Mandobird Madness

[Soundfarmer Pete]

Thought this might be of interest.......

Basically, I was handed a Mandobird with the instruction "Do what you like"......so I did
Pickup covers are 0.5mm nickel silver hammered over a former and polished, surrounds are 2mm brass as is the majority of the vibrato (apart from the shortened Strat block.
The metalwork is polished and nickel plated.
I would have loved to do a spring steel unit like the Gibson Vibrola but unfortunately, don`t have the skills/tools but this one works a treat....shame about the looks

I remember seeing an article on the net ages ago about a guy that made a repro Gibson unit but can`t find it now...........

[Mark Wilson]

That is the coolest MB I've seen. nice work!

[Daniel Nestlerode]

Pete you're scratching my emando itch.
If I didn't have a year's worth of "folk" gigs planned, I'd be busting out the emando collection and rewiring my Marshall for 240v AC.

Daniel

[Thumbler]

Wow - a whammy - I want one. I Bet that bird can soar...sweet.

[Sweetpea44]

Love the added whammy

[Londy]

I LOVE IT! Please rig up my Bird as well. Love the whammy bar and retro knobs.

[journeybear]

This looks great! I've wanted a whammy bar since forever. I use extra light strings on my electric so I can great some pretty wild bends, up to three frets, and for downward swoops there's always the neck bend deal. but a whammy bar is the real thing. I've never had the nerve to do any serious mods - don't believe I have the skill set, let alone tools and work shop - but seeing that is giving me ideas ...

[ricomando]

Why is it called a Whammy ?

[Jacob]

Names for the device include "whammy bar", the latter named in reference to guitarist Lonnie Mack's aggressive, rapid manipulation of the pitch-bending device in his 1963 song "Wham!".

[darrylicshon]

really nice, hows the tunning when you use the bar will it stay in tune , i have been thinking about putting one in one of my 5 string octaves
doe

[Darren Bailey]

Any video to share the sound? I get a decent voice from my Mandobird through a pedal but the additional pickup would be most welcome. How different is the technique using a wammy on a short scale? I'm imagining the strings will have a shorter lifespan but what about other effects?
That thing looks fantastic, very impressive work.

[Soundfarmer Pete]

Sorry, no video....It`s on the way to the owner but soundwise, it`s just a typical Almuse single coil sound.
The whammy works fine - the Brazilians have been at it for years but one area I very nearly came unstuck was the spring cavity.
Basically, this is a Strat type trem with the block cut down in width. I routed a cavity in the back the same length as a Strat but although 3 springs are generally enough in a guitar, due to the higher tension, 4 mando strings tugging against 3 springs meant I managed to get away with it - just! ....the spring claw being screwed right up to the end of the cavity.

Actually, I should have expected this since a while back, I built a 5 string with a cut down Floyd Rose and that needed all 5 springs....

I`m now wondering whether to try and make a "Migsby"......time to poke around on ebay and see what`s available in aluminium channel...........