2007 TwangBuster Deluxe

2007 TwangBuster Deluxe Custom

I could have done with this guitar twenty years ago. It is totally custom-built to my own specifications and incorporates pretty much everything I have come to wish for in an electric guitar. But, it could not have been built any sooner than it has been. Why? Well, because it incorporates everything I need and like it had to wait for all the previous guitars I had ever owned before it could be conceived.

A small example, the custom control wiring setup features two 'push-push' tone pots. One selects the DeArmond at the neck (in addition to the main five-way selector) to enable neck and bridge pickup combination, with the pot acting as Master Tone. The other is a separate and individual Tone control for the bridge pickup - the 'push-push' selects between two different value capacitors for two extra voicings for that pickup alone. These 'push-push' pots were spares for my Yamaha SG1000 that I purchased in 1977. They are available only on Yamaha guitars. This was the earliest experience of a component that was to become a requirement for the TwangBuster Deluxe.

When I bought the 1957 Gretsch 6120 I heard for the first time the massive, ballsy tone of vintage DeArmond Rowe pickups and I was also reminded of how much I like Vibrato Arms. I had often thought about figuring out a mechanism to incorporate a vibrato/tremelo with a B-Bender because the bender had over time become an integral part of my playing technique (read lazy …) but I missed not having a Vibrato (or as many say … a tremelo).

Anyway, I started buying bits and pieces for the '57 Gretsch 6120, like new knobs so that the valuable, original vintage items could not get lost or pinched, new Waverly tuners because the vintage Grovers were getting scratchy and imprecise and other little things. One of the suppliers of these bits and pieces included a Guitar magazine with the items ordered and at the back of that mag was an article called 'Oddball Guitars' by Scott Freilich with a report on John Berg of Buffalo NY and the guitars he makes - and in particular a mechanism combining a Tremelo with a B-Bender !!

That is when it all started. I had to get that mechanism. But I needed a guitar to put it into. I already had a couple of vintage DeArmond pickups and at least one was going to be on the proposed guitar. After a while it became clear that this was to be an opportunity not to be missed and I decided not to hold back. This would be my dream guitar.

I ordered a Quilted Maple topped Tele Thinline body with a Birdseye Maple/Brazilian Rosewood neck from Warmoth Direct and hardware from Stewart Macdonald. Everything was shipped off to John Berg. Once John had completed the Trem-Bender mechanism it was all shipped off to a friend in Nashville from where it then made its way to France.

I experimented with pickup configurations with the vintage 1957 and 1960 DeArmond Rowe pickups and a new set of Kinman pickups. Having used a Kinman AVn60 set on the Rockinger Tele I wanted to try out the AVn48 Tel pickups that are claimed to be more 'Broadcaster' in their tone. I messed around with switching and wiring and eventually settled on the '57 DeArmond in the neck position, a Kinman AVn59 Strat in the middle and a KInman AVn48 Tele at the bridge.

Having established electrics the guitar was then stripped and given to D.N.G. Guitars (D.N.G. = Dominique, Nicolas & Greg) in Paris for colour and lacquering (it had arrived with naked wood). In the meantime I had photographed and scanned the guitar and experimented with several colour schemes in Photoshop. I printed out the final choice for Greg at D.N.G. to use as a guide. As you can see in the photos he did a magnificent job.

The last major job was to make a pickguard from the blank material that I had ordered with the body and neck from Warmoth. After several more days of design in Photoshop it took about eight hours to cut out and finish the Vintage Pearl pickguard that you see in the photos.

Finally, the last element that precluded the creation of this guitar any time before now is the internet. This international project has taken about ten months to complete and has been conducted entirely by internet, email and telephone. It just would not have been possible, especially within that time frame, even ten years ago, let alone twenty.

The John Berg 'Trem-Bender' mechanism is nothing short of spectacular with the clear lexan cover, the turned aluminium base-plate and its custom carved polished aluminium and Stainless Steel components. I could not resist continuing the 'theme' with the Control and Trem-Spring cavity covers.

Of course the aim of this guitar was to marry a Tele to Gretsch. It is a huge success. The exotic woods with the superb lacquering job and that remarkable Trem-Bender mechanism have combined to produce a drop-dead gorgeous and visually stunning instrument. Plugged into an amp it is everything I had hoped for. The new Kinmans are much fatter than those on the Rockinger Tele and produce a very precisley defined classic Tele tone - the Rockinger Tele even sounds slightly wishy-washy or muddy in comparison - and the '57 DeArmond with its characteristically thunderous bass response makes this guitar absolutely unique.

