NGD - Ron Kirn Barnbuster w/ custom options

[jeremypodom]

Well, after several months it's finally here. I've been posting pictures on other threads, but this guitar deserves it's own thread.

The custom options aren't super fancy. Specs and stats are:

Stainless steel frets
Schaller locking tuners
Dunlop strap locks
Babicz full contact hardware bridge
Treble bleed mod on the internal wiring
Fatback neck (love it!!!)
Everything else is standard including RK pickups, the true nitro finish, his normal wiring apart from the treble bleed, electrosocket jack, and anything else you might think of.

As far as a review, I'm still much too unacquainted with this lovely tele to give a fair one. I'll post back again in a few days with a better informed review.

And of course, here's a pic. I don't own a camera, so I asked my friend to use his very fancy cell phone to snap a decent pic for me. I didn't want to bother him too much so I only got one. I'll post the link to the thread with Ron's much better pics.

[jeremypodom]

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/guitar-ow...n-club-16.html

Post #624 has a few pics from Ron himself of the finished guitar. Further above that is some almost-done close ups of certain parts.

[fountainhead]

Cannot wait to get mine! 9 1/2 weeks....... ahhrrgghhh!!!!!

[jabba]

Great looking guitar. I am curious about the treble bleed... What is it for and how does it work?

[jeremypodom]

Originally Posted by jabba

Great looking guitar. I am curious about the treble bleed... What is it for and how does it work?

Treble bleed eliminates the loss of treble when you roll the volume knob down.

[paratus]

Congrats! how do you like the bridge?

[telex76]

Congrats, nice.

[jeremypodom]

Originally Posted by paratus

Congrats! how do you like the bridge?

So far I like it a lot. It's very solid and I love how it all locks in to place. I can't attest to the supposed sustain enhancing qualities, seeing as I've never played it with another bridge, but the sustain is nice.

[paratus]

Originally Posted by jeremypodom

So far I like it a lot. It's very solid and I love how it all locks in to place. I can't attest to the supposed sustain enhancing qualities, seeing as I've never played it with another bridge, but the sustain is nice.

Thanks Jeremy, I have had my eyes on one of those. I am a sucker for crazy engineered equipment.

[teleamp]

Looks great! The go to guitar guy up here loves the Babicz bridge on a Tele.

[androo]

Aw man. That is just what I want mine to look like, when I ever get the dough. I've seen some that have more pronounced knots, and I can't say I love some of the more knotty ones. Yours has the knots in such a cool and laid back location.


Did you ask for that? How does Ron go about picking the wood/knots?

[jeremypodom]

Originally Posted by paratus

Thanks Jeremy, I have had my eyes on one of those. I am a sucker for crazy engineered equipment.

Just be careful, the saddles can't go as high as normal style bridges.

[jeremypodom]

Originally Posted by androo

Aw man. That is just what I want mine to look like, when I ever get the dough. I've seen some that have more pronounced knots, and I can't say I love some of the more knotty ones. Yours has the knots in such a cool and laid back location.


Did you ask for that? How does Ron go about picking the wood/knots?

Actually, I asked for one with as few knots as possible. There was a bit of a mix up in our emails and I ended up with one, as my friend would say, "with testicles" but it's still a great guitar

[jeremypodom]

As promised, here's a review. I'll try and segment it.

Sound:
Awesome. There's really no other word for it. I was a bit worried about ordering it with the RK pickups, as I've not heard much about his pickup making skills, but the sound on this tele is phenomenal. Everything you'd ever want in a tele and more. The low end is nice and tight while the high end has so much sparkle it's not even funny. It somehow never crosses the line between sparkle and ice pick, which my strat does all the time, and I'm absolutely thrilled. The four way switch is awesome too, I was excited to see what kind of flavors it would bring in to the equation. The series position (which is the hum bucker style, if I'm not mistaken), is just slightly louder and has a lot more mid-low range. I'm still getting acquainted with the different pickup positions but so far this tele is looking to be extremely versatile.

Upon first plugging in, it was making this really odd buzzing sound that my EHX hum debugger wouldn't even touch. I emailed Ron asking about it, and I had thought there was a grounding issues or that his pickups were bad, but he said it was RF interference (which I've never even heard of, partly because I've never had it before). Upon moving away from my desk and walking around the room to play, the buzz went away and for some reason has never come back. Now it's very quiet. I can even use the EXH HD on the weak setting and it takes care of everything.

