Welcome to Dragon Tales Productions

​​Dragon Tales Custom Shop "Blueprint Series"

 

• Base Model: Epiphone Les Paul Standard typical – other models available on request

• Condition: Excellent (Fully Optimized / Freshly Serviced)

• Total Bench Time: 12 Hours of Precision Luthier Optimization

• Price: $1300, plus packaging, handling, taxes and shipping.

 

The Concept

Let’s be completely honest: when you buy a $4,000 factory "custom shop" guitar, you are paying for premium wood figuring, nitrocellulose lacquer, and the prestige name on the headstock. What you aren't paying for is two full days of a master luthier’s undivided attention. Factory assembly lines operate on volume—they get a guitar 90% of the way there, set it to "acceptable tolerances," and ship it.

 

At Dragon Tales Custom Shop, we take the remaining 10% and turn it into an art form. What’s the old saying, The 90-10 Rule: The last 10% of a project takes 90% of the effort. We take highly reliable, structurally sound import platforms and spend over 12 hours executing the meticulous, hyper-focused benchwork that big name corporate payrolls simply cannot afford to provide. There is no reason to reinvent the wheel building a boutique quality instrument from bare wood when tone and playability can be achieved with a combination of high volume, low cost production and hours of tendering loving care. The result? A gig-ready workhorse that mechanically and structurally outplays high-end showroom walls right out of the case. The proof is in the puddin. 😊

 

The Transformation Breakdown

 

• Elite Fretwork & Edge Rolled Comfort: The factory landscape of micro-hills and valleys has been completely leveled, crowned, and progressively polished using micro-mesh pads from 800 up to 12,000 grit until they shine like chrome mirrors. The sharp factory fret ends have been individually shaped with a specialized diamond micro-file into smooth, hot-dog-shaped spheres that roll like worn silk against your thumb.

 

• Custom-Carved Bone Nut: The cheap, hollow plastic factory nuts are popped out and replaced with a dense, organic raw bone blank. It has been hand-shaped and precision-slotted to microscopic tolerances tailored exactly to this neck's radius. Open chords ring perfectly in tune, and tuning stability is rock-solid. Nuts are lubricated with graphite.

 

• Studio Quality-Silent RF Shielding: Standard mass-produced guitars are notorious noise magnets. The control and pickup cavities have been completely lined with flawlessly overlapped copper shielding tape to form a complete Faraday cage. Combined with a low-resistance, star-grounded wiring harness, this guitar is dead silent—even under heavy stage lights and high-gain amp channels.

 

• Master Blueprint Setup: Truss rods are adjusted for minimal relief, allowing the bridge to be dropped to an effortlessly low action without a single dead spot or hint of fret buzz. Intonation is perfectly calibrated at the saddles, and the pickup heights have been balanced by ear for an optimized, articulate output between the neck and bridge.

 

• Conditioning & Detail: Fret boards are polished to reduce finger friction, deeply cleaned and treated with premium conditioning oils, transforming it into a rich, dark espresso hue that feels incredibly fast under the fingers.

 

How It Plays

Plugged into a tube amp, this guitar sings with the sustain of a grand piano and zero noise floor. The neck feels broken-in by a decades-long tour, and the action is so effortless it feels like cheating. It still says “Whatever” on the headstock, but underneath the finish, it possesses the soul, precision, and playability of a boutique masterpiece, because now it is a boutique masterpiece of love.

 

If you are a collector looking for an investment piece to hang on a wall, buy the $5,000 corporate guitar. If you are a working musician who demands elite, uncompromising performance on stage and in the studio, this is your weapon.

 

Includes a full spec sheet signed by the shop. Hard case available upon request.

 

About Dragon Tales Custom Shop:

 

Steve has been a guitar player for over 50 years. He had a long career in analog circuit design and development with a Masters degree in electrical engineering, including designing high frequency switching power amps and power supplies, linear amplifier design, low noise instrumentation circuit design, and microchip subcircuit telephony interface systems and circuit design. The past few years Steve has focused on guitar playing and song writing, guitar building and upgrading as a hobby and has decided to share his love for the art with his fellow musician travelers. Steve has written over 200 story songs and are demoed here on "MyDragonTales.com” website. If you would enjoy a “boutique” guitar at bargain prices then Dragon Tales Custom Shop is your place.

 

Thanks for looking, Steve. 😊