[In progress] The "Mixteora" project (custom Meteora)

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molul
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[In progress] The "Mixteora" project (custom Meteora)

Post by molul » Fri Aug 12, 2022 10:38 pm

It's been a while since I wanted to start this, and it's finally in progress :)

I instantly fell in love with the Meteora shape when I saw it, but no model will be able to match my needs, so I went the custom road for the third time, after my previous custom Strat and Jazzmaster.

The name comes from having mixed stuff from different models: Meteora shape, Strat pickups and vibrato, and Jaguar neck. Initially I was also going for a JM tremolo, but I finally went for the Vegatrem.

This is the design I made in Illustrator, just to make sure the Sustainiac circuit would fit into a custom back route. I used real size plans of Meteora, Strat, Jaguar (for the neck) and Jazzmaster (for the bridge, which was changed to a Strat Vegatrem at the end).

Image
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Specs:

Body
-Chambered swamp ash with transparent red poly finish (1.4kg)
-Custom neck contour
-SSS pickup route
-Bridge: Vegatrem in black finish
-Top jack socket

Neck
-24" maple, satin poly finish
-Headstock truss rod access
-22 frets
-Custom headstock like the Fernandes Decade (the first guitar I saw using a Sustainiac, which was actually a Sustainer)
-Profile: similar to Warmoth's 59 Roundback (thickness at 1st fret: 0.860"; at 12th: 0.960")
-Radius: 9.5"
-Frets: 6105
-Width at nut: 1’6875"
-Rolled edges
-Inlays: side and front black dots

Hardware
-Pickups: Sustainiac, Dimarzio BC-1 and Dimarzio Super Distortion
-Knobs: allparts 500k push/push (one to enable/disable Sustainiac, and the other to switch between normal and harmonic mode)
-Shaller locking tuners black
-Tremolo: Vegatrem black
-Custom pickguard to properly cover the strat pickups, 0.06"


The body and neck is being done by a spanish luthier, Bezier Guitars (https://www.instagram.com/bezierguitars/?hl=es), who makes really amazing stuff. When he's done, he'll send me the parts to be assembled in my city by another luthier.

Yesterday he sent me pics of the just finished body (not painted yet):
Image
Image

The finish should look more or less like this:
Image

I'll upload more pictures as they come. I expect to have it finished by late September (crossing fingers).

If this guitar ends up being as good as I expect, I'm most likely building a second one, but with ebony fretboard and transparent turquoise satin finish, like this but satin:
Image


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EDIT (10-Oct): new pics of the just finished neck!
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EDIT Nov 7th: the body and neck have come back from painting!
Image
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However, there was a problem with shipment and the body will have to be painted again as it was damaged (I'd rather not posting the picture here, it's too painful). I'll have to wait a couple of weeks more :_(

---

EDIT - April 11th
Well it's been a while, but the Mixteora is finally here!

Image
Last edited by molul on Mon Apr 10, 2023 10:59 pm, edited 10 times in total.

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MayTheFuzzBeWithYou
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Re: (In progress) The "Mixteora" project (custom meteora)

Post by MayTheFuzzBeWithYou » Sat Aug 13, 2022 1:17 am

Looking forward to this!
24“ Meteora might just be a thing for me too! :)

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Re: (In progress) The "Mixteora" project (custom Meteora)

Post by marqueemoon » Sat Aug 13, 2022 9:25 am

The Meteora is a shape everyone seem to be doing cooler things with than Fender.

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Re: (In progress) The "Mixteora" project (custom Meteora)

Post by molul » Sat Aug 13, 2022 9:56 am

marqueemoon wrote:
Sat Aug 13, 2022 9:25 am
The Meteora is a shape everyone seem to be doing cooler things with than Fender.
Yep, although it makes sense, I guess. It has arrived in a time when making custom guitars is easier than ever, and not enough time has passed for Fender to make weird things with the Meteora. The model has barely found its own identity in the third incarnation (which won't likely be the last one). It's so easy for individuals to try things Fender isn't even able to try right now.

