Option Guide
BODY MATERIAL
TEMPERED PINE - Eastern White Pine which has been heated to high temperatures in a controlled environment to remove moisture content, altering its cellular structure to give us a wood which is lightweight, highly durable and projects with an incredibly resonant, harmonically rich sound profile.
BASSWOOD - A lightweight wood that we love for its warm, full tones and tight but expansively resonant feel on the body. The use of low quality basswood by some manufacturers has in the past lead to mixed reviews, but in our experience the stock we've sourced has produced some of our favourite instruments, hence us choosing this as our only alternative to pine for the Zephyr.
MAHOGANY - Used in our smaller-bodied Camino and for our chambered models, mahogany is a heavier wood with great sustain and a warm, balanced tone across the full spectrum. It's a great wood to keep high gain under control, tightening up your sound for a more focused instrument.
POPLAR - Another lightweight option which we love using for our larger bodied Cardinal model. Poplar gives big, airy vibration and resonance without colouring the tone, allowing the full detail of the pickups to lead the sound.
NECK MATERIAL
Our necks are clear coated, then we take down the lacquer on the back of the neck for a beautifully fast, played in feel. MAPLE is bright and snappy with a tight grain, whereas MAHOGANY has a warmer, more mellow resonance and a softer more open grain.
FRETBOARD MATERIAL
ROSEWOOD is a great choice for a classic, softer feel, whereas EBONY boards have a tighter grain, and feel harder and more smooth under the fingers. We also hold a stock of exotic ebony if you'd like a unique grain pattern.
BRIDGE
TUNE-O-MATIC & TAILPIECE - A solid, no-nonsense option if you don't require vibrato.
WRAPAROUND - Taking the tune-o-matic simplicity even further, an all-in-one bridge and tailpiece which offers maximum energy transfer whist still retaining full intonation with individual saddles.
BIGSBY & ROLLER BRIDGE - A classic unit great for a little aftertouch and subtle vibrato. We pair the Bigsby with a roller bridge for increased tuning stability and smoother bends.
MASTERY BRIDGE & VIBRATO - We believe Mastery to be the best offset style vibrato on the market. Rich, lively behind the bridge string harmonics with a solid, noise-free bridge and vibrato design which maximises energy transfer whilst allowing perfect intonation and rock solid tuning stability, even with extreme bends.
PICKUPS
We have partnered with Monty’s Guitars to create some bespoke pickup sets which take advantage of the full sonic range of our instruments. Their website is packed with information on their pickups, but in addition to this we offer a Firebird / P90 set which are coiled to live closer to each other in tone, resulting in a unique set with a huge tonal palette.
NECK PROFILE
We hand carve all our necks, so there will always be variation throughout. We pride ourselves in excellently playable necks, with rolled fret ends and fretboard edges and great access to all frets.
VOLUME AND TONE KNOBS
Black or white witch hat knobs. We tint and relic these according to the look of the instrument.
TUNERS
GOTOH VINTAGE STYLE - String loads vertically into the top of the shaft. Gear ratio 1:15.
GOTOH MODERN STYLE - String inserts sideways through the shaft. Gear ratio 1:16.
NITRO FINISH
All our guitars are hand finished in vintage style Nitrocellulose lacquer. Nitro allows the wood to breathe, ages beautifully, and has a classic tactile feel. We match the front of the headstock with the same nitro colour as the body. All colours can also be combined with a tinted clear coat to give a vintage, faded appearance.
FINISH STYLE
By default we shoot thin coats of colour and clear, which age more amicably and restrict the wood less, giving greater resonance. We also offer different levels of age checking (paint cracking over time due to expanding and contracting wood), and relic work.
SCRATCHPLATE COLOUR
All our scratchplates are hand cut. Depending on the finish, we can age and tint the plate to match the ageing.
CASE
You are welcome to collect from our workshop in south east London and supply your own case. Otherwise we recommend these great options for shipping and ongoing use -
SWAN CUSTOM FLIGHTCASE - Aluminium and Hexagrip flightcase made to size with custom CNC routed insert. Suitable for heavy touring, truck packs, flight and freight.
MONO VERTIGO SEMI-HOLLOW - Lightweight soft case with very good added support for the neck, body and headstock. The semi-hollow size is ideal for the slightly larger sizes of our Zephyr, Cardinal and Mercury models.
MONO VERTIGO M80 - As above but slightly smaller - perfect for the Camino model.