TC Ellis Guitars Blog

Custom Paint by Ace of Sprays

2010-03-03T16:24:00.004Z

We just got this back from Ace at Ace of Sprays http://aceofsprays.co.uk/ - it started life as a PRS style guitar which has flame maple top that was just laying around the workshop. Ace did a great paint job on it utilising the existing flame in the maple going under a faux granite finish. Here are a few pictures showing his great work on this guitar:

Horton Heat Guitar

2010-02-08T11:36:00.005Z

Just finished this 335 style guitar for the Rev. Horton Heat - check out this link for more info:

http://www.reverendhortonheat.com/

We have done this guitar as a gift to the Rev - we dont have any endorsement deals etc. Horton Heat supported Motorhead in the USA last year and this was a way of saying thank you for the hospitality.

The guitar itself is a 335 style mahogany body / neck with a maple top - finished in black - ebony fretboard with no inlays, Les Paul style hardware with the 3 way switch on the upper horn. We fitted a nice set of Bare Knuckle Mississippi Queen Humbucker sized P-90's - CTS Pots and Orange drop caps.

Phil Campbell of Motorhead playing a Lemmy Inspired Guitar

2010-01-26T12:58:00.002Z

We are working on a limited run of Lemmy Inspired Guitars - Phil Campbell of Motorhead picked up a new guitar from us last week and tried out the design prototype for the guitar:

Specifications:

Individually Serial Numbered for the production of 50
Premium Mahogany Body with 5 Piece Maple Neck
Width at Nut: 42
Width at 12th Fret: 52mm
Scale Length: 626mm
Exclusive body shape with hand carved "Oak leaf" relief
Premium Hand Made Binding
Premium Ebony Fretboards
Star Inlays in Mother of Pearl
Bare Knuckle War Pig Pickups (1V + 1T)
CTS Pots, Sprague Orange drop Capacitors, hand wired
Premium Hardware
Bone Nut
Certificate of Authenticity
Hard Case
Pro Setup

Price: £850 + V.A.T. If the guitar is going to any non-European Union Country then its £850 and you will be responsible for your own import taxes etc.

Phil Campbell playing his new Strat built by TC Ellis Guitars

2010-01-26T12:47:00.004Z

Phil Campbell of Motorhead finally got to the shop to pick up the Strat we just built for him:

The guitar is as follows:

Mahogany Body finished in translucent white
1 Piece Flame Maple Neck with Spade inlays and "Wanker" at the 12th fret
Callham Vintage S Bridge - blocked off (no trem)
EMG H/S/S pickup configuration modded to 18 volts
Custom made Gold Mirror Pickguard and back plate
Custom plated gold / nickel vintage split post tuners

If you are interested in a similar build we can produce this instrument for approx. £750

Mantis 2 with EMG's and Schaller Hannes

2010-01-26T12:40:00.003Z

Just finished this build:

TC Ellis Guitars Mantis 2 in Mahogany with 1" Flame Maple Cap - faux Binding
Tree of Life in Mother of Pearl
Schaller Hannes Bridge
Schaller Tuners
EMG Zakk Wylde Set

Lemmy inspired Guitar

2010-01-16T15:43:00.003Z

Just finished this prototype for a Lemmy inspired guitar.

Click here for more information

This is a limited run of 50 instruments priced at £850 + V.A.T. The first 15 have sold out - I am now taking deposits of £250 each for the remaining 35.

Triumph Motorbike Strat

2010-01-05T12:12:00.003Z

Tim Butcher just finished his custom painted Strat - Its based on the same paint job he has on his Motorhead Triumph - all paintwork was done by http://www.aceofsprays.co.uk/

Here are a few pictures:

Finished Phil Campbells New Guitar

2009-12-19T12:11:00.005Z

I have finally finished Phil's new Strat:

The guitar is built as a twin to the Series 2 Les Paul Style that we built for him earlier this year - its translucent white over Flame Maple with Gold Hardware.

Here are the specs:

Body: 1 Piece Ash with Flame Maple top. Routed for H/S/S

Neck: High Quality Flame Maple with Premium Rosewood Fretboard 22 Frets (medium Jumbo), 16" radius - "Spade" symbol fret markers in Abalone with "Wanker" at the 12th fret. Hand carved bone nut (0.023" to 0.018" E to E) 42.6mm at the nut / 52mm at the 12th fret. Very slim neck profile (20mm at 12th fret) - soft shoulders with a fairly "flat" back - think FAST. Vintage Pin-up decal on the headstock, finished in high gloss Nitro with Danish Oil finish on the back of the neck.

