The Wilkat - Goodfellow Mjolnir Hammer Bass

This bass was the inspiration of Craig Goodfellow--a talented artist who also has a love of
all things "Viking" and the mythical God Thor, who was said to wield and carry a
powerful weapon--the Mjolnir Hammer!

Craig designed the bass and brought me his drawings and sketches, and with only a
minimal bit of tweaking by me, this awesome bass was brought to life! Craig knew he wanted
a certain look, and natural beautiful woods, and he went shopping and found the raw
pieces needed to convert this concept into reality.

He selected a zebra wood top, a bubinga back, and since the wood sizes he found
had some limitations, and his desire was to use the same woods for the neck and
fingerboard, I carefully measured the raw stock and cleaned it up to be
 able to do just that. This meant choosing a method of lamination that would yield the look,
and maintain the integrity of the basic design. I think the goal was accomplished
beautifully, and Craig's design made it easy for me to carry out!

The elements of the body design had to be integrated into the headstock and
after Craig sketched this idea onto a paper napkin, he presented it to me, and this is
the end result I produced--being careful to maintain "straight string pull".

I used an oil finish on this baby, and it really works wonders for all of the woods
used--the wenge fingerboard, the zebra wood, the bubinga back, and the wenge
sandwiched between the body and the neck laminations. Craig opted for a
Seymour Duncan MusicMan pickup with an active Duncan EQ STC-3M3 control system, and
this baby sings with power and clarity! The solid Schaller bridge was also an ideal
choice and has long been a favourite of mine.

Simple, clean and threatening--look out!

African Bubinga--Tough and...well, Gorgeous!

A 34" scale "Demon Slaying" weapon!

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Bill's Comments:

This bass really grew on me, although at first I thought it was pretty wild
(what do I know?). Fact of the matter is, it was well thought by Craig, and fun to build,
despite the hard work needed to coax the shapes out of the incredibly
tough bubinga wood. Coupled with the wenge, this was a bass
that fought to get out from start to finish!

Regardless, I love the end result, and I was surprised by the comfort and the
depth of tones this bass produced. It just goes to show you, you never know what to
expect, and great inspiration produces great results at every level--My congratulations to
Craig, and my gratitude for having being part of the process
in making this dream come to life!

Notes: Seymour Duncan & Schaller are registered trade names of the manufacturers
& are not affiliated with Wilkat Guitars in any way.