In three striking burst finishes, this formidable instrument boasts a bound mahogany body and neck, maple cap, and ebony fingerboard. It houses a set of three powerful USA Lace Matt Pike Signature “Firespitters” humbuckers, alongside TonePros hardware, and Grover Imperial tuners.
The bound fingerboard is adorned with custom “Serpents Sun” inlays, designed by High on Fire artist Jordan Barlow. With jumbo stainless steel frets built to withstand years of riffing, this guitar is prepared for a lifetime of intense use and punishment. The package is completed with a fitted Woodrite Guitars hardshell case.
This signature Warlord serves as a testament to Matt Pike’s unwavering musical dominance. Brace yourself for the imminent sonic onslaught: signed, sealed, and delivered by the Riff Lord himself.
About the Lace Matt Pike Signature “Firespitters” 3-Pickup Configuration:
“Our goal in designing the Matt Pike Signature Firespitters was to create a set of humbuckers that perfectly complemented Pike’s aggressive playing style and contributed to his signature metal tone. We began by incorporating a mix of proprietary ceramic magnets, barium ferrite magnets, and impossibly fine gauge copper wire wound on our patented Micro Matrix Comb bobbins. Our aim was to achieve a high-output, aggressive-when-you-want-it, articulate-when-you-need-it set of humbuckers suitable for the heavy and dynamic sound associated with Matt’s playing style.
The addition of a middle humbucker expands the power of the set exponentially, giving the player a portion of the formidable power that Matt Pike himself commands for their own instrument. The meticulous craftsmanship and direct collaboration with Matt Pike on the design showcase our commitment to delivering a visually and sonically distinctive premium product tailored to Matt Pike’s aesthetic and tonal specifications.” – Gabriel Freeman, Lace Pickups
3-Way Toggle Switch Settings:
- Treble: Bridge Pickup
- Middle: Bridge, Middle, and Neck Pickups
- Rhythm: Neck and Middle Pickups
Full Specs
Body
- Body Shape – Warlord Double Cut
- Body Orientation – Left / Right Handed
- Body Material – Mahogany
- Top Material – Maple
- Binding – White / Cream
- Finish – Crimson Burst / Antarctican Burst / Cherry Sunburst
- Clearcoat – Gloss Polyurethane
Neck
- Material – Mahogany
- Binding – Yes
- Truss Rod Cover – Matt Pike’s Signature (not pictured)
- Nut Width – 1.69″
- Profile – 0.800″ at 1st Fret, 0.875″ at 12th Fret, Medium “C” profile
- Scale Length – 24.75″
- Fingerboard Material – Ebony
- Fretwire – Jumbo Stainless Steel
- Inlays – Matt Pike “Serpents Sun” Inlays designed by High on Fire Artist Jordan Barlow
- Fingerboard Radius – 12″
- Number Of Frets – 22
Hardware
- Finish – Chrome
- Bridge – TonePros Tune-O-Matic
- Tailpiece – TonePros Stop Bar
- Tuning Machines – Grover Imperial
- Pickguard – None
- Pickup Rings – Black
- Control Knobs – Black Top Hats w/ Reflectors
- Switch Tip – Black
- Jack Plate Cover – Chrome
Electronics
- Neck Pickup – Lace Matt Pike “Firespitters” Neck – 14.6 kohm
- Middle Pickup – Lace Matt Pike “Firespitters” Middle – 17.8 kohm
- Bridge Pickup – Lace Matt Pike “Firespitters” Bridge – 23.4 kohm
- Magnets: Mixture of Lace proprietary Barium Ferrite and Ceramic magnets.
- Windings: Lace Micro Matrix Bobbins that redirect the magnetic field into smaller, tighter loops. This creates a ‘monopole’ effect, and eliminates dead zones over the surface of the pickup.
- Controls – 2 Volume, 2 Tone, 3-Way Toggle Switch
Miscellaneous
- Tuning – C-Standard (C, F, A#, D#, G, C)
- Strings – D’Addario EXL145 (.012, .016, .020p, .032, .042, .054)
- Weight – Approximately 10.0lbs
- Case – Hard Shell Fitted Case Included
- Built in Indonesia by PT Wildwood (PRS, ESP)
DoesItDoom.com
Matt Pike Signature Woodrite Warlord
This 1933 Vivi-Tone, with its hollow body and acoustic flexibility, represents a piece of electric guitar history that was beaten out by more popular solidbody electric designs.
Back in the early fervor of electric guitar design, builders experimented out of necessity, trying to create working instruments by any means. When studying these guitars today, their choices might seem strange, but they present many wonderful “what-ifs” or guitar-building roads not taken.
qThe instrument we have here is such a guitar: a 1933 Vivi-Tone. This exact specimen appears in Lynn Wheelwright and Nacho Baños’ The Pinecaster: Early Electric Guitars (1920-1955), which explores the “what-if” history of this period in captivating detail.
“When studying these guitars today, their choices can seem strange, but they present many wonderful ‘what-ifs’ or guitar-building roads not taken.”
