NGD - Jagcaster by A J Lucas Guitars

Hoarasaurus

I had a slice of Walnut tree gifted to me, and thought that the best thing to do with it would be to take it to Master Luthier Adrian Lucas, of A J Lucas Guitars, (https://www.lucasguitars.co.uk/) and ask him to make a guitar with it.

I found a Jaguar style shape as a CAD file, and set about tweaking it to incorporate Telecaster componetry, Adjusting the pickguard design and control plate placement until i was happy, and then printed it full size, as template for Adrian to work to.

The chunk of Walnut ended up as a 3 piece body, with some beautiful figuring, and a couple of little knots, reclaimed Mahogany neck, with a fumed Eucalyptus fingerboard and bog oak scratch plate and head veneer, all finish with Osmo oil

It's fitted with:
Bulldog Pickups Iceman Telecaster pickups, from the fine genlteman @Van_Hayden ;;
Joe Barden Vintage Compensated bridge 
Grainger Guitar Parts Brass string ferrule block

I'm very, very happy with it! So i recorded a little demo in my studio (complete with Pedalcam!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpar_0OOmFM

Hoarasaurus

And the pictures....

Winny_Pooh

Such a great looking wood, I like that fretboard too!

lincolnblue

Looks wonderful! I saw it on instagram actually and thought it looked great. What's the bridge like for intonation, particularly if using capo?
Also, I'm intrigued by the angle of the switch plate. Was that a design choice or ergonomic?

Love the scratchplate being bog oak - really striking against the wood of the guitar.

Hoarasaurus

Winny_Pooh said:

Such a great looking wood, I like that fretboard too!

Thanks! The Eucalyptus has a beautiful 3d effect when rotated, very unique. 

Hoarasaurus

lincolnblue said:

Looks wonderful! I saw it on instagram actually and thought it looked great. What's the bridge like for intonation, particularly if using capo?
Also, I'm intrigued by the angle of the switch plate. Was that a design choice or ergonomic?

Love the scratchplate being bog oak - really striking against the wood of the guitar.

The Bridge has subtly compensated saddles, no issue noted so far. 

The switch plate was very much a design choice by me. I got the volume pot close to where it would be on a Strat, to make it easier to adjust with a little finger whilst playing. Then I pivoted it so that it was directly inline with the jack socket. The angle of the scratch plate, where it intersects with the control plate, is perpendicular, and then that is mirrored at the top, with the top of the scratchplate being of Tele shaped, and the lower being Jag shaped, paying homage to both. It was fun tweaking it! And yes, the bog oak works so Well! 

Van_Hayden

Very nice Jo!

joeW

Beautiful and tasteful use of the wood - love the scratch plate and head work.  Also one of the best looking neck I have ever seen.  

Hoarasaurus

Van_Hayden said:

Very nice Jo!

Why, thank you! Next time you're down these parts, and regulations allow, you'll have to have a go! 

Hoarasaurus

joeW said:

Beautiful and tasteful use of the wood - love the scratch plate and head work.  Also one of the best looking neck I have ever seen.  

I'd have to agreee! Adrian really knows his stuff. The sculpting around the base of the headstock at the back is very satisfying!
The neck profile is based on my Japanese 54 Reissue Strat, a very thick 'V'

Greatape

It looks better by far than the Fender version. I'd take that to Jazz Club..nice 

Hoarasaurus

Greatape said:

It looks better by far than the Fender version. I'd take that to Jazz Club..nice 

Yeah, the Fender one looks a bit awkward, to me it's the scratchplate that makes it look wrong, which is why i worked to resolve that, so that it looked better for my eyes. And having a reverse control plate definitly prevents accidentally changing pickup positions! 

Jez6345789

Like that and have a WOW for the demo I get bugged by NGD as so few people bother to demo them and especially when they are a non-standard build always interested to hear what things sound like and that one sounds pretty useful.

thanks

Hoarasaurus

Jez6345789 said:

Like that and have a WOW for the demo I get bugged by NGD as so few people bother to demo them and especially when they are a non-standard build always interested to hear what things sound like and that one sounds pretty useful.

thanks

Thank you, and I know exactly what you mean, describing with text and pictures does not quite work as well.

I felt it was well worth a proper demo, as it's a very useful tool for Adrian Lucas, especially in these Covid times,

And I definitly felt it worth filming it being played through a variety of effects, as it will be used. Very glad to have built a studio! (And to be fair, it was rather fun putting a pedal cam in!)

Tadragh1

Stunning - and different just enough for me. Like the reverse controls, happy (volume) swelling

Hoarasaurus

Tadragh1 said:

Stunning - and different just enough for me. Like the reverse controls, happy (volume) swelling

Thank you. My pinky is poised!

Loobs

Nice. What Matamp head is that?

Hoarasaurus

Loobs said:

Nice. What Matamp head is that?

It's my 12yr old one off, loosely based on a King Street, but much modified to two channels by Dave Green, and @Van_Hayden it was originally a 1x12 combo, but I rehoused it in a laser cut, powder coated, steel case. 

pjf

Looks fantastic - you did the right thing by taking it to AJ Lucas! Wasn’t aware he worked on electrics. Congrats from a fellow yellerbelly

simonhpieman

I must say I've never really liked the "Telemaster" concept but the little changes you've made make all the difference.

Pivoting the control plate makes the whole design 100 times more interesting than the regular approach of just plonking tele hardware onto an offset body. Great work!

Hoarasaurus

pjf said:

Looks fantastic - you did the right thing by taking it to AJ Lucas! Wasn’t aware he worked on electrics. Congrats from a fellow yellerbelly

Thanks! And you're totally right, He's a great one to go to! THis is my third from him, My Trilogy, i suppose.