Logan Custom Guitars Club

[Bob Logan]

Hi everyone, Things are getting back to normal. I am keeping my house as I cannot find anything out there worth buying. Really over priced. My custom shop is now open. I am excepting new orders, with several underway. I have had great support during this time. I have been blessed in so many ways, Regards, Bob

 

[LGOberean]

Hi everyone, Things are getting back to normal. I am keeping my house as I cannot find anything out there worth buying. Really over priced. My custom shop is now open. I am excepting new orders, with several underway. I have had great support during this time. I have been blessed in so many ways, Regards, Bob

Good to hear, Bob. I was thinking just yesterday that I should reach out and see how things are going.

Oh, and I checked yesterday and the "not receiving new orders" notice was still on your custom shop page. After reading just now your latest post/update here, I went back and checked your website again, and it still reads the same. Since you've opened back up your custom shop, you might want to change that notice.

 

[BillH5256]

I got the idea from bluesmanmartin, who started a thread forming the “Bill Nash Club” this past Saturday.

When I saw that, I realized that I’ve seen on this forum all manner of such “clubs,” ones that deal with different makes (e.g., Fender, Squier, Nash, Hohner), models (e.g., AV52RI, HWY1, Baja, CV) and features (e.g., blackguards, colors, bindings, leftys).

Well, as many of you know, I am a fan of Logan Custom Guitars. So to me, in the context of all these clubs for fans of CVs, Bajas, AV52RIs, Nash guitars, ad infinitum, it just makes sense to start a Logan Custom Guitars Club, and so I am.

This will be a thread for the Logan owners on this list. In this thread, I suggest we post three kinds of messages. By that I’m not trying to make my own rules for this thread or dictate to others what they must post. I’m simply suggesting that we cover the three following broad categories: show & tell (i.e., pics & descriptions), sound clips and stories (interactions with Bob or other owners, reviews, gigs involving your Logan Custom).

Bob did this one for me about 5 years ago. It was a great experience.

 

[djh22]

Welcome back Bob!

 

[Telefsantasia1]

Hi everyone, Things are getting back to normal. I am keeping my house as I cannot find anything out there worth buying. Really over priced. My custom shop is now open. I am excepting new orders, with several underway. I have had great support during this time. I have been blessed in so many ways, Regards, Bob

So glad to hear from you Bob, I'm hoping everything is going well for you. I've been having the best time playing the 2 Tele's you made for me!! Edward

 

[Old Hickory]

Got my order in for a new Logan tele. Bob was a joy to speak with and so helpful and informative in making my decision. Two piece swamp ash body in white/blonde, rosewood, and keystones. Simplicity at its best, just the way I like it. I spent the last two weeks reading the first 100 pages of this group. Only 271 more to go…lol. I already feel like I know everybody.

 

[LGOberean]

Got my order in for a new Logan tele. Bob was a joy to speak with and so helpful and informative in making my decision. Two piece swamp ash body in white/blonde, rosewood, and keystones. Simplicity at its best, just the way I like it. I spent the last two weeks reading the first 100 pages of this group. Only 271 more to go…lol. I already feel like I know everybody.

Welcome to the club/thread. Yeah, Bob's great to work with, isn't he?

As for reading through this thread, at your rate, you'll be up to speed in another month. It's good that you aren't pushing yourself to binge read it all in one fell swoop. Don't try to be a hero; pace yourself.

About your ordered Logan tele, I have a BSB that is swamp ash, and one of my Firecasters (the one on the left in my avatar pic) has Keystones. I really like 'em. What switching configuration are you going with? My Firecaster with the Keystone set also features Bill Lawrence's 5-way switching configuration.

 

[Old Hickory]

Welcome to the club/thread. Yeah, Bob's great to work with, isn't he?

As for reading through this thread, at your rate, you'll be up to speed in another month. It's good that you aren't pushing yourself to binge read it all in one fell swoop. Don't try to be a hero; pace yourself.

About your ordered Logan tele, I have a BSB that is swamp ash, and one of my Firecasters (the one on the left in my avatar pic) has Keystones. I really like 'em. What switching configuration are you going with? My Firecaster with the Keystone set also features Bill Lawrence's 5-way switching configuration.

