I have no idea who made this or why, but it is pretty cool. Kind of unorthodox, but just full of exotic woods. The damnedest thing is that this guitar plays and sounds great, no matter how crude it may look. It has super low action and a great. full tone. The tremolo is responsive and everything works as it should.
The body is pretty light despite it's appearance. It is made of three pieces of exotic/figured Maple. The finish is high gloss. The pickups are Rickenbacker style, and have no markings on them, so as far as I know, they might be real Ric pups. Either way, they sound great. Everything is held together with star bolts, but I was able to find the bit in one of my bit sets no issue. The tremolo springs are covered by a custom exotic wood cover that is also finished in high gloss. The routs are pretty rough, but they don't cause any functional issues, just cosmetic.
The neck was obviously bought after market, and not by the person who made the body and assembled the guitar. I am not sure who made it, but it seems to be of great quality. Probably Fender, or Fender licensed. Whoever built the guitar bolted the neck on AND glued it in, so it is a bolt-on/set neck combo.
The guitar is signed on the back of it's headstock by the author, "N.T." I left it because it seemed like sacrilege to remove it. Since that is all the info I have got.....I DUB THEE THE "STRAT-O-BEAST." If anyone has any info on the guitar builder, I would be fascinated to know.
As always, I cleaned it up, polished the finish, oiled the board, flushed the electronics, changed the strings and set the action as low as I could. Selling "as is" due to the highly unusual nature of this guitar.
This guitar is perfect for someone who is looking for a guitar that is completely unique and original with a rich, mysterious story. This guitar is sure to be a great conversation starter. You will never see another one like it.