Looks:
I don't know if I missed something on his website or it's not there, but the satin finish actually surprised me at first. I was expecting high gloss. However, I am very happy Ron has decided to make satin finish the standard because it looks phenomenal on these "old beat up" bodies. He does a great job of making it a nice smooth finish, with a few dings here and there caused by small flaws in the wood itself. It looks perfect for what it is, and that is 100+ year old pine that's seen some hard times. The neck has a great shine to and everything is so professional done. The only two complaints I can come up with is that on the edge where the fret meets the fingerboard, there was some mysterious white powder on a lot of them, and the edge of the pick guard also is a bit rough with some white powdery stuff on there. The frets were easily cleaned off with just a scrape of the nail. The pick guard is a bit tougher, and I may remove it some day just to clean the edges off. Very petty things to complain about, but that's because Ron doesn't leave any room for big stuff

Feel:
Here's where I've had a few issues, which were easily resolved. The neck is absolutely perfect, I'm so thrilled to finally have a "baseball bat" in my big hands. Most people I've handed it to don't really like it, but it's not there guitar is it? Ron includes a lot of info about his precision set up and stuff, and it's all very true. The action was great, but there was a good amount of buzz all over the neck. I know that it's not really audible when amped up, but I'm super anal about this.... buzz is the bane of my existence and I can't stand even the slightest amount. I've raised the action a tiny bit and 95% of it is gone.

Here's the main beef, and it's no fault of Ron's. The saddles on the Babicz bridge, which I chose at a slight risk because I've never used it, don't raise up very high. Even with Ron's super great fret job, the G and B strings couldn't go high enough to get rid of the buzz. I've done a temporary "fix" by cutting a strip of paper and folding it to be a few millimeters thick and wedging it under the saddles, but even then the G string has some buzz that's driving me nuts. I got my hands on a MIM tele bridge, which has the proper screws and spacing to be a drop in replacement, and I've got some graph tech string saver saddles on the way. I know some people think the string savers rob tone, but I've got them on my strat and I love them. They're very solidly constructed and definitely an upgrade IMO.

Once they arrive I'll tear everything up and put 'em on there. Don't get me wrong, the Babicz bridge is a good design... the saddle height is the only issue I've had at all with it. Everything else about the construction is fantastic. It may work on a different tele, or for someone less picky.

After all of this complaining, I just want to throw out there that even with the action raised as I've done it, it's still extremely low. The action on my friends tele is about the same and his buzzes everywhere.

Ron's done a fantastic job on this one. The only legitimate issue this tele has given me was pretty much my own damned fault =P other than the bridge it's been an absolute dream to own and play.

[mellecaster]

I'll foolishly ask....Do you notice the Buzz when plugged in to an Amp ?

Betcha ya don't.....

[jeremypodom]

Originally Posted by mellecaster

I'll foolishly ask....Do you notice the Buzz when plugged in to an Amp ?

Betcha ya don't.....

I can feel it in my fingers and that still counts.

But really, I can feel the buzzing regardless of whether it's audible in an amp.... and that still bothers me.

Even with the raised action, it's low enough to keep me very happy compared to what I'm used to.

[mmartin0781]

Originally Posted by jeremypodom

I can feel it in my fingers and that still counts.

But really, I can feel the buzzing regardless of whether it's audible in an amp.... and that still bothers me.

Even with the raised action, it's low enough to keep me very happy compared to what I'm used to.

Glad to hear you finally have her in your clutches. Hope you can get that buzzing taken care of. Congrats .

[Camplain]

Congrats on the awesome Kirn!... looks great!

Bummer about the bridge, sounds like you're well on your way to putting one on that'll be more what you're looking for... as we say in the south "themz the hazzards" of buying before you try... which I've been guilty of plenty of times myself... Very cool that you didn't have to pay full price for a bridge you couldn't bond with though.

Ron sent a pic of mine this weekend... can't wait to join the club!

[starjag]

Would love to see the full back of the Tele. Congrats!

[jeremypodom]

Yeah, the bridge was a bit of a bummer. I've got it listed on Ebay, though, and I'm actually somewhat confident that it will sell for more than Ron sold it to me for. Don't tell him!

And if you're reading this, Ron, a man in a black suit with black sunglasses is about to arrive at your door with a small metal object that will shine a bright light at you. He's your friend, even if you may not remember much about him after.