Building a (literal) metal guitar. All suggestions welcome

[SuperFreq]

 

Hi gang, this is my latest project. A 100% metal (aluminum) guitar based on a Warlock single pickup design.

I've never built a guitar by myself before, although with the help of experienced luthiers I've co-designed 2 aluminum gtrs, having them do the labor. This is my first solo build.

I have the body and the neck as pictured. That's all I've got so far, meaning everything from electronics to tuners to strings is fair game. If the plan is to stay close to a BC Rich Warlock single-pickup design, what do you suggest for hardware? Spare no expense at this point; the body & neck cost me a pretty penny so why not go for the top of the line.

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 04:23 PM by SuperFreq

[Chaps]

Maybe something that allows you to use the guitar as a MIDI controller,  like the Roland GK-3 Divided Pickup?

[SuperFreq]

29 minutes ago, Chaps said:

Maybe something that allows you to use the guitar as a MIDI controller,  like the Roland GK-3 Divided Pickup?

BRILLIANT.

That would be so effing sweet, especially since I happen to have an earlier model GK-2a as well as a GR-1 synth module collecting dust!

From what I recall, the GK installs at the bridge, leaving the regular pickup cavity available, so I can have the best of both worlds. But using it as a MIDI guitar would definitely go with its space age looks!

[Amberwolf]

There is also a software solution to that by Jam Origin. 

 

  It works pretty well for my beater yamaha acoustic with a magnetic pickup wedged in the soundhole, and my crappy firstact electric.   The bass version works ok with my Ibanez 6-string bass.  (keep in mind I don't really play guitar, so theres' probably things it odesn't do that I don't know about).   

 

[SuperFreq]

15 hours ago, Amberwolf said:

There is also a software solution to that by Jam Origin. 

 

  It works pretty well for my beater yamaha acoustic with a magnetic pickup wedged in the soundhole, and my crappy firstact electric.   The bass version works ok with my Ibanez 6-string bass.  (keep in mind I don't really play guitar, so theres' probably things it odesn't do that I don't know about).   

 

That's insanely impressive. I wish he demoed chords and polyphonic riffs because that's where I bet there might be some trouble with the software. But for solo stuff, he proved it can track as fast as Keith Emerson at least.

One unique feature of the Roland hex pickup & guitar synth combo is each string is goes to a separate voice, so you can adjust the fx or even assign each string to a different sound. For example bass guitar to the low strings and synth to the upper. I recall one preset that's hours of fun: a full drum kit!

But I recall installing the hex pickup can be a pain. I'd just as soon use a software converter for most uses. Thanks for the tip!

[mettelus]

Most hardware (tuners, nut, bridge/tremolo) will mirror over from a wood design, but as mentioned above, I would put some forethought into the electronics. I would suspect the sustain on that would be well above average and also brighter due to harmonics. 

With one pickup, a Seymour Duncan Triple Shot will allow you to series/parallel/single coil each side without any guitar modification (switches are on the ring). With the sustain possibilities, building in a sustainer (where a neck pup would be) is another option, but that requires a power source and possible modification, so might be on the overzealous end.

The Triple Shot also has the advantage you can swap the entire assembly out for another pup, but leave enough wire to work with inside the pup cavity. If you really want to get carried away, you can use contacts in the cavity and magnets on the guitar/steel spacer on the ring to pop the whole thing in and out "at will."