Well, I decided I was going to get another guitar. I had a set budget and had a few different guitars in mind. Makes like Fender, Musicman and G & L, were rattling around, in my head. I’d just sold a guitar, to raise funds, so wanted to get a good one. The must haves, were a decent trem and pickups that were a little warmer than strat single coils. Something in the vein of Jazzmaster pickups, or P90s.
Anyway, after much internet trawling, I headed out this morning, to Frailers, in Runcorn. A shop I’d been aware of for many years but this was my first actual visit. A very nice shop too. Everything was well presented and despite it’s huge stock, not cluttered at all. There was one guitar that I really fancied, a G & L ASAT Custom, with bigsby. With a semi-transparent, dark orange finish and amazing build quality, this stunner really wowed me. It was so solid and very comfy to play. But there was one fly in the ointment. The Bigsby. I’m not a fan any way and this vibrato unit is just so limited. I so wanted this to be the one but after realizing that the trem needed a mighty waggle to wobble the pitch, anywhere near a semi-tone. This unit would prove exhausting to play over long periods. I mainly play surf, so love to pitch wobble, a lot. As much as I loved the Asat, it couldn’t fulfil the role. I had for it. I’m not much for modding and buy a guitar with the idea of leaving it, as I got it.
Next, I headed north, to Frets Guitar Centre, in Cleveleys. There were 3 guitars here that interested me. A Musicman Albert Lee, with 3 S/Cs, a Duesenberg Starplayer H/B & P90 and a Burns 40th Anniversary Hank Marvin Signature guitar.
The Albert Lee was a very cool looking, sunburst guitar. Made to MM’s impeccable standards. Great trem, smooth and very responsive. The neck was a beauty to behold and play. But again there was a fly in the pudding. The 3 single coils were pretty much identical in tone to the US Deluxe Strat, I’d sold recently. Not quite fat or warm enough for my tastes. No criticism, it just wasn’t what I was listening for.
The Starplayer is something else, very Germanic and deco in style. More Gretsch/Gibson than Fender, it is a high quality guitar, for not a huge amount of cash. Top finishing and playability and to my joy, the Bigsby like trem, of their own design, works excellently. No agricultural feel or strong arm tactics needed to work this beauty. But as ever, there was a buzzing thing circling. The (neck) P90 was a lovely sounding pickup. Unfortunately the (bridge) humbucker was not to my taste at all, either on it’s own, or mixed with the P90. What a pity.
The Burns 40th Anniv., looked lovely and retro. Right up my street. But I wasn’t too optimistic, with it’s strat style pickups and weird, scientific looking trem system. So the first thing I did, was use that trem and to my absolute pleasure, it worked a treat. Not as sensitive as the Albert Lee’s but far more useful than a Bigsby or a jazzmaster trem. And even a little better than the Starplayer’s. Playability was superb, with a great set-up. So all that was left was the tone. It has the 3 S/C, 5 position selector, of a strat but also one of the tone knobs has a push/pull facility, to access having the bridge and neck pickups on together, or all 3 S/cs on, at once. And I’m happy to report that although many strat sounds were achievable, the overall tone is a little thicker, with some nice warmth.
So it came home with me. Although 8 years old, the guitar had been previously owned by a non-playing collector and so was pretty much, un-played and in pristine condition. Result! All the extensive case candy was there too, including strap, tool pouch, polishing cloth, warranties and certificate of authenticity.
Unlike the previous owner, I bought this guitar to play. It was it’s looks, sound and feel that sold it to me. I’ve little interest in it’s collectability. There were 2004 made, so it’s hardly a rarity. I bought it to mainly play surf music on, with a little Shads an other 60s stuff. I think it’ll do rather well.
