1954 Aristocrat Project Completed

jerrymac

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I just finished up my Aristocrat project. All I got was the body, no parts at all, and some modifications had already done when I got it. The pickup routes were enlarged for humbuckers, and several of the tuner holes had been enlarged for Shaller/Grover sized heads. I wanted P-90 style pickups, but dog-ears were too high so I opted for GFS Dream 90s conversions. I wanted to use Klusons to match the holes and the imprint on the back of the head, so I got conversion bushings to adapt the Klusions to the larger holes.

The neck was finished when I got it, so I didn't touch it. The front and sides were finished with 4 thin coats of wipe-on poly. I got the harp tailpiece and the pickguard from eBay. The nut is a Graph Tech, as are the bridge saddles. The bridge is a real old Tune-O-Matic style without a retaining wire, no markings on it. It's got a low profile, so it was perfect for the project.

[img:667:848]http://home.earthlink.net/~jkmcleer/Guitars/ar1.jpg[/img]
[img:510:850]http://home.earthlink.net/~jkmcleer/Guitars/ar2.jpg[/img]

It plays fantastic, and the unamplified tone is unbelievable from such a small-bodied guitar. The Dream 90s sound great in the hollow body, clear, bright without any harshness, with just amount of warmth and depth. I'm glad I was able to return this magnificent guitar to working order, even if it wasn't restored to it's original state. But I bought it for my own personal use (I always wanted one), not to sell or collect.
 

dklsplace

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Beatiful work Jerry! Glad to hear you like the GFS pickups. I just received a set of the New York II's for my Starfire project. A little guitar historian bird told me Jay was actually with Guild in the 80's, & I had some nice email responses from him on the subject. Cool to be able to say our restoration projects still have some sort of Guild connection!
 

coastie99

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Don.

Interesting that you've got a pair of GFS NY II's
I'm in the process of hot-rodding a Danelectro U2 Re-issue with these.
At my pace, I should think it likely that your project will be done before mine !

Care to report please on the result when you're done ?
 

jerrymac

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dklsplace said:
Beatiful work Jerry! Glad to hear you like the GFS pickups. I just received a set of the New York II's for my Starfire project. A little guitar historian bird told me Jay was actually with Guild in the 80's, & I had some nice email responses from him on the subject. Cool to be able to say our restoration projects still have some sort of Guild connection!

Thanks all for the kind words. It was a great project to work on, and everything worked out perfect with no problems at all. Practically put itself together.

Jay is a great guy to work with. I've been using GFS pickups in 90% of my projects, tried all different kinds, never been disappointed. When you're done with your Starfire project (it's shaping up real nice - I like the new color a lot), give us a evaluation of the NYIIs.
 
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