Michael Adams, guitar tech at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar in Seattle, sent us two really rad mods, but we could only show one here. “I recently completed a modified Fender Mustang project,” he says, “the second custom guitar we’ve done for our buddy Skye Skjelset from Fleet Foxes and Japanese Guy. The vintage Mustang body and neck are both from around ’65. They’d been refinished, so we didn’t feel too bad about routing out the body to accommodate a set of Lollar Blackface pickups and some special wiring: a Mustang on/off/on switch and a Jazzmaster-inspired roller volume just for the middle pickup. The latter lets Skye mix in the middle pickup, either in or out of phase.”
The 3-way toggle selects between neck and bridge pickups, and the guitar has a 1 Meg volume and a 250k tone pot. Bonus: The old MXR knobs with the glow-in-the-dark indicator!
Adams adds “I'd be remiss if I didn’t mention the Mastery Bridge or the aged pickguard. The pickguard was provided by eBay seller fenderparts, and I modified it for the third pickup and control layout.”
Throughout the year we collect stories and photos of guitar-mod projects created by you, our beloved readers. Some of these guitars are so inspiring we’re compelled to share them with everyone in this annual Hot Rod issue. As always, you don’t disappoint. And by using fetching racecar flame designs, several readers even revealed their devotion to the original “hot rod” culture!
We couldn’t fit all of your mod submissions here, but look for more stories in our “Hot-Rod Gallery – Reader’s Edition” online next month.