I'm convinced that there will be more variations regarding pickups, finishes and even neck scales once the model gets enough sales, and I think the current model has been a bigger success than the previous two.

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Re: (In progress) The "Mixteora" project (custom Meteora)

Post by marqueemoon » Sat Aug 13, 2022 10:15 am

molul wrote:
Sat Aug 13, 2022 9:56 am
marqueemoon wrote:
Sat Aug 13, 2022 9:25 am
The Meteora is a shape everyone seem to be doing cooler things with than Fender.
Yep, although it makes sense, I guess. It has arrived in a time when making custom guitars is easier than ever, and not enough time has passed for Fender to make weird things with the Meteora. The model has barely found its own identity in the third incarnation (which won't likely be the last one). It's so easy for individuals to try things Fender isn't even able to try right now.

I'm convinced that there will be more variations regarding pickups, finishes and even neck scales once the model gets enough sales, and I think the current model has been a bigger success than the previous two.
Yeah. In a way I bet this is a really effective way for Fender to outsource their R&D and marketing.

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Re: (In progress) The "Mixteora" project (custom Meteora)

Post by YALCaster » Sat Aug 13, 2022 11:48 am

I never posted about it like I had originally intended to do, but about two years ago I made a Meteora with WRHBs and a pickguard that allows for bridge pickup mounting. I can post photos if anyone is interested. Not to highjack the thread, your project looks great!

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Re: (In progress) The "Mixteora" project (custom Meteora)

Post by molul » Sat Aug 13, 2022 11:51 am

YALCaster wrote:
Sat Aug 13, 2022 11:48 am
I never posted about it like I had originally intended to do, but about two years ago I made a Meteora with WRHBs and a pickguard that allows for bridge pickup mounting. I can post photos if anyone is interested. Not to highjack the thread, your project looks great!
I would love to see those pics! :) There are so few pics of Meteoras out there, so any picture is always cool to see ^_^

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Re: (In progress) The "Mixteora" project (custom Meteora)

Post by YALCaster » Sat Aug 13, 2022 3:00 pm

molul wrote:
Sat Aug 13, 2022 11:51 am
[quote=YALCaster post_id=<a href="tel:1737894">1737894</a> time=<a href="tel:1660420108">1660420108</a> user_id=23622]
I never posted about it like I had originally intended to do, but about two years ago I made a Meteora with WRHBs and a pickguard that allows for bridge pickup mounting. I can post photos if anyone is interested. Not to highjack the thread, your project looks great!
I would love to see those pics! :) There are so few pics of Meteoras out there, so any picture is always cool to see ^_^


Here it is!

Image

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Re: (In progress) The "Mixteora" project (custom Meteora)

Post by molul » Sat Aug 13, 2022 10:41 pm

Interesting choice of the pickup switch and knobs positions. Don't you accidentally change the pickup while playing?

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Re: (In progress) The "Mixteora" project (custom Meteora)

Post by YALCaster » Sun Aug 14, 2022 3:24 pm

No, I keep my palm planted next the bridge most of the time. I’m more of a noodler than a player

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Re: (In progress) The "Mixteora" project (custom Meteora)

Post by lastactionhero12765 » Mon Aug 15, 2022 11:07 am

What an awesome design! Definitely has a suped up Ed O'Brien strat aspect. And if this is anything like some of the other work Bezier has on their Instagram I'm sure it's going to look fantastic.

