New GRO video featuring Jamey Ice and his JazzBlaster

A tasty choice of covers, too.

View here.

Reverse Fret Job

My frets were perfect.

So we reverse-buffed them...

Taped up the fretboard...

and grinded the frets with a special fret wearer to simulate years of shredding abuse.

Now they're all messed up.

Arlington Guitar Show 2010

We were at the 2010 Texas Guitar Show in Arlington. We have pictures to prove it.

At the booth, Don showed two new JazzBlaster versions. This "Soapy" one,

And this "Frosty" one. I'm digging the frost and when I finally get my Bell you can bet it'll be cold chillin'.

This had to be the most beautiful guitar at the show. A deluxe JazzBlaster with rectangle inlays and binding on the neck. This thing just shines.

We're crossing our fingers that someone videoed the showdown performance between a vintage Fender Nocaster and Jerry Amalfitanos' blue and gold JazzBlaster. I hear the Bell was the tone champion as Don saw and heard it live. I have yet to see it, but if it's posted YouTube-ish I'll link it up here.

Free Guitar with T-Shirt Purchase!

Of course the shirts are kind of expensive. They range from about $995 to around $2,495.

JazzBlaster Special Video

I'm a real fumbly masher. But the tone is good. First part is with neck pu, second with bridge.

SS-ER Review in Premier Guitar Magazine

Muchos, muchos gracias to the guys at Premier Guitar Magazine. We are honored to have the SS-ER reviewed in their latest issue. Go buy it, folks! Or check it out online!

Before and After...

Pics from the owner of a torched and broken LP, risen from the ashes.
Here.

Drought Buster / Maker

Here's Don's front door. Don was at Wal-Mart when I arrived. I sat back in the sedan and listened to the Rangers' game. I had forgotten to call... again.

Dude. Here are two proto guitars that Don built for a designer. The paint's not by Bell.

And here's the bass. Cool perspective shot 'cause Don is tall.

The BellMobile_2. Don's fixed 'er up nice and she's good to go.

This is a Martin. It was all cracked up on the top sides and backside. D fixed it that sh!t.

OK, going on vacation for a couple of weeks. But if NEWS BREAKS!, I'll be online and postin'.

Stay cool 'til then.

Realy?

Player Page on Web Site

Check it out, folks. Dis be who playin' da Bells! If you own a Bell Custom Guitar and want your mug and rap sheet on our player page, send me a photo and some info about yourself and your musical endeavors. What's with these underlines? Thanks, blogger!

JazzBlaster Ambassador

Here's GRO's Jamey Ice and friend, Phil Traina of The Finding. The JazzBlaster is Phil's.

Phil loaned the guitar to Andy Davis of Jeremy Camps' band.

Andy played it at Spirit West Coast in Monterey.

Another post-fire finish

What's the deal with all of these guitars in fires lately? Here's a LP Custom, I believe. The hardware will be black. If it's still in the shop I'll get some finalized pics tomorrow.

Phil Traina's Review of the JazzBlaster

Quote

I received this guitar in the mail on Friday direct from Don Bell of
www.bellcustomguitars.com. I am writing this after playing it solid
for three days. The rig I am using to demo this is JazzBlaster
plugged direct into a Morgan Amplification Dual40.
(www.morganamplification.com)

My first impression of the JazzBlaster after unpacking it is WOW! This
looks cool. It looks better in person than even the website pics. I
first contacted Don based on the look or flash factor of the guitars
he builds. I was in the search of something different. I found it!

