Spalted Maple Classic

Most guitarists like wood to a certain extent, but there are few as passionate about it as this customer. And being an

arboriculturalist, he knows more about about it than most of us. It was no surpise then that this guitar was going to have a

very natural feel to it. Mark even supplied the Birds Eye Maple for the neck, and the Walnut for the rear of the body.

The top took a bit of finding, but eventually we located a nice Spalted Maple Bookmatched pair from the US

Because the neck on this guitar is so slim (19 mm at the first fret), the truss rod is recessed into the back of the

fingerboard. The slim design of the body also created some challenges, but eventually eveything was made to fit. A

shallow battery box was sourced, as the normal one we use would have only been 2mm below the top !

The guitar features a Graph-Tech Piezo bridge and pre-amp. So the Wilkinson Trem had to be modified to accept the

extra wiring, and also to fit the thin body. The control cavity was designed with just enough room to fit eveything in.

The headstock features a Maccassar ebony facing, with locking Gotoh 510 machine heads. The truss rod cover is cut

from the same piece so that the grain matches.

This guitar has also been fitted with a 'Tremol-no' which can lock the trem, or only allow movement in one direction.

Another nice feature of this guitar is the EMG Hz pickups which are humbuckers, but in a P90 style housing. This and the

simple switching and controls all add to the smooth natural look.