"Tonight we proved once more that the true
strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our
wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty,
opportunity and unyielding hope."
Let's talk about versatility. I didn't know what was going to happen when I built this guitar, but it didn't take me long to figure out that Gunnar and I had created something wonderful. We started with a hollow mahogany body and added two Lollar mini-humbuckers. Gunnar wanted something different, so I sold him on the idea of using two cocentric pots, .47 caps, and wiring it so that each pickup has its own volume and tone control. I plugged it into my Fender Blues Junior - guitar straight to amp - and let it rip. I was getting jazz tones, blues tones, country tones, classic rock tones, and even some very convincing metal tones. This little set-up is the way to go if you want to take ONE guitar and ONE amp to a gig. The looks are just an added bonus.
Just built another T model for The Guitar Emporium of Louiville - a swamp ash body with a beautifully-beaten-up blonde finish and a FAT neck. The Lollar Special T pickups were so hot that it seemed as if they were hand-wound at Guatemalan insane asylum. Once I played this little beast I could only do one thing - shake my head and say "some lucky bastard is going to have a lot of fun with this one"....which left me dreaming of a blackface Pro Reverb turned all the way up to 10...no pedals - just pure overdriven tube goodness. Life is good.
Ever tried to intonate a 3 brass saddle bridge? It's no picnic. Here's a little tip:
When you intonate the 3rd (G) string make sure that it is slightly sharp when played at the 12th fret. When intonating the 4th (D) string, make sure that it is slightly flat when played at the 12th fret. You will quickly find that open chords are now a breeze. More importantly, you will see that those compensated saddles are really just smoke and mirrors. In a nutshell....Leo Fender got it right when he designed the 3 brass-saddle bridge.
Richard Lundmark, a.k.a. Fretdance is an up-and-coming jazz fusion player in Sweden. He currently owns two of my guitars - His black T model with a 50's single-ply white pickguard featuring a Charlie Christian neck pickup and a Lollar Special T in the bridge position & his S-model which is a 2-tone sunburst with a set of the HOT HOT HOT Lollar Special pickups. Just click his name and give him a listen.
Richard Lundmark: I second that! Albert had a very personal style, not in a small way brought about by his use of a capo, to play E-tuning lines regardless of key he's in. He was much of a "base-position". old-school player, but he sure did make the most out of it! There's a cool vid off YouTUbe with Albert and SRV going at it full throttle. Their styles couldn't be more different, and I must say that I'm hard pressed to pick a fave between the two. Apples and oranges =) just type in keywords "Albert Collins SRV Frosty" and you'll find it :) /Richard (08/04/08)
Michael Hall:
I just bought the Butterscotch T-model yesterday from the Guitar Emporium in Louisville. I have owned a 53 Tele before and this axe I just got is the BEST I have ever owned or played. Jesus it's Awesome.
Michael - Louisville, KY
(08/27/08)