Infos sur le sourcing des parts de SVL, pour ceux qui se posaient la question =>
https://www.thefretboard.co.uk(...)ay/p2
svlguitar Frets: 9
February 2019
Strat54 said:
Wonder why SImon removed this comment about his suppliers, I can only assume he realised that its not great for business.....Simon are you watching this thread? The thing is he is talented enough to cut his own bodies and necks but I guess he just doesn't have the time. He seems to be a very busy and in demand chap, and who's going to turn down Pete and Jeff when the call comes in. Who'd not want to work for them? Plus of course where does it all end, next we would be saying he doesn't mill his own wood.....
Hi all.
I was given a heads up about this thread a while ago, I dont really have to defend anything as i have been very open about how I build my guitars right from the start, I mean there was even a quote from myself on USACG website up until recently saying how great there necks are, and how i've used them for years.
The big difference between myself and Mr 'Partsacaster' is how i choose my materials and parts. In the very early days of me building guitars I built everything 'woodwise' I carved necks by hand, rough saw and shape and route body blanks, radius fingerboards etc etc, I can do all of that, however that was when i was building one or two a year for myself and friends. When I left my job as a tech in a guitar shop it was to look after my Father who had become very unwell. I took this time also to start building a few more guitars. I had realised quite early on how tricky it was to hand carve a neck to exact customer specs, also replicating a great neck each time is a bit of a lucky dip. So i took the plunge and contacted USACG. This was back when Tommy was still manning the ship. I took my original measurements from Matt Schofield's 61 Strat neck and sent them off to Tommy. Over the next few years I tweaked and adjusted the basic spec. Each time I received a neck I would of course do all the final shaping, headstock trimming, final sanding and rolling of the fingerboard edges. I will then do a final fret dress and re-crown, smooth fret ends. I do all of my own finishing In nitro-cellulose of course.
I was actually slightly rattled when someone suggested I dont do my own finishing' I spend more time in my booth than in my house!!
My bodies were coming also from USACG but more recently I have been sourcing bodies from another mill that offered my old growth timber and sometimes even reclaimed timber, I feel very strongly about the state of our planet and work closely with companies that respect the ethics of the FSC and the more recent CITIES legislations.
It is very difficult here in the UK to source high quality tone woods, they tend to be very expensive and quite often very heavy!! In my opinion the very best timber comes from the Pacific North West of America, along with a little South American beauty of course.
My hardware comes from both the USA and UK, and each part is picked for tone and reliability. My screws are hand picked for look and function. All of my top nuts are cut by myself, by hand one by one, this job alone properly can take an afternoon. In fact as i have said many times before, the top nut is the make or break of your guitar! I pride myself on my nuts!!! I also don't change anything for the sake of cost, I will only use the very best I can source and buy, the cost of importing such things from the USA is highly expensive, but I just have to do it for the sake of tone.
My pickups are wound for me by the lovely Mr Mark Foley and my other electronics come directly from CTS and CRL, i mainly buy old stock capacitors for their sexy look and old school tone (when used)
I could bang on about who what and who doesn't do what on their guitars but i'm not going to. I pride myself on my work, and the fact I've been so very fortunate to work closely with some of the finest guitarists on the planet further reinforces my belief in what i do. When I worked in the back room of a music shop I could only dream of being a touring tech, but what I learned there and what I finally learned on the road goes into my guitars.
Somebody mentioned they were expensive... They are most certainly not! I've spent over 30 years of my life learning how to do what I do and finally I am getting somewhere with my craft, be it working on amps or building a guitar.
Anyway I've rattled on enough, I must get out to my shed
I'm not much of a forum guy so I may not check back in for a while
See you out on the road or in my shed!! I love them both
Simon. XX
