Frankenstein's Lab! [SHOW YOUR PROJECTS THREAD]

[Blackened Soul]

Pickup from rio grande came today!

B1E80134-A711-4B56-856E-BA2FBD53CEC3.jpeg (102.41 KiB) Viewed 178 times

[Blackened Soul]

Completed!

The pickups are awesome! The custom Rio Grande is really something else, the switch is for series/singlecoil/parallel all the sounds are very distinct. The Gemini thunderbird pickup very mid forward where the Rio Grande is pretty flat. Mixing them in different combinations and settlings is a lot of fun.. the hipshot kickass is a lot heavier than a badass… I got of those extra thick stainless neck plats telecaster nerds like, I modified the no-mod thumbrest by drilling 2 countersunk holes so it fits over the pit bull adjustment screws..and I had a custom water slide decal made

Overall I’m pretty happy, the peavy neck is similar enough to a musicman so it plays how I like. The idea was inspired by mixing Mike Watt’s reverend and a Mike Lull jazzbird. I wanted something that was passive, massive and flexible, it looking cool was a accident I just didn’t want to finish anything and I had the body…

Side note: Rio Grande is now using a picture of my pickup for the non black version of the pit bull 5 on thier site

[Blackened Soul]

[dubkitty]

i’m going to have to go back to middle/high school for an appropriate reaction: “BOSS, MAN!” how does that thumb rest position work? seems a wee bit tight to the E string. and that bridge looks like it could repel artillery fire.

are huge, massive bridges a trend again? i just saw someone selling new Gibson/Ibanez-style “harmonica” bridges, embedded brass sustain block sold separately. always wanted to try one of those. the Kluson bridge for my Tele, which is apparently plated brass, could kill a small animal if thrown edgewise and probably seriously wound a small child.

[Blackened Soul]

Thanks!
The zero mod thumbrests are shorter than a normal fender ones, it isn’t much higher than a pickup. That’s why I went with it and was actually planning to make I own if I hadn’t had found it. I wanted it to be like putting your thumb on the edge of a pickup for comfort and to protect the edge of a pickup built like a guitar humbucker..

I think there is a trend going with badass resurgence, alparts bought Leo quan and reissued a few of the designs, fender is now making their own “high mass” version and hipshot has thier version.. honestly I got this because I wanted a brass bridge that could be setup to 17.5mm spacing.. and nostalgia… I do think I went overboard with the bridge and the medal knobs… bass weights a ton now… on a side note, I hate bridges with a lot of adjustable elements, something always comes lose at the wrong time.. so once I got the string spacing where I wanted it I poured red locktite in the saddle slots.. it would take a heat gun to reset now..

[dubkitty]

it does seem like Brass Is Back. another influence could be the increasing number of Jerry Garcia “tribute guitars” which post-his Fender/Gibson era used brass harmonica bridges and brass tailpiece designs one of which IIRC Grover or Kluson now sells as well as the bridges. if brass nuts come back imma have to get an anti-CLANG notch filter for the stereo.

i’m in wait-and-see mode regarding the Tele weight…it’s already going to be heavier with the mahogany neck though the aluminum Spertzels are light as a feather, and if the bridge is too weighty it might be uncomfortable. but i have a (non-literal) ton of 8- to 10-pound guitars so it probably will be OK. in fact, the bridge will probably balance the neck.