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Started By
Message
For the aging 80s metalhead guitarists
Posted on 12/7/19 at 8:52 am
Posted on 12/7/19 at 8:52 am
Just finished a cool restoration for myself and the shop's permanent collection, thought the board's headbangers might like ...
Last year, I picked up an original mid 1980s ESP Random Star, one of the actual Akira Takasaki sig models from waaaay back in the day. I got it ridiculously cheap because some moron in the RS's abusive past sanded away its factory Ferrari red finish (grrr), threw away the mirror pickguard and accent plates (grrrr) and repainted the guitar (neck trunk and all) with a thick goopy pearl white that looked like a first grader applied it with a tongue depressor (facepalm).
I stripped the neck and returned it to vintage glory, complete with a re-radius and jumbo refret, a period correct repro logo copied from my other mid 1980s ESP, and a hand-rubbed Danish oil trunk finish (it feels awesome). Spray gun maestro Joel Cangiolosi at Full Blown Paint south of BR reshot the body (after filling old mirror plate holes) in a custom intense metalflake color he and I came up with called "alien bile." Joel finished his magic this week and I had it back up and running shortly thereafter.
Enough of the background, here's pics and a video (!)
What an Akira Random Star looked like some 30-plus years ago ...
What it looked like when I got it and got it up and running as a player ...
And the finished "alien bile" resto ...
And VIDEO to see the intense metalflake doing its magic ...
1980s ESP "Alien Bile" Random Star Restoration by The Fret Shack
That's the guitar's original pre-Berlin Wall-fall German Floyd Rose, pickups are a Seymour Duncan Parallel Axis and a Gibson PAF I pulled from an old Les Paul.
This is THE BEST sounding rock guitar to have ever set foot in my shop. And it's no longer an Akira, it's a Fret Shack now (!). Thanks y'all for letting me show it off.
Last year, I picked up an original mid 1980s ESP Random Star, one of the actual Akira Takasaki sig models from waaaay back in the day. I got it ridiculously cheap because some moron in the RS's abusive past sanded away its factory Ferrari red finish (grrr), threw away the mirror pickguard and accent plates (grrrr) and repainted the guitar (neck trunk and all) with a thick goopy pearl white that looked like a first grader applied it with a tongue depressor (facepalm).
I stripped the neck and returned it to vintage glory, complete with a re-radius and jumbo refret, a period correct repro logo copied from my other mid 1980s ESP, and a hand-rubbed Danish oil trunk finish (it feels awesome). Spray gun maestro Joel Cangiolosi at Full Blown Paint south of BR reshot the body (after filling old mirror plate holes) in a custom intense metalflake color he and I came up with called "alien bile." Joel finished his magic this week and I had it back up and running shortly thereafter.
Enough of the background, here's pics and a video (!)
What an Akira Random Star looked like some 30-plus years ago ...
What it looked like when I got it and got it up and running as a player ...
And the finished "alien bile" resto ...
And VIDEO to see the intense metalflake doing its magic ...
1980s ESP "Alien Bile" Random Star Restoration by The Fret Shack
That's the guitar's original pre-Berlin Wall-fall German Floyd Rose, pickups are a Seymour Duncan Parallel Axis and a Gibson PAF I pulled from an old Les Paul.
This is THE BEST sounding rock guitar to have ever set foot in my shop. And it's no longer an Akira, it's a Fret Shack now (!). Thanks y'all for letting me show it off.
This post was edited on 12/7/19 at 8:53 am
10
Posted on 12/7/19 at 11:03 am to TheFretShack
J,
thx for posting that YT video. Haven't heard Crazy Nights in 30 yrs... killer tune brother.
You also do the paint on restorations ? Incredible work
edit: just re-read your post and saw this .... "Spray gun maestro Joel Cangiolosi at Full Blown Paint south of BR reshot the body"
thx for posting that YT video. Haven't heard Crazy Nights in 30 yrs... killer tune brother.
You also do the paint on restorations ? Incredible work
edit: just re-read your post and saw this .... "Spray gun maestro Joel Cangiolosi at Full Blown Paint south of BR reshot the body"
This post was edited on 12/7/19 at 11:05 am
Posted on 12/7/19 at 1:43 pm to TheFretShack
Dimebag Darrell would approve
Posted on 12/7/19 at 2:02 pm to TheFretShack
The color is appropriate for Loudness.
Posted on 12/7/19 at 2:27 pm to TheFretShack
I like the green, what's the weight of that guitar?
Posted on 12/7/19 at 2:51 pm to TheFretShack
Have you ever owned one of the Guild pointy models?
Posted on 12/7/19 at 2:55 pm to TheFretShack
Interesting. I've never heard of these before. I guess they predate Dimebag's guitar.
Posted on 12/7/19 at 3:38 pm to RabidTiger
Surprisingly lightweight, it's alder. I'd guess about 7 pounds.
