Showing posts with label fauxtortoiseshell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fauxtortoiseshell. Show all posts

Monday, August 17, 2020

A Rather Nice Acoustic-Electric Guitar

This guitar has me stumped. Right off the bat, the spelling error on the label raises a red flag. An exhaustive online check on the model name has turned up loads of acoustic-electrics with Zebrawood tops, backs and sides; but none that resemble this. Then, there's the matter of the serial number drawing a blank on the usual sites I rely on for verification. A well-made knockoff? Your guess is as good as mine. It came in for an electronics check after a fall. Turned out to be a disconnected ground. Fixed that.

The top appears to be spruce. The neck, back and sides could be some species of mahogany. The fretboard and bridge look like rosewood. Frets are nicely crowned and the ends smoothly dressed. In terms of looks, there's black body binding and faux tortoiseshell purfling, a black heel cap; and Florentine cutaway to boot! Long story short, it looks good, feels good, plays good, intonation is spot-on; and the preamp works as it should. What's not to like?










Wednesday, December 13, 2017

2015 Squier Vintage Modified Bass VI

Preamble
Once upon a time, good ole' Kombatt decided to expand his repertoire to include electric bass. Trouble was, he wasn't really comfortable playing standard basses with their long scales and way huge strings. Then, one day at Bentley Music, he spotted an olympic white Squier Vintage Modified Bass VI. Sporting a 30" scale, way skinnier .025 - .084 strings, and tuned an octave below a standard 6 string guitar; this was the answer to his prayers. Needless to say, he bought it on the spot. But being Kombatt, he needed it set up for DGCFAD tuning. That's when I came into the picture, happily accepting the task. After all, it was the first time I'd ever laid eyes or hands upon such a unique instrument. This was going to be a really rewarding experience for yours truly.

Features
Crafted in Indonesia
Olympic White finish
Basswood body
Faux tortoiseshell pickguard
Maple neck, "modern C" profile
Synthetic bone nut
Bound rosewood fingerboard, 9.5" radius
30" scale length
21 medium-jumbo frets
White pearloid block inlays, black dot side markers
3 custom Jaguar single-coil pickups with notched "claw" shielding rings (middle pickup reverse-wound/reverse-polarity)
3 on/off slide switches (one for each pickup)
Bass-cut "Strangle" circuit
Master volume and tone controls
Fender Standard Jaguar control plate
6-saddle vintage-style bridge with non-locking floating vibrato
6 vintage-style tuning machines

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References
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