cmatthes Posted February 4, 2019 Posted February 4, 2019 Apologies in advance for the long thread, but it’s definitely worth sharing! One afternoon way back in the year 2018 (!!), a call came in to Shishkov Global HQ from somebody named "Cliff" at the i-Heart Radio conglomerate. He was looking to commission a very unique project for an important client, and our good friend Elduave had suggested that he contact Mike. Not a lot of details were given at first, but it had to be something extremely special, and it had to nail the client's unusual vision, which would be (to put it mildly) a challenge. Intriguing! For starters, it was made clear that this client was a demanding and large regional advertiser who wanted something really eye-catching and memorable for an event celebrating their 50th Anniversary in business. Their marketing/event planning teams had decided that certain elements celebrating the founder's early days in the business would be a great way to commemorate such a momentous occasion - a rock n’ roll theme and a special guitar were two of the key ingredients. The client (and the i-Heart Radio Exec) knew little to nothing about guitar building, so communication around certain vital specifics took a lot of reading between the lines and guesswork on Mike’s part. At the end of the initial discussions, the idea was to make a guitar that looked like the company's logo, and incorporated their past and present color schemes into the design. Sounds simple, right? Well... A bit of a head-scratcher, for sure, but Mike got to work sketching out ideas... After some more discussion, the concept for the design was agreed upon, and some basics were laid out: It would be a Mahogany bodied guitar with a mahogany 3-piece neck (the client originally requested a 1-piece neck), and would have a stop/tunamatic and two pickups. There was clearly somebody with guitar knowledge making initial requests further down the line, and it appears to have been the guitarist who had been hired to play the US National Anthem to kick off the event. Oh...did we mention that we're going to need all this by noon on February 1st? 😳 A nice, large slab of Mahogany was selected for the job, and work began ASAP: Shortly after things got underway, more specs were mentioned...this will need to be a 24-fretter and also needs Chrome Dave Mustaine Signature pickups ...not a major deal, but those elements required some additional tweaking. The project was well underway, but it still needed something to make it pop...
cmatthes Posted February 4, 2019 Author Posted February 4, 2019 Taking inspiration from a classic electric guitar design, Mike decided to add some dimension to the body that a paint job alone wouldn’t be able to communicate: That did the trick! Now, on to the neck...
cmatthes Posted February 4, 2019 Author Posted February 4, 2019 As this is a unique guitar with some one-of-a-kind design elements, certain things, like the traditional Shishkov blended, rounded heel, would have to be different to make the overall aesthetic work: A few more body and neck bits, and this one would be ready for finish.
cmatthes Posted February 4, 2019 Author Posted February 4, 2019 With the event date getting closer and closer, it was time to get started on the finish work. Again, the client had very specific colors and paint that needed to match another event feature we’ll find out about later on.
cmatthes Posted February 4, 2019 Author Posted February 4, 2019 A very special commemorative truss rod cover would also need to be made to match the overall scheme of the guitar/event - crafted from jet black ebony, white mother of pearl and some beautiful (matching) purple Sugilite: Assembly and setup were next... The finished product - the colors look different in different lights and at different angles:
cmatthes Posted February 4, 2019 Author Posted February 4, 2019 Wrapped up just under the wire, but also just as a sub-zero cold snap gripped much of the USA - not ideal conditions to ship a newly/finished custom instrument nearly 400 miles from Connecticut to the DC Metro area! Mike packed everything up and hopped in the car for a 7+ hour drive south to Leidos’ corporate offices in Reston, VA for an in-person delivery. They loved it! Cliff from iHeart Radio...
cmatthes Posted February 4, 2019 Author Posted February 4, 2019 The next day (Friday) was the event. Unfortunately, the “mystery guitarist” (who’s name may or may not have been mentioned earlier in the thread) had a last minute schedule conflict, so a local cover band got the gig. The event was a HUGE production - this is a $10Billion revenue, Fortune500 company with a very employee-focused culture, and they are celebrating their 50th all across their offices during 2019. They really did it up, despite the frigid temperatures and an unexpected snowstorm that lasted all morning. In addition to the custom Shishkov guitar, there was a lot of food, a vintage ice cream truck - painted up in the company’s color scheme and logo; a traveling company museum in the form of a custom semi truck, stocked with VR exhibits, MRAP and heavy machine gun simulators, weather alert and disaster recovery exhibits and an AI Robot that greeted and interacted with visitors as they entered or exited. Maybe the coolest thing was a restored and highly tricked-out ‘69 Chevelle, painted in the company colors (matching the guitar). They even had Hot Wheels/Matchbox style blister pack toy versions of the Chevelle and hundreds of custom guitar picks on every table.
