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AMERICAN DREAM?
I bought a Mexican Strat for £329 as a teenager back in 2002. A Strat fan, I always had in mind that I’d upgrade to the ‘real thing’, a USA Strat, when I could afford it, but never got round to it. Playing more recently, I finally made it along to the local guitar shop and tried out a couple of Professional II models and an Ultra. They were great to play, but, on reflection, were not the step up I was expecting from my Mexican Strat.
The Ultra’s neck was nice and the heel shape with better upper-fret access is a good feature, but back home my Mexican has a neck that actually feels more slimline and easier to play. The big difference was on the bridge pickup, which sounded fuller with more sustain, the noise-cancelling making a big difference. The ability to add the neck pickup in also sounds really great here.
The Sunburst and Arctic White finishes on the new models look great, but again my Midnight Blue with a rosewood neck – and some pleasing dents and bashes – still feels special, too. I’m probably being a bit sentimental about my long-standing friend, but the £2k upgrade didn’t seem worth it. I’m thinking instead of upgrading the pickups, with the option to blend the neck in with the middle and bridge if possible. Does that sound sensible? Am I missing something about the US models?
Nick Seeley
Nick, your thoughts on all of the above touch on some really important matters. In the final analysis, the only guitars you should own and buy, if you want to be satisfied, are ones you just click with. That feeling of connection usually happens instantly and it isn’t necessarily about price, country of origin or cachet – the editor of this tome has had that feeling of connection with both a £4k Patrick James Eggle Macon and an old Antoria Les Paul Junior copy worth only a few hundred pounds. So perhaps we should try to set aside our preconceptions about what is ‘better’ and try not to feel that we must inexorably rise higher up the escalator of a maker’s guitar ranges as we pass through life.
If you try a USA Fender or even a Custom Shop model and love it to bits then go for it. But if you’re happy with your MIM Strat as is, there’s no law (or indeed sense in) saying you have to spend £2,000 on a US replacement. Okay, if you want to just treat yourself to something cool, new and shiny, then fine. But you don’t need to do it.
As to whether new pickups would be good, we would ask what it is you think the current ones lack, if anything? Again, you may not need to change them. However, quality pickups from makers such as Bare Knuckle, DiMarzio, Lollar and others will often bring something extra to the voice and feel of a factory-spec guitar. But try to be analytical about what you want from any upgrade and, where possible, talk to the maker about which pickups meet your exact needs before pushing the button.
OFFSET IN MOTION
I greatly enjoyed issue 509 on offsets – a body style that is manifestly becoming increasingly mainstream, also thanks to more recent illustrious endorsements. That said, I was surprised to see no mention, or even passing reference, to offset T-style models: ie, Telecaster hardware, configuration and neck, all of which applied to an offset body shape. So let me fill that gap with a quick show and tell.
As a dyed-in-the wool Tele player, I first stumbled upon the offset Tele concept via the TDPRI forum and a certain Mr Ron Kirn’s ‘Telemaster’ more than a decade ago, which absolutely blew me away and slowly made its way into my GAS fantasies over time. Then Fender produced the offset Tele.
Cut to the attached pic [above] – my own custommade offset T-style. I sourced all the parts online, had the body finished by RF Custom (Candy Apple Red, poly), oil and wax-finished the neck myself, and had it put together by my trusty luthier, Mr Tim Marten, here in London. It features a four-way switch, Fender Custom Shop Nocaster pickups, Kluson vintage-style tuners, domed knobs (gotta have those), generous D-profile one-piece maple neck, cost about £1,200 all in and six months’ production time from start to finish.
Am I happy with it? Take a wild guess… The only problem is that now I want a spare in Lake Placid Blue with a black pearloid ’guard. Help!
Thanks for sending in your creation inspired by Fender’s mash‐up of Jazzmaster and Tele, Angelo. There are quite a few companies that specialise in exploring such happy collisions of classic design cues. Kauer Guitars comes to mind, with its Tele-meets-Les Paul Korona model, or Novo Guitars with its offset Les Paul Junior-style Nucleus Solus M1 model. But Tele-meets-Jazzmaster style guitars seem to hang together particularly well and offer classic sounds in a package that offers a different playing experience and very cool looks. Be interested to hear from players of this style of guitar if they feel the larger body has any influence on its voice.
JAZZED FOR OFFSETS
Writing in to say how much I enjoyed the offset issue. Some of my favourite artists – Sonic Youth, Television, Dinosaur Jr – all used Jazzmasters, and it was enlightening to read about their history. I went to see PJ Harvey a few years ago, and she and the two guitarists had Jazzmasters strapped on throughout the set and it looked fantastic. I wanted to give a shout out to offset Telecasters, too, which offer the Tele sound with great looks and nice access to the high frets.
My Jazzmaster [above right] was commissioned by the 4AD record label to commemorate an anniversary, and I was lucky to win it in a charity raffle. I currently have it tuned FACGBF, inspired by Yvonne Young, which is pushing things in some interesting directions.
I want to finish this note by acknowledging the photography in the magazine. The photo of the Lake Placid Blue Jazzer was just sensational! Looking at the photos is one of the highlights of the printed mag.
