Est.1990
    Instruments made for players by a player... because the search for tone is a part of life.

A collaboration between customer and luthier to create or customize electric guitars and basses. An instrument should be a tool that allows absolute freedom to express.  My skills for fine instrument building, knowing what feels right and sounds musical, have been tempered by fourty years of playing and writing, as well as vocations in woodworking, finishing, electronics and mechanical engineering. In other words, I love this job!  Harris G Thor proprietor.

The Epoxy Fretless Page : bass conversions to fretless and skilled epoxy application since 1980.

Original CDs are available:  MUSIC

 

We are a dealer for:

dTar || JJ Tubes || Electro-Harmonix || Mojo Tone || Svetlana Tubes || Allparts || Fender Accessories || Hipshot || Graph Tech || LR Baggs || Shadow Pickups || Highlander || DiMarzio Pickups || RMC Pickups || Bartolini || Eminence Legend Speakers || Levy's Straps and Bags || MojoTone || Moses Graphite Necks || Warmoth || WD ||  Axon Neural Net Midi Guitar Controller || Sperzel Tuners ||  LSR Tuners || Humes and Berg || New Sensor (Sovtek) || Rocktron || Sabine ||  D'Addario || DR Strings || Gore Strings || GHS || Rotosound || Dan Electro Strings || Any strings you can think of...

We can obtain most most popular brands at good prices. Items such as Boss pedals, Hohner harmonicas, drum accessories, are all available. Email for prices, availability, and shipping costs!


 

Pro Repairs:

Tube or solid state combos or power amps, PA gear- both old and new. Troubleshooting right down to the component level. Repair of old tube combos including grill cloth and coverings, and repair or replacement of wooden case. Guitars and basses repaired/restored at component level and repairs to body,  neck and finishes. Solid colors or sunbursts and translucent finishes in lacquer, acrylic, or modern urethanes. Warranty service available for many popular brands.

Custom Guitars and Basses:

Imagine a great axe that is everything that you require and convey that idea to me. I will work with you to achieve your ultimate and personal design and sonic specifications. Email me for a quote! I prefer to work with you personally, so as to achieve not only the desired sound and performance characteristics, but to sculpt the instrument to your particular needs.
 

Unique Wiring Schemes:

Testimonial:
Hey Harris, this is Steve Watts in California. Thank you for the awesome custom schematics on my Moonstone Guitar-- this thing rips. The push/pull you include expands the possibilities and I have really been enjoying it. Further, the mod on the #2 mean channel on my Groove Tubes Trio is great. I can now use its whole pallete. Steve Helgeson over at Moonstone Guitars called asking for you--I'm sure he'd like to hear from you. - Steve Watts

If you can think of it, I can put it in your axe. There are very useful switches and pots available today that can give amazing possibilities without changing the appearance of the instrument. For example, a guitar can have parallel/series, phasing, and all combinations without changing the look. Now there is a great five way switch available for classic three pickup guitars that allows your favorite and complex wiring mods to be had at the flick of a switch. Designs to suit your needs available via email. I can provide schematics in most common formats for any guitar or pickup combination.

 

Fretless Bass Conversions:

Remember a guy named Jaco Pastorius? He played a pretty mean bass, and established an entirely new sound and style. One day he got this idea to apply epoxy to his classic jazz bass neck from which he popped the frets. Thus the fretless bass with roundwound sound was born (or at least he would have told you so).

When I heard about this back in 1977, I had to try it on old Kay Bass lying around, and to my surprise found it to be an excellent modification. After each subsequent new conversion, improvements became apparent. Application technique, type of epoxy, temperatures, and fretboard preparation all became refinements which comprise the product I offer today. All of the necks done with these methods are still flat and hard as a rock. Even slap technique has yet to get the best of an epoxied neck.  Please   see the Epoxy Page!

This gives you the choice of using roundwounds without fear of damaging the fretboard. It also imparts a brighter, more articulated tone much like frets but with an endless vibrato and slides smooth as glass. The sustain is as good as having frets! You haven't tried everything until you strike a harmonic and slide it on an epoxied fretless neck!

Unusual Woods and tone talk:

From African Wenge to Swamp Ash and Douglas Fir, the list is growing daily (excuse the pun :o)). Maple has a solid tone with clear highs. The heavier the wood, often the more sustain without heavy hardware and brighter sound. The lighter weight woods tend to accent the midrange, and sometimes sustain well, and can sometimes produce a dead spot due to sympathetic vibration. This can be overcome by using a heavier bridge and these guitars make great lower gain blues or fusion instruments. But please be advised there always exceptions to any rule.

Swamp ash can be good for rich vocal quality as well as articulated highs, but I have seen many varied densities. A super light swamp ash with a steel block in the bridge makes a killer blues ax! Alder is arguably the most popular classic guitar body wood, and rightly so because it is light (about 4 lbs. on a Strat), offers a lively midrange and full tone, is close grained and tools well. Many of the great feeling and playing older classics of Leo F's two and three pickup guitars are Alder and have that certain "Mojo".

Maple tops with mahogany backs like a classic Les Paul are a great choice for creating a big rock sound. The mahogany provides a good resonance block with somewhat low-mid tone while the maple top brings out the attack and articulation. Good for high gain control and tight low end in front of a stack. But don't tell that to E V Halen, because his PV Wolfgang is a hunk of lightweight basswood with a hefty bridge, and we all know how his sound rocks.

But, woods vary greatly from tree to tree, and nothing is ever assured. Only synthetic materials are predictable. Like the Moses Graphite necks. They will always add sustain and solid attack with clear highs. Maple necks are great too, as they are light and impart their own set of resonances. Maple is also fairly rigid, which can work well with a hefty bridge.

My personal choices for guitar are denser woods for very high gain rock applications allowing greater control over response and attack, and lighter woods bringing into play the vocal range resonance which works very well for clean or medium gain settings for blues, country and fusion. But just for the record, anything goes in this highly subjective game of tone, so explore and be daring!

 

* PV, Wolfgang are registered trademarks of Peavey Electronics. Les Paul is of Gibson Musical Instruments.
 

Copyright (c) Harris G. Thor 1997-2008. All rights reserved. Use of images text, and sounds for any purpose without permission from the author constitutes copyright infringement and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Any and all subsequent web pages linked herein are subject to the same rights.

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