The birth of MY Merlin

Page 3

by Kez Hasanic

Frank had the back and neck already sprayed by the time I turned up again, just in time to see the trans-black go on the top. It was apparent that the shade I requested would give me the required effect of dark elegance a la 'Black Beauty' but with a hint of flame showing through in stronger light as shown in this outdoor shot.

Holes for the pots and switch have been added.

Frank will clear-coat the top later and in a week I will come back to see him assemble the finished Merlin!

The day arrived and I made the trip to Frank's place in anticipation of taking my new and unique Merlin home with me! Frank had the guitar on the bench and was busy with the wiring. This is a good view of the 'stepped' shaping of the body cavity. This accomodates the slightly angled mounting of the tremolo springs thus maintaining the semi neck-through-body aspect of the Merlin design. The aged natural finish on the ash body is like highly polished glass, check out the reflection!

When Frank turns the guitar over I am stunned, simply beautiful! The matching aged finish on the neck brings out the birdseye and black pearl markers with a golden tinge, while the top is everything I wanted it to be and just as highly finished as the back. Pickup mounting rings and nobs are black in keeping with the LP Custom vibe while the hardware is gold. I have pointers put under the nobs because I need to be able to dial in different sounds which I know this guitar will deliver because I have asked Frank to allow me the ability to put the Gibson P-94 single coil pickups in/out of phase via the neck pickup volume pot which is of the push/pull type. Thats the one in the photo that does not have a nob on it yet. The choice of P-94's is partly due to my knowledge of their excellent capability in other guitars I've used and also because I like to be a little different. Mainly it's because of their inherent versatility. They can sound ballsy and LOUD blowing away any P-90 I ever heard, a very fat Gibson tone for single coils. Yet they can also sound very mellow and round with great clarity like a jazz guitar. But when you select both pickups, pull them out of phase, leave the rear pickup on 9 and dial the neck pickup to 8 it sounds a bit like a Telecaster with both pickups on, dial it to 9 and it sounds like a Strat rear pickup, 9.5 and it's like a Tele rear pickup, twang! Now you know why I wanted an ash body, tremolo and maple neck on this Merlin, I used to endlessly alternate between a Strat and a Gibson Flying V or Firebird I at rehearsals and gigs, now the Merlin just does it all!

Frank has put the Merlin together, now comes the test. Plugging it in to the dust covered Fender combo next to his workbench he cranks it up. The look on Franks face says it all, we are all smiling, it sounds fantastic, just like every Merlin I've heard, but also unique.

I am a lucky man indeed, thanks to Frank's skill, patience and talent I have been able to realize my guitar players dream. And I get to take it home!

Once home I took some more shots of my Merlin, here's a selection. I will be writing a full review on the Merlin for Harmony Central.Com as soon as I can! See you there...

Kez.