What is this guitar ?

This weeks restring Sunday we look at a guitar called the Tri Star. It was my main guitar for 4-5 years, But what is it? Thats the no.1 question I receive about this partscaster / Frakinstrat build.
Based off a Charvel star but a bit different.
Menapia Guitars site
www.menapiaguitars.com
Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:49 Why it was built
2:19 Influences
4:17 Parts
5:31 Who built it?
6:26 Main Guitar
7:34 Some Extra Info
8:41 Conclusion
Social Media
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[@FatPandaCat-im9ec]

Perfectly represents Ireland, scratched, worn, been through a lot but still here.

[@ThatDangKid1]

As a British man, I can only apologise

[@bigboss3051]

@@ThatDangKid1 lmao

[@rear5118]

@@ThatDangKid1 English? Or Welsh or Scottish?

[@ThatDangKid1]

@@rear5118 English unfortunately

[@rear5118]

@@ThatDangKid1 That's not unfortunate, England and the English are great! 😀 (I'm not saying that because I'm English myself, since I am not)

[@ZombieXee]

This is turning out to be a real good series. Certainly, one of my favorites.

[@HailRider]

Double that

[@lisaferrara8120]

Triple that!

[@EbonyPope]

How can this truss rod be adjusted from the side??? I mean there has to be some design to turn the movement of the adjustment screw by 90 degrees.

[@brandonmustian3815]

@@EbonyPope Warmoth has a great video on KZbin explaining the side adjust. Basically it's for minor adjustments while there's still an adjustment location at the heal for major adjustments. I like them.

[@EbonyPope]

@@brandonmustian3815 Thanks a lot. I'll check it out.

[@buddyhimself]

I'm a big fan of wild body shapes with non-angled headstocks.

[@RIVALContentJammerz]

I like mittens!

[@EbonyPope]

How can this truss rod be adjusted from the side??? I mean there has to be some design to turn the movement of the adjustment screw by 90 degrees.

[@RIVALContentJammerz]

@@EbonyPope I'm sure the main rod runs the length of the neck, and side just tweaks it like a chuck key or something.

[@blainemarquise]

@@EbonyPope Worm gear and pinion, possibly.

[@BastadNKunt]

I Agree.. non-anglo headstocks

[@LillyAvali]

As a fan of "weird" guitar shapes: I love this and I want 10 of them

[@courier11sec]

You've become one of my favorite guitar focused KZbinrs. Your videos are unique to anyone else and I appreciate you. Also, I've never seen that truss rod arrangement before and I love it and need to know more. 😊

[@KDH]

Thanks! The truss rod location is really only on certain Warmoth necks. I’ve never seen it on any other guitar

[@courier11sec]

@@KDH in my imagination, it's a bevel gear like an old Ducati and I find that to be extremely rock and roll.

[@stevenpipes1555]

Parts guitars are "almost" the coolest guitars out there, if they're well set up, but rescues are even cooler! Folks, if you can find an old forgotten and/or mistreated guitar and rescue it, you will never love another guitar so much. Find one ready for the dump and turn it into a new monster!

[@jfo3000]

So true. I've rescued eight of a certain model of guitar made between '88 and '92. Possibly the best guitar for me...and everyone that plays one wants it. So I've given a couple away and sold a couple too.

[@Merjia]

I’m currently working on one I got last week! LTD M-10 that I picked up for 250 AUD in a pawn shop, a previous owner put a pair of Duncan Detonators on it, they sound killer. Store didn’t know what they had, I still feel like I robbed them 😆

[@corneliuscrewe677]

Rescue parts guitars are my favorites.

[@hunterprice3320]

I found a beat up first act les paul that I'm going to fix up when I have the time. Hopefully it'll be a pretty dope guitar when I'm done with it.

[@stevenpipes1555]

@@hunterprice3320 im sure it will. I found an old Jay Turser tele in the back of a music store where the repair guitars are. The guy said his tech didn't even wanna go there." How much" i ask. "50 bucks and dont bring it back" he says. Bad drawings on it, picks and coins glued to it everywhere. But he neck was straight. " ill take it!" Ripped off all the picks and coins, did a rellic job to hide the years of abuse (that had nothing to do with life on the road), replaced the dead pickups with a set of used squire pups for 20 bucks. Graphtech nut, level crown and polish the frets, and a proper set up. You know what im gonna say next. . .EVERYONE who plays it offers to buy it. Ive turned down STUPID offers that i absolutely should have taken. . .but i cant do it. This 100 or so dollar, tele shaped thing is magic! It does things that none of my expensive case queens can even do. It feels alive when you play it and it feels like it loves me as much as i love it! Rescues will love you back!