Thanks for the kind words, James, and interesting to see you join Angelo Proni above in singing the praises of the Tele/ Jazzmaster hybrid. Maybe not only Guitarist but Fender is missing a trick by not upping production! Your rather special Jazzmaster looks great, too – there are few guitars cooler than a tasty-looking JM and we praise your adventures in alternative tunings, we expect they sound immense on it.
UNSUNG HEROES
Reading your Denny Laine obit in issue 508, I noticed guitarist Jimmy McCulloch as part of the Wings line-up in the accompanying photo. Jimmy, who featured in those Rolling Stone magazine ‘100 Best Guitarists’ lists in the 70s, is not much remembered these days. A reassessment would be timely and in order. Jimmy had a remarkable, if short, career from the child guitar prodigy who was taken under the wing of Pete Townshend to Thunderclap Newman, John Mayall, Stone The Crows, Wings, Small Faces and The Dukes. His solo on the live version of Maybe I’m Amazed is legendary, although his most up-front playing is probably to be found in the Stone The Crows:
I would love to see a Guitarist article on Jimmy. His biography Little Wing: The Jimmy McCulloch Story by Paul Salley is an excellent place to start.
Mick Lamont
Regarding unsung/forgotten guitarists, how about Ollie Halsall of Patto? He was the reason I bought a walnut SG Custom with gold hardware and a Bigsby from Selmer, even though his was white. I never came close to figuring out what he played. John Etheridge is one of the only guys who still mentions him.
Steve Mitchell
Thanks so much to both Mick and Steve for their excellent suggestions of Jimmy McCulloch and Ollie Halsall following last month’s request for unsung heroes we might take a look at in a regular column. Hallsall’s style was so unique and unpredictable – it’s such a rare quality to take so many risks and really let fly with them. Jimmy McCulloch, meanwhile, was the quintessential tasteful, soulful, song-lifting presence on guitar that can be the backbone of a band. Oh to have such an assured feel for melody and timing. Great guitarists both. Keep the suggestions, and the memories, coming.
BRAVE NEW ‘GUITARIST’?
Congratulations on reaching your 40th anniversary and I really hope you’re all delighted at having such lasting success. I’ve just done the 40th anniversary survey and it prompted me to suggest something I’ve been wondering about for a wee while. Reading the survey it looks as though you’re wondering whether to go forward with the ‘classic era’ version of the magazine (Clapton, Gibson, drive pedals) versus keeping an eye on the future, and this is where my suggestion originates.
I read Guitarist via Apple Music. As I play a lot of ambient music I also read Computer Music. My own music is guitar focused but uses plug-ins and Logic Pro extensively. I’m one of your respondents to the survey who has never bought an amp, and neither do I own any effects pedals. I would love to see a hybrid of Guitarist and Computer Music that certainly covers new guitar design and technology (such as groundbreaking effects pedals) but also plug-ins, DAW techniques, groundbreaking musicians irrespective of their preferred instrument (since most of us use a keyboard as well as a fretboard) and other aspects of audio processing. I use all of these in my music as do many other people, of course. If there is a new MIDI interface or plug-in, then I’m more interested in that than a new drive pedal.
For what it’s worth, Guitarist is still the magazine I look out for, but would be great to see a spin-off that is really future-facing.
Adrian North
Thanks for the kind words and interesting suggestions. Adrian. While I don’t know if a whole new publication on the interface between tech and guitar could be launched in the near future, we do publish regular supplements on subjects such as acoustic guitar, buyer’s guides and so on which accompany the main edition from time to time. Would readers like to see one dedicated to the topics Adrian has usefully suggested? Or even a cover feature on the subject? If so, let us know and we’ll look into it.
MOD JOB
I’m a regular reader of your mag and I’ve been building and modifying guitars now for about 40 years. The guitar I thought you may like to see is a highly modified Strat copy [pictured right]. The body has added contours and is finished in Ford Electric Orange. The headstock has been reshaped and the electrics consist of a Seymour Duncan Little ’59 in the neck and a modified home-built ‘Burns Trisonic’ for the bridge. Then there’s a three-way mini-toggle selector switch, CTS pots and an Orange tone cap.
Paul Cooper
What an amazing creation, Paul – kudos for completing this ambitious project and coming up with something completely distinctive with a very useful range of tones we’d wager. A very useful tool for rock and more with, in our experience at least, a unique pickup combination. We’d love to hear it some time!
THE PLANE TRUTH
Much as this may be of little concern to your readers, as a professional forester and fully paid-up member of the National Pedantry Society, I feel compelled to point out that London Plane is not a hybridised form of sycamore as Alex Bishop says in ‘Knock On Wood’ (issue 508). Whilst the sycamore we have here in the UK is indeed a type of maple, and even though Americans refer to their plane trees as sycamore, the London Plane is, in fact, entirely unrelated to maple. Cameron S Crook
Thank you for your very polite but illuminating correction, Cameron. A mildly abashed Alex sent his thanks and these words in reply: “Haha! Brilliant – glad to be put right on that one. It’s always going to be the technical tree stuff I’m most likely to get wrong. Woodworkers have been mixing up species for years. I also welcome the fact the tone is much friendlier than the average YouTube comments section!”
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