Quilted Maple SG style w/ custom Bigsby

[Planta Fantasma]

Another one from the archives.....

This custom SG style was made for my high school friend Ethan Miller of Howlin' Rain. Ethan took this guitar all over the world on tour & then onto Rick Rubin's studio to record their album The Russian Wilds.

The guitar has a neck thru construction, both neck & chambered body wings are made from salvaged Honduran Mahogany from a local shipyard.
Quilted Maple top & flitch cut matching back. Gabon Ebony fretboard came from a friends violin shop. It was old stock his father had from the 60's.
Mother of Pearl fretboard dots were made from round blanks from a turn of the century button factory.
Fiber optic side dot markers change color w/ pickup switching so Ethan didn't get lost on a dark stage.

Allparts sent me the B7 Bigsby trem for an archtop rather than a B5 for a flat top. I was under the gun for time so I pulled out the jewlers saw & cut the tremolo to match Ethan's pickguard shape he provided. I did a few extra mods to tighten up the Bigsby roller, added Graphtech saddles to the Nashville bridge & it ended up working out better than I could have imagined. I was originally terrified when he told me he wanted a Bigsby.

Bartolini ZBS 75 pickups were used for their tour & were swapped out for Bare Knuckle Peter Green PAF's for the recording of their album. The P.G.'s claim to fame was their out of phase middle position.

Cheers!

 

[State of Epicicity]

God damnit. I love this one. The stripe on the back of the neck going through the dark wood into the light wood is a showstopper.

I've never tried Bartolinis. What do you like about them? It seems like you've installed a few.

 

[Dave Merrill]

Gosh you do beautiful work!
That back is amazing!

You really should set up a web site, your work will sell itself.

 

[State of Epicicity]

You really should set up a web site, your work will sell itself.

Preach, Brother!

 

[unix-guy]

Does he call it Mr Peanut? I would...

It's a beauty!

 

[Planta Fantasma]

God damnit. I love this one. The stripe on the back of the neck going through the dark wood into the light wood is a showstopper.

I've never tried Bartolinis. What do you like about them? It seems like you've installed a few.

Bartolini pickups were in most of the electric Moonstone guitars that I'd seen growing up. I'd always been curious about them since they were the first covered pickups I remember seeing. Once I got a job for Moonstone Guitars I encouraged the owner Steve Helgeson to re-connect w/ Bartolini. He'd lost contact when the original Moonstone manufacture burned in the 80's.

Bill's original pickups were called HI-A. He made one of the first, if not the first polyphonic humbucker available on the market. It had a dozen wires as each set of pole pieces could be wired to an individual output. (I have hours of interactions w/ a genius player/designer named Robert Cole. He used these HI-A to build a polyphonic guitar, custom pedal board & switching systems. Carbon fiber guitars w/ frets that stretched off the board....called the Phoenix. Unfortunately all of his guitars & creations were lost in a separate fire...... )

Once I met Bill Bartolini & showed him interest he gave me his number & he'd personally answer to help me if I had questions about wiring diagrams back before they were all online. I talked him into making ringless humbuckers that mounted like his bass soapbars.
Getting a Bartolini pickup order was great! Bill would send out one of a kind pickups to test. One of the last one's I received was for drop tunings!

The quality of their pickups & the customer service was top notch. Bill's early active pickups were unrivaled in tone, output & wiring options.
The preamps & electronics he made weren't available anywhere at the time. Piezo/Magnetic buffer back in the 80's. Lol!

The company has since been sold & the new owners are doing a fantastic job & expanding the product line. But for me, it's impossible to replace Bill. All of the Bartolini stock I'm using is from what I bought before the company sold. Many wound by Bill himself! I only have a few sets left.

Bill Bartolini would come to the NAMM shows w/ a guitar made out of a piece of 2x4 & MDF to showcase his guitar pickups. He had them mounted to pieces of Masonite & they slid into place under the strings so players could hear the difference in pickups. It was awesome! Interacting w/ Bill was something special. The guy emitted electronics knowledge.

Years later I built a version of Bill's pickup testing guitar for my friend Jeff Callahan of Callahan Pickups. It's some scrap Mahogany & a cheap neck. Jeff didn't need to hold & play the guitar, he just wanted something on his test bench that he could easily test pickups before shipping.
Jeff laser cuts a carriage for whichever pickup he's testing & slides them into place.

Cheers!

 

[Red Solo Cup]

Very nice. Unique.

 

[Planta Fantasma]

Does he call it Mr Peanut? I would...

