For the Tundra Boy's third guitar, he created something completely different. He took influences from three different guitars, and combined them with his own ideas to create something unique. The three guitars he used as an influence were the Music Man Majesty, the Abasi Larada, and Alex Lifeson's Hentor Sportscaster.
The Music Man Majesty is the signature guitar for John Pettruci of Dream Theater. The Tundra Boy is a big Dream Theater fan, and based the design of his first guitar on the Majesty. This third instrument would be less of a copy of the Majesty, but still have some recognizable elements.
The Abasi Larada is a guitar made by a small guitar company owned by Tosin Abasi, who is the virtuoso guitarist for Animals As Leaders. Few people are familiar with this brand of guitar. They have a unique shape, and the Tundra Boy incorporated a variation of the ergonomic lower body cutaway from this guitar, along with the unusual output jack location.
For as few people have heard of the Abasi Larada, even fewer have probably heard of the Hentor Sportscaster. The Hentor Sportscaster was a guitar built and played by Alex Lifeson from the band Rush, during the late 1970s and into the 1980s. It started life as a 1973 Fender Stratocaster, but received many modifications over the years. The Tundra Boy adopted the pickups, wiring and hardware from the Hentor Sportscaster to use in his own guitar.
In addition, the Tundra Boy put his own touches on this guitar. It features a solid ebony neck, using neck-through construction. The Buckeye burl top is a very pretty piece of wood of an uncommon species. The fretboard has Luminlay dot inlays on both the front and sides, so they will glow on a dark stage.
The Tundra Boy has named the instrument In honor of Alex Lifeson. I hereby present to you: the Lifecaster.
Here are the specs for the guitar:
Neck Type: Neck through construction
Neck Wood: Gabon ebony. One piece. No finish on the back of the neck.
Truss Rod: Dual action
Neck Reinforcement: None: the ebony should be plenty stiff on its own.
Headstock: Angled, scarf jointed, buckeye burl top.
Tuners: Hipshot locking
Nut: Tusq
Body Wood: Buckeye burl top, with claro walnut body wings.
Body Features: Carved top.
Fretboard: Brazilian rosewood. 14" radius. Luminlay dot inlays. Jescar Evo Gold fret wire.
Scale Length: 25.5"
Pickups: Two Dimarzio FS-1 single coils with chrome covers, one Bill Lawrence L500 humbucker.
Controls: One volume, one tone, three on-off push buttons for pickup selection. Push-pull neck pickup series/parallel switch on the volume knob. Push-pull humbucker coil tap switch on the tone knob. Pure Tone Full Contact output jack.
Hardware: Gold
Bridge: Floyd Rose NFT (no fine tuners.) Upgraded brass sustain block. Hipshot Tremsetter installed.
Finish: Satin poly
Weight: 7 lbs
Click here to watch the Tundra Boy build this instrument.
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This page last updated on 04/02/2024