[@Horrorfreak106]

Glad to see someone else really appreciates Chris Holmes. He was one of my heroes too and it always saddened me that not a lot of people recognize him for his work. He was raw and raunchy and had a KILLER tone.

[@jasonlee8497]

My first good guitar was a parts caster. In the early 80s it was all the rage anyway. I bought a Dimarzio neck (yes they made necks for a while) for a worn out guitar I already had, but it didn’t come together very well. So I then bought a Warmoth Strat style body with one pick up of course. And a Dimarzio Megadrive pick up. The tuners were black Gotohs. I found a Strat bridge in a head shop a few blocks from where I lived at the time in Milwaukee. I left it unfinished. It was very cool. Sounded great. Played amazing. I wore out the frets on it and put it away. It ended up being Stolen along with a very cool Dean Markley CD60 amp. Had a very Marshall tone. No pedals but a wah and a Space Echo rack in the effects loop. I have a few old tapes of my first bands…I had badass tone and didn’t even know it!

[@MenapiaCustomGuitars]

I'm still here Kelan, cheers for the shout out and keep the videos coming.

[@djsfunhouse.]

I can’t wait till Sunday I have not missed one restring yet. Thanks bro .

[@randomrob2221]

i like it, simple, functional, with loads of character

[@kemalardaayar]

Damn. Dude looks like sweetest person alive. But casually pulls out military ammo box for guitar tools. :D Love you man!

[@ajohnhayes]

I have a Menapia guitar that he built from parts around the shop during lockdown - absolutely phenomenal instrument. Martin also did some incredible work on a 7-string of mine that need some fretwork, and I wanted the neck shaving down. He's a legend. So glad to hear him mentioned here!

[@myopicautisticmetal9035]

I recognized the Warmoth modern truss rod access instantly. I love my Warmoth bass.

[@RedDed228]

Man I love this channel like KDH is the shit lol, these re-string Sundays are also great I love hearing about guitars with their stories

[@timjenkins502]

I love series like these, like a collection video series where each guitar gets the spotlight. Always look forward to them

[@DBSG1976]

I love seeing other guitar collections, especially because my 5 guitars are all S- shaped with Daphne Blue or Surf Green finishes. Nice to see others change it up, especially a custom job like yours.

[@theresilientspud]

Marty at Menapia Guitars is absolutely amazing. Seriously talented luthier.

[@sqidvishus]

I am really enjoying this series. Nice to get the story behind other players' guitars. That one is clearly very special.

[@michael-tx8rw]

always interested to see your vids, thank you

[@simonpark843]

I love the way that guitar looks, and your playing is, as ever, excellent. I really enjoy your videos.

[@scottbrower9052]

Nice to hear some old school metal 🤘

[@Ste_Va]

I love how a def leppard rig rundown is a part of this guitars story and this video went up just a few days after the updated rig rundown. Star guitars have always looked super cool.

[@restojon1]

Really enjoyed this video, I could feel your emotions towards this guitar through both the screen and the edit. I love everything about it. Speaking as a Luthier, I also thank you for mentioning the Craftsman/woman behind the body. Their work looks really interesting. I'll give some of those fancy D'Addario's a bash too, I've nearly finished my box of 10's now so I may restock with those next time if I like them. Thanks again and see you on Sunday 🤘👍

[@colourcascade7600]

Why do I find this guy so compelling , for an amateur you seem to be one of the best journalists on the market,,,well done sir

[@jimliberty4132]

Sweet axe. Very cool with the big fender headstock. Makes me think I need to build a star. Sounds great in clips too.

[@eddiejr540]

Awesome guitar KDH…love it…you are very fortunate to have a luthier near you to do work…rock on my man!!!

[@captaintony1227]

I have an 82 Kramer Voyager my dad gave me. It's a maple fretboard but has that same fender shape. Mine has a Floyd and a humbucker added for the neck. I love that shape too. It takes me back to the days I was a kid and would watch my dad play at some battle of the bands or the balloon-a-fair. (It's a local thing) man I miss the 80's

[@stevengoodman3498]

Huge Chris Holmes fan as well! His tone and style were awesome. Thanks for showing us your awesome guitar!