Vivi-Tone was a company founded in the early 1930s with the express purpose of manufacturing electric instruments—not just guitars, but violins, cellos, mandolins, and even an electric piano. Interestingly, its co-founder and chief inventor was Lloyd Loar, who in the 1920s famously created Gibson acoustic archtops and mandolins that are prized to this day.
A sliding drawer built into the guitar’s body allows access to the pickup, which is set up under the bridge.
By the ’30s, however, Loar wanted to bring out “pure string tone,” as he called it, through the power of amplification. His patented pickup, which can be found in this 1933 guitar and throughout the Vivi-Tone lineup, works in a distinct way from modern pickups. Here, the bridge itself rests on top of a metal bar that is ever-so-slightly suspended over an electro-magnetic pickup system. When the strings move the bridge, the bridge moves the bar, and the resulting current goes out to the amp. While most modern guitar pickups require metal strings to work, Loar’s Vivi-Tone design could work with any material, steel or gut.
The very first Vivi-Tones, released in 1932, were strikingly revolutionary. Loar, with a utilitarian spirit, did not give them much of a body at all. The skeletal design supported the pickup system, neck, and a thin body that featured only a decorative top—there were no back or sides. However, in ’33, public sentiment forced the company to at least pretend their instruments were traditional. So, the then-newly built Vivi-Tones came with a full acoustic body like you see in this model, which features a spruce top and back, and composite sides. The pickup system can be accessed through a sliding drawer built into the guitar’s body.
Before they folded in 1937, Vivi-Tone built just around 600 instruments.
Thanks to another twist of ingenuity, you can actually play this guitar as an acoustic. The contraption you see by the bridge is a lever you can use to separate the bridge from the internal pickup, cutting off any flow of electrons. Perhaps because the internal spine, pickup, and lever made the top too rigid, the guitar’s back is its own resonating soundboard as well. It not only features two f-holes, but is actually inset from the sides so that a player’s body doesn’t press upon it or interfere with its vibrations.
Up for sale by Reverb seller Jay Rosen Music, this 1933 Vivi-Tone (serial number 220) is one of around 600 instruments built by Vivi-Tone before it shuttered in 1937. When new, this guitar likely sold for around $175. Today, being a surviving example in excellent condition—with its original pickup cable still intact—it’s listed for $10,500.
Sources: The Pinecaster: Early Electric Guitars (1920-1955) by Lynne Wheelwright and Nacho Baños, Reverb listings.
Nashville has long been the hub for all things country music but in the last two decades, transplant rockers like Jack White, the Black Keys, Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine, Judas Priest’s Richie Faulkner and others, have all have made the 615 home. Adding to its growth is the organic blossoms generated via the rock block, cultivating names like Paramore, All Them Witches, Bully, Moon Taxi, The Wild Feathers, The Band Camino, and the guitar extraordinaires that make up Diarrhea Planet.
We got caught up with the semi-retired fearsome foursome for their first headlining performance at the Ryman Auditorium ahead of their return to Bonnaroo. We covered why neck humbuckers are useless (but neck dives rule), how the whole band was gifted Klon KTRs, and what each shredator does to stand in and out among their collective guitarmegeddon.Brought to you by D’Addario dBud Earplugs.
73
Diarrhea Planet’s unofficial 7th member is longtime tech and friend Dave Johnson of Scale Model Guitars. (Johnson has done several DIY features for PG, check them out!) Here is his 73rd build based on the Solid Guitar design. Constructed in 2015 it has an alder body, maple neck, and ebony fretboard. The alder was selected to keep the guitar’s weight under five pounds, the neck shape is based on a ’61 Melody Maker, and the fireworks ignite by way of the single Greer Wind humbucker wound by Porter Pickups. He opted for this one because it walks a fine line between a P-90 and PAF for a bouncy, rounder, snappier sound that sits best in DP. The switch is for a “high-octane” mod that bypasses the tone and volume controls and for a direct connection to the output jack for highway-to-the-danger-zone moments. He’s been loyal to D’Addario Medium Balanced Tension strings (.011 –.050) and Dunlop Tortex picks (.88 mm).
Diarrhea Planet Special
This bargain-bin bruiser is a Kramer Striker that cost Smith a mere $349. It has been overhauled by Dave Johnson in a recurring manner that includes Gotoh locking tuners, Graph Tech ResoMax bridge, removed the middle and neck pickups and dropped in a Bare Knuckle Nailbomb, and got a proper fret job and setup.
800 Killer
Smith has always been chasing a “bigger, more low-mid focused JCM 800” and this striking steal of a deal he scored fit the bill. The 120-watt Peavey 6505 runs into a Tyrant Tone 1x12 cabinet loaded with a single Electro-Voice Electro-Voice EVM12L Black Label Zakk Wylde speaker.
