I give you, the Aeon – My custom guitar
About 15 months or so ago, a trip down to Leicester to see a screening of HAARP inspired me to start seriously looking into getting a custom built guitar and now, finally, it's here. I've seen it from a paper sketch, to a simple line drawing on the computer, to a 3D model, to a rough MDF cut out, then slowly start to build up into the epic instrument that it is now.
Originally I was looking into large companies that were at least several hundred miles away to build this guitar for me, but to my absolute surprise there was a guitar/bass luthier only a 2 minute drive from my house. This has let me work closely with Ian through each and every step of it's construction, I've been able to discuss each intricate detail down to the last wood grain. This guitar hasn't been built though, it's been conjured up over the past year into an instrument of massive proportions and I can't thank Ian enough.
Video of it in action - Scroll further down for more pictures
First, a few pictures of how it's evolved.
The first MDF cut out
After we talked through the design, it was drawn in 3D on a CAD program and cut into MDF to get a rough shape and feel of what it come out like.
The mahogany cut out
This is the final shape cut into the mahogany.
The hand over
Ian on the left, me holding my axe on the right. This is when the guitar was handed over, pleased I am!
A look at in detail
Full body shot, I'll pick out the specification as I go along in the more detailed shots.
A close up of the Mahogany body with a blood red stain and high laquer finish. The grain pattern is just incredible and so diverse across the body.
The awesome Wilkinson tremolo arm.
Chrome toggle switch and chrome tone and volume controls.
You can see the larger controls are sunk into the body in really soft and quite deep pockets. The smaller black switches control the Fernandes Sutainer.
The top horn of the guitar, here you can see the Fernandes Sustainer and the Bare Knuckle Mississipi Queen.
Here you can see the Bare Knuckle Nail Bomb next to the bridge.
From the top control down the right hand side, volume, pickup selector, sustainer intensity, tone. The two small black switches from top down, sustainer of/off and 3 way toggle for sustainer mode. Below the bridge is the controls for the Fuzz Factory, toggle on/off, stab and comp.
The neck is flamed birds eye maple which has a super-high gloss finish on back of the neck and on the fret board. Running down the neck is a piece of purple heart wood, which is this wonderful bright purple/pink colour.
A closer look at the neck with the purple heart running through it.
This is a real close up shot of the flamed birds eye maple, even though the neck has such a high gloss finish, which at first I thought would make it hard to play, it so smooth and fast!
On my Ibanez, it has just two offset fret markers on the 12th fret, which I've brought through to this guitar too, it's inlayed with Abalone.
The headstock, with the name 'Aeon' in black.
The Speigel locking machine heads. I might not have to tune my guitar ever again!
A few more misc shots
32 comments
Ben wrote on
Superb axe! :o)
Can you tell me more about the setup and wiring? Also why you chose each part for the specific setup etc…
I’m looking to make something similar to this but am struggling to find details… especially the fuxx factory and what spec sustainer to use etc…
Nouveller wrote on
I didn’t personally wire it, so I couldn’t really go into any helpful detail about it, sorry!
Any questions on the Fuzz Factory or the Sustainer I can answer.
Unacceptable67 wrote on
Dude, thats wicked xD I wish I could build my own, I am to young though, but when I get older, I might, nice job, 100/100
Nouveller wrote on
Definitely do, it’s so worth it! I didn’t do it myself though!
Unacceptable67 wrote on
Haha, who did you build it with?
Unacceptable67 wrote on
Like, when you cut it out, how did you get the shape taht accurate?
Nouveller wrote on
I drew the original shape in Illustrator, which was then put into a 3D cutting program which then told a machine (which you can see in the first photo) to cut the shape. Ian then spent a lot of time hand sanding and creating all the curves and definitions.
Unacceptable67 wrote on
Ohhhh so you told the machine to cut it liek that? how did you get it like that, what program did you use, and what machine did you use lol
Nouveller wrote on
That’s something for Ian to talk about as I couldn’t give you any specifics.
Unacceptable67 wrote on
Oh all right, sorry, just really concerned how everything works xD
Unacceptable67 wrote on
Wow, my account got banned…isn’t that great, stupid copyrights..
Nouveller wrote on
YouTube account? I know a few people who had their account removed too.
Callum Chapman wrote on
Great outcome, looks awesome. Good video, too!
Unacceptable67 wrote on
Yep my youtube account.
Unacceptable67 wrote on
I made a few more though
João Morais wrote on
Could you please give me your 3D digital scratch of this guitar? it’s just ’cause I’m trying to do one for me, but it’s very difficult for me to work with programs such as solidworks and other…
Give me some feedback to my email/MSN…
[email protected]
Nouveller wrote on
I didn’t do the 3D model, sorry!
Whit wrote on
An obvious Muse fan, I wonder if you could answer a question for me. On the DVD of the Haarp tour, Matt gets some wicked sounds from a pair of nobs at the beginning of his “Blackout” solo and the very beginning of “Plug In Baby.” I always thought it was some kind of digital tremolo. Is it actually the Fuzz or compressor or both?
Nouveller wrote on
He’s adjusting the Fuzz Factory that’s inside his guitar. The two controls on the outside are the ‘comp’ and ‘stab’. You can see me doing it to my other guitar here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-jd0_PNKOI
Whit wrote on
Badass. thanks. You’ve got quite a wicked guitar there. I’m building my own right now so I’m trying to make sure I put everything into it that I’ve lusted over for so long. do you play in a band or just solo stuff?
Nouveller wrote on
I play in band called Sona, we’ve only been doing covers at the moment though.
sam wrote on
ur juswt copying muse. be=e original
steven wrote on
sweet guitar. i was wondering if you could post more pics of the guitar… like the back of it. i am currently making my own and found this helpful. oh also how were you able to paint the name on the neck?? thanks
steven wrote on
sweet guitar. i am currently making my own in wood shop. i was wondering if you could post more pics… like the back. and how did u paint the name on the neck??
UnAcceptable67 wrote on
I am back!~
Alin wrote on
Great guitar there :). Congrats. I’m playing a Gretsch g5122 like this one http://www.chrisguitars.com/gret08-g5122-walnut.jpg
Nouveller wrote on
Thanks Alin. Liking the Gretsch!
Alin wrote on
You are very skilled on that guitar. I wonder what is adding the sound that extra pick-up….the one that is closer to the neck.
Nouveller wrote on
The black one, closest to the neck is a Fernandes Sustainer!
Alin wrote on
Cool. So that’s responsible for that sweet sustain? :).
Beautiful guitar….enjoy it.
Shony wrote on
Justin, this looks like one heavenly custom guitar, what an amazing job you did on this and it sounds as good as it looks. I customized my Yamaha SG 2000 red Sunburst some 15 years ago with lots of custom electronics as well as carving some wood out from the back, and I never looked back, still happy with it today and have no desire to play anything else.
One advice though, you may want to label the guitar at antilosta.com just in case you loose it one day, I have all my valuables labeled with antilosta and recently had an expensive camera returned back to me after having lost it away from home in one of my gigs.
All the best,
Shony
jeremy wrote on
That is a bad ass guitar