Our new LMG-T, Paisley
I first started talking about a Paisley style guitar after a chance meeting with Bill Crook of BC Crook guitars. Bill is the master of the Paisley guitar, who makes Brad Paisley’s guitars. And if you haven’t heard, Brad Paisley is a guitar player’s guitar player. He knows what he wants in guitar.
Bill is a great guy, a totally affable man. Toured all the world as a guitar tech with the band America and others but what clearly came through is that he totally enjoyed music and making the best possible guitars for the guys that make music.
Naturally we started talking about guitars, about folks that play them, about the celebrities that come across our paths all the time and the raft of stories that they bring.
But mostly we would talk about our processes, our experiences. We talked about paints and clear coats about some of our “secret” processes for getting the most perfect finish to the guitars, both of us are of the opinion that this is so, so important. For instance, here’s one of his. He likes to put a nylon over his hand after each coat of the clear coat is applied, sanded and buffed and run it over the surface checking for inconsistencies. This is so good at picking up lil nits that even the very best spray booths can leave . Boy oh boy, when the surface is perfectly smooth the nylon covered hand runs so utterly smooth over the top. That for us is tremendous satisfaction.
We talked about the challenges at the beginning of his guitar making, trying to get the right combination to make the paisley pattern a part of the guitar. Of all his trials and miscues, with printing and patterns. I told him that I was working with a process, for metal, where I was able to etch black/gray onto the metal surface and thought that it would be a cool idea to try the paisley pattern. We thought that the dark etching over our bright metal would be a killer combination.
I told him that I would send it off to him when I was done for him to take a look at, thinking that wouldn’t take too much time. For us it was a tough long period of trial and errors. It wasn’t simple at all, any large flat surface of metal can be a huge problem when you are trying to get finely consistent finishes, be it chrome or etching, but I did get it.
Along the way Bill and I kept talking about what we did, every month or so we chat. I like it. He is a wealth of great practical information. He was telling me about Peter Florance’s Voodoo pickups ” I’ve tried a ton of them and they are still my favorite. I’ll send you some to try out.”
And he did and they are in the guitar now and they are exactly as he said.
This is our homage to Bill and Brad Paisley. Love what they both do.
Liquid Metal Guitars LMG -T, Paisley
- Seymour Duncan LMG Custom Wind “Phat Cat” Pickup in neck position, creates a beautiful buttery tone.
- New to our stable is Peter Florence’s TE 50 Voodoo bridge Pickup. An aged ALNICO 5 magnets in this pickup. This is a flatpole that sounds amazing very “Woody and Organic “. Wound to the correct ’52 specs with the tin bottom plate. Great overtones and harmonics that are absolutely killer in our guitar.
- The Pickup combination makes the guitar tremendously useful in many tone requirements.
- Body machined from a solid block of aircraft grade 6061 T6 Aluminum to proprietary thickness. Top and sides are contiguous, which creates a rigidity to the body that creates our amazing warm tone and note bloom.
- One of the other fantastic results of our metal bodies is that they shield the guitar so well there is no hum. Studios are using them because of that, it is quiet and pure guitar sound..
- A paisley patterned ceramic, bonded with our process atop highly polished aluminum. It is a finish is unique to metal, it simply cannot be duplicated in wood.
- Body clear coated with a exceptionally hard, high gloss, scratch resistant clear coat that enhances the depth perception of the finish on the body.
- The neck is made of Canadian hard rock maple. There are 8 steps in the sanding process:
- The rough cut neck is hand sanded with 600 grit to find the neck’s shape. The next steps use 800 grit sand paper and the last 4 steps utilize 1200 grit for an end result that is incredibly smooth.
- Finally, a clear satin sealer is applied for an extremely natural and fast feel that offers protection from dirt and moisture while feeling like highly sanded, raw wood. It just feels good to hold and play.
- Ebony fingerboard 12″ fingerboard radius.
- 25.5 inch scale.
- Frets – starts with .50 X .100 hard alloy frets that are then extensively finished/dressed. We are extremely proud of our fret work and believe that it truly stands out.
- Stainless dual-action truss rod, silicon seated and rods sheathed.
- An 8 degree headstock angle puts the perfect downward tension on the strings behind the nut. No String Tree.
- Gotoh’s 510 mini tuners in chrome finish, with a 1:18 gear ratio and height adjustable posts to add to the string tension.
- Liquid Metal angle ashtray bridge with Graptech saddles that enhance the tonal characteristics of the guitar.
- Self lubricating nut to improve tuning stability while eliminating all tuning “ping”.
- Precision filing of nut slot depths, so that the intonation, creates a perfectly playable guitar.
- Graphtech String Saver Saddles which are a unique combination of materials made to enhance tone and dramatically reduce string breakage.
- CTS 500k Pots.
- Switchcraft Jack.
- Shielded Silver Braided “Old School” Wire.
- Switchcraft Right Angle 3 position switch.
- LMG Shop Machined Unique LMG Tone and Volume Control Knobs.
- Custom fit, hardshell case.
