Guitar build… redo
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2025 7:24 pm
I posted this a bit ago. It’s a Wolfgang build I initially started the body over a decade ago, before I ever had a Wolfgang. And I built everything from scratch. The original neck I was trying out a different fretboard material. African Blackwood. It’s fine, a good option for ebony, but I prolly wouldn’t use it again…
Anyway, I bought an old HP special neck from Peavey online eBay store for my HP special I also bought as an unfinished body that had some flaws. I love that one… So when I bought this specific neck, it showed up badly warped into back bow. Peavey was kind enough to send the other HP special neck from their warehouse left.. that one was straight and they told me to keep this one. The other neck went on that HP special. I love how chunky these are, but they are the most comfy shape I’ve used. And I like/need the fatter necks these days.
The old necks from then had single adjust truss rod. And to try and level that board likely would have eaten up a ton of the middle of the fretboard. Their old truss rods weren’t epoxied or glued in. So I was able to get it out easy. But it’s a thin truss rod. Since I needed to put a 2 way I bought the lowest profile 2-way adjust I could but it didn’t fit. I used a 24 inch drill bit and just figured it’s the only option and just kept tweaking and tweaking until I finally after much trial and plenty of hammering this in (spike wheel from the heel) I was able to get a 2way in it. Took a bit of the back bow out with the rod but still did plenty of leveling. Deepened the slots, refret , refinish and here we are… If I had a tiny complaint with the Blackwood board neck I built is I started to noticed it lacked a bit of sustain. And from my years of building and just trying all I could, my opinion is it’s the neck affecting sustain. And since the other Peavy neck has the best sustain of my other guitars, I was hopeful. And damn, it’s crazy how good the sustain is on this one too!!! Plus with that bit of wood removal from releveling the board, it’s a touch thinner, but still pretty chunky., but it’s literally perfect for me as far as neck thickness… A ton of Birdseye too. Have an EVH Frank pickup in it just wired to a 250k volume. Tone control isn’t hooked up… And it’s what I set out to build, the best Wolfgang for me.. Full floating bridge, single humbucker. A tummy cut on the body, although not as heavy as most. But I wanted just enough of one, despite having no belly, lol, just gets the angle a little better.
Definitely my fave playing guitar at the moment.
Anyway, I bought an old HP special neck from Peavey online eBay store for my HP special I also bought as an unfinished body that had some flaws. I love that one… So when I bought this specific neck, it showed up badly warped into back bow. Peavey was kind enough to send the other HP special neck from their warehouse left.. that one was straight and they told me to keep this one. The other neck went on that HP special. I love how chunky these are, but they are the most comfy shape I’ve used. And I like/need the fatter necks these days.
The old necks from then had single adjust truss rod. And to try and level that board likely would have eaten up a ton of the middle of the fretboard. Their old truss rods weren’t epoxied or glued in. So I was able to get it out easy. But it’s a thin truss rod. Since I needed to put a 2 way I bought the lowest profile 2-way adjust I could but it didn’t fit. I used a 24 inch drill bit and just figured it’s the only option and just kept tweaking and tweaking until I finally after much trial and plenty of hammering this in (spike wheel from the heel) I was able to get a 2way in it. Took a bit of the back bow out with the rod but still did plenty of leveling. Deepened the slots, refret , refinish and here we are… If I had a tiny complaint with the Blackwood board neck I built is I started to noticed it lacked a bit of sustain. And from my years of building and just trying all I could, my opinion is it’s the neck affecting sustain. And since the other Peavy neck has the best sustain of my other guitars, I was hopeful. And damn, it’s crazy how good the sustain is on this one too!!! Plus with that bit of wood removal from releveling the board, it’s a touch thinner, but still pretty chunky., but it’s literally perfect for me as far as neck thickness… A ton of Birdseye too. Have an EVH Frank pickup in it just wired to a 250k volume. Tone control isn’t hooked up… And it’s what I set out to build, the best Wolfgang for me.. Full floating bridge, single humbucker. A tummy cut on the body, although not as heavy as most. But I wanted just enough of one, despite having no belly, lol, just gets the angle a little better.
Definitely my fave playing guitar at the moment.
and I've owned several of them!! 