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Re: (In progress) The "Mixteora" project (custom Meteora)

Post by molul » Mon Aug 15, 2022 11:23 am

Thanks! My previous strat, from 2010, was more similar to O'Brien's axe I guess (I don't know why they chose to use Sustainer instead of the original Sustainiac):
Image


My current guitar was an evolution from that:
Image

But I recently realized I prefer the strat tremolo over the JM, although I'm also a bit bored of the strat shape. The Meteora just appeared in my life in the right moment xD
I've also been longing for a 24" neck guitar for a while, and I'm finally having one! :D

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Re: (In progress) The "Mixteora" project (custom Meteora)

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Mon Aug 15, 2022 12:44 pm

molul wrote:
Mon Aug 15, 2022 11:23 am
Thanks! My previous strat, from 2010, was more similar to O'Brien's axe I guess (I don't know why they chose to use Sustainer instead of the original Sustainiac):
Image


My current guitar was an evolution from that:
Image

But I recently realized I prefer the strat tremolo over the JM, although I'm also a bit bored of the strat shape. The Meteora just appeared in my life in the right moment xD
I've also been longing for a 24" neck guitar for a while, and I'm finally having one! :D
That is gorgeous!! How do you like your Sustainiac? I've been wanting one for an upcoming build, and I've heard that the guys who make them can be a pain to work with since they want to solder all of themselves.
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

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Re: (In progress) The "Mixteora" project (custom Meteora)

Post by molul » Mon Aug 15, 2022 1:12 pm

Shadoweclipse13 wrote:
Mon Aug 15, 2022 12:44 pm
That is gorgeous!! How do you like your Sustainiac? I've been wanting one for an upcoming build, and I've heard that the guys who make them can be a pain to work with since they want to solder all of themselves.

Well, I can't live without Sustainiac. That's a problem, as all my future guitars will be most likely custom (I mean, I wish I could just go to any store and be able to choose from different guitars with Sustainiac already installed), but it's a big part of my playing style.

My story with the Sustainiac started 15 years ago. I discovered that Smashing Pumpkins used it in their Adore tour in 1998 (well, they used the Fernandes Sustainer, which is some kind of reverse-engineered version of an old Sustainiac version).

After learning that those sounds I loved came from that special pickup, I bought the only guitar that had it back in the day: the Jackson Dinky DK2S. I loved the Sustainiac in it, but the guitar was "too metal", and the floyd Rose was a PITA.

Then I bought a Fender Billy Corgan signature strat. I much preferred its sound, but I missed the Sustainiac, and the tremolo (Corgan's was hardtail). A friend of mine told me about this guy that could make me a guitar like Corgan's but with the Sustainiac pickup, and that's how my first custom strat was born. It was just what I wanted.

Some years later, I tried a Jazzmaster during my band's latest album (which has some nice Sustainiac arrangements, btw) recording sessions, and I loved the body shape and tremolo, so I had the JM posted above built by another luthier.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), some time later I had to play the strat for a few weeks and realized I much preferred the strat tremolo. That's how this new Mixteora project started. I wanted the strat in a cooler shape, and the Meteora is cooler than the JM to me.

Also, I'm making a couple of improvements: the tremolo will be a Vegatrem (which I like much more than my strat's Wilkinson), and I'm having a rear route for easy access to the Sustainiac circuit for tweaking (I recommend this A LOT if you're planning on building a guitar with Sustainiac).

Here's hoping this is the definitive incarnation of my main guitar! XD

As for the Sustainiac crew, I've only spoken with Alan Hoover for advice on my projects, and he's been very kind and supportive. I've always bought the kit (unsoldered) and have had a local luthier install it on my guitars. No probs with that from the Sustainiac team.

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Re: [In progress] The "Mixteora" project (custom Meteora)

Post by alexpigment » Wed Oct 12, 2022 7:02 pm

Interesting thread! It's funny that I had the same initial exposure to the Fernandes Sustainer (Adore album/tour), and I've had a saved eBay search for years to find a sunburst Decade like Billy's. I own a Fernandes MIJ Retrorocket (Strat-ish design), but I don't really get along with the neck, body shape, or strat tremolo. I'm currently in the process of building a JM with a more traditional 2-pickup setup (humbucker neck driver hopefully fitted into a JM pickup "ring". I don't think any routing is necessary here, as I have all the space I need in the cavities. The rhythm circuit area will house the battery, and I think I'm going to cut the guard so that the upper rhythm portion can be removed separately from the rest of the guard for battery swaps.

At any rate, I also love the Meteora shape, and I really want to see how this project progresses. Good luck!

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