Tumbleweed Guitar

09/18/2022

My first bass guitar build— the second is on the way. Basswood body, maple/maple neck with spoke wheel truss rod, and stainless frets. Single-ply, mint green pickguard, (try finding that! Oh, that was fun!).
Heavily inspired by the old-school P Bass, with every part being artificially aged. Teleish-style headstock. Fantastic work on the custom pickup by Planet Tone! I asked for a sound in the realm of the Aguilar 4P 60, and it is incredible!
It was funny to build everything at such a huge scale. . . really good time! The next bass is about two weeks away, and I have a third bouncing around in my head.
More info on this one, The Detroit T Bass, is up on TumbleweedGuitar.com
I knew NOTHING of basses two months ago, and I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas. Thank you!
A video of this bass is in the works. I'll share it when it is finished.

09/16/2022

Led Zeppelin 1 Gibson Melody Maker mod.
After adding the Hindenburg image, I routed room for a Planet Tone "59 Legend humbucker. I scrapped the wraparound bridge and added the tunomatic style with a string-through. Changed the original black pickguard into a funky, 2-piece, ivory job.
Thanks to rocker Blair Barnhardt for trusting me with his Gibson! He'll put it to good use!
TumbleweedGuitar.com

08/19/2022

Progress on the P Bass!
Another week, and this baby will be done! Super fun job! So happy with the results thus far!

08/16/2022

08/13/2022

The only thing I know about basses is that I'm building one. I received these tuning machines in the mail today from . They are like beautiful, smooth, Patton tanks! I can't stop messing with them! They weigh about 37 lbs. each and glide like my cherished, antique, Garcia Mitchell fishing reel.
My neck wood is arriving next week. . . I can't wait to get this baby done!!
Thanks to JT and Courtney ! Amazing, small business service and prices.

08/09/2022

School's Out 2!
Look familiar? Yeah, it does to me, too.
I don't often do two of the same guitar, but I couldn't say no to this one!— Little fella' has a bright future ahead of it!
Single lipstick pickup wired 3-way with the Eldred Cocked Wah mod.
I have always struggled mightily with wiring and figuring out switches and diagrams. It was on this guitar, yesterday, that everything clicked for me! I am so excited to be able to figure out a wiring sketch that worked!! I still need to work on prettier soldering, but at least that is a physical problem!
And they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. . . I guess I shouldn't get too carried away, it was, after all, a single pickup guitar! Take victories where you can get them!
More photos at TumbleweedGuitar.com if you are interested in more detail.

08/04/2022

08/04/2022

Howdy, all! I finished building this tele yesterday, then took a few pics today. A bit more "gentlemanly-looking" than I am used to. I have no idea what kind of wood the body is. It is a single slab of something from North Carolina. . . if anyone recognizes it, I'd love to know! The neck is Spanish cedar with a hard maple fretboard and ebony dots. The pickups are from Planet Tone: a '51 original bridge, and a '69 hot neck. It was a fun project! It sounds a bit warmer than past guitars—perhaps the Spanish cedar neck?
Take care, everybody!

07/31/2022

Good morning! Several folks were interested in hearing how the School's Out guitar sounded with its single, lipstick pickup. Here it is with its new owner. . .
Recorded with the last Motorola cellphone on the planet, as played through my $200 Monoprice amp. Ha!