The Star shape was created by Wayne Charvel in his old San Dimas custom shop in the late 70s. He had a bolt-on explorer body in his shop, he cut the butt out of it to make it lighter and whippier, and he gave it to an up and coming recurring client of his ... Edward Van Halen. Ed asked what it was and he said it was a "star," because it kind of looked like a star and its new owner was a star too, so he gave it to him. Ed took it home and mated it with a spare Danelectro neck in his parts salvage stash, hence the unusual headstock. And of course gave it a wild paint job.
Here's snaps of EVH with that original star body on the 1980 Invasion/Women and Children First tour. It was a touring/live show guitar and it was rarely seen after that tour.
EVH Guitars recently reissued a tribute model of it too.
The Star shape was created by Wayne Charvel in his old San Dimas custom shop in the late 70s. He had a bolt-on explorer body in his shop, he cut the butt out of it to make it lighter and whippier, and he gave it to an up and coming recurring client of his ... Edward Van Halen. Ed asked what it was and he said it was a "star," because it kind of looked like a star and its new owner was a star too, so he gave it to him. Ed took it home and mated it with a spare Danelectro neck in his parts salvage stash, hence the unusual headstock. And of course gave it a wild paint job.
Here's snaps of EVH with that original star body on the 1980 Invasion/Women and Children First tour. It was a touring/live show guitar and it was rarely seen after that tour.
EVH Guitars recently reissued a tribute model of it too.
Posted on 12/7/19 at 6:40 pm to TheFretShack
quote:
Joel Cangiolosi at Full Blown Paint south of BR
Painted my original Hayabusa a few years back. Dude is the real deal. Amazing work.
Posted on 12/7/19 at 8:52 pm to Sayre
I have a custom build I've been wanting to finish for years. Most of it is just putting parts together and getting a body painted.
What kind of stuff can this guy do? Swirls? I'm very interested.
What kind of stuff can this guy do? Swirls? I'm very interested.
Posted on 12/7/19 at 11:04 pm to TheFretShack
In the pre-headstock lawsuit era, the Asian makers (while also dealing with some hit and miss quality issues) had a certain vibe to them that just bring out the nostalgia in me.
Of course, being a huge Def Leppard fan, my favorite is the old Ibanez DT555. I read just recently that Collen never used the middle pickup - he just liked the way it looked.
I mean, look at it. This guitar is as sexy as (almost) any woman:
Of course, being a huge Def Leppard fan, my favorite is the old Ibanez DT555. I read just recently that Collen never used the middle pickup - he just liked the way it looked.
I mean, look at it. This guitar is as sexy as (almost) any woman:
Posted on 12/8/19 at 9:46 am to Ace Midnight
Check out Joel's porfolio at Full Blown Paint's websiteto get more of an idea of what he does and can do.
There is nothing hit and miss about Japanese-made ESP and their domestic market-made subsidiaries (in particular, the non-export Navigator brand), whether it's the mid 1980s 48th Street era or modern times. They are among the best and most consistent guitars on the planet, even their mass production assembly line pieces. Material selection, fit and finish, overall craftsmanship and attention to detail are beyond meticulous. That's how they successfully penetrated the American market in the first place. And anyone who says ESPs are too "metal" or too "rock" for their tastes, Google "Navigator Les Paul" or "Navigator Stratocaster" and watch what what turns up.
Here's some three-pickup Ace trivia for you, Ace. On Ace Frehley's three-pickup Les Paul Customs, only the bridge pickup was wired in. The neck and middle pickups were in essence cavity fillers solely to fill cavities and for the look. A bridge pickup master volume was in the circuit too, but the other three knobs were bypassed entirely. The wiring scheme not only eliminated what he never used, but it allowed him to use the pickup selector switch as a momentary/on-off/kill switch effect.
There is nothing hit and miss about Japanese-made ESP and their domestic market-made subsidiaries (in particular, the non-export Navigator brand), whether it's the mid 1980s 48th Street era or modern times. They are among the best and most consistent guitars on the planet, even their mass production assembly line pieces. Material selection, fit and finish, overall craftsmanship and attention to detail are beyond meticulous. That's how they successfully penetrated the American market in the first place. And anyone who says ESPs are too "metal" or too "rock" for their tastes, Google "Navigator Les Paul" or "Navigator Stratocaster" and watch what what turns up.
Here's some three-pickup Ace trivia for you, Ace. On Ace Frehley's three-pickup Les Paul Customs, only the bridge pickup was wired in. The neck and middle pickups were in essence cavity fillers solely to fill cavities and for the look. A bridge pickup master volume was in the circuit too, but the other three knobs were bypassed entirely. The wiring scheme not only eliminated what he never used, but it allowed him to use the pickup selector switch as a momentary/on-off/kill switch effect.
Posted on 12/8/19 at 1:51 pm to TheFretShack
Good stuff man.
Posted on 12/8/19 at 9:25 pm to 24nights
There's not much Joel can't do when it comes to painting stuff.
Posted on 12/9/19 at 3:36 pm to TheFretShack
You can have some wok un woll kwazee nots with that rig.
Posted on 12/9/19 at 5:37 pm to TheFretShack
My first concert was VH on that tour. BR Centroplex
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