[123ahull]

I was wondering which wood I should use for a green meanie replica, I want to use alder for tonal qualities but I want to stay faithful to the original? which is basswood, curious what you guys think.

 

[linuxpenguin]

why would you custom build a guitar to NOT sound like how you wanted it to? If you want a "real" green meanie, go buy one in my opinion. stick with what you want, alder and basswood dont have THAT much tonal differences anyway

 

[tommychains]

yeah, basically same tone, but basswood just dents too easily.

 

[123ahull]

well denting is not a problem on this one, LOL.
I am torn because I want it to be as close as possible to the original, I have gone to some serious lengths to get all the stickers to make this the right way, (I am cloning the final sticker'd version), I now have a full set of the original stickers, so having gone that far I don't want to stray from the original, I am only going to get one shot, when we're done it should be a damn close copy. It's tough because I look at from two perspectives:

i) make it with the improvements I would have liked to have seen in it.
or
ii) make it a faithful clone of the original (I have a very good chance of pulling it off)

 

[LonePhantom]

I think basswood and alder sound quite different. Alder is brighter than basswood, basswood is neutral to dark sounding depending on the piece.

 

[mike570]

I think basswood and alder sound quite different. Alder is brighter than basswood, basswood is neutral to dark sounding depending on the piece.

Agreed!

123ahull. I would try and find a green slime Charvel So Cal and call it a day.

 

[Ayrton]

You should use the wood that sounds best to your ears. No one else is going to care, and if you don't like the sound, you wont play it.

 

[jim777]

It's going to be covered in lacquer, no one will no your secret

 

[123ahull]

Aaaaactually, I was able to locate a great picture of the back of the guitar with good resolution and there is a huge swath of paint missing on the back, probably a third or better is missing, so the wood will be clearly visible as it is worn right through the primer? As I agree if the paint were not worn through, this question would be irrelevant because no one but me would know, and I would just do what I want, but the wood will be very visible. Do you go the purists route, or go with the customized route?
It took a huge amount of time and money to locate these stickers, I can seriously understand why it has not been done before (if it has I couldn't find any reference to the project), but now that I have done it, I keep going back and forth about the body material, I can change the pickups or even the neck, but I don't think finding these stickers again can be done easily, at least I won't be doing it again, as it took almost 9 months to secure 1 complete set!
So it all comes down to the body it is the only decision left to be made. I appreciate the feedback and this is not a fool's errand, I have to make a decision soon as I have everything now and the body has to get started soon.

Thanks

 

[AlaskaBat]

If you're going to replicate the missing paint on the back--you're in for more work than expected. If going the "purist route, are you going to paint and clear, then sand that strip down the back?

 

[123ahull]

Yeah, we're going to strip the paint or maybe mask it and feather the edge later, although I don't think we are going to clear it, because I don't think the original was clear coated (not sure though), most likely we will just seal the raw wood after sanding? I understand how much work it is, it will be worth it though as I was able to find some great photos and have everything to make this almost a dead nutz copy. I even bought a period correct neck plate had the serial # milled off and the right one laser engraved on, I also a picked up a vintage floyd rose with age appropriate "wear" and dimarzio tracked down a vintage pink bobbin that was old stock for the neck pickup (their new pink is terrible IMO), not to mention tracking down all the 25 year old stickers.