A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

This guitar had been on Kijiji for months, and I made the mistake of showing it to my wife:

"That's too cool. You should buy it."

That's right, my wife told me to buy a guitar.

Welp, OK!
This is obviously a copy of Steve Vai's infamous flame guitar. It is not a dead on copy, but very cool, nonetheless.

The body is mahogany, made and painted by the previous owner. The neck was apparently purchased from StewMac a few years back, so it's likely a Mighty Mite. The last 4 frets are scalloped. And the rest...Schaller tuners, Dimarzio PAF Pro, Gotoh Floyd....all top-notch.

The guy selling it is getting rid of some gear because of a nasty hearing condition where certain frequencies create weird overtones. All he can do is plug the ear. That's it. He's hoping it will heal, but seems to have lost his optimism. It is sad.

He built it and it's well made. He was sad to see it go. I promised him I would give it a good home.

I hope to properly play it soon because...
A combination of carpal tunnel and tendon injury has left me without proper use of my right hand for 2 weeks. It was bad. Like "my hand is too heavy for my wrist to support it" bad. I literally could not hold a piece of paper for a couple of days. It is improving with TENS and prescription anti-inflammatories, but I have been off work, getting increasingly bored, but I can't risk backsliding.

Still, I feel like I should finally learn to play "Goin' Crazy" on this thing. And give my wife a kiss.

Fun guitar, happy NGD. And damn, take care of that wrist! Hope it heals perfectly and soon.

To utilize an often used AGF pun, though as a serous question: Is the neck stable? Given that there is no lower bout whatsoever it seems like there could be the potential for stability issues. Just curious.

Wicked guitar though, and as a Via fan from that period I get the attraction. Isn't it you that owns a Jack Butler Jackson too?

toomanycats wrote: ↑Fri Jun 28, 2024 10:00 am To utilize an often used AGF pun, though as a serous question: Is the neck stable? Given that there is no lower bout whatsoever it seems like there could be the potential for stability issues. Just curious.

Wicked guitar though, and as a Via fan from that period I get the attraction. Isn't it you that owns a Jack Butler Jackson too?

Why yes, yes I do....

The neck is stable. It'll get more stable once I get some stainless neck screws in there. And upper fret access is pretty good, too!

My worry is breaking off the flames. KNE Guitars sells bodies like this, but they will only make it in maple so it's harder to break. Mahogany is not as good for this (see Gibson headstock breaks). If they do go, I'll glue it and hope for the best. Until then I'll just have fun with it. That's the goal, anyway.

EDIT: I should add that I rarely play the Jackson, which is a shame because it is endlessly cool: I keep it in a case and out of sight, out of mind. When the wrist feels better I'll need to fix that.

BatUtilityBelt wrote: ↑Fri Jun 28, 2024 9:49 am Fun guitar, happy NGD. And damn, take care of that wrist! Hope it heals perfectly and soon.

Thanks. Nerve conduction test on Thursday next, and hopefully surgery to follow soon. At least I'll get the carpal tunnel component fixed, anyway. I had it done on the left wrist a few years back, and it worked perfectly.

Interesting guitar. Not my cup of tea but if somebody brought that on stage (or to practice) I'd stop and say "Whoa."

I hope that your wrist improves with the procedures. That's a lousy injury.

tlarson58 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 28, 2024 4:22 pm Interesting guitar. Not my cup of tea but if somebody brought that on stage (or to practice) I'd stop and say "Whoa."

I hope that your wrist improves with the procedures. That's a lousy injury.

Thanks. It sucks hard.

Are you sure the wife knew it was a guitar and not a kitchen appliance ? I'm not sure myself....ha ha ha ha

Tonray's Ghost wrote: ↑Fri Jun 28, 2024 9:43 pm Are you sure the wife knew it was a guitar and not a kitchen appliance ? I'm not sure myself....ha ha ha ha

Nah, my wife's cool. She knows who she married, and that I am responsible about my guitar purchases, even if they don't look like something a responsible person would play.

HNGD!

Hope you heal fast!

That guitar is something! Good luck with the wrist - important to wear that brace while you sleep.

Tiga wrote: ↑Mon Jul 01, 2024 10:35 am That guitar is something! Good luck with the wrist - important to wear that brace while you sleep.

I wear it sleeping..eating... baiscally moat of the time. The carpal tunnel part is manageable, but the tendons are an issue. Still.

Big test tomorrow: going in to the office. The wrist remains unhappy.

Cool guitar! I hope your wrist gets better. I have arthritis in the thump joint connection to the hand and it hurts bad. Nothing I can do about it. Interestingly enough it does not bother me when playing but hurts like crazy sometimes when I pick up something. I would have thought it was caused by playing the guitar.