First item up is the prototype Crucible
Guitars EB-1. For those of you not
familiar with Crucible Guitars, that is me.
Crucible Guitars is the name under which I design and build solid body
electric guitars. I also provide
consultations on pickup choices for those who wish to ask. The EB-1 is named for the man who inspired me
to step out and design and build an instrument of my own, my father-in-law. The man was a great woodworker
and for anyone who has been to our home knows, he has built many of the furnishings,
from an end table crafted of recycled barn siding to our coffee table that I
dubbed the Les Paul table because it is built from mahogany and flame maple.
It is a T-style body made of swamp ash and finished with four light
coats of Tru-oil®. This is a
nice thick slab of swamp ash in the style of the traditional Fender Telecaster® with a single cutaway in the body on the treble side
of the neck for access to the upper frets.
The Tru-oil finish shows off the wood grain nicely and gives the
appearance of a 1970’s era instrument.
The neck is a 24 3/4” scale conversion
piece made of maple with a pao ferro fret board, a reverse T-style headstock,
tall narrow (6105) frets and finished with a vintage tinted satin lacquer
sealer. The boat shape carve to the back
of the neck replicates that of the Fender ’52 Telecaster® reissue and is a soft “V” shape near the nut and
tapers to a more rounded feel near the body joint. The “V” shape to the back of the neck gives
the feel of something fairly meaty in your hand while still being comfortable
to grip for traditional chord shapes and the v forcing your thumb on your
fretting hand to the center of the v for leverage on barre chords. I have come to prefer the sorter scale necks
due to my preference for heavier gauge strings (10-46). The shorter scale length reduces the string
tension and makes the heavier strings feel more pliable and easier to play.
The pickups are Seymour Duncan® units. Nearest
the bridge is their Vintage for Broadcaster bridge pickup with a Vintage
Mini-humbucker up toward the neck. The
pickups are wired to 300k volume and tone pots mounted to a reversed Tele-style
control plate with the volume nearest the bridge and the three-way switch to
the rear of the control plate. A special
round of thanks goes out to Mark Kaiser at Fret Repair by Mark
(fretrepairbymark.com) for his normal brilliant work in the set up and wiring
of this unit.
Acoustically, the combination of the
balanced resonance of the swamp ash and the less traditional (shorter) scale length
make for a guitar that appears very well balanced tonally. The guitar has good sustain when strumming
open chords with a little brightness to the acoustic sound.
Testing was done through my Soldano
Astroverb® set with the preamp gain on 2, reverb off, bass set at
6, middle set on 4, treble set to 6, presence at 5 and the master volume at
around 6.5. The Seymour Duncan Vintage
Mini-humbucker works well in the neck position creating a warm, smoky tone that
is great for open chords as well as blues inflected fills. Meanwhile, the Broadcaster style bridge
pickup produces a punchy, bright tone that cuts through effects and sits well in
a mix without becoming brittle or harsh sounding. With a bump in gain from the overdrive
section of a Visual Sound Route 66, the bridge pickup produces a nice ‘70’s
style roots rock or country tone that provides a little twang on blues licks.
In the context of a worship band, this
guitar is quite versatile and can used as a nice launching point for many
textures to support most of today’s worship styles.
In closing, I would like to add that
true worship is not about the songs that are sung, the music that is played or
the gear that you use. True worship of
the one true God who came and died for our sins in the form of Christ is about
living a life that honors Him in every aspect.
It is not leading a perfect as that is impossible, but living a life that
points others to Christ and His redemptive grace.
- Isaiah 53:5 – “But He was wounded for
our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the
chastisement of our peace was upon Him and with His stripes we are
healed.”
God Bless,
D.K. Sears
Guitarist / Technical Advisor – Landmark Baptist Worship (www.lbcohio.com)
Founder / Lead Designer / Tone Consultant – Crucible Guitar Works
