FS: Wez Venables Small bodied Archtop - "Paulette" - price drop

WezV

long winding warts and all build thread here
https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/178408/fully-hollow-and-carved-les-paul/p1

As life is getting back to normal I decided I should make some effort to move this on again.   I would really prefer collection as this thing is totally unique and I want to ensure any buyer knows what they are getting. 

I have gone for a lightly aged nitro finish that is just starting to show some lacquer checking.   The finish is not perfect, I have purposely kept it all thin, avoided  super high gloss, allowing it to sink into the wood grain. Think like a 50's ES125 or junior rather than the higher end models.  I think it suits the vibe of the guitar and helps it feel much older than it actually is.   Don't expect modern factory perfection here.  This is a unique hand made item, purposely emulating a much older feel.

Playability wise things become much more friendly to modern players, with a consistent medium low action.  It's set to 1.6mm on the treble and 1.7mm on the bass, measured at the 12th fret.  I love how old archtops look, but I rarely love how they play!

Spec:
1/4" sawn Old Stock Honduras Mahogany Neck
Flat sawn Old stock Honduras Mahogany Back  - carved inside and out
Old Stock Honduras mahogany internal wood (neck block, tailblock.. etc - same blank as the neck)
Reclaimed Brazilian Mahogany sides
1/4" sawn Indian Rosewood Fretboard
1/4" sawn lightly rippled sycamore top - carved inside and out
Mojo Staple pickup with NOS PIO capacitor
Duesenberg Tailpiece - lightly aged
Grover Sta-Tite Open back tuners - lightly aged with vintage style pressed ferrules.
1 piece African Blackwood bridge
Bone nut
Weighs just over 6lb.



I have just given it a bit of a set-up now the guitar is 10 months old.  Didn't really need much other than a small truss rod tweak.  I also amended the pickup mounting from the pics above.  It now sits slightly higher so the body of the pickup is closer to the strings with the magnets set further in.  It sounded good before, but is better balanced between strings now and sounds a bit richer


Price is £2k - open to offers but not really interested in trades.


Now £1750.

TTony

I remember avidly watching that build thread for updates at the time.

Another stunning piece of craftsmanship Wez.  Not for me, but something I can still appreciate for the skill, care and expertise that’s gone into it.  Not to mention the hours, hours and hours of work.

A *proper* handmade guitar.

tone1

Just amazing....I haven’t followed this build thread like I have your other builds....but I will later tonight....

Wazmeister

Looks superb mate, it really does..

imalrightjack

I remember the build diary. I was deep into pretending to learn jazz then but now, having admitted I’m a rock player, it’s not making me want to buy so much but it’s gorgeous, so cool. 

WezV

i had another question about whether this was a jazz guitar, or capable of more dirt.  That question and @imalrightjack 's comment above makes me realise many may see it that way, but it is more of a hybrid than that

this is how I think of it:

"It can certainly do the clean jazzy thing better than most electrics, but it's not its main aim.  The main differences between something like this and say an Ibanez GB10 (the closest small bodied jazz guitar I can think of) is the GB10 would have a solid spruce top and floating pickups.  This is a sycamore top, pushing it closer to the Gibson laminated top ES range in terms of its stiffness.  Being carved from solid wood does keep it much richer than those though

The pickup is directly mounted to solid mahogany here, which gives some feedback resistance and allows the use of dirt.  More so than something in the hollow ES range, but probably less so than a centre block es 335.  It does seem to give great musical feedback when you get the right levels.

The 50's gibson staples could be quite prone to nasty feedback due to all the small parts, but this mojo version seems to handle it better.

I'm tending to fall into bluesy noodling when I pick it up.  But that probably says more about me as a player than anything else "

axisus

Love that guitar, I remember the build thread. If I was still buying guitars and I had the money I would get that!

SnazzyGeezer

That is one sexy looking guitar

WezV

I can only assume I priced it too low and its not reassuringly expensive enough. 

If any one wants to pay me £4k instead I would grudgingly accept that.  I might even hand deliver 

digitalkettle

WezV said:

I can only assume I priced it too low and its not reassuringly expensive enough. 

If any one wants to pay me £4k instead I would grudgingly accept that.  I might even hand deliver 

Shouldn't this be 'around £700'? Sorry...wrong thread

(Stunning work, btw)

flyingv

WezV said:

I can only assume I priced it too low and its not reassuringly expensive enough. 

If any one wants to pay me £4k instead I would grudgingly accept that.  I might even hand deliver 

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head

Superb guitar btw  

skaguitar

Looks like a fantastic build and I keep looking as it seems this would be perfect for the real old traditional ska music the band I’ve joined play  .. I’d need to sell stuff though

TTony

WezV said:

I can only assume I priced it too low and its not reassuringly expensive enough. 

Give it time ....

It's a niche design, and needs to be seen by someone who knows the quality of your work, and has £2k sat in their pocket.

WezV

oh I know, I was poking fun at a comment on another thread

I know things might be easier if I was happy to post, but its exactly because its niche that I would rather not do that.   I can potentially travel for a meet up though

I'm currently resisting the urge to put it on Reverb

davros

Wez - you got your own Trogly's video! Congrats!

Hope it gets you a quick sale - I would definitely have pushed the button on this if i didn't have designs on trying to build something similar myself!

WezV

haha... i got a message on Saturday night from someone saying i had already been on there, but that was a mistake 

I should have sent him the spec as he got most of it wrong  

WezV

this was the trogly April fools guitar, essentially a fancier version of what I built with a few daft features thrown in.   scarily close though


A similar looking guitar from another builder - solid body with CC pickup



And mine, which i messaged him about as  someone had confused the CC one above with mine

fastonebaz

Classy how the pot cavity cover is made from the back wood too.

Philly_Q

I look forward to watching that later.  When Trogly did his April Fools thing I did think of your guitar, it's a very similar concept.

Fishboy7

Beautiful.  I imagine this would sound amazing for slide, but would be wasted as a 'slide only' guitar. 

SimpleSimon

This is stunning and pretty much the perfect spec in my eyes