[@jimraymond7997]

Love your Stones hoodie,love to you too man,always trying to watch

[@k.peterdingain2499]

Great guitar and very cool back story, I've always loved one off guitars ! No matter how strange.

[@Gothpaddington]

I remember seeing this one around, cool to hear the story!

[@teeKeri]

Finally a video about this mysterious guitar ! ♥

[@jamesha175]

excellent color scheme! and warmouth necks are the best and you totally scored on those duncan pick-ups. way to go

[@elijah23_]

Cool guitar! Loved the story behind it too. 👍🏻

[@HannibalXLMS]

Headstock on that guitar on 5:44 is sick! 🤩 Visited the website, he has some really nice stuff there. Those lines, patterns or whatever they are on the back of the neck are super nice! Nice series KDH! It's really cool to know the history of the instrument :)

[@NintenDub]

That's cool. Your on your way to the top dude

[@kitten-whisperer]

That color is sick.

[@j3zz.tmf.guitarz]

I've made a lot of guitars out of random bits, I can really relate to this. The guitar sounds killer. Keep up the great content. More power to you.

[@theyabib3323]

Loved that solo from the beginning!

[@nicolasbeaudry6158]

Beautiful guitar super cool ideas it’s sounds amazing 🤩

[@w13rdguy]

This is the best video I've ever watched on this channel.

[@d1l4te43]

I’d love to see more guitar companies integrating that side truss rod adjustment into their models. That is just so much more convenient. Love star body shapes as well. I bought a used Ibanez Xiphos last year and it looks and sounds awesome.

[@MrNickRowe]

Love random star shapes always look amazing

[@jonnybroomhead]

I love this series

[@aprilkurtz1589]

That bridge pick-up sounds great! I'm building a partscaster myself. I can hardly wait to quit procrastinating and finish the damn thing.

[@johndemko4051]

Fantastic!

[@PhilipCockram]

It sounds great . Love the story . 🎸

[@edwinstovall3334]

I rescued an Ibanez RG220B from a pawn shop, glued the cracked neck it had when I bought it (for $25!), then modded it almost to Hell's brazen gate hinges! I would gig that axe TODAY -- if I had a gig! No eye-catching paint job (still the original gloss black), but it ROCKS!

[@michaelmessina5341]

That looks like my first guitar. It was star shaped andmade by bently guitars. My parents got it fron a Sears catalog back in the day.

[@maryannmoran-smyth3453]

Nice first axe. Reminds me of my first Franken Strat, I put a warmoth neck on it With a Floyd rose and a super distortion and it went from being my lamest axe to my best Guitar ever played mainly because of the neck which is a wizard profile ,Birdseye maple and jumbo stainless steel frets and gotoh 510 tuners…. Great show Mang… Keep on rockin

[@brandonmustian3815]

Loving this series. Very cool. You gotta keep up the gear acquisitions so you don't run out of axes for the show.

[@brianfurry9542]

I really like it.The style reminds me of Eddie's Star guitar.There's a lot to be said for home made guitars because you put your soul and personal touches into it. Very well done!! Thanks for sharing

[@kanal5296]

Absolutely, it must be a Rockinger Starshape from 1982

[@kevindonohue8918]

Good job dude.

[@64thBuck]

Marty at Menapia Guitars is a good guy. He's done a fair bit of work on my guitars, particularly my old Washburn Les Paul. Always great work from him.

[@JesseLeeKing]

The paint job is really good dude did a great job on it

[@SHENDOH]

I love that guitar. I used to play a charvel star in the 80s. I ordered it from charvel to my specs. San Dimas.

[@brandonbryson3317]

Finally, the video I’ve been waiting for.

[@richardturk7162]

I have built several star bodied guitars the bodies I got from KnE. One was done in a Fender Shell pink with a reverse strat head neck One hum and a floyd rose. and one I put a flame maple cap on it. Strung thru the body with a stop tail and tuneomatic bridge. Used a Jackson pointy head style neck from Chandler guitars, one humbucker pick up. A good friend of mine actually owned Chris Holmes Budweiser Star and Chris's blood drip star. Chris still has the yellow star.

[@assmaster420]

Great shirt dude!

[@dervpool]

Thanks for the code!!!! Will be used to replace the set i broke today.

[@dervpool]

Btw @KDH since you are in Ireland: if you ever come across an Alpine white Epiphone 1984 Explorer with a ding at the headstock feel free to post it on social media. Sold it to a bloke in Ireland 2 years ago and am still looking for it wondering where it ended up :D

[@DoubleDguitar]

I am all about H/S setups. This is great.

