Tomahawk - Pink Screamer

Sat Mar 01, 2014 10:22 pm

Here is my second version of a project guitar I call "The Tomahawk". This one is nicknamed the "Pink Screamer". Comprised of two MFD bridge pick-ups wired in series, parallel, and single bridge.

Image

Re: Tomahawk - Pink Screamer

Wed Mar 05, 2014 1:19 am

Rad!

Re: Tomahawk - Pink Screamer

Wed Mar 05, 2014 2:06 am

Any chance you could produce a sound sampling of this in all switch positions?

Re: Tomahawk - Pink Screamer

Wed Mar 05, 2014 1:02 pm

That kind of experimentation, "let's see what this does", can yield cool results!
Do you have any difficulty with the MFD pole-spacing being too wide, as it was designed to be installed at an angle, or does it balance OK?

Sometimes it's just following your nose on the trail of some sound you are loving. I once (decades back) had a super-cheap plywood archtop, a Rosetti "Lucky 7" ( I think new ones used to cost £7 in the early '60s), to which I eventually added, archtop-style but in a very inexperienced, wobbly way, a pickup from a solid called a Futurama II, after trying one or two others. It suddenly became able to give the best rendition of Elmore James I ever heard myself play. Man, he must have had some basic kit.

Yours, however, looks very nicely done, and like it should rock! Nice work.

Re: Tomahawk - Pink Screamer

Wed Mar 05, 2014 1:39 pm

Love that color.

Are you gonna plug the through holes? Experimenting with different bridge setups?

I think a black single ply pick guard on it would be nice too..

Is the knob for volume?

Re: Tomahawk - Pink Screamer

Fri Mar 07, 2014 9:29 pm

Salmon wrote:Any chance you could produce a sound sampling of this in all switch positions?


If I can get a spare moment, I will give it a shot!

Re: Tomahawk - Pink Screamer

Fri Mar 07, 2014 9:33 pm

bloodied_fingers wrote:Love that color.

Are you gonna plug the through holes? Experimenting with different bridge setups?

I think a black single ply pick guard on it would be nice too..

Is the knob for volume?


The nob is volume, and the toggle switches the pick-ups. I'm not planning on filling the holes. It's supposed to have a rough reliced look, so the holes don't bother me. I'm not planning on changing bridges, I'm happy with the stop tail piece. The idea of the guitar was to make everything solid and simple.

Re: Tomahawk - Pink Screamer

Fri Mar 07, 2014 9:39 pm

NickHorne wrote:That kind of experimentation, "let's see what this does", can yield cool results!
Do you have any difficulty with the MFD pole-spacing being too wide, as it was designed to be installed at an angle, or does it balance OK?

Yours, however, looks very nicely done, and like it should rock! Nice work.


Thanks! MFD's line up nicely, just hand to find the right placement.

Re: Tomahawk - Pink Screamer

Sat Mar 08, 2014 1:07 am

JByrd wrote:Thanks! MFD's line up nicely, just hand to find the right placement.

Side to side (E to E string), bridge to neck or both? Aside from what might be expected, if you included experimenting with the placement between the bridge and neck it would mean that you somehow listened to the differences in tone. It would be interesting if something could be rigged up that allowed you to slide pickups anywhere between the bridge and neck.

I wonder if your idea could be implemented with a pair butted against one another at the neck also. It would not leave much room for picking between the two pairs. I don't use a pick often anyways. Maybe use the smaller MFD's for the neck. Their shape might not allow it though.

I prefer the tone of the neck position but if this sounds good in the bridge I would use it more often. I would like the option to use the inside pickup alone for the bridge and if there was a pair at the neck I would like both of those to have the ability to be used alone, not just the inside pickup. I don't care for a single coil at the bridge so I would not bother wiring the ability. The inside pickup could sound unique being in an atypical location. It might not be distinctly unique when heard on its own but it would be different compared to the partnered pickup. This would provide additional tone options overall for the guitar. This would also allow the combo of all on, only outsides, only insides, B out with N in, B in with N out and in, etc. As much as I like the idea of the tone potential it would not look as good (BAD**) as this does. I thought about a neck only version like this but imaging the appearance nixed that and evolved to become two pairs.

The only thing about those holes that would concern me is the dirt and grime they will eventually collect.


** :alright:

Re: Tomahawk - Pink Screamer

Wed Apr 09, 2014 1:14 pm

COOL IDEA!!
I must add - the wrap-around stop tail piece is a magical bridge. Of all of the Les Paul's I've played, the Jeff Beck model has the "IT" factor for me. Having played several of them over the past few years, I really believe it's the wrap-around tail piece that gives it it's distinct slinky sound.