Thread: "Conjurer" - New Ethereal Guitar

What can I say . . . The timber works great with the shape. Looks like a million dollars. Are you going to record a little jam for us to listen to?

wow, looks great. what is the outside timberon the neck laminate?

why did you put the battery box where you did? doesnt look bad, just not where the rest of the controls are and im curious why.

mmm very nice
tell us about the electronics

Body: QLD Maple 2 Piece
Body Size: 31mm Thick
Figured Flat Top Jarrah
Top Size: 16mm Thick
Neck: Black Spot Jarrah with QLD Maple Centre
Finish: Nitrocellulose Lacquer
Neck Joint: Set Neck
Headstock: Angled 10 Degrees
Scale: 25" 635mm
Nut 43mm
Radius: 12 Degrees
Fretboard: Figured Oz Desert Gidgee
Binding: Figured Blackwood Binding
Inlays: Paua Shell Dot Inlays
Frets: 22 Jumbo Frets 18% Nickel/Silver
Bridge: Standard Black "TOM"
Tuners: Gotoh 510's 18:1 Gear Ratio
Pickups: Dual ACTIVE Humbuckers
Pickup Model: Seymour Duncan Blackouts w/Handmade Jarrah Pickup Rings
Electronics: 3 Way Toggle Switch Volume and Tone Controls

I thought listing the specs up here would be the best way to answer all the detail type questions. This is the first time I have used active pickups and I am very impressed. A mate has a guitar with an EMG active 81 and the gain sounds are very similar although the SD's sound perhaps a bit more natural and less compressed. The cleans are incredibly warm and natural.

I located the battery compartment in this position for several reasons. I wanted to keep the battery well away from the electronics.....my thinking is that the two are just better off well seperated so there is NO chance of the battery interfering with the wiring circuitry via feedback, interference etc......also, if the battery ever leaked, it is well out of harms way.......I also thought it 'balanced' the look of the rear of the guitar and also gave me a small weight loss on that side of the body instead of both cavities on the one side.....I can tell you that drilling the hole for the battery wires was a challenge....I entered the body via the jack and drilled on a flat trajectory through the bridge pup cavity and hit the target at the bottom of the battery cavity...phew!! I am really pleased with this aspect of the build and the gotoh battery box is a super neat way to manage the battery on an ongoing basis.......

Black Spot Jarrah on the neck outers and the pickup rings......really nice stock with awesome figure and colour. The guitar is really well balanced and the weight is evenly distributed....the QLD Maple body is very light weight which allows for the weight of the relatively thick 16mm Jarrah top....this build is not chambered.

Sound samples? Good suggestion Pat.....can you host wav files on photobucket or something like that?

Very nice! Is the jarrah easy to work with? Also what sort of tones does it add?

Originally Posted by tim290280

Very nice! Is the jarrah easy to work with? Also what sort of tones does it add?

Figures stuff is a pain, less figured stuff can be a pain. I have some pink jarrah which is alright to work with though.

Jarrah is warm as far as i know.


I want some sounds samples, even a video on photobucket or youtube will suffice!

Oh and your guitar...bewdyful. I honestly can't wait for the next beast.

How are they selling? Seeing much interest?

I would love to do what you and Stu are doing, but i think it's best to wait until i have built a few instruments that pass my personal QC and unfortunately it doesn't take much to fail!

Either way i would have to move to Vic and get access to all the good timber yards

Thanks RG. My latest 2 builds I am keen to sell and I did sell a Danish Oil Single Cut sustainer a little while back.....have had great feedback from the player who is in an up and coming band that I think will hit the bigtime...my fingers are crossed for them anyway, really cool oz band.....

On that score though, this is a very tough market and there are not a lot of folks around with decent $$$ to spend on handmade guitars from up and coming builders. This is where I have such respect for those established Australian luthiers that have forged a living out of this trade.....such a vast combination of skills is required to make that happen.

Yep I have found Jarrah to be warm and full of bottom end. I actually really enjoy working with it and have found none of the problems, say Blackwood presents, such is wavy grains, tearout etc...Jarrah is tough as nails and holds up a treat.....carving this neck was an absolute pleasure....like shaving hard butter .

OK, 'll look at youtube and photo bucket and see what I can 'conjure' up by the weekend

Looking good Ethereal!.
I really like the pickup rings, I couldn't imagine it with out hand made rings.
Whats the electronic configuration? Just tone and volume?
Some recordings would be cool

Originally Posted by EtherealGuitars

Yep I have found Jarrah to be warm and full of bottom end. I actually really enjoy working with it and have found none of the problems, say Blackwood presents, such is wavy grains, tearout etc...Jarrah is tough as nails and holds up a treat.....carving this neck was an absolute pleasure....like shaving hard butter .

OK, 'll look at youtube and photo bucket and see what I can 'conjure' up by the weekend

I have had similar experience with Jarrah, good to work with but unforgiving on dull tools. I found I had best results if I sharpened regularly and stropped tools to a high gloss first. I guess that is true for all timbers, but jarrah seemed to go from butter to burned very quickly. There are few voids or cavities and it buffs nicely. I have used it for Fretboards and a neck and if treated correctly will make an excelent guitarwood.
I haven't used it for a body, though I am going to use it on accoustics.

though I am going to use it on accoustics.

I think the best way to gauge a timbers tonal characteristics is in an acoustic. I have heard mixed reports about Jarrah as a tone wood, but from all my experiences its awesome!

It all boils down to whatever floats your boat, right?
There is no right or wrong - only what sounds and feels good to you. I have every intention of making an MDF guitar at some stage, just to prove it can be done. I have heard plywood accoustics that sound pretty decent and have played a $12000 Gibson jumbo that really didn't sound that much better to my ear.
From what I can gather science cannot predict the accoustic properties of timber as there are too many variables, you'd have to know the growth history of the tree, its environment ...
What about multiple lamination? Got some tonewood with different properties? Jam 'em together and make something new.
Thats the joy of lutherie.
Try something new.
Leo Fender did...

Ethereal brought a few of his new builds, including this one to my new digs a few weeks ago...............and this one is exceptional !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Take a bow, brother !!!!!

Build quality is A1 and the pickup surrounds, as intricate as they are really give
this a unique and comfortable look.
The active SD's really took me by surprise when playing through with a fair bit of
gain, as the notes just fed into an eerily controllable feedback.
And the cleans showed up alot more definition in each string when doing chordal arrangements. ie. no mush !!!!!!!

Very impressed with this one, Ethereal. This one's right on the money.

Thanks Oz! Good to have you back online buddy