Don't Try this at home!

I have to tell you, when I pick up this guitar I have to decide whether I'm going to play it or eat it. Raj

Yo Alex!!!    Bro, the new F1 looks way Cool!!! Yeah, i noticed the medium frets on that baby, and i love the stain job!!!
Looks like a lil' kid melted cherry popsicle all over it, and tried to wipe it off!!!
The silver and black is Way Cool, too!!! Love Ya!!!   Bobby!!!

Here is the second F1 but with a twist. The theme here was obviously the faded finish as well the interaction between the black and nickel colors intermixed. I used a warm mellow Alnico 3 humbucking pickup in the neck position with an overwound Tele bridge single coil. The result is a very versatile guitar. This guitar can sound like anything really. By using the neck humbucker with the tone turned down it sounds like a dark jazz archtop. The bridge pickup is bright and biting. Since the bridge Telecaster pickup is overwound, it has more power and is less harsh than most Tele pickups. This makes it a bit warmer but its tone is still pure Tele. Both pickups used together with the humbucker in single coil mode is also pure Tele twang. This guitar has 5 different sounds altogether, quite different from each other and all very useable. I forgot to use thinner frets on the 1st F1, so this time I used medium but high frets. I suppose its more of a vintage feel with the thinner frets. Vintage yes, but without the negatives of the original. Does this feel like a Tele? It feels like a Zachary and plays and sounds like a Tele on Steroids. Like a Tele should. I feel like I built a hotrod. Its the guitar Leo Fender would have built had he been a guitar player... I hope.

The neck screw plugs are real Ebony wood and so are the dot position markers. This is not easy work but it must be done. Everything must match on the instrument. The Black/Nickel combination can even be seen at the tuners. I think of all the details, others would not think about. It has to be right or it bothers me. Everywhere I go people think I am neurotic because I act kind of strange, but they don't know what I do for a living. Most of them could never comprehend. I am in the detail business. I start with a blank canvas each time. Everything must harmonize and also contrast at the same time. The theme must be consistent or its not right. Instrument making should be an art after all, this has been forgotten these days. I have most in common with painters and sculptors. I have almost nothing in common with guitar manufacturers.
Should the humbucker poles have been Nickel? Yes, but I did not have any.
Its a really fun guitar to play. Ready for a country bar or any other setting.

See the 1st and 2nd F1 side by side The bodies were adjacent from the same board

It's amazing how much more inviting it looks compared to all those hyped mass-produced pieces of shit they're selling everywhere. I used to hate Teles. Not anymore. Your F1 looks just right. The red stain is cool. I love the totally organic way it looks, and the "blooming" in the colouring. Did you use real blood? ;-)   Y.U. Fester

Like it (as much as you can like something without actually playing it). Nice organic vibe and more versitile than the first F-1, but still a tele vibe/tone when you want it. Overwound single coil? Nice I bet. It's always a bummer when the back single coil sounds too quiet/thin when compared to the neck pup. Like the whole black thing. Shallow, I know, but it's cool. Good luck on that 8 string. that will be something else. Bobby's whole "doesn't play enough notes" problem will be solved. HaHa. It is a little scary to contemplate the shredding that will transpire. -Eli

Yes, I had to go with a more powerful bridge pup to compete with that humbucker. Even now its very close, just barely equal. I also used the weakest humbucker I had, an Alnico 3. The combination works good. Lots of sounds. A real good studio guitar for the country guy. Although a jazz guy could use it as well. If you ever heard Ed Bickert. A monster jazz player who never touches an archtop. He has always played an old Tele with a humbucker placed into the neck position. It sounds dark and thick, not like a Tele at all. Ed played with all the greats, like Oscar Peterson. I had him in mind when making this thing. Of course Ed Bickert would have no use for the bridge single coil pup but other giging players can sure use the versatility. They can literally go from smooth jazz to country picking with a flick of a switch. One of my strange dreams is to play in a country bar band. I know its weird but I have this urge. I have seen bands like that and loved the sound and the simplicity of the playing and music. Really down to earth and organic. -Alex

Bobby has great taste. I look forward to owning six of your guitars as well (I already own three). I use the hell out of them. The only other guitar I play is a Les Paul. Your Z3-T is actually the world's finest Strat, and your F1 is the world's finest Tele. The Z3-T sounds better than any Strat I have ever owned, and I've owned a ton, including very rare vintage Strats.  -RH

I'm musing over 210305, thinking of how every component harmonises to make something unique, a Zachary to the core .... and yet very different from anything I'm used to. It goes beyond whether a guitar is good for shred, or has excellent sustain (although very few instruments can manage both), or whatever, but to a totality, an integration of concept and substance, which defines the instrument.

