Congratulations goes out to Serge Dubé for his guitar build, to earn him Guitar of the Month for September 2026.

Serge used our ESK-35T kit as the basis to create his guitar.

“For this project, I bought the ESK-35T kit from Solo Music Gear. I’ve had very good experiences with this supplier. I named this guitar “La Mouche d’Azur” (in english : The Azure Fly) because of the color (azure blue) and because it’s similar to Marty McFly’s “ES-345” in the movie “Back to the Future.”

I started by straightening the neck. Then I filed, sanded, and polished the frets. They were already in very good condition. I also made the nut head from a piece of bone.

After sanding the body and neck with several different grits (240 to 320), I applied three coats of “Saman” stain (I mixed the Azure and White colors). I had to sand between each coat since the wood didn’t absorb the stain evenly. The most time-consuming part was scraping off the finishing strips. I used a blade that I inserted into a PVC pipe, which served as a guide. For the finish, I applied five coats of Minwax Wipe-On Poly satin finish. I then glued the neck in place.

I bought and installed a Bigsby B7. I think it really gives it a nice look. From a sheet of pickguard, I cut a plate and had “Custom Made” laser-engraved on it. In the 1960s, this plate was used to cover the bridge holes when a customer ordered a Bigsby.

I bought an ES-335 pickguard and modified it with my router because the pickup cover opening was too narrow. I also created a white stripe at the top. For installation, I used a bracket that glues underneath (no screws required). I then stained the white stripes to match the trim stripes. I did the same thing for the custom plate and truss rod cover. I also created a brand label that mimics those on real ES-335.

I stained the headstock black and had the logos engraved on it. Then, there was a little mishap. I used the wrong varnish and tried to sand it. Unfortunately, I damaged the logos. So, I decided to intentionally give it a vintage look. I wish I hadn’t made that mistake, but I think it gives it a unique look. For the tuning pegs, I installed Grover Deluxe ones.

I’m very happy with the final result. I hope you like it!

– Serge Dubé