Corvus Guitar Works - builds, paint, mods/servicing, Cambs

Corvus

Thanks! It's down to our man's choices, as he's away it feels a bit off to run on about it now, but in the meantime it's great to play and sounds fab.

Corvus

So our @MTB is OK with pics & info, though he won't see it for a while, so here we go -







It's a GSP body & neck. The body was B-stock I guess, needed a few corrections. Modded the heel for the recessed curved plate. Ferrule block added.
De-chromed & aged hardware. BKP Mule and Creamery P90, with a nickel-silver cover added. Lightly 'potted' to the pickup against squeal. One-off pickguard.
The neck's got a couple of light shellac coats on so it feels natural but has some protection, and the grain & colour is enhanced.

It sounds great and I get it to play it a while longer  

Corvus

Some progress pics on a tasty Strat for @webrthomson, a gent & scholar and man of fine taste - it's a GSP-supplied body and solid ebony neck.

The neck's bare ebony except for the head face that had to be levelled to take the decal, I tried to match the sheen to the back of the neck, not that you can see that..

Nitro gloss burst with partial grainfilling so some texture starts to show through. Trick is to have it flat enough to not fill grain pores with buffing compound which won't fish out, and know that over a little time it will sink and allow texture

webrthomson

Looking great Bill

Corvus

Cheers Ross!

Corvus

This has been with Ross a week or three but finished pics here now. The Mojo staple sounds great, clear and spanky. The Lawrence bridge pickup has a partial coil split and also sounds great.
It looks shiny here but it is pretty thin with grain texture, and will thin out/sink more in time as well -

paulnb57

Corvus said:

Was hoping for a quietish spell so I could get a bunch of things done, but it's been busy. So a late few pics.

Already seen but for completeness, the Esquire+ build




7lbs of fun.

I recently received this very guitar in a Fretboard trade and I have to say it is utterly superb.
It has made me consider selling everything else, I am truly smitten.
Only change is the pickups, it is now a true Esquire with Eldred…

Corvus

Wow that's nice to hear, thanks Paul! Glad you like it.

webrthomson

Corvus said:

This has been with Ross a week or three but finished pics here now. The Mojo staple sounds great, clear and spanky. The Lawrence bridge pickup has a partial coil split and also sounds great.
It looks shiny here but it is pretty thin with grain texture, and will thin out/sink more in time as well -

Yup - it was with me at practice last night again - loving it so far! Beautiful solid Ebony neck and ash body from @GSPBASSES, all put together by Bill @Corvus so my shoddy woodworking is nowhere near anything that nice.

Check out that neck:

Sounds brilliant, the staple P90 and coil split Lawrence humbucker is particularly amazing!

Teyeplayer

paulnb57 said:

Corvus said:

Was hoping for a quietish spell so I could get a bunch of things done, but it's been busy. So a late few pics.

Already seen but for completeness, the Esquire+ build




7lbs of fun.

I recently received this very guitar in a Fretboard trade and I have to say it is utterly superb.
It has made me consider selling everything else, I am truly smitten.
Only change is the pickups, it is now a true Esquire with Eldred…

Hands down the best tele I have ever owned. What can I say, GAS makes me do crazy things, but I intend to have another Corvus before too long.  

Corvus

Wow, that's very nice, cheers Jay

guitartango

Very Nice Bill @Corvus ;

Corvus

Cheers Mike, hope you're doing OK there.

bodhi

paulnb57 said:

Corvus said:

Was hoping for a quietish spell so I could get a bunch of things done, but it's been busy. So a late few pics.

Already seen but for completeness, the Esquire+ build




7lbs of fun.

I recently received this very guitar in a Fretboard trade and I have to say it is utterly superb.
It has made me consider selling everything else, I am truly smitten.
Only change is the pickups, it is now a true Esquire with Eldred…

I think about this guitar a lot.  Thoroughly regret not buying it.

Corvus

There's a thread on this Alembic resto but adding some pics for completeness here.

Before




After

Corvus

Trying to get a second version of this new model going but it's pretty delayed, a lot of repair & setup coming through lately. Loads of Mex Teles in particular, tons of 'em.

Corvus

And Joe's G&L SC2, refin and couple of mods

This was black with faux binding and a hard/sharp corner on the top body edges. That was duly rounded over to match the back.
The neck made satin, and the dodgy barrel jack consigned to history in favour of a Switchcraft jack socket & plate.

Painted vintage/off-white nitro. I cannot get colours to come out right.. drives me potty. It's a light cream/yellow kind of shade, not like the pic unfortunately.

Corvus

Long overdue pics. Partly busy, partly bad at photos, part rather not be sat at a PC. Some bits & bobs in no particular order, some things from forum guys -

Paul's (or Mrs tPD's) parts bass. Nice finish Paul did and sounds really good too. Wiring tidy-up for the Bartolini active, setup tweaks, board darkening



Si's super nice Hamer -



Luke's Strat in for HSS and a new neck

Corvus

Robot alien faces living in a compressor.




Not keen on having to dig in but it is a hell of a lot cheaper than getting someone to do it. Should be good for another 16 years now.

A couple of planes scored at a local boot sale for cheap. Spend an hour or two stripping, de-rusting and cleaning them, flatting the soles and sorting out the irons. The WS with the bronze cap iron is from pre-1953, the company closed then. Both been pressed into service and working well. Little Stanley seems to be pre-60 or so.

Corvus

A 1965 Gibson EB2, in for a neck sort-out and refin. It was scabby and rough with lacquer flaking off, the owner wanted smooth without ageing & checking. Bottom pic is after paint direct from the gun, after a flat & polish up to high gloss it got knocked down in shine, to match the body sheen. The neck was rough but the rest of it in really tidy nick -