I saw that Firecaster in your YouTube video. Great looking guitar although I hate that it came about as the result of a tragedy. I noticed your bridge plate wasn’t angled like normal. What is the reasoning for that if you don’t mind me asking. Is the bass side moved back or is the treble side moved forward to get it even?

I just went with 3 way switching. I just never cared for that middle tone and prefer straight bridge alone or neck alone. I’ve mostly played strats all my life and they might as well not have a switch because they never move off the neck pickup. Can’t stand the in between sounds and the bridge pickup sounds so thin and toy like compared to a tele.

I think the keystones are going to be perfect. Never cared for hot wound pickups and more concerned with clarity and transparency. Imo if you need more power or grit that’s what pedals are for. You can dirty up a clean tone but you can’t always clean up a dirty tone. Same with amps. I set mine up for a great clean tone and get my dirt from a pedal. Depending on the pedal you can often get a good dirty sound with the guitar volume wide open and a great clean tone by backing off the volume just a bit. Some pedals don’t clean up well though. I don’t use many pedals and try to keep it simple. Something for distortion, compressor, and delay and that’s it.

 

[LGOberean]

I saw that Firecaster in your YouTube video. Great looking guitar although I hate that it came about as the result of a tragedy. I noticed your bridge plate wasn’t angled like normal. What is the reasoning for that if you don’t mind me asking. Is the bass side moved back or is the treble side moved forward to get it even?

Like many things in life, the house fire "tragedy" turned out to be a pretty good blessing, for several reasons.

For one thing, we made it out alive. The firemen told us another 15 minutes and we might never have woken up. The fire started from an ember from a BBQ pit smoldering in the leaves and catkins from on the ground from the pecan tree. Winds ignited it into a flame, which then caught the decorative bamboo on the hurricane fence, then traveled to the back deck. That in turn melted down our dog's kennel and several plastic containers. The melted plastic then acted as an accelerant, consumed the whole back deck and got up into the attic. All this while we were sleeping. The glass window in the back door broke from the heat, which woke Beth up. She then of course woke me up, and I placed the 9-1-1 call at 4:55am.

Another "blessing" is that our old house, the building of which was completed in 1936, needed new wiring. Not that we would have intentionally chosen to go about it that way, but it worked out. Also, we were able to remodel after a fashion.

And of course I got two Logan Custom "Firecaster" guitars out of the salvaged wood.

Speaking of which, about the angle of the bridge pickup, the first one I got that way from Bob was my BSB. That's the one with the swamp ash body. the Twang King pickups, a 4-way switch and Bob's proprietary stainless steel bridge plate with the straight alignment.

And that BSB was a gift from Bob after the fire. Bob had been in construction and custom home building for decades, so when he heard about the fire, he offered to fly down here. I thanked him for the offer, but I had another friend that was also a custom home builder that had already offered his services. I guess Bob wanted to do something for me, so he made me a guitar. He built it, even shipped it to me without my knowing about it. The next thing I know, I received a notification from UPS (or FedEx?) that a package had been delivered. I went outside, and Lo! and behold, there was a guitar from Bob!

I don't know how widely known it is that my BSB was a gift, but it's never been a secret. I brought it up in this context because Bob surprised me with the tele, and so the choice of bridge plate was his. My next guitar from Bob was my Firecaster I, and I did something different with Bob. Rather than go over a bunch of details with Bob, I just said, "I trust you. You're like an artist with guitars, so I'm giving you carte blanche on this one." I think I had been talking about the Keystones, so that was my choice, but using Bill Lawrence's 5-way switching configuration was Bob's idea. He had his pick of planks that I sent him, and the specs on the rest of the guitar were pretty much Bob. So the bridge plate was again his stainless steel plate, but this time with the slanted angle.

My 5th tele from Bob, "Firecaster II" was spec'ed out by me, and I had Bob use his SS straight plate for that build, also utilizing the 4-way switch and the Twang Kings. So in terms of hardware and electronics, my Firecaster II is spec'ed the same as my BSB.

