Pure Custom

Veteran Guitar Maker Chris George Is The Epitome Of The Solo Luthier, Crafting Both Electric And Acoustic Models To Your Taste. We Check Out His Latest Vision…

- Dave Burrluck

Longtime readers of Guitarist will be familiar with Chris George, who seems to be able to turn his hand to acoustic or electric guitars – tailored to your needs – with equal success. We threw out a challenge: we’ve got £2k to spend, make us a guitar. Some weeks later, and perfectly on time, this triple-pickup ‘concept’ guitar arrived sheathed in its Hiscox case, which is included in the price.

This latest build is typical of many of Chris’s electrics we’ve seen and played over the past few years. Hugely detailed with not a hair out of place, this very functional piece is based on a true Gibson-like scale length, the glued-in neck and body are African mahogany, while the body – slightly chambered under those two resonatorinspired soundholes – is topped with an invisibly centre-joined Franquette walnut top with light longitudinal and slightly wavy figure. Finish overall is immaculate natural nitro-cellulose, gloss on the body and super-smooth satin on the neck back. It’s all packed in a quite classic, almost timeless style and given a strong whiff of retro with the trio of Duesenberg pickups and a USA B7 Bigsby.

Classic it may be, but Chris is far from a dyed-in-the-wool traditionalist. The neck here, for example, employs a pair of carbon fibre rods that add reinforcement and stability, as Chris explains: “If it was a maple neck then I wouldn’t use the graphite rods, but for mahogany I do – even laminated. It does give it a bit of stiffness and that’s what I like in a build.”

The TonePros locking tune-o-matic bridge uses roller saddles and is recessed into the body, so the back angle to the B7’s tension bar is relatively shallow. Along with a slippery Graph Tech nut and locking TonePros tuners, this is one Bigsby system that stays in tune and has a beautifully smooth feel. Proof that it can be done.