This is my 1st time competing in GGBO. I watched the previous 2 but was unable to enter due to not having experience with building guitars or even setting them up, let alone having the required tools, skills and knowledge. Over the last 2 years I've gradually collected the tools, watched 100s of builds on YouTube and gained some hands-on experience.

 

For GGBO 2022, I have entered 2 kit builds into the competition.

My 1st kit build entry started with a Tele style Alder body and roasted maple neck, both from Alegree. The design has changed quite a bit since I started, but still retains many of my original goals. I've modified the body, with additional cavity routing, comfort carves and made a custom-designed pick guard from some Black Limba. The guitar uses a set of Fishman Fluence Gristletone P90s and Fishman battery pack. Unfortunately due to faulty components, time constraints, and a very difficult wiring experience, I haven't yet been able to add a Piezo pickup to the mix. But the guitar is working perfectly with the P90s, and they sound incredible! The build is now complete, with the 13 part series and playlist linked below. The super-edit will be live very soon.

For my 2nd entry into this years GGBO I will actually be remaking my 1st kit. Thanks to all the skills, knowledge and tools I've acquired since then, the resulting guitar has turned out approximately 1m times better than the original. For this build I re-used the pickups from the original guitar, but almost everything else is new. I decided to retain the iconic Strat profile, but introduced several tweaks or in my opinion improvements, such as mounting the pickups from the rear and using the top as if it were a pick guard. Speaking of the body, this is my 1st build where I made the body from scratch. I purchased a gorgeous Walnut topset from Crimson, along with their Strat templates and an Ash body blank from eBay. The design evolved a bit over the course of the build, including some tweaks to the electronics (using a free-way 10 position switch) and a much more complicated cavity cover than anticipated but in both cases I'm so glad I did them as the result is great. The build is now complete, with the 9 part series and playlist linked below. The super-edit will be live very soon.

I harbour no illusions of actually winning anything. I'm happy to have 2 unique, cool guitars out of this, along with some more experience and being a part of this awesome community!