A father-and-son team work together to create an original, futuristic gold guitar, and the result is extremely satisfying.
Frank and Eli Doris
Frank and Eli Doris with the Yellowcaster. A Crate neck and various electronics completed their 3D-printed axe.
Hometown: East Northport, New York
Guitar: Yellowcaster
The father-son team of Frank and Eli Doris decided to create a guitar after Eli got a 3D printer and wanted to use it to create a guitar body. In the time-honored tradition, Frank sketched a design on a napkin, then Eli used a CAD program to design the body and knobs. The 3D printer produced the body, which had to be done in sections, since the printer was limited in the size of the sections it could manufacture. The body sections are held together with super glue. The body is made from Eryone PLA 3D-printable filament, and Frank and Eli decided on the silk gold color, since it was something different from the usual Fender and other guitar colors.
Being a longtime guitar player and tinkerer, Frank had all the parts and electronics on hand, except for the Crate neck, which he bought on Reverb for about $50 (with tuners already installed). The neck and middle pickups are Fender MIM Strat pickups, and the bridge pickup was taken from a 1970s Univox Les Paul Custom copy (the original gold-plated pickup cover had to be removed to allow the pickup to fit in the pickguard). The bridge is a stock Fender with import (MIM, Squier, etc.) string spacing.
The knobs spell out “BÖC,” the abbreviation for Blue Öyster Cult, Frank’s favorite band (Eli likes them, too), and, of course, the “Ö” has the umlaut!
When Eli was assembling the guitar, father and son were thinking, “With luck, this thing won’t just explode as we’re putting it together!” They had no idea if this would actually work. In fact, during the first try, the body cracked and had to be reinforced, and a wood block was inserted to block the tremolo. When stringing the instrument, the guys tried .010-gauge strings at first, but settled on .009s as these put less tension on the guitar.
Frank notes, “When we plugged it in, we were expecting it to sound like a banjo, but the guitar actually sounds great, with a lot of sustain. It also plays like a dream! We took a chance on the neck, but it’s great. The guitar is also surprisingly ergonomic and falls right into place when sitting down.” The Yellowcaster isn’t heavy, either, weighing in at just 6 pounds, 13 ounces.
“The only things we forgot were to add holes for strap buttons, and to think about whether it would fit into a case,” says Frank. As a result, the Yellowcaster doesn’t fit into a standard hardshell case or gig bag, but does fit into a bass gig bag. “We can’t wait to take this guitar out and see people’s reactions!”
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Huge shocker incoming: Zach Broyles made a Tube Screamer. The Mythos Envy Pro Overdrive is Zach’s take on the green apple of his eye, with some special tweaks including increased output, more drive sounds, and a low-end boost option. Does this mean he can clear out his collection of TS-9s? Of course not.
This time on Dipped in Tone, Rhett and Zach welcome Tyler Bryant, the Texas-bred and Nashville-based rocker who has made waves with his band the Shakedown, who Rhett credits as one of his favorite groups. Bryant, it turns out, is a TS-head himself, having learned to love the pedal thanks to its being found everywhere in Texas guitar circles.Bryant shares how he scraped together a band after dropping out of high school and moving to Nashville, including the rigors of 15-hour drives for 30-minute sets in a trusty Ford Expedition. He’s lived the dream (or nightmare, depending on the day) and has the wisdom to show it.
Throughout the chat, the gang covers modeling amps and why modern rock bands still need amps on stage; the ins and outs of recording-gear rabbit holes and getting great sounds; and the differences between American and European audiences. Tune in to hear it all.
Get 10% off your order at stewmac.com/dippedintone
Hats off to Carmen Vandenberg of Bones UK, our celebrity Question of the Month respondent.
Guest Picker - Carmen Vandenberg, Bones UK
The cover of Soft, Bones UK’s new album, due in mid-September.
A: My favorite method these days (and to be honest, from when I started playing) is to put on my favorite blues records, listen with my eyes closed, and, at the end, see what my brain compartmentalizes and keeps stored away. Then, I try and play back what I heard and what my fingers or brain decided they liked!
Bone UK’s labelmade, Des Rocks.
Obsession: Right now, I am into anyone trying to create sounds that haven’t been made before—bands like Queens of the Stone Age, Jack White, and our labelmate, Des Rocs! There’s a Colombian band called Diamanté Electrico who I’ve been really into recently. Really anyone who’s trying to create innovative and inspiring sounds.
Reader of the Month - Sam C. Schiff.
Sam spent endless hours trying to learn the solo Leslie West played on “Long Red,” off of The Road Goes Ever On.
A: The best way to learn guitar is to listen to some good guitar playing! Put on a record, hear something tasty, and play on repeat until it comes out of your fingers. For me, it was Leslie West playing “Long Red” on the Mountain album, The Road Goes Ever On. I stayed up all night listening to that track until I could match Leslie’s phrasing. I still can’t, no one can, but I learned a lot!
Smith’s own low-wattage amp build.
Obsession: My latest musical obsession is low-wattage tube amps like the 5-watt Fender Champ heard on the Laylaalbum. Crank it up all the way for great tube distortion and sustain, and it’s still not loud enough to wake up the neighbors!
Gear Editor - Charles Saufley
Charles Saufley takes to gear like a duck to water!
A: Learning by ear and feel is most fun for me. I write and free-form jam more than I learn other people’s licks. When I do want to learn something specific, I’ll poke around on YouTube for a demo or a lesson or watch films of a player I like, and then typically mangle that in my own “special” way that yields something else. But I rarely have patience for tabs or notation.
The Grateful Dead’s 1967 debut album.
Obsession: Distorted and overdriven sounds with very little sustain—Keith Richards’ Between the Buttons tones, for example. Jerry Garcia’s plonky tones on the first Grateful Dead LP are another cool, less-fuzzy version of that texture.
Publisher - Jon Levy
A: I’m a primitive beast: The only way I can learn new music is by ear, so it’s a good thing I find that method enjoyable. I’m entirely illiterate with staff notation. Put sheet music in front of me and I’ll stare at it with twitchy, fearful incomprehension like an ape gaping at the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey. I’m almost as clueless with tab, but I can follow along with chord charts if I’m under duress.
The two-hit wonders behind the early ’70s soft-rock hits, “Fallin’ in Love” and “Don't Pull Your Love.”
Obsession: Revisiting and learning AM-radio pop hits circa 1966–1972. The Grass Roots, Edison Lighthouse, the Association, the Archies, and Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds—nothing is too cheesy for me to dissect and savor. Yes, I admit I have a serious problem.
