I had a single piece of mahogany that wasn't big enough for a Strat or a Jazzmaster but was big enough for a Tele, and a couple of sheets of celluloid acetate — the stuff the old tortoiseshell guards were made from after Bakelite — that I wanted to try.
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That was the genesis. It worked, so I fancied a couple of things different: an angled selector rather than straight up and down, the traditional '50s domed knobs, and a Monty's '53, modelled on the original pickup from when the Esquire had one pickup and a very odd wiring system. I don't make many with maple necks — I prefer a darker board, ebony to look at — so this one's made as a two-piece, no skunk stripe, and the heavy wear on the board was an experiment in making a relic'd fingerboard convincing. I picked vintage white because in my head a really nicely aged, grubby vintage white would look good, and for once it did. From a distance it just looks grubby. Up close it's some of the finest checking I've done. It plays lovely and it sounds incredible.
The 107: not only guitar number one hundred and seven, but in the bridge sits a stunning Monty's '53 and in the neck it pairs beautifully with a Nilsen 54… added together… The 107.
Add to this a gorgeous hand relic'd vintage white nitro finished single piece mahogany body, hand cut and finished celluloid acetate pick guard and jack plate, hand relic'd hardware, a gorgeous hand relic'd neck with a 9.5 inch radius and Kluson tuners, hand relic'd to roadworn perfection, and you have a guitar that sounds and looks like it stepped out of a studio in 1972.
Ships in a hard case and is available to go right now.