And I'm pondering how much that totality influences a player? In my case, the answer is probably "a lot". Gaia 010902 has had a huge influence on the evolution of my style and technique. As soon as I pick her up, I'm into neo-classical mode. Whereas the moment I plug in the Explorer, it's time for metal. I'm wondering I'd play and how my style would evolve if I had an F1 ...... I'd be curious how much other Zacharites, such as Bobby, Eli or Young Uncle Fester feel their different Zacharys influence their playing. - Ludwik (UK)

Alex, you truly are a talented guy. This is a special guitar, as you know. Not having played another Zachary, this is a VINTAGE guitar at heart. The three most important things - tone, intontation, and playability were all 10+. The clarity of chords really have a bell-like, piano quality. The maple neck allows the notes to "smack" on the fingerboard, just as I imagined they would. I can't believe how deep the neck pocket is, and man, that joint is TIGHT. I could feel the stablity of the guitar even when I first picked it up. The neck is slightly wider than what I usually play, but that took me all of a half hour to warm up to. The string spacing is really conducive to doing some very clean fingerstyle stuff. Are those 009's on there or is that a hybrid set? (slightly lighter gauge G,B,E strings) - my fingers might be playing tricks on me.

You were on the money ( and not many people usually are about this) - but the pickup combination on this guitar in combination with having the tone control (which usually I rarely use) really results in an AMAZING amount of usable tones. If I were to put strings on my oak tree in the back yard, I don't think it would resonate as much as this guitar.

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks, you really have given me a lot of joy with this axe. I will post a review on Harmony Central soon. As an aside, I have always admired the Z3. In fact, the first one that caught my eye was the blood red one with the trem. For some reason I held off, maybe because of the trem or maybe because it wasn't "pure" single coil, which as you know I've been into lately. Imagine my shock when I saw this very guitar on Ebay (why the hell this guy wanted to sell it - who knows).

Then I thought maybe I would just ask you to build a new Z3 (although I think this F1 will obviously take care of all my needs) maybe with all single coils in true strat fashion - esp if you use the same bridge single coil as the F1- that pickup is the dream pickup - not too much bite, but more clarity than a humbucker. Your waiting list must be pretty long. Anyway, take care, and thanks again. Raj

I know the other F1 you made had a fingerboard radius of 12" The board feels fantastic. I still can't get over the intonation on this guitar. The greatest challenge any player faces is to play in tune. Play in tune or don't play, or play out of tune intentionally. I've played guitars that have had great intonation, but honestly, never with this CLEAR, bell like sound. I don't hear any tone oscilllations no matter what chord I play, however many open strings might be in the chord. This is quite amazing. And just for my own knowledge, I feel no relief in the neck, which is the way I like it.

I really would like a Z3 with single coils - obviously the strat vibe - but now that I've played one of these guitars I know that it would be nothing like it. It would be a monster of a strat! Would this be possible? I am by no means Mr. Moneybags, and this is a crazy thing to say, but I wouldn't buy another guitar from you unless you raised the price. I already feel like I stole the one that I have. This makes you realize the ridiculous prices that some "high-end" guitars are going for. Seriously though, your base price should be $2000 - and for this quality, that is a bargain, really.   Raj

I will send you a down payment (1/2 of the base price?) sometime soon (for the Z3). I know it will be a significant waiting period but I don't care about that. This guitar is amazing, what can I say. I will try to record something soon. I really don't care about looks, but I have to tell you, when I pick up this guitar I have to decide whether I'm going to play it or eat it.    Raj