My last build of 2021? - BC Rich Mockingbird

[Prostheta]

This thread is part of a larger idea, which is for ProjectGuitar.com members to vote on which guitar I build as the last of 2021. Each idea has a specific meaning to me which I'll be exploring within each of these four threads.

Find the main thread here: https://www.projectguitar.com/forums/topic/54175-vote-on-my-last-build-of-2021/

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This thread is specific to my ideas of building a guitar based on the BC Rich Mockingbird. I've always been fascinated by the early Bernie Rico boutique instruments, the wood combinations and crazy electronics. This will be that.

[Prostheta]

As explained elsewhere, I was left with a big chunk of laminated Sapele with Black Walnut pinstripes which I believe is large enough to complete a neck-through Mockingbird. The build that this blank came from was a Firebird; it's tempting to add in that raised centre section here as well! The main feature of this guitar is the electronics, which should eak out every ounce of flex from the pickups and their combinations.

Loosely, this was a dual-volume/master tone/three-way toggle circuit with modifiers; coil cut for each humbucker, a phasing switch plus a 5-position varitone. My interpretation of this circuit would be slightly different. Firstly, I re-wire my tone pots to act on the neck pickup only. That's a small stylistic nuance. The coil cuts and phasing are relatively standard. The varitone however, is far from that. My intention here would be to repurpose the Aria Pro II BB preamp I make; in the Aria Pro II SB-1o00, this preamp came with a 6-way active LPF varitone whose mid bump recharacterised the instrument perfectly in all six settings. This would require a little mathematics and tweaking of the RC matrix, but should still produce a great guitar varitone with tons of flexibility in combination with the rest of the switching.

Beyond this, the design brief for the Mockingbird itself is very loose outside of the existing material constraints. I imagine that the wings will be laminated Sapele/black Walnut to tie in with the neck-through part, however ideas can be thrown around. The pickup choice is of course dual humbucker, with suggestions taken on HBs that split nicely. I've never cared for most buckers split tones, but hey. Bridge choice is open, however I will likely err towards a fixed bridge of some sort.

A compound scale could be an option here!