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Simon “2+1”

This is the first in a range of “Simon” guitars that will be offered for sale. These are my own designs and each will be unique. They will share the same basic body shape and headstock, but with different pickup configurations. Profits from the sale of “Simon” guitars will fund donations to charity and also to the Nailsworth Community Workshop (home of π Guitars) to support the amazing work it does. Sale of this guitar will fund a donation to The British Heart Foundation.

This one has three single coil pickups, with the bridge and middle next to each other, so in Position 1 they are wired in series as a humbucker (think Schecter MV-6). Although Positions 2-5 are the same as a regular Stratocaster, the placement of the ‘middle’ pickup changes things quite a bit. The selections may be thought of as:

  1. Bridge Humbucker
  2. Parallel Bridge
  3. Split Bridge
  4. Split Bridge and Neck
  5. Neck

The vintage voiced pickups (Ironstone Gold) are nice and clear and the humbucker bridge arrangement works well – a big full sound, but not at all muddy – I’ll be using this arrangement again.

The finished weight is a perfect 7lb 6oz.

UPDATE: I decided to make the arrangement even more flexible – to allow the humbucker setting to have its own volume control. I used a 4-way double pole mini toggle switch to select the humbucker setting. This worked really well and allowed the single coil selections to be simplified. Both scratch plates will be sold with the guitar, so everything is possible for the new player!

To discuss potential purchase of this guitar, please send me an email to [email protected]

Design

Small changes can have a big effect when it comes to guitar body shapes.  I wanted to design my own shape that could be used for a range of pickup configurations and body treatments.  I wanted to keep the design fairly classic and probably more in the Fender camp than Gibson or PRS.

The proportions are similar to a Strat, with a shortened upper horn, notched lower horn, slightly tighter waist and a very subtle offset at the back.

To match the body, a six-a-side headstock design is used – influenced by the Music Man shape.

Various templates were developed to help with top routing, arm carve contour and the wooden scratchplate.  Additional drilling of the body back helped to keep the weight down.

Build

There were no major challenges to the build, although the careful fitting of the scratchplate took way more effort than I had anticipated.

The body was fun to carve – in particular the arm carve cutting through from the sycamore into the old mahogany.

Quilted Sapele was used for the fretboard.

Finished Guitar

The finished guitar sounds better than I hoped.  The humbucker arrangement in Position 1 is great. Other positions are similar to Strat, but the middle pickup near the bridge is arguably more useful on its’ own or with the neck.  Bridge and middle together are quite different to a Strat, since they are so close together, but could really cut through the mix.

The weight is perfect (for me) and I like the “2+1” look.

The scratch plate took more work than you would imagine, but was worth it.

UODATE:  During February 2025 a new scratch plate was made to allow a mini toggle to select the humbucker setting and direct through its own volume pot.  This helps to manage the volume change and makes the arrangement even more flexible.