The theory behind the straight plate is to tame the treble. I believe it does, albeit to modest extent. But I love the look of it, too, so there's that.

Firecasters...

Logans with Logan SS straight plate and DiMarzio Twang Kings...

 

[AusTexTeleGuy]

Bought my first Logan tele, used on Reverb. Here are some stats:

• Body: t-style vintage standard solid body, belly cut.

• Wood: Alder Solid

• Color: Weathered Grey Pigment Paint (solid color) Gloss finish.

• Pickups: Seymour Duncan Little 59 (bridge), 59 model PAF humbucker (neck)

• 3-Way Switch

• Gold and Chrome Appointments. Chrome Wilkinson bridge with brass saddles, gold control knobs.

• Standard 3 ply black pickguard

• Neck: Handmade Warmoth Telecaster Neck, Chunky C neck according to Bob.

• Nut 1-11/16" Tusq

• 21 Gold Frets, medium talls. Note from Bob — Our Gold fretwire is almost as hard as Stainless Steel, and offers the same fast, smooth feel. The gold color is solid throughout, so it will never look worn or turn brassy. This top-quality, German-made Jescar EVO wire is rated at HV 250 (+/-20) on the Vickers hardness scale.

• Maple, 1 Piece Solid

• Amber Gloss Tint

• 10" - 16" compound radius.

• Thickness at 1st Fret: .97"

• Thickness at 12th Fret: 1.00"

• Sperzel Locking Chrome/Gold Tuners

• About 7.7 lbs

• Made in October, 2021.

I found this guitar while looking for a used Brent Mason signature. Truth is, I didn't really want the middle PU and B-bender gadget -- what I really wanted was something that sounded like my long, lost '72 Tele custom, Blondie. This Logan custom tele, who I call Goldie, sounds like that guitar but feels much better to play.

Some sound files:

1) Mellow

http://www.mikejasper.com/telecasterwelcome.mp3

2) Rock

http://www.mikejasper.com/telecasterrock.mp3

3) Hard Rock

http://www.mikejasper.com/telecastersohard.mp3

 

[Old Hickory]

Like many things in life, the house fire "tragedy" turned out to be a pretty good blessing, for several reasons.

For one thing, we made it out alive. The firemen told us another 15 minutes and we might never have woken up. The fire started from an ember from a BBQ pit smoldering in the leaves and catkins from on the ground from the pecan tree. Winds ignited it into a flame, which then caught the decorative bamboo on the hurricane fence, then traveled to the back deck. That in turn melted down our dog's kennel and several plastic containers. The melted plastic then acted as an accelerant, consumed the whole back deck and got up into the attic. All this while we were sleeping. The glass window in the back door broke from the heat, which woke Beth up. She then of course woke me up, and I placed the 9-1-1 call at 4:55am.

Another "blessing" is that our old house, the building of which was completed in 1936, needed new wiring. Not that we would have intentionally chosen to go about it that way, but it worked out. Also, we were able to remodel after a fashion.

And of course I got two Logan Custom "Firecaster" guitars out of the salvaged wood.

Speaking of which, about the angle of the bridge pickup, the first one I got that way from Bob was my BSB. That's the one with the swamp ash body. the Twang King pickups, a 4-way switch and Bob's proprietary stainless steel bridge plate with the straight alignment.

And that BSB was a gift from Bob after the fire. Bob had been in construction and custom home building for decades, so when he heard about the fire, he offered to fly down here. I thanked him for the offer, but I had another friend that was also a custom home builder that had already offered his services. I guess Bob wanted to do something for me, so he made me a guitar. He built it, even shipped it to me without my knowing about it. The next thing I know, I received a notification from UPS (or FedEx?) that a package had been delivered. I went outside, and Lo! and behold, there was a guitar from Bob!

