A few notes from your friendly webmaster

OTFweb V1.0 coming like a sack of rocks to the forebrain! look out! were still working out the kinks between the "fringer" page and the new format so expect to be redirected for a few hours at some point (I'm not telling). 

Almost all of the components for the guitar are almost here and will all be shipped out for inlays/etching/fretting/finishing/flogging etc...etc...

It would seem that we aren't quite sure how the side of the body where the ziricote and swamp as meet will be dealt with... reader suggestion poll? perhaps.

 

If you have $350 to spend and don't have a Tech 21 'Sans Amp' buy it.

Sometime in the early morning... - Welcome to OTFweb V 1.0

Templates

Images optimized

Style Sheets Integrated

Friends of the Fringe page

More to come!

10/21/08 - and also some style sheet updates.

10/21/08 - Just a quick note on the Lindy Fralin single coil pickups that we received: They are reverse wound and are therefore capable of running in a special 'humbucker' mode despite the spacing between them. More detail to come in Joe's Blog

10/15/08 - So we were sitting around in the tech shop the other day and came up with the idea of branding the guitar with a new OTF logo. That being said, we are working on a new stencil for the OTF compact logo which will be branded onto the guitar (possibly on the pick guard or the back of the body, prior to sealing) and all intern

10/14/08- Pickups are in!

10/13/08 - Our custom Lindy Fralin pickups have been completed and have shipped!

The parts will be shipped individually to various luthiers, technicians, and artists around the globe. The 'Fringer' will ultimately be shipped back for assembly and fretwork/set up by Pat Diburro of Diburro Guitars.

Stay tuned for Joe's Photo Blog and more!

Blog  1/21/09

Turquoise, amber,  and clear blue apatite. 

First let’s talk turquoise: I have been working very closely in recent weeks with Kevin of Nevada Cassidy’s Fine Turquoise.  I have commissioned Kevin to cut a set of stones to be set onto our Schaller machine heads as tuner buttons. Kevin actually mines, cuts, polishes and shapes turquoise from virgin specimens so we can be sure these are no “off the shelf” sets.  Presently Kevin has hand selected and cut a group of stones for us and has sent a pic before shaping and polishing.           

 

Amber:  How about an 18 – 20 million year old piece of amber with an insect inclusion from the time of the dinosaurs for the switch top ? Why not.  I have contacted Keith at Terra Treasures and he has been kind enough to send us some samples to work with. Really cool.

 

 

 

Finally the Blue Apatite: We have commissioned Dave of Stevens Designs to custom wind our pick-ups. As a former” Album Cover Artist”, a custom jeweler, and the guy who put EMG on the map, having Dave on this build was a “no-brainer”.  Dave is presently fabbing a custom set of overwound vintage pickups but with Blue Apatite set into the bridge pickup. How cool is that?

 

 

 

Once we have the amber and turquoise in house these pieces will be sent to Scott of Dread Meister in New Zealand for fitting. These folks are the guys who did all the miniatures in the Lord of The Rings Trilogy.  I’m thrilled to have Scott involved on this fab.  I will be back with more when the body and neck return from inlay.

 

Blog 12/09/08
Everything is coming along great. The rattlesnake skin pick guard and matching stomp box from Basic Audio are in and look spectacular. Also the body and neck have just been sent out for inlay to Larry Robinson of Robinson Fine Custom Inlays www.robinsoninlays.com. Please take the time to visit Larry’s site, absolutely exquisite work. Larry will be applying extensive inlay to both the body and neck to accommodate our “Santa-Fe” theme. Our bridge has been completed and just returned from plating.  We should be getting it this week. This should look really cool. It’s all coming together. Joe C @ OTf

10/29/08
Today I would like to introduce William at FSR Custom Shop www.fsrshop.com .  These folks are going to do the rear neck plate and the front control plate for us. I am blown away with their abilities. Please take the time to visit their site; you will be stunned with their products.  I initially was looking for someone to simply engrave a neck plate for us, but there is nothing simple about these guys.  Instead of just engraving a couple of lines we are now going to have FSR photo etch an image on to a plate for us.  I can’t wait.  The sample William had forwarded to us floored me.  Any one looking for something to make their axe unique owes it to themselves to check these guys out.  I’m glad I did….and for under $30 bucks ! William is presently designing the control plate and I will share more when he finishes. This is sure to be bad-ass.
  More soon. Joe @ OTF
 (actual proof) Is this going to be cool or what ?
  www.fsrshop.com

 