cmatthes Posted February 4, 2019 Author Posted February 4, 2019 Mike invited me to join him as his “+1” for the event, and I was more than happy to oblige and check this guitar out in person. The guitar perfectly balances on a strap, has a nice weight and a really comfortable neck profile, total fret access all the way to 24, and it played like...well, a Shishkov! Sounded great through the guitarist’s rig and there was lots of fantastic feedback from guitar players and non-players alike in the crowd. The guitar even got a nod from the CEO as he took the stage to address the company. Being a Washington Capitals fan for decades, I insisted that the visiting mascot, Slapshot, get a crack at the guitar and pose for a shot. After the event ended, I took Mike to a Caps game downtown, and we not only got to see a win over Calgary, but the Leidos Zamboni taking care of business between periods. This is obviously a bit of a departure from the usual fare, but the story is too cool to not share!
kizanski Posted February 4, 2019 Posted February 4, 2019 Great thread! "... a last minuteschedule conflict..."? Really?
cornjulio Posted February 4, 2019 Posted February 4, 2019 Amazing story....and I dig the guitar!!! That shape is quite something and it's a one off. If only it had been painted black and white😈 but I guess that would have meant rebranding the company for the the sake of a guitar...but then angain there've been reasons much less meaningful for a rebrand as far as I am aware 🤣😃 Thanks for sharing this. Mike needs that car!
cmatthes Posted February 4, 2019 Author Posted February 4, 2019 17 minutes ago, cornjulio said: Thanks for sharing this. Mike needs that car! I agree! They’re actually giving the car away at the end of the year to one lucky employee. They’re pulling one name every quarter, and at the end of the year, 4 employees get a key and the one that starts the engine, drives it home.
kizanski Posted February 4, 2019 Posted February 4, 2019 3 minutes ago, cmatthes said: ...the one that starts the engine, drives it home. ...and pulls that 307 engine and swaps in something that will actually make some horsepower.
cmatthes Posted February 4, 2019 Author Posted February 4, 2019 2 minutes ago, kizanski said: ...and pulls that 307 engine and swaps in something that will actually make some horsepower. It’s actually got a 350 in there, if I recall correctly from talking to the guy who did the work.
kizanski Posted February 4, 2019 Posted February 4, 2019 1 minute ago, cmatthes said: It’s actually got a 350 in there, if I recall correctly from talking to the guy who did the work. Hopefully not the same guy that commissioned a guitar with specific hardware and electronics for a specific artist who doesn't know how to operate a calendar. The guitar is cool, and I have no doubt a great player, but I came away from this tale feeling like they wasted Mike's valuable time. Yeah, I'm sure he got paid, but putting the guitar in a well-known professional's hands had to be part of the equation for Mike, no?
cmatthes Posted February 4, 2019 Author Posted February 4, 2019 Actually, I wouldn't say that at all. Some great connections were made (serious inquiries already in the door), and I don't think he was looking for a particular endorser or anything out of it. It was really an interesting challenge and a cool thing to share with everybody more than anything. There was zero negativity about the entire experience.
Steve Haynie Posted February 4, 2019 Posted February 4, 2019 One day Mike will meet his favorite guitar player, and the guy will crush him by saying, "Oh, you're the guy who made that leidos guitar."
hamerhead Posted February 4, 2019 Posted February 4, 2019 11 minutes ago, cmatthes said: There was zero negativity about the entire experience. ....except the 307 badge.
kizanski Posted February 4, 2019 Posted February 4, 2019 7 minutes ago, cmatthes said: Actually, I wouldn't say that at all. Some great connections were made (serious inquiries already in the door), and I don't think he was looking for a particular endorser or anything out of it. It was really an interesting challenge and a cool thing to share with everybody more than anything. There was zero negativity about the entire experience. Well, that's good. If there's anyone who deserves to have his work appreciated (and purchased) by a wide variety of customers, it's Mike.
DBraz Posted February 4, 2019 Posted February 4, 2019 Awesome thread. Thanks for sharing the experience. I can see why the current batch is taking so long now... Fantastic work Mike. I hope the experience generated some good exposure for your brand. Team Shishkov!
BubbaVO Posted February 4, 2019 Posted February 4, 2019 Cool story. Great pics. Hopefully the exposure will lead to even better things down the road. Thanks for sharing. So... just because... what's the official build number for this one?
cmatthes Posted February 4, 2019 Author Posted February 4, 2019 5 minutes ago, BubbaVO said: So... just because... what's the official build number for this one? Great question! I failed to post that pic... #0104:
bruce919 Posted February 4, 2019 Posted February 4, 2019 11 hours ago, cmatthes said: The knobs on this one, are the TV Jones knobs. I think there may be another one being built right now with these items....
a.bandini Posted February 5, 2019 Posted February 5, 2019 Very, very cool. I hope it turns into lots of orders for Mike's work. I showed a buddy my Shishkov tonight. He was awed. Me too.
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