I don't know how widely known it is that my BSB was a gift, but it's never been a secret. I brought it up in this context because Bob surprised me with the tele, and so the choice of bridge plate was his. My next guitar from Bob was my Firecaster I, and I did something different with Bob. Rather than go over a bunch of details with Bob, I just said, "I trust you. You're like an artist with guitars, so I'm giving you carte blanche on this one." I think I had been talking about the Keystones, so that was my choice, but using Bill Lawrence's 5-way switching configuration was Bob's idea. He had his pick of planks that I sent him, and the specs on the rest of the guitar were pretty much Bob. So the bridge plate was again his stainless steel plate, but this time with the slanted angle.

My 5th tele from Bob, "Firecaster II" was spec'ed out by me, and I had Bob use his SS straight plate for that build, also utilizing the 4-way switch and the Twang Kings. So in terms of hardware and electronics, my Firecaster II is spec'ed the same as my BSB.

The theory behind the straight plate is to tame the treble. I believe it does, albeit to modest extent. But I love the look of it, too, so there's that.

Firecasters...
View attachment 1095216

Logans with Logan SS straight plate and DiMarzio Twang Kings...
View attachment 1095217

Sorry for the late reply but I’m not getting notifications for some reason even though I have my settings set to notify me whenever someone reply’s to my post.

Anyway…..the story of how that fire started is just unreal. The odds of any one of those factors happening were very low but for all of them to happen one right after the other is just mind blowing. So glad no one was injured and you had enough warning to get out in time.

That’s a great looking collection of Logans you have there and I’m sure that BSB will always hold a special place in your heart for many reasons and especially being that it was a gift from Bob. For him to offer to fly down there to help you and then also build you a guitar as a gift says all anyone needs to know about him as a person and his generosity and kindness.

I ordered the stainless bridge but with the angle for no other reason than I’m familiar with it and that’s the traditional look. But I’ve always been a little confused on why they’re angled in that direction. It seems it would make more sense to angle it the opposite direction so the treble strings are less trebly but who am I to argue with Leo Fender. I’ve even seen some bridges that were cut that way but I’ve never heard an AB comparison.

From what I can tell in your photos the straight bridge has the treble side slightly moved forward and the bass side slightly moved back. Yeah I would think the difference would be subtle but it would cool if someone did an AB comparison.

 

[Old Hickory]

Bought my first Logan tele, used on Reverb. Here are some stats:

• Body: t-style vintage standard solid body, belly cut.

• Wood: Alder Solid

• Color: Weathered Grey Pigment Paint (solid color) Gloss finish.

• Pickups: Seymour Duncan Little 59 (bridge), 59 model PAF humbucker (neck)

• 3-Way Switch

• Gold and Chrome Appointments. Chrome Wilkinson bridge with brass saddles, gold control knobs.

• Standard 3 ply black pickguard

• Neck: Handmade Warmoth Telecaster Neck, Chunky C neck according to Bob.

• Nut 1-11/16" Tusq

• 21 Gold Frets, medium talls. Note from Bob — Our Gold fretwire is almost as hard as Stainless Steel, and offers the same fast, smooth feel. The gold color is solid throughout, so it will never look worn or turn brassy. This top-quality, German-made Jescar EVO wire is rated at HV 250 (+/-20) on the Vickers hardness scale.

• Maple, 1 Piece Solid

• Amber Gloss Tint

• 10" - 16" compound radius.

• Thickness at 1st Fret: .97"

• Thickness at 12th Fret: 1.00"

• Sperzel Locking Chrome/Gold Tuners

• About 7.7 lbs

• Made in October, 2021.

I found this guitar while looking for a used Brent Mason signature. Truth is, I didn't really want the middle PU and B-bender gadget -- what I really wanted was something that sounded like my long, lost '72 Tele custom, Blondie. This Logan custom tele, who I call Goldie, sounds like that guitar but feels much better to play.

Some sound files:

1) Mellow

http://www.mikejasper.com/telecasterwelcome.mp3

2) Rock

http://www.mikejasper.com/telecasterrock.mp3

3) Hard Rock

http://www.mikejasper.com/telecastersohard.mp3

That’s a fantastic looking tele. Love the color too. I met Brent Mason about 40 years ago when he first came to Nashville. I was talking to Don Kelly at Hewgley’s music store one day and he told me he had this new guitar player in his band and said I needed to come see him. So I go to check him out at the little honky tonk Don was playing on Murfreesboro Rd. It was a week night and there weren’t many people there so I got me a table right in front of Brent and proceeded to have my mind blown at what I was witnessing.

