the market forces were encouraging me to make Strat and Tele variants I should do so,

but I knew I couldn't just do it the same old way.

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The Guitars

I wanted to pay homage to the Strat and Tele in a meaningful way, by doing what I could to make them better while

retaining the classic appearance. Is it arrogance or ignorance to think that I could improve on Leo's timeless designs?

Hopefully more the latter, but we have moved forward since the days of black & white TV and your dad's '54 Chevy,

so why shouldn't our guitars evolve, too? To that end, it was a given that I would incorporate my TorsionLogic™ neck

system, which in turn gave rise to the Logicaster™ name. I also wanted to retain the tilt-back headstock and two-octave

fretboard which are featured on all my guitars. Hard-core gearheads who are concerned about moving the pickups to

add more frets may want to read my thoughts on the subject; click on the link below.

I drew the body shapes along the familiar lines, but side-by-side comparisons reveal the differences; deeper cutaways to

get at those 24 frets, no clunky neck/body joint, and a graceful, balanced headstock. The premium tonewood construction,

lacquer finish and high-quality hardware by familar names like Wilkinson, Gotoh, Schaller and Dunlop are standard features.

The Electronics

The first thing many guitarists do with a new instrument is rip out the stock innards and put in higher-quality aftermarket

electronics. But it doesn't make sense to me to expend all the energy to build a beautiful guitar, then equip it with

components so cheap that you know they won't outlast the first set of strings. So I decided to work with Sheptone Pickups

to provide top-shelf electronics throughout the Logicaster™ line. Shep hand-winds every set of pickups he sells, and

carefully matches magnet composition and coil impedences to the characteristics of each individual instrument. The

lighter weight bodies get Alnico 5 magnets for that vintage tone, and the denser woods like walnut, mahogany and

maple usually feature Alnico 2 magnets and slightly underwound coils to provide more warmth to what might otherwise be

a brittle-sounding guitar. I use CTS or Alpha pots and Sprague "Orange Drop" tone capacitors, and control cavities are

shielded with expensive conducting paint and copper foil.

The Logicaster™ TL-S control setup differs slightly from a standard Strat.There are two volume controls, a primary which

functions the familiar way, and a secondary which blends in the neck and bridge pickups when the pickup selector is in

the center position. Keep the secondary down and you have standard middle-pickup-only tone, both volumes up gives you

fat, all-in tone, roll off the primary and get neck and bridge together for a more Tele-like sound.

Production and Pricing

The guiding objective for Logicaster™ has been to offer a "handmade production" instrument for a more affordable

price than a full-on custom, made-from-scratch-to-order instrument. Therefore, I decided to standardize most aspects

so that when you pick up a Logicaster™ it feels familiar; neck thickness and profile, weight, balance and control

placement are all as you expect them to be. There are some options; the wonderful Steinberger Gearless tuners can be

specified for additional cost and must be ordered at the start of the build because the headstock layout is slightly

different; chrome hardware can be had for no cost, gold hardware a bit extra. Many players prefer a "bareback"

configuration, so the rear cover is optional at no added cost.

As Logicasters™ are completed, they will be placed on the "For Sale" page, and will be sold on a first-come,

first-served basis. Hardware, with the exception of the Steinberger tuners, can be changed post-build.

The base price with standard equipment will be $1599, plus sales tax, case and shipping. Advance orders can be

made up to a point, wherein the customer can specify hardware type and color, fret wire and wood (within reason).

Radically different neck profiles or electronics, exotic woods, etc, will be regarded as a custom build with a different price structure.

 

Price List

effective 6/6/2010

 

Base Price, T-Type and S-Type: $1599
Includes solid tonewood body, 3-piece straight grain hard maple neck, jatoba fretboard with 12” radius and 24 frets, traditional or locking tuners, bone nut and Dunlop Strap Locks. TL-S models will have a 2-point knife edge tremolo; TL-T will have hardtail bridge. Both models feature Sheptone handwound single-coil pickups. Does not include case, sales tax or shipping. All Florida sales must include 6.5% Florida sales tax.

No-Cost Options:
Customers are encouraged to specify fret size, neck thickness, pickguard color, hardware color (chrome or black) and finish (satin oil or gloss lacquer). If you don’t like the Dunlop Strap Locks, I’d be happy to use whatever suspension arrangement you prefer.

Add-On Options:
1-piece body: depends upon availability, and price may vary $100

figured top: prices vary with wood species, but generally add around $100

chambered body: popular option with denser bodies; best with figured tops $35

premium fretboard wood: prices vary with wood species, but generally add around $25

solid wood pickguard: prices vary with wood species, but generally add around $100

gold hardware: $50

Steinberger gearless tuners: chrome or black $100, gold $150

case: (high-qualityhardshell; tweed or black) $100

custom electronics: (priced according to specifics)

Hardware substitutions can be made and will be priced accordingly. For example, the stock trem can be upgraded, and will be priced according to my cost.

For obvious reasons, many of these options must be specified before I start building, but hardware color changes can usually be effected at the end of construction. You can email questions to: info@blackmesaguitars.com

Also, I reserve the right to make changes to my prices in case I've done something foolish.

 

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