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!
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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.