Just looking at the guitar you can tell care and precision were
involved in the building process. The JazzBlaster is based on a
Jazzmaster body style but oh it is so different when it comes to
construction. Let’s start with the body of this guitar. Down the
center of the body is a beautiful piece of swamp ash finished in a
translucent white reminiscent of the Mary Kaye white we’ve all grown
to know and love. Married to the wood are two wings of perfectly
sculpted contoured high grade plexi/acrylic. Embedded in the side
where the plexi/acrylic meets the wood are 2 sets of 3 LED lights, white, green
and blue. To control the lights there are two mini toggle switches.
The two way switch turns the white light on or off and the three way
switch controls the green lights to the right, blue light to the left
and off in the center. You can also have the white and either the
green or blue on at the same time for a very cool effect. The ultimate
stage guitar! The JazzBlaster is fitted with a string through body,
two nickel Amafitano vintage PAF pickups
(http://amalfitanopickups.com), three nickel barrel knobs, two volume
and one tone and a three way pickup selector. The white perloid
pickguard adds an extra touch of class and flash to already visually
stunning instrument.

On to the neck, Don went over and above for me on this set neck. I
like a little more chunk in the neck department. This perfectly
shaped maple masterpiece is contoured similar to the late 50’s Gibson
style necks. It is 25.5” scale and has maybe the most consistent
rosewood fret board I have yet to see. The dot inlay is immaculate,
and where the neck meets the body is super solid and the neck tenon is
nice and long, Don says around 4” or so. The fret work was perfect.
The nut is flawless and the action and setup was perfect. The guitar
showed up in tune and ready to play. I only spotted one extremely
minute finish flaw. Right next to the nut toward the head stock was a
minor rough spot. Other than that the finish was as close to perfect
as you could ask for.

This guitar is a TONE MACHINE!! I must admit I was leery of how well
this instrument would sound. I had never seen anything like it, I had
no point of reference. All of my doubts were shattered after the
first acoustic strum. You could tell even before it was plugged in
there was something special here. So I plugged it in….Oh my goodness!
It brought new meaning to “Bell Custom” This guitar was so clear, so
open, so harmonically rich, so “Bell” like. I couldn’t believe it.
The neck pickup is so usable unlike so may other dual humbucker equiped
guitars. I must have spent two hours playing in the neck position
alone. The Bridge position was equally great a bit more high
frequency response, as we would expect but not so in your face that it
was offensive. It was like a veil had been lifted off my amp. The
bass was tighter and the upper mids and highs were so clear. This was
what a guitar should sound like. Now in trying to explain tone we can
use the benchmark guitars ie; Strats and Les Pauls. To me the
JazzBlaster took the best parts of the vintage world and brought them
into the 21st century. This guitar is so responsive you can get
almost any type of tone out of it. It can get the bright almost
strat-ish tones to the tele spank to the darker woodsy tone of the
best dual humbucker guitars. The tone in and of itself is nice and
round. It fills out space perfectly. You would have to try really
hard to get a bad sound from this guitar.

The Verdict:
I am super picky when it comes to tone and sound from my instruments.
But, I’ll tell you what, the Bell Custom JazzBlaster is now in my
permanent arsenal. You could order any of Bell Custom guitars sight
unseen and be extremely pleased. Don was a pleasure to work with and
I wouldn’t hesitate to refer anybody who is looking for the holy grail
of tone to contact him. Do yourself a favor and play one. Once these
guitars catch on they will be in the hands of the best players in the
world. I truly believe that! Thanks Don for building an amazing
instrument with all the flair a guitar player could ask for.

Phil Traina
“The Finding”
www.thefindingmusic.com

End quote

2 classy fretboards...

As your eyes tell you, Don has graced these fretboards with rectangle inlays and binding. It really classes up the shop. But as soon as they are on the JazzBlasters they are intended for, the shop will go back to appearing classless.

My New Fender DR II Has Arrived

Thanks, UPS, for taking care with my package.

Thanks, Phil, for packing her up tight and right.

Some assembly required, and I don't mind a bit!

WooHoo! After about 2 hours of tidying up (it was just a bit dusty) she looks beautiful and sounds great, too. The reverb tank is picking up a strong Hispanic radio reception. That's good, right? I'll put her through the paces tomorrow.

Andy's SG 7 Almost Ready to Rock Again

Here's ol' Andy's 7 string SG shape Bell Custom Guitar after leaving the burn unit. It's ready for the trimmins now. Remember how it looked before? Icky. Even before that. I'll post the beauty when it's done.

