Fender STRAT® PLUS

This new Strat Plus looks and plays no different but features interchangeable “personality cards” which rewire the guitar without the hassle. One card comes in the guitar and gives you the standard Stratocaster pickup wiring; two other cards are included and let you “re-wire” the guitar. These fit into a compartment in the back, and change the wiring for you.

Custom Built Guitars in Spain

While in Spain last week I came across a luthier who has a small workshop in Plaza Santa Monica at Las Chapas near Marbella on the Costa del Sol.  His name is Alberto Martin Ramos and he allowed me to try out a few of his custom built concert and flamenco guitars which are outstanding.

The videos below show Alberto’s guitars being played by Pepe Ortega.

Gibson ES335 Silverburst

This version of the popular Gibson ES335 comes with a Curly Maple/Poplar/Maple laminated top, back, and rims, joined together with a single solid maple center block, mahogany neck with bound rosewood fingerboard.

A pair of ’57 Classic humbuckers (my favourite Gibson HB) provide the power and compliment the natural resonance to give jazz tones or dirty distorted rock sounds. As always the 1960s slim taper neck profile provides fast and comfortable playing, while the bound top and back make the ES-335 the classic it has always been.

Fender Mando Strat

Fender electric four-string mandolins of the 1950s and ’60s were not too popular but here we have new release (20122/13) for your Fender collection.

Mando Strat

Mandolins, a member of the lute family, typically have  four  pairs of metal strings which are normally played with a pick / plectrum.  The most common tuning is EADG.

Collector’s Choice™ #4 1959 Les Paul “Sandy”

At the same time as Gibson are reducing the price of most Les Paul models we have here the latest offering from the Custom Shop Series and a bargain at around £5699.

This is a replica of a 1959 Les Paul, arguable seen as the most desirable of all Les Paul models in it’s time.

 There are additional authentic touches including the ABR-1 bridge and lightweight aluminium stop bar tailpiece.  Also with a pair of Custom Bucker, Alnico 3 pickups with Zebra coils, said to give an authentic ’50s Les Paul tone.

The main features of the Gibson Collector’s Choice #4 1959 Les Paul ‘Sandy’ 6-string electric guitar include:

An accurate representation of the 1959 Les Paul ‘Sandy’

Unique, figured maple top on a mahogany body with cream binding
Mahogany neck cut in the same profile as the original model
Indian rosewood fingerboard with 22 frets over cream binding and 12″ radius

Nitrocellulose trapezoid inlays

2 x Custom Bucker Alnico 3 pickups with Zebra coils
2 x Volume, 2 x Tone controls
3-way pickup selector switch
Nylon nut with 1.687″ width
24.75″ scale length
Nickel ABR-1 bridge with lightweight aluminium stopbar tailpiece

Gotoh Reissue Green Key tuners with 12:1 ratio and nickel plating

Gold top hats knobs, cream pickguard

Aged Dirty Lemon finish in the same condition as the original
Includes a Gibson Custon Shop hardcase, certificate of authenticity, owner’s manual and documentation

Fender Classic Series – 50’s Esquire

The Classic series ’50s Esquire features an ash body, a C-shaped maple neck, a vintage-style three-saddle string-through-body Telecaster bridge, and a vintage-style single-coil Telecaster pickup with custom-wired three-way switching.

The  three-way switching on a single-pickup guitar gives you three preset tones. In the bridge position, the pickup is connected only to the volume control (the tone control is disconnected); this minimal circuitry produces more top-end sparkle than is possible with a Telecaster. In the middle position, the standard tone control circuit is activated. In the neck position, the tone control is again disengaged, but a tone-shaping capacitor rolls off much of the top end and some bottom, producing a darker tone and slight volume loss.

The original version of this oldie was used by artists such as Jeff Beck and Bruce Springsteen.  The New release can be yours for around £500 and is available in Black, White or Sunburst.

Krist Novoselic Signature RD Bass

The RD standard bass was launched with the active RD artist in 1977, and sold just over 900 instruments to 1979 when production ceased. The standard was the passive model and featured two newly designed Gibson series 3 humbuckers.

The body was solid maple, with a three-piece laminated set maple neck. Fingerboards were either maple or Ebony.

Krist Novoselic used several different Gibson basses while in Nirvana, and the black RD bass on which this Signature model was based.

Graham Coxon Signature Telecaster

Graham Coxon Signature Telecaster

Around £550

Fender hounors Blur guitarist and famous Telecaster user with a signature guitar with a Blonde finish ash body, C-shaped maple neck. It has a gloss urethane finish, rosewood fingerboard with 9.5” radius and 21 medium jumbo frets, Seymour Duncan® ’59 SH-1 humbucking neck pickup with black bezel, vintage-style single-coil Telecaster bridge pickup, three-position switch with “top hat” tip, knurled chrome knobs on 375k volume and tone pots that contribute to brighter sound from both pickups, tortoiseshell pickguard, vintage-style Telecaster bridge with three threaded steel saddles, chrome hardware, vintage-style tuners, ’70s-style headstock decal and Coxon’s signature on the back of the headstock.

Looks like a Telecaster to me.

Epiphone Ultra III

This new offering from Epiphone/Gibson is a Les Paul lookalike which features a Nanomag pickup for acoustic tones, as well as the pair of Epiphone’s new ProBucker™ humbucking pickups similar to Gibson’s BurstBuckers™. Also built into the bridge pickup mounting ring is a full-function, chromatic tuner.

By using the standard 1/4″ jack both the humbuckers and NanoMag are mixed into one signal. When you plug another 1/4″ cable into the Ultra III’s Stereo output, the humbuckers are routed through one cable and the NanaMag the other.  Also using a USB cable you can plug directly into your computer.

Watch the video, it’s err “Interesting”

Available in 4 colours at around £550

50th Anniversary Pete Townshend SG

Wow, another anniversary model.  Pete Townshend started using the SG model when it became too expensive to smash up the semi acoustics that he was playing.  At least the SG could be repaired a little easier.

It comes with:

• Solid Mahogany body with Alpine White nitrocellulose finish
• Slim, fast 60’s style neck profile
• Two Gibson USA P-90 single-coil pickups
• Wraparound bridge with compensated “lightning bar” saddle ridge
• High-quality Mini Grover™ kidney button tuners
• Gibson USA hardshell case with silver block-letter WHO stencil

The P90 pickups are wound with more turns than Fender single coils which makes them a bit meatier but produces more hum, hence the development of the Humbucker.  These days it isn’t such a problem.