I love it … I love it … I love it ………

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© The Mombasa Flash

2007 TwangBuster Deluxe Custom I could have done with this guitar twenty years ago. It is totally custom-built to my own specifications and incorporates pretty much everything I have come to wish for in an electric guitar. But, it could not have been built any sooner than it has been. Why? Well, because it incorporates everything I need and like it had to wait for all the previous guitars I had ever owned before it could be conceived. A small example, the custom control wiring setup features two 'push-push' tone pots. One selects the DeArmond at the neck (in addition to the main five-way selector) to enable neck and bridge pickup combination, with the pot acting as Master Tone. The other is a separate and individual Tone control for the bridge pickup - the 'push-push' selects between two different value capacitors for two extra voicings for that pickup alone. These 'push-push' pots were spares for my Yamaha SG1000 that I purchased in 1977. They are available only on Yamaha guitars. This was the earliest experience of a component that was to become a requirement for the TwangBuster Deluxe. When I bought the 1957 Gretsch 6120 I heard for the first time the massive, ballsy tone of vintage DeArmond Rowe pickups and I was also reminded of how much I like Vibrato Arms. I had often thought about figuring out a mechanism to incorporate a vibrato/tremelo with a B-Bender because the bender had over time become an integral part of my playing technique (read lazy …) but I missed not having a Vibrato (or as many say … a tremelo). Anyway, I started buying bits and pieces for the '57 Gretsch 6120, like new knobs so that the valuable, original vintage items could not get lost or pinched, new Waverly tuners because the vintage Grovers were getting scratchy and imprecise and other little things. One of the suppliers of these bits and pieces included a Guitar magazine with the items ordered and at the back of that mag was an article called 'Oddball Guitars' by Scott Freilich with a report on John Berg of Buffalo NY and the guitars he makes - and in particular a mechanism combining a Tremelo with a B-Bender !! That is when it all started. I had to get that mechanism. But I needed a guitar to put it into. I already had a couple of vintage DeArmond pickups and at least one was going to be on the proposed guitar. After a while it became clear that this was to be an opportunity not to be missed and I decided not to hold back. This would be my dream guitar. I ordered a Quilted Maple topped Tele Thinline body with a Birdseye Maple/Brazilian Rosewood neck from Warmoth Direct and hardware from Stewart Macdonald. Everything was shipped off to John Berg. Once John had completed the Trem-Bender mechanism it was all shipped off to a friend in Nashville from where it then made its way to France. I experimented with pickup configurations with the vintage 1957 and 1960 DeArmond Rowe pickups and a new set of Kinman pickups. Having used a Kinman AVn60 set on the Rockinger Tele I wanted to try out the AVn48 Tel pickups that are claimed to be more 'Broadcaster' in their tone. I messed around with switching and wiring and eventually settled on the '57 DeArmond in the neck position, a Kinman AVn59 Strat in the middle and a KInman AVn48 Tele at the bridge. Having established electrics the guitar was then stripped and given to D.N.G. Guitars (D.N.G. = Dominique, Nicolas & Greg) in Paris for colour and lacquering (it had arrived with naked wood). In the meantime I had photographed and scanned the guitar and experimented with several colour schemes in Photoshop. I printed out the final choice for Greg at D.N.G. to use as a guide. As you can see in the photos he did a magnificent job. The last major job was to make a pickguard from the blank material that I had ordered with the body and neck from Warmoth. After several more days of design in Photoshop it took about eight hours to cut out and finish the Vintage Pearl pickguard that you see in the photos. Finally, the last element that precluded the creation of this guitar any time before now is the internet. This international project has taken about ten months to complete and has been conducted entirely by internet, email and telephone. It just would not have been possible, especially within that time frame, even ten years ago, let alone twenty. The John Berg 'Trem-Bender' mechanism is nothing short of spectacular with the clear lexan cover, the turned aluminium base-plate and its custom carved polished aluminium and Stainless Steel components. I could not resist continuing the 'theme' with the Control and Trem-Spring cavity covers. Of course the aim of this guitar was to marry a Tele to Gretsch. It is a huge success. The exotic woods with the superb lacquering job and that remarkable Trem-Bender mechanism have combined to produce a drop-dead gorgeous and visually stunning instrument. Plugged into an amp it is everything I had hoped for. The new Kinmans are much fatter than those on the Rockinger Tele and produce a very precisley defined classic Tele tone - the Rockinger Tele even sounds slightly wishy-washy or muddy in comparison - and the '57 DeArmond with its characteristically thunderous bass response makes this guitar absolutely unique. I love it … I love it … I love it ………
































Return to the Guitar Porn Shop		© The Mombasa Flash