New Bender Unit

We got one of these. A fret wire bender. Finally. Now we can get rid of our old unreliable unit.

Our Sandiest Fretboards Yet! or MEGAPowder Slide.

We're going to put these on a couple of guitars. Look at that little amp feel shame in my presence.

Stewart MacDonald keeps leaving his tools at the shop.

Bell Custom Guitars Welcomes Steve Stevens

Alright. What can I say here. It's Steve Stevens. Words cannot express how proud we are to have Steve be a part of our family of players. Just days before the Billy Idol tour began, Steve contacted us and purchased the last JazzBlaster of our second generation run. Upon receiving the guitar, he had this to say:

"Hi Don, I got the guitar today. Stunning! I expected a nice instrument and purchased it based on the "flashy" factor. This guitar is soooooo much more. It's craftsmanship is flawless. I head out for tour in Europe in a week and the Bell will be with me. I will send you some photos of it in action asap that you can use however you like. I couldn't be happier with this beauty.
All the best,
Steve Stevens"

So, yeah. Photos as soon as we get 'em. Steve and the boys will be coming through in August and we'll be there.

The Phoenix, She Rises.

This Les Paul custom was in a terrible, asinine, ridiculously warm fire. Sorry no before pics. Imagine a struck wood match that has burned down all cartoony. Now you have the before visualization. It will return to life looking better than before.


Here's a look at how Andy's seven string Bell Custom is coming along. I was in a horrible, rotten, despicable burny fire. It's gonna be all better. There, there.

Delivering Dreams

This is a left-handed sanding technique mastered and switched goofy handed right. What?

It's a neck through so... You won't be needing this. The appendix of neck throughs.

Appendix yet to be removed.

Da big bass, bruddah.


Does that make you smile. Only if it's your dream, huh?
Don just built these prototypes for an aspiring designer.
The job was work, the work is done, the fun and work, were work and fun.

Dave O Video Snip

One of the first Bell owners and the man responsible for my involvement in Bell Custom Guitars is captured tracking sleeveless.

Haters Love Us (or) Opinions Are Like A-Holes...

Here are some fun posts by some folks who are opposed to our style of guitar.

From a Fender Bulletin:

Ah HA! That is what it reminds me of! The light up neon guitar clock in this room that I bought for $19 at the local drug store!

Ummmm.......no thanks. Not very fond of the tonal quality of plexi-glass.

A plexi guitar that looks like it should be hooked up to a video game. Then somebody has the nerve to tack on a three grand price tag. They are on some serious drugs at Bell Guitars. No thanks I got better things to do with three large.

I'm sure there are some more slam posts out there and as they surface, I'll likely post them. It'll be fun to look back at them while I'm waiting for the Lamborghini to get painted on my private island.

We get all kinds of comments, but the people who have actually played one all seem to have good things to say.

It's great that these guitars are so polarizing.

Fire Damage / Wasp Control

There's D. He's doing some sanding on a Les Paul that was in a fire. Hey, what's going on with all of this fire? Let's be more careful out there, OK!?

Sometimes binding refuses to bind. It is at that point it needs to be bound with a binding agent.

A message to all you harmful pests: "Don't bring it to the shop!"

Now let's enjoy our traditional post-kill snack. The mosquitos were eating my legs at this point.

Here's Andy's Bell Custom 7 string that was in a fire. It's about to be sanded down and made smoothie smooth. Repairs have been done to the headstock. See.

This Gibby is Jamie Ice's. It needs some love. Can Don get it done?

Yes.

eb0 Refurb is Done!

It's been a while since I last posted about the 69 Gibson eb0 I've been refurbishing. Here is the final product. I kept the original tuners, humbucker, and electronics. I also left the back of the neck unpainted because I like the way it feels. Don made me a tortoise shell pickguard, too, but the original is pictured here. New bridge, knobs, frets and paint detail. It felt like it was going to fall apart every time I played it before. Now it's solid as a rock. Thanks for your help, Don.