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The first guitars for Protest the Hero

The first guitars for Protest the Hero

How I ended up making 6 guitars for PtH. Part 1.

Simon Padalka
July 29, 2025

HOW IT STARTED

Back in 2015 I was mostly selling within Russia and only sold a couple guitars outside of it. So when one of my customers suggested making a guitar for a well known band to gain some international traction I was really skeptical - I didn’t think anyone would want to bother with some unknown Russian guy. Plus, I had no idea how to get in touch with any artist. But he suggested just messaging them on Facebook.

So I did a quick research of my favorite bands to see who might be free of major contracts, and it looked like Tim Millar from Protest the Hero might be available. Luke was clearly signed to Ibanez, but I decided to offer both of them a free guitar anyway. After all, PtH was one of my favorites, so it felt right.

I didn’t offer an endorsement as I wasn’t able to fulfill it on a regular basis, and I didn’t believe that anybody would want it. I just offered 2 free custom guitars based on my existing models. In return I asked for feedback, some pictures and maybe videos if they felt like shooting some.

To my surprise they got back to me a couple days later, basically saying ‘Yes please!’ That was my first encounter with Canadian friendliness (one of the reasons I moved to Canada). And now that I re-read my first message it’s even more striking! My English was so bad, it’s cringingly embarrassing. I’m honestly surprised they replied at all 😄 I think my website made up for the poor DM.

DESIGN AND SPECS

We exchanged a few emails regarding the models, I suggested some wood combinations that I thought would be suitable for the PtH style and we had some back and forth about pickup choices. The guys were quite happy with my suggestions - Luke went for clarity, Tim for warmth. And after picking colors I made some mockups and got to work.

Yeah, my mockups back then weren’t that impressive 😄

CS model

scale – 25,5″
number of frets – 24

Body:

construction – solid body, 1 piece
material – white ash
top – flamed maple 5мм

Neck:

construction – bolt-on, 1 piece
material – maple
thickness – 18mm (1 fret), 20mm (12 fret)
fretboard material – Santos rosewood
fretboard radius – 12″
frets – Jescar stainless steel 2.3×1.4mm

Pickups:

ARB Puncher Bridge
ARB Through Axis Neck

Electronics:

1 Volume
3-way switch
split coils

Hardware:

tuners – Hipshot Griplock
bridge – Hipshot Hardtail

Finish:

Polyurethane, satin

MS model

scale – 25,5″
number of frets – 24

Body:

construction – solid body, 1 piece
material – mahogany
top – flamed maple 16мм

Neck:

construction – bolt-on, 1 piece
material – padouk
thickness – 20mm (1 fret), 22mm (12 fret)
fretboard material – Santos rosewood
fretboard radius – 12″
frets – Jescar stainless steel 2.3×1.4mm

Pickups:

Seymour Duncan TB-5 / SH-2n

Electronics:

1 Volume
3-way switch
split coils

Hardware:

tuners – Hipshot Griplock
bridge – Hipshot Hardtail

Finish:

Polyurethane, satin +
gloss polyester (top)

PROCESS

TIME-LAPSE VIDEOS

THE RESULT

"I love em and plan to have both on call when we record this coming Nov” - Luke Hoskin

“It's my favorite guitar to play and all the small touches that were added to it to make it unique don't go unnoticed. It's the best guitar I've played on and you can definitely tell the hand made care that was putting into the build.” - Tim Millar

HOW THE GUYS ARE USING THEM

For Tim his MS was the main guitar for several years until he got a deal from another company. That gave me a really nice boost in popularity.

Luke, being signed with Ibanez, couldn’t play his CS on stage, but was using it in studio quite a bit. Soon after receiving it he ordered another guitar from me, which is going to be the topic of my next post.

For now enjoy this greasy playthrough of Ragged Tooth by Tim