Pretty in Pink [ESP Horizon Restomod #1 Complete]
- Thread starter narad
- Start date
narad
Progressive metal and politics
Yea, I just listened to some more 57TW youtube videos and I can hear the lack of saturation I'm experiencing. Weird because I didn't notice much of that with the original 57s (in youtube clips). Anyway, I guess this actually had an 89 in it, and I still have that, so once I mod it to an EMG solderless connector I can put it back in at the next string change. Just a bummer - it cost me a bunch to get that pickup over here at that time (when I thought the guitar was going to be finished on schedule and rush shipped it).
IbanezDaemon
Raptus regaliter
Stellar work. Looks totally killer!
SeventyFour
SS.org Regular
Shame about the logo but that's an awesome looking guitar!
soul_lip_mike
SS.org Regular
Hey if those are the original knobs then leave it be! I’m just so used to the domes.Ha, really? I mean, that's 80s 3-knob horizon spec, maybe I could try it with black domes though.
Unrelated but here's the new one with the next in queue:
Actually played well but total trash in need of some TLC. Interestingly the HSS one had a totally different carve on the one horn.
CanserDYI
Yeah, No, Definitely.
You think they would have to level the clear down to logo level, apply, then reclear over? Or do you think it would look okay to apply it to the existing clear and add a new layer of clear over top? I'd just be worried about a raised spot where the added part of the logo is.
jaxadam
SS.org Regular
That’s hot!
narad
Progressive metal and politics
Well they won't do it
I'd have to find another paint guy. But I think it wouldn't be a big issue to basically apply over the top of everything. The logo is this, and the headstock doesn't get any wear. It's not high priority though. When I placed the order I liked the clean look of just the ESP letters. These days I'd like the drop shadow and "horizon . . . .", but it's not a huge deal on this one. It's more like, I have a queue of horizons all going into refinish, and probably a bunch of metallic colors, looking a little bit more traditional, I'd like the old lettering to be there. We're trying to explain this at CraftHouse like, this isn't a one-off, if it costs you 10,000Y, 20,000Y, etc. to do a run of decals that you'll put on Horizons, it'll be worth while...The other sucky thing is they won't do the logos in other colors. I originally wanted to do a black headstock face with the pink logo like on the Alexi pink sawtooth. Told no for whatever reason.
TheBolivianSniper
SS.org Regular
Well hey if you don't like it I guess someone's gonna have to take it off your hands, probably you don't want it in the country then either. You're gonna want that far away, like the east coast most likely.
I know it's a big ask but I'd be willing to bear the difficult task of getting it out of your sight. I'll even cover the shipping myself.
Ok jokes aside, sorry to hear about the pickup but that was my issue with the TW series, they're kinda odd about that. Should be easy enough to throw a regular 57 or 81 in and the RPC instead of the SPC if you can get your hands on it. Sucks about the shipping though, but seriously that refinish is sick. Definitely worth the money (maybe not the 5x extra wait, damn) and set off my super strat GAS for the first time in years.
I know it's a big ask but I'd be willing to bear the difficult task of getting it out of your sight. I'll even cover the shipping myself.
Ok jokes aside, sorry to hear about the pickup but that was my issue with the TW series, they're kinda odd about that. Should be easy enough to throw a regular 57 or 81 in and the RPC instead of the SPC if you can get your hands on it. Sucks about the shipping though, but seriously that refinish is sick. Definitely worth the money (maybe not the 5x extra wait, damn) and set off my super strat GAS for the first time in years.
AkiraSpectrum
SS.org Regular
this is ridiculously awesome!
bummer about the side-marker bleed.
bummer about the side-marker bleed.
narad
Progressive metal and politics
I have an ESP super strat I might be willing to get out of my sight ;-)
So the past 2-3 years I've made plenty of cryptic mentions of this ESP horizon that's getting refinished at BigBoss and taking forever. Yesterday, I picked it up! Here's the original thread of how it looked and what I was mulling over:
ESP horizon restoration project
Hmm.... maybe not the best idea but I just won an auction for this: Pretty beat up, lots of scratches on the back, the headstock damage. But a lawsuit headstock horizon has been a dream guitar for a long time, and this one is kind of interesting with the SSH pickup config. It had the...www.sevenstring.org
In short, I had grabbed this old ESP horizon as a beater, it had a big chunk out of the headstock, and the finish on the back was all scuffed up. Frets were so-so. But it sounded great and played great, and became basically my go-to guitar for a year. After that, I thought, I'm near these shops, they offer refinish and repair services, maybe it's worth investing in making this a nicer guitar. I had seen a liquid metal pink FRX in person, and it just stole the show on a rack of many fancy other ESPs, so decided to go with that (from black) and do an SS extra jumbo refret while I'm at it. The logo was changed from the usual silver/gold drop to black. The bridge HB was changed from EMG 81 to 57TW, and the third control was changed to an SPC. I think I was quoted 8 months originally? I think it's been about 30! But it's done!
I couldn't be happier with the finish. There's some natural variation in liquid metal and I have seen some turn out looking pretty weird. It has a ton of depth and really stands out vs. other finishes. The fretwork is perfect, too. That's the "pros" category.
On the negative side, an if these frets don't feel average size to me at this point. I wonder if it's my imagination or if the order got messed up. The switch to the EMG 57... frankly doesn't seem as good as the 81. A little dull? The SPC doesn't seem particularly usable either. The goal with this, since it's HSS, was to have basicalyl an SSS setup with the split TW, and then have a lot of control over the thickness of the singles with the SPC. It sounds good, but I picked up another guitar from BigBoss yesterday with an 85 in the bridge, and that too I think sounds better. So that's a little bit of a bummer, but I'll work on that. They don't have any more of the "Horizon ...." logos, so I couldn't get that on there. Throwing on my DirtyPuma hat, the old horizons have sort of oval side dots that I think are painted on. I was told that when they scrape the old yellowed clearcoat off the binding, they may have to repaint these. They're sort of all over the place, a bit crooked and the last one is leaking a bit up onto the top of the binding.
Whelp, onward to ESP Horizon restomod #2... Quoted 6 months
That looks bananas even not being yellow.
Musiscience
SS.org Regular
That thing slays, happy NGD!
Omzig
SS.org Regular
Nice wrinkly pink thing...& that's not something id ever say to a guy outside a guitar forum
I think that finish trumps any other issues... worst case you can just hang it and stare at it while you play something else 
Crash Dandicoot
» B E H O L D
That came out soooo nicely, man! I'm glad the finish hit the mark for you. A little bit of pickup tweaking to suit you better and you've got one one of the best Horizons around!
That looks amazing. Nice work. 
siloshredder
SS.org Regular
Do you have better photos of the re-painted side markers? They look like they might be downright sloppy, which is surprising.
I've tried almost every fancy newer EMG, and always come back to the 81/85. They're simply the best pickups that EMG makes. There's a reason why they made those pickups in the first place. The Super 77 is an honorable mention.
I've tried almost every fancy newer EMG, and always come back to the 81/85. They're simply the best pickups that EMG makes. There's a reason why they made those pickups in the first place. The Super 77 is an honorable mention.
narad
Progressive metal and politics
Yea, a little hard to capture:
I'm not so sure what caused it. It's the same binding, so if after they scrape the clearcoat off and make the binding white again, maybe the side dots get smudged? Maybe they're all there with holes and tears that need to be fixed. Maybe they get cut off completely? They're just not as clean as they were though. And I think they refinished with frets on, which creates some sort of not-perfectly-cleanness in the higher frets. Like some of the clear got a little sucked up on the end of the fret.
Yea, I have the 77s in a Jackson. They're very nice pickups.