Jordan Smith’s Pedalboard
Smith’s board holds the staples for DP gigs. It starts with a Spaceman Effects Explorer Phaser, an Electronic Audio Experiments 0xEAE Boost (his favorite pedal on the planet), Boss SD-1 SuperOverdrive, and a Mr. Black Tapex 2. Diarrhea Planet might be the only band to earn KTRs. Back in 2014 or ’15, Klon creator Bill Finnegan and his employee Matt visited DP during a soundcheck near their East Coast-based shop. Finnegan loaned the foursome their own KTR to test out during the run-through. They plugged into them and instantly realized this was the sound they’ve been missing. Finnegan enjoyed the soundcheck so much that he told the band they deserved the magical red boxes and they’ve been on their boards ever since. “I’ll never sell it because we somehow impressed the guy that built one of the most influential pedals ever. It’s an honor and it means so much to me,” admits Smith. Everything rides on a Pedaltrain Classic Jr and is brought to life with a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus.
Dave Does It Again!
Brent Toler hit the Ryman stage with one guitar—his partscaster baby. Brent sourced all the parts (including painting the body in his parents’ garage) and luthier pal Dave Johnson helped put the pieces together. The single humbucker (with a push-pull pot engaging single-coil mode) was handwound by Alex Avedissian out of Atlanta. It has a HipShot bridge with an upgraded Hipshot Tremsetter Strat tremolo Stabilizer 401000. The roasted maple neck and dazzling pickguard was scooped off eBay. He recently switched from D’Addario strings to local faves Stringjoy.
Steal of a Deal
Traveling into town for this pair of shows, Toler packed light with just his partscaster and a pedalboard. He borrowed this Laney LC30 from bassist Mike Boyle who scored the 1x12 tube combo for $200.
Brent Toler’s Pedalboard
Paring down for carry-on limits, Toler returned to Guitar Town with a svelte pedal platform home to five effects and a tuner: a MXR Carbon Copy, a Mooer Yellow Comp, a Bogner Ecstasy Blue, Klon KTR, a MXR Phase 95, and an Electro-Harmonix EHX-2020 Tuner Pedal.
Mother’s Mark
Standing out is a must when you’re battling frequencies with three other guitarists. Emmett Miller takes a left when his brethren take a right. His custom guitar (again built by Scale Model Guitars’ Dave Johnson) is a loving recreation of a ’80s Fender Performer. Miller first got a taste of the futuristic axe when studying at the National Guitar Workshop under Shane Roberts. He posted on Craigslist in the hopes of borrowing a Performer to copy for Dave to build from. He quickly received an anonymous response that included a complete blueprint of the instrument. It has 24 scalloped frets on an ebony fretboard, a Wilkinson/Gotoh VS-100N Tremolo bridge the middle and neck pickups are Hot Stack Plus Strat hum-canceling single-coils, a handwound Avedissian humbucker in the bridge (with a coil-spot mod), and the smaller dip switch adds in the neck pickup with the bridge humbucker. And the best part of the whole thing, the night-sky artwork was painted by Emmett’s mother.
Tone School
When DP first disbanded in 2018, Miller went off to school to study electrical engineering and digital signal processing, and in doing so, he “had to play through a computer now.” He landed on the Kemper Profiler and hasn’t looked back. He avoids cabling and routes his guitar through a Line 6 Relay G55 Wireless unit.
Emmett Miller’s Pedalboard
Keeping the Kemper on amp-only duties, Miller has a standard pedal playground comprised of a Strymon El Capistan, a Klon KTR, a JHS Sweet Tea V3, Dunlop Cry Baby wah, a Moog EP-3 Expression pedal, a MXR Uni-Vibe, and a TC Electronic PolyTune. Up top you might notice what appears to be a Boss pedal enclosure, but that’s just a goof gift from fellow guitarist Evan Bird.
The Classiest and Nastiest
“I think, in my arms anymore, anything but a Tele feels weird. I do like other guitars, but these are the only ones I can throw around and then still pick back up and play,” concedes DP’s fourth guitarist Evan Bird. This MIM Fender Telecaster Thinline Deluxe was facelifted by Dave Johnson (shocker). It got a refret, improved hardware—including a 3-barrel brass bridge, Gotoh locking tuners, and strap locks—plus a fresh set of Avedissian Night Prowler humbuckers (with a push-pull coil-split mod on the bridge ’bucker). Both his Teles take D’Addario NYXL1052 Light Top/Heavy Bottom strings.
That’s Gold, Jerry, Gold!
Supplementing duties with Thinline is this Squier John 5 signature that’s finished in Frost Gold. It got the Dave Johnson Scale Model treatment and also features Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates with Les Paul-wiring and CTS pots.
Tubes, Schmubes
After toting around a hefty Twin Reverb for years, Bird made the back-saving switch to a Fender Tone Master Twin Reverb that knocks off half the weight. Another issue he was having with the OG tube Twin was blowing up the preamp section by hitting it too hard with pedals. Since making the move to the Tone Master, he’s been flying clear of any meltdowns. And keeping the cables away from his feet is the Sennheiser EW-DX EM 2 Two-Channel wireless unit.
Evan Bird’s Pedalboard
Bird keeps it lean and mean with a 4-stomp pedalboard that includes an EarthQuaker Devices Dispatch Master, XTS Winford Drive, Greer Amps Supa Cobra, and a Klon KTR. Occasional tuning is assisted by the Boss TU-3 and a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus brings the juice.
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