RGG December 2016 - p.9
The guitar
immediately gave
an aura of craftsmanship
that was of a high level. Every
Vintage T is built in Grover Jacksons
factory, so it is safe to assume the build
quality is consistent over all guitars and not just
the one I am demoing. The guitar resonated
beautifully, and you can feel every note you are
playing being translated through the body of the
instrument. This resonance is aided by the thin
layer of nitrocellulose that every Vintage T guitar
has had applied to it. The nitro finish also means
that your already relic guitar will continue to age
nicely as you play it.
I was playing the guitar through a single channel
Friedman PT-20 to keep with the theme. The P90
pickups, which have been designed by Friedman
and Jackson, sing with girth and open high end. I
found they outputted at a level that made the amp
respond to my playing very nicely. This will
obviously differ depending on the headroom of
your amplifier, but I feel it safe to say these pickups
are not too hot and will not put you in a place where
you have no control over your breakup in regards
to your pick attack.
The neck is an interesting point of speculation to
many guitarists as the feel of the neck is everything
to do with personal preference and nothing to do
with making the perfect neck. Do not be deceived
when I say Friedman wanted to create a vintage
guitar with more modern playability. The guitar
does not feel like a modern guitar. In fact, it is very
much the opposite. The neck is a fat c profile. Not
as chunky as a 50’s style Les Paul baseball bat,
but not far off. This style neck is very popular with
many styles of player, but if you are looking for a
vintage style guitar that you can do sweep picking
and fast lick playing with, this is not the guitar for
you. However, if you are into your tasty blues,
country, jazz or even contemporary pop chordal
based playing, then this guitar would be very much
up your street. The modern playability comes into
the equation when
you start looking at the
more recentdevelopments in
guitar innovation implemented in
t h e
design, such as the compound radius.
I found it took some time to get used to the feel of
the 10″-14″ compound radius on such a large
feeling neck but as soon as I had adjusted, the
benefits were clear. The ability to bend up and
down the neck with ease combined with the overall
resonance of the guitar led to some very pleasant
note sustain. The compound radius was created
by Grover Jackson so it only makes sense that it
appears on this guitar. Another little addition that
Grover Jackson added was to add slots in the neck
joint that would stop any shift in the neck. If you
have ever been playing an old fender and
accidentally got a little carried away and felt a
sudden click, it will most likely have been the neck
shifting slightly. This changes how everything feels
as the angle of the strings over the neck has also
changed. If this were to happen with a compound
radius neck it would be catastrophic so this little
addition makes a big difference even though you
may never notice it.
Overall the guitar is a well-built instrument with
some small nuances that make it a little bit
different. This guitar is not designed to be
revolutionary, but I feel it does fill a little gap in the
market, especially if you are looking for a thin line
Tele style guitar with P90’s. The price point of this
guitar sits up with PRS and Custom Shop Fender
in the UK. I believe it does bridge the gap between
the two. If you want a Fender vintage feeling
instrument with modern playability, this is an
instrument worth considering.
With years of experience of both its designers and
high quality build, it is a serious contender in the
heavily dominated custom shop guitar market.
Local stockist is guitarguitar on the Hagley Road,
Birmingham.
r
gg
21
YEARS
1995-2016