Hardware: EMG 81/S/S with 1 volume and 1 tone (ceramic) Callaham Vintage S bridge and trem block (blocked off) - no trem claw or springs - the trem cavity has 2 9v batteries for 18v mod to the EMG circuitry) Hardware has been selectivly 24 carat gold plated for a Gold / Nickel look. Hand made Gold Mirror pickguard and matching back plate - Vintage split post tuners again selectivly plated in gold. And finally a nice Welsh Flag button.

The guitars neck is set with a very very small amount of relief, Earnie Ball Super Slinky 10's with the action at 0.055 at the 12th fret on the Bass E going to 0.045 on the trebel E.

This had turned out to be yet another sweet guitar - I actually took a break yesterday and just played it for the sheer enjoyment it sounded and played that good. Phil is in Moscow today for the last gig of the 2009 Motorizer tour - we will hook up over Xmas and the New Year - I will try and get some pics and video of him with the guitar.

I can build this same guitar for around £850 - Fender Custom Shop quality at a fraction of the price.

Click on the pictures for bigger versions:

Phil Campbells new Strat Build

2009-12-15T15:14:00.002Z

I have been working on the neck again for the new Stratocaster I am building for Phil Campbell of Motorhead - here are a few pics (click on them for a bigger version):

Headstock with decal & Logo - Lots of Nitro Clear - hand flatted between coats etc:

Back of the neck - high quality Flame Maple

12th Fret Inlay:

"Ace" Fret Markers

Guitar for Horton Heat

2009-12-12T10:56:00.003Z

Working on a Guitar for the Rev. Horton Heat - check out this website for more info if you are not familiar with them: http://www.reverendhortonheat.com/ - more info will be up shortly.

Phil Campbells Strat Build

2009-12-08T14:47:00.003Z

I have been building Phil Campbell of Motorhead a Strat for the past few weeks - its just about done. Today I applied the headstock decals and took a quick picture (click on it to see it bigger)

I will post some pictures and more information later this week once it's complete. I can build this same Strat for £750 - set up exactly as this one.

Yamaha, Kawasaki & Ducati Stratocasters

2009-12-01T14:25:00.004Z

Just finishing up on a few Motorbike themed Strats.

Made up from various off the shelf Fender and non-Fender parts - generic Strat pickups. Fender USA necks with serial numbers. £475 each - upgrade the pickups etc at your option - call or email for upgrade pricing. Premium Paintwork by "Ace of Sprays"

New Guitar for Phil Campbell

2009-11-30T16:38:00.005Z

Phil Campbell of Motorhead just got another guitar from me - they just finished up the UK part of the Motorizer 2009 tour and are now in Europe. I managed to get the guitar completed last Saturday morning (Thanks very much to Tim Mills at Bare Knuckle Pickups for getting the War Pig's to me on time). A mad dash to the London Hammersmith Apollo for sound check to deliver the guitar as well as a nice Green Flame Maple Series 2 for Mikkey Dee (Motorheads Drummer), a TC Ellis SG style and the last of my TC Ellis Hollowbody Les Paul style guitars for Dan and the crew - sorry Lemmy, that was the last one.

During the concert Paul, Lemmys Son made a guest appearance during "Killed by Death" and actually used Phils new guitar. I also met with the Guitar tech for the Damned - I am building him a Flying V.

The guitar for Phillip is one of my new "Debbie" style Les Pauls - solid mahogany body, Quilted Maple front, double binding, flame maple neck left natural, tree of life inlay, fully shielded with CTS Pots, Sprague Orange drops, Bare Knuckle "War Pig" pickups and the hardware in gold.

This is a very limited run of 12 instruments - available in black flame and tobacco sunburst flame. I did have another Cherry Sunburst that matched Phils guitar but Martin, a good customer of mine just grabbed it yesterday for his Xmas present to himself.

The guitars are available in 2 configurations - with standard hardware, pickups etc for £549 and a "Pro" version with upgraded electronics, CTS Pots, Sprague orange drop's, Bare Knuckle Pickups, fully shielded for £775.

