Tim Henson Signature Guitars

Polyphia is one of the most technically advanced bands on the planet. Popular songs like G.O.A.T., 40oz, and more showcase the band's true technical ability.  Band leader Tim Henson has become a modern guitar hero from this band. Ibanez noticed the accolades he was receiving and made him a signature guitar the TOD10.  

Ibanez TOD10

The TOD10 is an incredibly comfortable guitar with crazy tone options. It comes with an American Basswood body. They actually sourced the wood from America. This is getting rarer and rarer. The string spacing is 10.5mm. It comes with a Gotoh T1502 tremolo. This tremolo is based on the Strat tremolo. But it has a screw-in bar like a Floyd Rose to keep the tremolo bar from falling out.  

The neck has an oval C shape. It is a unique shape. The back has a flat area that is very useful for shredding on the higher strings. It differs from other flat necks. The C shape curves at the edges, allowing chord comfort and a unique reach for complex riffs. It has an ebony fretboard with a custom “Tree of Death” fret inlay. This inlay is where the guitar gets its name (TOD). The fret markers are luminescent. This means you can see them in the dark. This is perfect for playing on a dark stage.  

The Fishman Fluence Pickups are specially voiced for this guitar. There are unique tones available with these pickups that are difficult to copy. The tone control has a push/pull knob that allows you to switch between the voices. This diagram shows the pickup positions. It also shows different voice options. A voice option is different eq settings within the pickup. They can change the eq settings because it is an active pickup.

When the push/pull is down on the neck pickup, it uses the humbucking neck pickup in Voice 1. Pulling the knob will not split the humbucker, but it will activate Voice 2 on the neck pickup. This voice has different eq settings than Voice 1. 

The 4th Position (position between the neck and middle) does not change whether the push/pull is down or up. It will be the outer neck coil only. This is using the 3rd Voice of the Fishman voices.  

The Middle Pickup Position uses both humbuckers in Voice 1. Then raising the push/pull will turn off the inner neck coil and the outer bridge coil. It will also change to Voice 3. Voice 3 appears to be what is used for all single-coil options. 

The 2nd Position (position between bridge and middle) does not change with the push/pull. It actually matches the inner neck and outer bridge coil layout when the Middle Position is up. 

The Bridge Pickup is similar to the neck pickup. When the push/pull is down, the bridge pickup is in Voice 1. When it is up, the bridge pickup is in voice 2. 

The TOD10 comes in two colors: classic silver and metallic mauve.  

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TOD10N

The TOD10 is a unique guitar with a lot of different options tonally. It was wildly successful at Ibanez, which led them to do another deal for a classical guitar. The TOD10N is a nylon guitar that plays like an electric guitar. It has 22 frets, but it is different than most classicals. Most classicals have the body meeting the neck around the 12th fret. This limits players from reaching the higher frets effectively. This one is shaped like an electric guitar. It has two cutaways that let you explore the entire guitar neck. 

It has a bone nut, rosewood fretboard, and a "Tree of Death" inlay. The neck has a C shape that is very comfortable to play. The body of the guitar is a solid sitka spruce top with sapele back and sides.  

The TOD10N has a Fishman S-Core pickup. It also comes with an Ibanez preamp built into the body. The pickup system is simpler than the TOD10's. Here’s the diagram. 

It has a built-in tuner. It also comes with a phase switch. The knobs control the volume, treble, and bass. This setup is simple and great for shaping your classical tone.  

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The Tim Henson signature guitars have become one of the most popular guitars around. Most of my guitar-playing friends want one of the models. These guitars remind us of a time when guitar heroes made us want to play better. Players wanted to get their gear because they wanted to try to live up to the example. Tim Henson is one of the few guitar icons that young guitarists look up to today. He isn’t copying the players that defined the instrument in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. He is treading new pathways in what is possible on guitar. If you wanna push the envelope on what's possible with guitar, get a Tim Henson signature model today.