SECTOR SPOTLIGHT ELECTRIC GUITARS


Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar HH £TBC


To be launched at NAMM, the new modified Squier tributes go a lot further than being simple copies of their forebears. The VM Jag, for example, features fully adjustable string saddles and top loader bridge, to get perfect, personalised intonation and action, and a pair of Duncan-designed humbuckers. With the expected basswood body and maple neck, this is a real beaut.


Hagstrom Swede £499


A classically styled single cutaway, offering a fat and beefy tone, powerful attack – and a good deal of variance, as well, thanks to two additional tone filters that help create a wide range of tones. The Swede has a mahogany body with a carved mahogany top, set mahogany neck, resinator fetboard, H-Expander truss rod, Hagstrom 18:1 die-cast tuners and two Hagstrom Custom 58 humbuckers. An oft overlooked, but thoroughly delightful guitar.


Vintage Thomas Blug Signature £449


A faithful recreation of Blug’s 61 Strat, right down to the battle- scarred body, custom electronics and personalised switching. A basswood body combined with a hard maple bolt-on neck and rosewood fingerboard, combines with three aged ivory Wilkinson single coil pickups, including a back tone push/push hum-cancelling extra coil to make a pretty slinky, value-packed axe.


graphite rod system is employed in the 26.5-inch scale neck for added strength and reliability. The new model is offered in walnut satin and gloss black.


CLASSICS REVISITED The recent Vintage Modified series of Fender licensed Squier guitars are among the best the entry-level brand has ever released and fans of the ever-quirky, ever- cool Jazzmaster and Jaguar guitars will be able to get their hands on these models very soon after NAMM, where they will be launched. The Jaguar (above) sports its dual humbucker pickup section, along with a super-fast neck, gives a nod to the original, but really brings this iconic guitar into the 21st century. The VM Jazzmaster has a very similar makeover, with the top-loading hard tail


56 miPRO JANUARY 2010


Ibanez RG370DX £389


The distinctive shape of Ibanez guitars, as well as the triple pickup arrangement and scooped bevelling and carving are all captured here on this brilliant guitar. Jumbo frets on a three-piece maple neck and a basswood body with an Edge III bridge, this guitar is solid, stable and sounds good in pretty much any style of playing.


bridge features string saddles which are adjustable for intonation and designed to have a 9.5-inch radius when sitting flat on the bridge plate. The bridge is anchored at the rear of the plate while the front sits atop height adjustment screws which can be raised or lowered to achieve desired string height/action while subtle adjustment at the rear (anchor) achieves the correct bridge angle. A custom set of Duncan designed pickups offers tones from glassy smooth to jangly rhythm crunch with a vintage toned neck pickup and higher output bridge pickup. Other features include 62 Jazz Bass concentric volume/tone controls, vintage style tuners and a comfortable one-piece maple neck. Having made a considerable journey since its high end introduction on the electric guitar scene in the late 70s,


BC Rich continues to impress, although is not talked about nearly as much as it was in the heyday of metal and big hair rock. There are now a vast array of lower-


priced guitars, including the Masterpiece Mockingbird – one of the most classic of BC Rich shapes – a real looker with an AAA quilted maple veneer arched top, a rosewood fingerboard and string though body with a tune-o-matic bridge and two chrome covered humbucker pickups. A variety of finishes are available, including the dynamic dragon's blood red. Aside from Hagstrom (above) and BC


Rich, Rosetti now also has its own brand of guitars in the shape of Adam Black. Adam Black has a wide range of guitars from budget to the foothills of the high- end and even in the sub-£500 category, offers some genuinely good flavours. A more esoteric example being the JA-20B,


Schecter Damien Elite Avenger £499


A bold new addition to Schecter’s Damien Elite line, this 25.5-inch scale rosewood/maple neck sports abalone ‘stained cross’ inlays and is bolted to a solid mahogany body. The Damien Elite Avenger’s aggressive stance is boosted by a set of active EMG 81/85 pickups, and the Grover tuners and Graph Tech Black Tusq XL nut further the model’s performance and value.


a large, hollow-bodied jazzer with Duncan-designed humbuckers and a Bigsby trem. This spruce-topped jazz guitar actually retails above £500, but street prices tend to bring it in at under this price. For the cash-strapped, but discerning punter it’s a real treat. Ibanez, having burst on to the scene in


a big way in the 1980s, faded away somewhat during the Brit pop and indie ‘era’, only to come back stronger than ever over the past ten years or so. It’s a tribute to the total commitment to quality manufacturing that the company has that the brand has survived so well – not to mention the die-hard loyalty that its two main endorsers, Satriani and Vai, have shown for the past 20 years. Ibanez is another that covers the entry-level, through the mid range and into the very high-end, and with a


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