| . This guitar started life as a spec guitar. Ron sent me a photo of the body
after he routed it just for kicks, but when I saw that michigan maple top I was inspired.
I decided I wanted to do a Thorn Burst. I sent Ron a copy of the Beauty of the Burst book
for reference and decided I loved the colors of a couple guitars, including Pearly Gates.
It became the sunburst color reference.
So time goes by and we work out specs as it goes along. My mind is months and months ahead
of Ron as he works on it off and on. The more time I had to think about it, the more stuff
I came up with to make it even cooler. I won't bore you with all the gorey details and the
discussions we had. Suffice it to say that after looking at all those old, checked,
chipped and worn guitars in BotB and on the LP Forum, I just told Ron, I'm gonna age it.
I'm gonna add wear and... Ron says cool! When I was out there in January for NAMM I got
the hardware and some misc. stuff from Ron to be able to start aging stuff.
I've never aged a guitar before. This is my first time, BUT I've studied a whole lot of
real guitars and have even looked at the Fender Relic stuff (I have one) and the Murphy
LPs. I have amassed a collection of old and aged LP photos, probably 800 images or so. I
was practicing and learning in the meantime.
Later I decided to age the case. I ended up using the case for #26 so i wouldn't use up
one of Ron's cases, since he was about to ship some guitars at the time. Starting early in
the summer I began to age the case. I eventually got the bright idea to use a very
non-plush LP pink velvet interrior akin to whats in the real cases. I located the material
and ended up compl;etely stripping out the insides of the case and reupholstering the
whole thing. I've never done that before either. Took a while but I thought it came out
great. It even has a little stale smokey bar odor.
All the oddball parts for this guitar that are not what Ron typically uses were acquired
by me and sent out there.
Anyway so the final guitar ended up being a What If project. What if a Thorn had been
built in 1959? How far could we push it and still keep it as a killer guitar and a Thorn.
The 58-60 LP was very much the inspiration but it was not a hard and fast guide. Certain
things were done to keep it more Thorn.
Mahogany back, standard Thorn thickness
Mahogany neck based off the fatbck carve and not too far off of my '59 Jr's neck carve
Michigan maple Top
Brazillian RW fretboard
Black holly headstock veneer
Bone nut
Yellow pearl T and silver circle logo
Yellow pearl firesuns with no center dot
Cream plastic purfling around the body and fretboard
Aged locking tuners and discolored/aged tuner buttons
Aged TP wraparound bridge
The humbuckers are Burstbuckers
The wiring is very special. The pots are '59 CTS pots and the cap is the original '59
bumblebee that was wired to those pots. There's also a '59 jack in there as well. We used
one of Ron's usual 3-way switches (I was afraid of getting an old switch and having it be
funky.
Ron made me a special cream square plastic jack plate to echo the LP plates.
The pickup rings were off of an old Gibson, dunno how old, but they looked good and worked
out great.
The electronics cavity cover is made out of bakelite, like old Fender Tele guards.
Aged straplocks, screws, washers, switchtip etc.
On to how it sounds...
I love this guitar. One thing I didn't want was a mushy humbucker guitar. I wasn't sure
what we were going to end up with putting all this stuff together. Ron said he thought it
sort of sounded like a vintage SG. I'm inclined to agree. It may have taken it's styling
ques from the LP, but an LP clone it ain't. The 25" scale length make a difference
for one. The back and top thickness surely come into play, but as Ron put it when we were
talking, it's that double cutaway shape that just doesn't yield that darkness of a
singlecutaway. Fine by me! 
It is so chimey and rich sounding. I'd read in the other thread the McCarty comparison. I
know everyone's up in arms about it, but it's a valid comparison IMO. Maple, mahogany, 2
humbuckers, double cutaway, single volume, tone, 3-way. Pretty similar in terms of overall
materials.
The differences lie not just in shape and build quality, but in the intangibles. We set
out to riff on the LP, which is in essence what PRS did working with Ted McCarty. I think
we basically reinvented the McCarty as a Thorn.
I actually have a '94 McCarty. No pickup splitting, just the straight raw original PRS
McCarty vision with quality woods, no 10 tops and whatnot. The two guitars do not compare.
I dig the McCarty for what it is, but #76 just has a much richer voice. Not as clinical
and strident as the McCarty. Almost more of a musical voice. I've said that before about
Thorn #10, but it's way cool to know Ron just heaps on the mojo before he ships a guitar.
I tend to be more of a fat singlecoil guy. To me the P-90 was sent straight from heaven.
However, this guitar holds it's own and then some. I keep picking it up and plugging into
my Marshall. Yow! The bridge is stinging and the neck is nice and throaty, but still
clear.
I don't consider it done yet. I don't want fake-o checking and aging so i've been taking
my time and building the wear up in a more natural manner, if not a bit accelerated. I'll
tell you one thing though, I don't think I'll ever be as wigged out as when I put my first
dent in it on purpose. Who in their right mind would do such a thing to such a killer
guitar? Maybe I'm just mentally ill? Of course i didn't put THE first ding it it. i had
Ron and his Dad do that before they shipped it. Way cool.
It has hangtags, an owners manual, some "vintage string" packages and other
assorted goodies put together by myself as case candy.
For the folks heading over to Chiba's place next month, I'll be bringing it along.
Hopefully folks will dig it.
-e
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