I’ve had the good fortune to follow the meteoric rise of Misha Mansoor and his band Periphery over the last few years through some guitar forums i’ve been on for quite a while. Once Proto1 was finished, Misha sent me a message asking how he could try it. I told him that when Periphery came to Toronto, i’d get the guitar into his hands. They finally announced a tour date with Veil of Maya and Darkest Hour, and came to town on November 17.

I spent a few hours getting the guitar set up to Misha’s specs… heavier strings, tuned to drop-A flat, and tweaking the neck to get the action as low as possible but still playing clean. I showed up at the venue before the show and Misha took it for a quick whirl, and then played it for the first two songs of their set. (He would have had more time with it, but they arrived in town late and had almost no time to load in and set up.) Here are a couple of videos of his first playing impressions and then the opening of the show.

Enjoy!

I got a lot of positive feedback and constructive critique from Misha, which will help improve future instruments. Thanks again, Bulb and the rest of Periphery for such an awesome show.

Ever since CNC started being used in guitar production, debate has raged over the merits of instruments produced on computer-controlled milling machines vs. being “hand made”. I’m not sure why there’s such controversy, and hopefully this post can spark a bit of discussion on the subject.
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I just thought i’d do a little post about what happens after i’ve got a new idea visually worked out.

I first learned about Dave at Frets On The Net a few years ago, while looking for custom pickup rings. At the time, nobody was doing cream 7-string humbucker mounting rings, and i really wanted that look to complete my Dean Evo Special 7.

Dave has been around for years, custom-making replacement parts and customized pieces for primarily the Jackson/Charvel community, but he also makes parts that fit numerous other manufacturers’ guitars.

I sent Dave a set of flimsy plastic rings i had to use as a template, and he sent me back a set of mounting rings, exquisitely machined out of solid Delrin. Stunning, and perfect.

So when it came time to get some control cavity covers done, i knew who to turn to. I sent Dave a drawing with precise measurements, and we emailed back and forth a few times, as Dave asked for clarification on a couple of things and offering very good suggestions along the way.

Just a few weeks later, a beautiful brushed anodized black aluminum plate arrived in the mail. (Dave sends pieces out for anodizing in batches, and i had just missed the cutoff for his last batch, which is why i had to wait a few weeks. But i was not worried in the least… the quality is worth the wait!)

It’s attached with M3 x 6 mm stainless steel flat head cap screws set into threaded inserts in the body. This one is surface-mounted with a slight outer bevel just because of the way i cut the cavity and the output jack… there wasn’t enough material left to recess it. Subsequent covers will be recessed with a slight chamfer on the underside, to allow for any finish pooling in the corners of the recess.

If you want the best custom parts out there, get in touch with Dave. You will not be disappointed!

Organical played a show last week… here are a few shots of me playing Proto 1:

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