10/24/08 - I was supposed to blog about the inlay today but this is cool. Volume knobs.  Well of course we’re doing something special.  In keeping with the “Santa Fe” theme I was thinking polished turquoise w/real Indian Head Nickels inset in the top of each knob.  One heads, one tails. How cool would that be? Again, the problem was finding someone to fabricate a custom pair.  I’ve actually been looking for some one to make these since the start of this project.  If I was forced to, I was going to mill them from S.S. and then mount the nickels, but now it looks like we’ll have what we initially wanted. Today I’d like to introduce you to Kevin of Nevada Cassidy’s www.nevadacassidys.com .  Kevin deals in raw stones as well as custom jewelry.  Really smokin’ site too. These folks have done some amazing pieces. Please check them out. As soon as I saw the site I new they were for us.  Talked to him today and he replied, “No problem”.  So, now I’m off to see a coin dealer for two 1913 Indian Head Nickels (I believe the Buffalo Nickel was introduced in 1913) to send off to Kevin.  Hopefully I’ll be back in time to catch Fed-X.  Keep dialed in.  Joe @ OTF

10/23/08 - Well it turns out I wasn’t  kiddin’ about the matchin’ pedal.  I commissioned John from Basic Audio to do just that, a Western Diamondback rattle snake covered pedal to match the pick guard.  What will it do? John promises a unique, custom pedal that will compliment  this build specifically. I urged John to exercise his own individual creativity.  I don’t want to give too much away though.  I’m so blown away by this guy ! Everyone must check him out.  I understand from Dave’s Pedal Corner that he was so impressed that he’s now  sending one of his own personal  creations to John to custom enclose. Much more to come about Basic Audio……….. maybe another surprise. I’ll be blogging soon about the extensive inlay on the body and fret board next.  We’re sorting out our designs and off they go.  Stand by for more info.  This is going to be really cool.   Joe @ OTF

10/21/08 - After studying the Ziricote topped tele body from Warmoth, we thought that we’d go a little exotic with the pick guard.  Real Diamondback Rattlesnake skin.  The only problem was I could not find someone that could do it.  Well to day I’d like to introduce to you to John at Basic Audio.  You want to talk about  ”one of a kind” products, this is the guy !  Please go to www.mrdwab.com/john to check out his gallery. Very cool  stuff.  I’ve never seen anything like what John’s doing, so needless to say, he’s our guy for the pick guard. I contacted John yesterday via e-mail and he got back to me within 12 hours with “Yes  I can do the Diamondback pick guard”.  I am very excited to have John on board for this build.  W hen you see his gallery you’ll see why.  Only problem now is we must have a matching pedal.  Oh yeah did I mention he does that too.  Until next time, Joe @ OTF

10/20/08 - We have been giving a lot of thought to tuner buttons.  This build will have a ”Santa Fe” theme so our focus has been on all things South Western.  We wanted to do something really unique, so why not rough turquoise buttons.  I have contacted “Zuni by Harris” to hand pick some tumbled rough turquoise from his mine and send them out to us.  Be sure to check back in to see the V.I.P. fabricator who will fit these stones to the machine heads.  I don’t want to give too much away.  Stay tuned. Joe @ OTF

10/16/08 - We have come to realize that this build has become much, much, more than our original intent.  It has become more of a professionally playable, one of a kind, piece of art. We have reached out specifically to a collection of the leading custom hand fabricators around the globe for this project, and have concluded that this is not just a guitar any longer, but something really unique and special. 

Recognizing this, we have decided to Auction this instrument when completed and donate all profits to Lyrics for Life.  Please click their link on this page for more info about this wonderful  organization. 

Please check back for more pictures and info on this now “original piece of art” in progress. Lot’s of surprises on the way.  Thanks for visiting.  Joe @ OTF.

10/15/08-Greetings enthusiasts!
And welcome to my studio, On The Fringe Studios, Inc. (well, at least virtually).    This build was something we had been thinking about for sometime.  We had a need of a telecaster to fill a void in our guitar collection and rather than purchase and rebuild a new guitar to specifically compliment our studio space as well as our diverse tube amp collection, we decided to go with a ground up custom build.
  Our original intent was to build a Tele’ of the highest standards and to incorporate as many leaders in their specific areas of expertise as possible.  To ensure the very highest quality, we focused our research on fabricators that made their products by hand and one at a time.  The contributors we have commissioned are just that. 
  Now that the major components are beginning to arrive I wanted to introduce my self and the project.  I will be regularly updating you with the progress of the build with photos and specific processes as we proceed.  Be looking for V.I.P.  contributors and bios as well as surprise custom fineries to be incorporated into this concept build.
Thank You for visiting and check back regularly for updates. We have only just begun.
Regards,
Joe @ OTF