It's a beauty!

I thought it was rather peanutesque myself. You'll notice that I cast the blame his way.

 

[State of Epicicity]

Bartolini pickups were in most of the electric Moonstone guitars that I'd seen growing up. I'd always been curious about them since they were the first covered pickups I remember seeing. Once I got a job for Moonstone Guitars I encouraged the owner Steve Helgeson to re-connect w/ Bartolini. He'd lost contact when the original Moonstone manufacture burned in the 80's.

Bill's original pickups were called HI-A. He made one of the first, if not the first polyphonic humbucker available on the market. It had a dozen wires as each set of pole pieces could be wired to an individual output. (I have hours of interactions w/ a genius player/designer named Robert Cole. He used these HI-A to build a polyphonic guitar, custom pedal board & switching systems. Carbon fiber guitars w/ frets that stretched off the board....called the Phoenix. Unfortunately all of his guitars & creations were lost in a separate fire...... )

Once I met Bill Bartolini & showed him interest he gave me his number & he'd personally answer to help me if I had questions about wiring diagrams back before they were all online. I talked him into making ringless humbuckers that mounted like his bass soapbars.
Getting a Bartolini pickup order was great! Bill would send out one of a kind pickups to test. One of the last one's I received was for drop tunings!

The quality of their pickups & the customer service was top notch. Bill's early active pickups were unrivaled in tone, output & wiring options.
The preamps & electronics he made weren't available anywhere at the time. Piezo/Magnetic buffer back in the 80's. Lol!

The company has since been sold & the new owners are doing a fantastic job & expanding the product line. But for me, it's impossible to replace Bill. All of the Bartolini stock I'm using is from what I bought before the company sold. Many wound by Bill himself! I only have a few sets left.

Bill Bartolini would come to the NAMM shows w/ a guitar made out of a piece of 2x4 & MDF to showcase his guitar pickups. He had them mounted to pieces of Masonite & they slid into place under the strings so players could hear the difference in pickups. It was awesome! Interacting w/ Bill was something special. The guy emitted electronics knowledge.

Years later I built a version of Bill's pickup testing guitar for my friend Jeff Callahan of Callahan Pickups. It's some scrap Mahogany & a cheap neck. Jeff didn't need to hold & play the guitar, he just wanted something on his test bench that he could easily test pickups before shipping.
Jeff laser cuts a carriage for whichever pickup he's testing & slides them into place.

Cheers!

Incredible story. I have to look into web archives to learn more about these companies. You've also piqued my interest in the modern Bartolinis. I love the idea of polyphonic humbuckers that are not piezo! I've said it before, but some of the best and most innovative ideas for guitar die in the market. That's right, I'm looking at you, TransTrem!

 

[GitGuy513]

Truly one of a kind. Beautiful!

 

[scottp]

Another one from the archives.....

This custom SG style was made for my high school friend Ethan Miller of Howlin' Rain. Ethan took this guitar all over the world on tour & then onto Rick Rubin's studio to record their album The Russian Wilds.

The guitar has a neck thru construction, both neck & chambered body wings are made from salvaged Honduran Mahogany from a local shipyard.
Quilted Maple top & flitch cut matching back. Gabon Ebony fretboard came from a friends violin shop. It was old stock his father had from the 60's.
Mother of Pearl fretboard dots were made from round blanks from a turn of the century button factory.
Fiber optic side dot markers change color w/ pickup switching so Ethan didn't get lost on a dark stage.

Allparts sent me the B7 Bigsby trem for an archtop rather than a B5 for a flat top. I was under the gun for time so I pulled out the jewlers saw & cut the tremolo to match Ethan's pickguard shape he provided. I did a few extra mods to tighten up the Bigsby roller, added Graphtech saddles to the Nashville bridge & it ended up working out better than I could have imagined. I was originally terrified when he told me he wanted a Bigsby.

Bartolini ZBS 75 pickups were used for their tour & were swapped out for Bare Knuckle Peter Green PAF's for the recording of their album. The P.G.'s claim to fame was their out of phase middle position.

Cheers!

You know, every time I see another one of your builds I shake my head and smile!
I love seeing your beautiful creations and I have high regard for your artistry.
I enjoy hearing your stories too!
Have a Blessed day!

 

[Planta Fantasma]

You know, every time I see another one of your builds I shake my head and smile!
I love seeing your beautiful creations and I have high regard for your artistry.
I enjoy hearing your stories too!
Have a Blessed day!

Thank you, scottp! I always appreciate your compliments.
Cheers!