I couldn’t understand how this guy was playing in a bar band when he could be making big money as a studio musician. For the next year I would make dozens of trips to that little bar to watch Brent and then one night I showed up but he wasn’t there and I knew what had happened. The word was out and he was in the recording studio where he should’ve been all along.

I had several conversations with him about his guitar, amp (deluxe), pedals, and nails. I even went out and bought me some glue on nails and a thumb pick thinking I could maybe play like him if I had his secret nail trick…..wrong of course. I even intended on building me a guitar just like his. I asked him one time what the body color was because I had looked at all the standard Fender colors at the time but never saw one like his. He said he wasn’t sure exactly what the color was called but that it was from a can of spray paint and didn’t turn out exactly like he wanted…lol.

I never saw him in a bar again but we worked many CMA Awards together over the next 2 decades.

 

[AusTexTeleGuy]

That’s a fantastic looking tele. Love the color too. I met Brent Mason about 40 years ago when he first came to Nashville. I was talking to Don Kelly at Hewgley’s music store one day and he told me he had this new guitar player in his band and said I needed to come see him. So I go to check him out at the little honky tonk Don was playing on Murfreesboro Rd. It was a week night and there weren’t many people there so I got me a table right in front of Brent and proceeded to have my mind blown at what I was witnessing.

I couldn’t understand how this guy was playing in a bar band when he could be making big money as a studio musician. For the next year I would make dozens of trips to that little bar to watch Brent and then one night I showed up but he wasn’t there and I knew what had happened. The word was out and he was in the recording studio where he should’ve been all along.

I had several conversations with him about his guitar, amp (deluxe), pedals, and nails. I even went out and bought me some glue on nails and a thumb pick thinking I could maybe play like him if I had his secret nail trick…..wrong of course. I even intended on building me a guitar just like his. I asked him one time what the body color was because I had looked at all the standard Fender colors at the time but never saw one like his. He said he wasn’t sure exactly what the color was called but that it was from a can of spray paint and didn’t turn out exactly like he wanted…lol.

I never saw him in a bar again but we worked many CMA Awards together over the next 2 decades.

That's a great story! Obviously, you're a seasoned Nashville pro yourself.

I'm really happy with this Logan guitar. I'm getting the sound I've been wanting for a while -- from mellow, clean, almost acoustic guitar-like to over-the-top hard rock to a classic feel somewhere in between. I still would like to try out a Brent Mason signature guitar someday, but who wouldn't? Keep wondering if the 7.25 radius would give me some kind of tactile nostalgia, lol. And don't get me started on the primer grey -- the color of my youth!

Jasper

 

[LGOberean]

Anyway…..the story of how that fire started is just unreal. The odds of any one of those factors happening were very low but for all of them to happen one right after the other is just mind blowing. So glad no one was injured and you had enough warning to get out in time.

Yeah, the fire marshal first thought it my be arson, because the burn pattern on the back wall indicated accelerants were involved (the plastic containers and dog kennel on the back deck that melted down). When he finally reconstructed how it all happened, he said that I could intentionally try 100 times to duplicate this and not get it "right."

That’s a great looking collection of Logans you have there and I’m sure that BSB will always hold a special place in your heart for many reasons and especially being that it was a gift from Bob. For him to offer to fly down there to help you and then also build you a guitar as a gift says all anyone needs to know about him as a person and his generosity and kindness.

Thanks. Yeah, the BSB is and always will be special to me. It was my main gigging guitar for years. And I so liked the pickups, bridge and switching configuration that I repeated them in my Firecaster II. But the backstory involving friendship and generosity takes the specialness factor through the roof.

I ordered the stainless bridge but with the angle for no other reason than I’m familiar with it and that’s the traditional look. But I’ve always been a little confused on why they’re angled in that direction. It seems it would make more sense to angle it the opposite direction so the treble strings are less trebly but who am I to argue with Leo Fender. I’ve even seen some bridges that were cut that way but I’ve never heard an AB comparison.

