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Well my birthday just passed yesterday and I spent the weekend in California for my Uncle's wedding so what better present to myself than ordering a new guitar from Ron Thorn and hand-picking the woods at his shop! 
I don't have any strats around the house and having seen and heard several SoCals with single coils from Ron it is apparent that he has the uncanny knack for making every damn SoCal model with singles sound like a killer strat regardless of the woods used! :rofl: With this in mind I have also been GASing for something with a rosewood neck and a koa top and who better to check with than Ron since he has monster stashes of both? :yesway: I am doing it as kind of an homage to the Reb Beach model with some twists. Specs for this baby are as follows:
Build Specs for Thorn SoCal S/S Beach Bum Custom
Body: 1-pc. Honduran Mahogany
Top: 1/8" Bookmatched Polexia Koa
Arm Contour: Yes
Tummy Cut: Yes
Tortoise Shell Binding around top
Neck: Brazilian Kingwood
Fretboard: Brazilian Kingwood
Full "C" neck carve (No shoulders)
**Super Rolled Fretboard Edges**
6150 Stainless Steel fretwire w/ Hidden Fret-ends
Nickel Hardware
1 x Pasadena Humbucker in the bridge ('86+) w/ matching Koa wood bobbins and ring
2 x Pasadena singles in neck and middle w/ matching Koa wood bobbins
REAR LOADED CONTROLS
1 x Volume (Moved Back a bit as I hit the volume knob on strats with my pinky a lot :lol
1 x Tone (Push/Pull - split)
5-way blade switch
NO pickguard
SIDE JACK w/ Thorn Plate
Bridge: Thorn Tremolo - Nickel
Inlays: Mastadon Ivory Dots and Firesun @ 12th fret
Side Dots: Mother of Pearl
Headstock Logo: Mastadon Ivory "Thorn" / Koa "Circle"
Contoured heel
"Precision-lock" neck pocket
10"-14" Compound Radius / 25.5" Scale / 22 Frets
1.670" Tusq Nut Width
6-inline Locking / Staggered Tuners (no string tree) - Nickel
Headstock Truss-rod Adjustment
Dunlop Dual-design Straplok Buttons - Nickel
Knobs: Matching wood
Engraved "Matt Garcia" signature on back of headstock
Deluxe leather bound G&G case
Body Color: Nitro Lacquer Clear Coat on the top, "warmed up" amber for the back
Neck & Headstock: Oiled
It is going to be SIIIIIICK when it is done! I saw the woods (except the body wood, I didn't make him dig all of it out but it will be a single piece of mahogany) in person and it has me even more excited to see it completed down the road! :hbang: We went with Brazilian Kingwood as it is in the same family as Brazilian Rosewood but it is not quite as dark (but more readily available and without the monster price tag of the dark Brazzy stuff everyone is used to seeing) however Ron said as far as grain/density and tone go it is incredibly similar. All the tone and feel but no $1K+ upcharge for a solid Brazilian neck? Count me in! :bowdown:
Now, what good would this thread be without pics? None at all, I hate spec threads with zero pics so here we go!
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This is the neck wood blank for my guitar next to a stock artisan neck made from another piece of Brazilian Kingwood:
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Can't wait!!! :hbang:
I don't have any strats around the house and having seen and heard several SoCals with single coils from Ron it is apparent that he has the uncanny knack for making every damn SoCal model with singles sound like a killer strat regardless of the woods used! :rofl: With this in mind I have also been GASing for something with a rosewood neck and a koa top and who better to check with than Ron since he has monster stashes of both? :yesway: I am doing it as kind of an homage to the Reb Beach model with some twists. Specs for this baby are as follows:Build Specs for Thorn SoCal S/S Beach Bum Custom
Body: 1-pc. Honduran Mahogany
Top: 1/8" Bookmatched Polexia Koa
Arm Contour: Yes
Tummy Cut: Yes
Tortoise Shell Binding around top
Neck: Brazilian Kingwood
Fretboard: Brazilian Kingwood
Full "C" neck carve (No shoulders)
**Super Rolled Fretboard Edges**
6150 Stainless Steel fretwire w/ Hidden Fret-ends
Nickel Hardware
1 x Pasadena Humbucker in the bridge ('86+) w/ matching Koa wood bobbins and ring
2 x Pasadena singles in neck and middle w/ matching Koa wood bobbins
REAR LOADED CONTROLS
1 x Volume (Moved Back a bit as I hit the volume knob on strats with my pinky a lot :lol
1 x Tone (Push/Pull - split)
5-way blade switch
NO pickguard
SIDE JACK w/ Thorn Plate
Bridge: Thorn Tremolo - Nickel
Inlays: Mastadon Ivory Dots and Firesun @ 12th fret
Side Dots: Mother of Pearl
Headstock Logo: Mastadon Ivory "Thorn" / Koa "Circle"
Contoured heel
"Precision-lock" neck pocket
10"-14" Compound Radius / 25.5" Scale / 22 Frets
1.670" Tusq Nut Width
6-inline Locking / Staggered Tuners (no string tree) - Nickel
Headstock Truss-rod Adjustment
Dunlop Dual-design Straplok Buttons - Nickel
Knobs: Matching wood
Engraved "Matt Garcia" signature on back of headstock
Deluxe leather bound G&G case
Body Color: Nitro Lacquer Clear Coat on the top, "warmed up" amber for the back
Neck & Headstock: Oiled
It is going to be SIIIIIICK when it is done! I saw the woods (except the body wood, I didn't make him dig all of it out but it will be a single piece of mahogany) in person and it has me even more excited to see it completed down the road! :hbang: We went with Brazilian Kingwood as it is in the same family as Brazilian Rosewood but it is not quite as dark (but more readily available and without the monster price tag of the dark Brazzy stuff everyone is used to seeing) however Ron said as far as grain/density and tone go it is incredibly similar.
All the tone and feel but no $1K+ upcharge for a solid Brazilian neck? Count me in! :bowdown:Now, what good would this thread be without pics? None at all, I hate spec threads with zero pics so here we go!
This is the neck wood blank for my guitar next to a stock artisan neck made from another piece of Brazilian Kingwood:
Can't wait!!! :hbang:
