GORDON SMITH GRANDE

PRICE: £1,999 (inc case)

ORIGIN: UK

TYPE: Double-cutaway solidbody electric

BODY: Obeche

NECK: Mahogany, GS Slim profile, glued-in

SCALE LENGTH: 625.5mm (24.625”)

NUT/WIDTH: Brass/43.4mm

FINGERBOARD: Ebony, Grande Custom inlays, 305mm (12”) radius

FRETS: 22, medium jumbo stainless steel

HARDWARE: Gotoh 510 modern tune-o-matic-style bridge and tailpiece, Gotoh SGL510Z-L5 tuners – chrome-plated

STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 52.5mm

ELECTRICS: 2x GS Partingtone humbuckers in chromed covers, 3-way toggle switch pickup selector, master volume and tone controls (both with pull switches for independent coil-split)

WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.02/6.64

OPTIONS: Only colour on this ‘launch edition’

RANGE OPTIONS: The classic GS starts at £999; the more LP-style Graduate starts at £1,499 but with a large number of options

LEFT-HANDERS: Yes, same price

FINISHES: Twilight (as reviewed), Merlot, Sovereign, Juniper – all gloss polyurethane

PROS Neat, classy design; excellent craft; light weight; classic pickup voicing; quality hardware

CONS We’d prefer a shoulderplaced upper strap button; it’d be nice to hear partial as opposed to full coil-splits s

GORDON SMITH GEIST

PRICE: £1,999 (inc case)

ORIGIN: UK

TYPE: Double-cutaway solidbody electric

BODY: Obeche with flame maple top and black poplar accent pinstripe

NECK: 4A roasted flame maple, Modern GS Slim profile, bolt-on

SCALE LENGTH: 25.5mm (25.5”)

NUT/WIDTH: Brass/43.24mm

FINGERBOARD: 4A roasted flame maple, black dot inlays, 305-406mm (12-16”) compound radius

FRETS: 22, medium jumbo stainless steel

HARDWARE: Gotoh 510T-FE1 vibrato, Gotoh SG301-MGT tuners – chrome-plated

STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 54mm

ELECTRICS: 2x GS Geist humbuckers, 3-way lever pickup selector switch, master volume and tone controls (both with pull switches for independent coil-split)

WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.17/6.97

OPTIONS: Also available with shorter 610mm (24”) scale length and 22 frets

RANGE OPTIONS: The Classic S starts at £1,099 but has a large list of options. Another bolt-on is the offset Gatsby from £1,299, now in Version II spec, also available to custom order

LEFT-HANDERS: Yes, same price

FINISHES: Flare (as reviewed), Lava, Cobalt, Carbon – gloss polyurethane (body and headstock face), acrylic satin neck back

8

PROS Smart build with top-quality hardware, fast playability and more contemporary voicing; stainlesssteel frets are superbly installed

CONS Not exactly a ‘new’ design; the circuit is a little basic for the style; partial splits would help with the single-coil sounds