[@neil2706]

Thanks for the code

[@WalterStoermer]

Thank you for the video. Anyone that gives props to Def Leppard is cool in my book, and that is an excellent paint job (Ireland = Awesome). The aged look of the paint gives it character, and the bumps and scratches tell a story (...about a bullet belt). Your guitar has a nice tone, and the single coil in the neck position does have that Stratocaster sound. Warmoth is a good company; they build most things in a left-handed model, bringing me to them 20 years ago. If you call them up, ask for a man named Spike.

[@MrBuion]

Looks really cool 😎

[@Mujcanal]

Nice one !

[@Chiefs_fan1595]

Some people love the weird guitar shapes and some people don't. There's a guitar for just about everyone to be found and that's what's amazing about guitars

[@mstreech]

BRO! That guitar is SO fucking sick!!! I absolutely love it. I might have to copy that idea. I love Dimebag style ML guitar bodies and early 70s fender headstocks are so damn classy looking. Very cool.

[@johnpearson4899]

My first guess was Warmoth when I saw the avatar. The side adjustment for the trussrod clued me in immediately. Nice guitar.

[@castleanthrax1833]

I often wonder how many great pieces of gear we overlook because of the price. When I'm shopping for anything, price comes into it (high and low) but sometimes we buy something cheaper because that's all we can afford, and it turns out to be exactly what we wanted. ✌️🇦🇺 Edit: I haven't been round lately. Glad to see you've cracked the 50k. 👍

[@kiddcomet3563]

Nice guitar 👍

[@brandonjackson5865]

Cool guitar I’ve got an old Destroyer II I’ve been rebuilding and it’s been painted many different colors and I always changed my mind and I finally saw an older picture of Chris Holmes Charvel Star when it still had most of the yellow paint on it and realized I had a can of yellow paint and I like yellow I had a 2004 screaming yellow Mustang GT I really wish I hadn’t sold anyway sprayed it yellow and have it mocked up getting together the finishing parts and I must say yellow looks good on star and e shaped guitars I imagine a yellow ML would be sick too .

[@ChristTiger]

Very cool 😎

[@j.boogie1646]

Very cool story , I have 2 star body guitars love that shape

[@denizhanozyurek]

Man sick guitar i really want a star guitar too

[@HeavensProtocol]

Routing for Kahler is custom option. Looks like another happy order from Whammy Parts for the 2300 template. I need to keep my 80's V220 pristine cuz ULTIMATE WEAPON.

[@FatalExit]

That's a lovely guitar, if there was ever a production model (but budget friendly) by some manufacturer at least somewhat similar to this one I would want it haha! :D

[@benburnett8109]

love this content. Somehow, it gives your videos were you rip someone to shreds (well deserved shreds) more credibility. Big fan; hoping you do more content like this.

[@kiezersosay49]

I was assuming it was a warmoth, but when i saw the gotoh side truss rod adjustment thing i knew it was a warmoth... i have an S-style ⅞ build coming(24 fret/24¾" scale). Its got roasted maple neck/fretboard, SS 6100 frets, reverse headstock, wizard profile with 12-16 radius, gotoh magnum locking tuners(the newer model), locking gotoh tonepros bridge, the body is routed so yhe bridge sits recessed/floating in the body(the way it Fn should be!), absolutely gorgeous holoflake finish, no inlays with luminaly side dots, seymour Duncan "duncan custom" bridge/SD aph-1neck. I want it so damn bad...its been 10 weeks. Oh yeah, it is roasted maple and it doesn't require a finish(warmoth still warranties it) but my luthier(who's going to build her) convinced me to go with Birchwood Tru-oil originally meant for gunstocks. It works excellent, still feels super satiny smooth, and you get much better protection. It seems to be a bit of a secret weapon for warmoth guitarists. The majority of build sheets i look at with RM necks have the tru-oil so it must be good.

[@mrzedlyt]

Beauty..nice story!

[@brandonsmalleyorblspinc689]

That's pretty Cool!

[@allyourbasearebelongtous2191]

I don't like pointy guitars as a rule. It's just how it is... but this one is much better than the ones I usually see. I like the big Fender headstock. That and the color scheme (and the reason for it) add up to it being the only pointy guitar I've seen that I don't dislike.