From what I can tell in your photos the straight bridge has the treble side slightly moved forward and the bass side slightly moved back. Yeah I would think the difference would be subtle but it would cool if someone did an AB comparison.

I agree that an A/B comparison of the bridge pickup with different slants would be cool to see...uh, hear. But I'm not really the guy to do it. For a true A/B comparison, the bridge material, pickups, pots, strings, body wood, etc. would all need to be identical (or at least as nearly the same as possible) and only the slant of the bridge pickup be different. I don't have that in my collection. And all I have to record with is my cell phone, so even if I could generate a difference in the room, I'm not sure I could capture it in a YT video shot with my cell phone.

 

[AusTexTeleGuy]

Close Larry, I was 21, she was 19.



Okay what about now?

G bender?

 

[rockymtnguitar]

New members allowed? I just placed my order with Bob and am very excited! Celebrating 7 years of sobriety, a very good year with my small business, and the start of a new phase of life. Bob has been great to work with so far - he called and discussed my original options and had excellent suggestions. I'm a sucker for 1-pickup guitars, so this is some sort of cabronita-esquire.

Here's the general build list:

Chambered tele-style body, alder
Body painted firemist gold with white binding
TVJones Classic+ bridge pickup, no route for a neck pickup
B50 Bigsby
Stainless steel halfbridge
Tone/vol through the back of the body
Maple neck
Gotoh locking tuners
WBW 3ply cabronita-style pickguard
Hardshell case

 

[Old Hickory]

New members allowed? I just placed my order with Bob and am very excited! Celebrating 7 years of sobriety, a very good year with my small business, and the start of a new phase of life. Bob has been great to work with so far - he called and discussed my original options and had excellent suggestions. I'm a sucker for 1-pickup guitars, so this is some sort of cabronita-esquire.

Here's the general build list:

Chambered tele-style body, alder
Body painted firemist gold with white binding
TVJones Classic+ bridge pickup, no route for a neck pickup
B50 Bigsby
Stainless steel halfbridge
Tone/vol through the back of the body
Maple neck
Gotoh locking tuners
WBW 3ply cabronita-style pickguard
Hardshell case

That’s an interesting and unique combination. Can’t wait to see and hear it. My next build will probably be an Esquire type. I’m a sucker for simplicity.

 

[Dan German]

Got my order in for a new Logan tele. Bob was a joy to speak with and so helpful and informative in making my decision. Two piece swamp ash body in white/blonde, rosewood, and keystones. Simplicity at its best, just the way I like it. I spent the last two weeks reading the first 100 pages of this group. Only 271 more to go…lol. I already feel like I know everybody.

When I got my Logan in 2010, I felt the same. Ash body, Keystones, but a maple neck. It took eight years before I had any urge to change it, and all I did was add Bill Lawrence’s 5 way switching. I could easily have left it 3 way and been happy as well. Oh, and I switched the Wilkinson bridge plate for Bob’s stainless steel one. Kept the compensated saddles. Long story short, I expect and hope that you will be as happy with yours as I always have been with mine!

 

[Old Hickory]

I think I’m going to love it @Dan German. I considered the 5 way switch just to have more tonal options but in all honesty 90%+ of my playing will be either on the bridge or neck alone so I went with the 3 way. I like to keep moving parts to a minimum just for the sake of simplicity and reliability.

I went with the stainless bridge too. Bob explained his reasoning for that design and it I believe he said it centered on how the plate is energized and enables the pickups to be kept lower if I understood him correctly. He said you might lose a tiny bit of sustain but would gain a lot more clarity. So for my style of playing I think the Keystones and that bridge should be a great match.

I’ve got an old Guitar Player magazine from the 70’s where Dicky Betts was asked how he got such great tone and his reply was that he keeps the pickups as low as possible. I’m guessing to reduce the magnetic pull on the strings for one thing but there’s probably more to it than that. I need to dig that article up and read it again. I know some people claim that’s one of the secrets to the Esquire sound in that there’s no magnetic interference from the neck pickup.