New Strat Build with EMG's

2009-11-17T15:04:00.004Z

I finished a pair of Strats a few weeks ago - here are some pictures and info:

Specifications:

Solid Mahogany Body with Spalted / Flamed Maple top
AAA Flame Maple Neck with Maple Fretboard - Abalone Inlays
EMG-DG 20 Pickup's - http://www.emginc.com/products/index/56/11/1
Callaham USA Vintage S Tremolo and Hardware in Nickle: http://www.callahamguitars.com/partsstr.htm
Callaham Vintage Split Post Tuners
Bone Nut
Pro Setup
£750 (Cheaper than an off the wall USA Strat)

This Strat has the perfect "Strat" sound - I am very pleased with the finished guitar.

Review of a TC Ellis Guitars Series 2

2009-11-14T10:47:00.002Z

I just read this review of one of my guitars - click here for the ultimate-guitars review

The guitar started as a basic Series 2 and was upgraded with Bare Knuckle Pickups and premium electronics.

Lemmy Bass - Update & Pictures

2009-11-11T12:35:00.004Z

Here are a few pictures of the Bass we are building for Lemmy - Once Lemmy approves we will begin production:

Brushed Steel / Copper Rust Acoustic

2009-11-03T10:12:00.004Z

Faux Brushed Steel and Copper effect Acoustic Guitar - I will have 2 Les Paul Style (My Series 2's) available soon with this same finish.

Vincent Motorbike Guitar

2009-11-03T10:05:00.003Z

Working on this PRS Style Guitar - it is themed around the classic Vincent Motorbike's of the 50's. We are working on a few Stratocasters based around classic Triumph, BSA, Ducatti, Yahaha, etc. motorbike colour schemes.

Lemmy Bass & Phil Campbell Strat Update Nov. 2 2009

2009-11-02T10:08:00.005Z

Here are a few new pictures of Lemmys Bass (Notice the intricate body binding is now on) This Bass is subject to Lemmy's approval:

Here are a few pictures of a Strat build we are doing for Phillip Campbell of Motorhead - he likes his Series 2 so much he wants a matching Strat style guitar - Ash body in translucnt white, S/S/H, Flame Maple neck with premium rosewood fretboard (check out the upside down "Spade" symbols for the fret markers in Abalone and "Wanker" in Abalone at the 12th fret)

Lemmy Bass Update Oct 31 2009

2009-10-31T09:30:00.005Z

Here are a few more pictures showing the construction of Lemmys new Bass:

Once the initial prototype has been approved by Lemmy, we will begin a very limited production run.

New Video's of Steph

2009-10-26T13:44:00.003Z

Tim Butchers ESP

2009-10-24T09:59:00.005+01:00

Tim Butcher's coveted ESP got slightly damaged the other night... here are a few pictures:

Notice the 2 cracks in the body - they open up if you flex the body:

If I repair it I will post some pics. Also, Steph was in yesterday so I will post up some videos once I have processed the 3 hours of footage.

Lemmy Bass

2009-10-21T08:54:00.003+01:00

I have been working on this one for a while now - building a Bass for Lemmy from Motorhead and its coming along really well -its styled after Lemmy's "Mother-Fuc*** One" which we did some restoration work on a few months back - I will post more pics and info as it develops:

Mantis II

2009-10-17T13:10:00.001+01:00

I have just added a page with information on my Mantis II's -

http://www.tcellisguitars.com/mantis.html

Custom Built Les Paul

2009-10-13T15:11:00.004+01:00

I have just finished building this guitar for a customer - here are the specifications:

Solid Mahogany Body
Flame Maple Cap on the Front
Flame Maple Neck in Natural High Gloss Finish
Strengthened Neck to Headstock Area
Tree of Life Inlay on Rosewood Fretboard (Mother of Pearl, Green Abalone, Red Abalone)
Bare Knuckle Pickups (Abraxxas) with Master Push Pull
CTS Pots, Sprague Orange Drop Cap's, Fully Shielded
"Debbie" inlay on the headstock

The guitar came out really nice - I am very happy with the guitar, as is its new owner. I just got a £2,500 Gibson Les Paul Supreme in for a repair, I would not hesitate put mine up against it for looks, playability, sound etc.

The Finished Guitar:

With Zebras installed:

Headstock Inlay:

Flame Maple Neck:

Nice Flame:

Very Rough back of Headstock (Note the joint)

Raw front of the guitar after black stain:

Raw Neck - no frets as yet:

I am so happy with this guitar I am going to do a small run of 12 instruments - please contact me if you are interested in one as further customisation and personalisation is available. Looking at completion prior to Xmas.