[@MI7DJT]

Carvin made one very similar, I remember Pat McManus (Mama's Boys) having one. Think he played it on "Waiting For A Miracle".

[@allanallan4791]

Damn that neck tone is killer.

[@BuHeTy]

The first thought about the coloring was instantly remembering Ralph Santola's (RIP) Ibanez form The "The Philosopher"

[@chriscuthbertson]

You should get one of your multiscales refinished in that paint job... It looks great.

[@robinlawson701]

My dream guitar would be a 24 fret telecaster, semi with decent wood, Ebony fretboard Gotoh or Grover locking tuners. Mostly hollow body things going on as I love 335 style guitars. I want that semi to be a part of my ideal guitar. I never appreciated 24 frets until my Metal Biased son favoured them so much, and I saw, 2 octaves per string. That just rings a bell. Got to be.

[@anthonymiller3970]

That’s awesome

[@claudevieaul1465]

I was always interested in this body shape - and I knew it as 'Random Star', since that was how ESP called them when they designed it for (with?) Akira Takasaki of Loudness somewhere in the 80s. Later I also saw Chris Holmes with that, the Budweiser at first and then the infamous yellow - which apparently is still in use but the man! Some time ago I found one, made by LTD, called the RS200. And it was amazing. Unfortunately, I'm now 57 and too overweight to be seen with that shape 🤣🤣😭🤣 (same thing with a Rhoads) so I sold it again. Glad to have had it though!!!

[@landonbailey]

This is the video I am watching right now

[@BillLarkinmusic]

Nice guitar.. 🍀

[@ABCDEFGHIJKELA...]

That reminds me of my 85' Westone (Dimension 4)I had when I was a teen, model X4SW to be exact, a Japanese metal guitar that's super rare now. I thought it was badass at the time, perfect condition even though it was about 10 years old already, the important thing, it had a lightening bolt, lol.

[@shaofu424]

makes me wanna play irish versions of loudness tunes i have a warmoth rev explorer neck i got back in the late 80s it is still one of the best necks i have ever played kudos \m/

[@thestratman7903]

I had a star frankin-build that I had got the body out of a bargain bin at "Starving Musician" in Berkeley(in 1994), and the neck was an Ibanez who knows what bolt on...The body cost me $10 and I transplanted all the other parts from guitars left at my house by other teenagers....I wish I still had it 😢

[@lemmy8ob]

Nice star...can't go wrong -w- the JB....my first duncan full-size HB was a SH-6 distortion in the bridge of my SG (too crispy), so I switched to the JB....perfect. Going forward, about 70% of all my bridge HBs are SH-4/TB-4....the duncan Black Winter (another fave) is like is slightly glassy JB with enhanced response for the low-tuned chunka-chunka stuff...

[@jbowDonDiego1380]

Dude thats awesome! I have something kinda like that I took a fender squire telecaster off the guitar center clearance wall for like 175 usa 🇺🇸 bucks and road wore the hell outta it tryed having a custom neck made but dude lied to me and didn't make it jow I wanted it. But he did get the neck pickup route right so I added a p''rail pickup in there and added a extra switch so I could use all 3 tones outta the pickup and then just a standard bridge pickup a strat or telecaster one to get more tones outta it oh and I took the control plate and flipped it around for easier use. Added locking straps buttons. A big 70s F fender logo on the neck plate and later a scalped squire neck I payed 20 bucks for. Which need the string nut fixed and a new neck but the way I wore it out is better than even fenders custom shop job.. I used contreice by rubbing the parts on the ground and any Minda cleaning stuff I had laying around and paint thinner. The end was and still is great. I call it my lawsuit guitar as the person I had working on it before doing custom stuff tryed to keep my guitar and my wife texted him and told him if he didn't give it back then the cops would be called for theft. Needless to say I got it back and a case because dude was terrified by her threat.. I've had it since lol

[@3TVforall]

Sweet guitar bro it reminds me of EVH’s Star guitar from 1980 invasion tour . I know he was friends with Chris & used his guitar to record after chopping up his to make the shark guitar . Although I like your neck better than the Dan electro neck EVH’s has . Nice work looks & sounds good 🤘🏻

[@allenmitchell09]

The truss rod adjustment location on the warmoth necks are the best in the industry.

[@BlvckjvckRecordings]

I looooove stars!!!

[@matthewjohnloren1995]

I like the fancy finish but its not fancy enough to just for the instrument to be hanged on a wall type of guitar finish. Its a classy looking guitar!!!