ELECTRICIZED

Fender Strat Plus

1987-1999
Alder or Ash / Maple / Maple or Rosewood

By many considered one of Fender’s finest, the Plus series was released and introduced a lot of new props. It was the first Strats to featured Gold Lace Sensor pickups as well as locking tuners. Those pickups were appreciated for keeping a 50s feel, but without the hum. Hear it

Fender Precision Bass Plus

1989-1993
Alder or Ash, Maple, Rosewood

Nicknamed “Boner P-Bass” because of its elongated horn, it is one of the first 22 frets american made bass. Two Lace sensor pickups (one Jazz + one precision). Hear it

Fender Hellecasters Jerry Donahue

1997-1998
Alder, Maple

Fender has honored each of the three member of the Hellecasters band with a signature stratocaster Fender. Jerry Donahue is a Telecaster player, so he “telifyed’ his MIJ signature strat by requesting a metal plate under the bridge pickup. Overall this rarebird (450 made) is considered very well crafted guitar and simply sounds fantastic.

Photo by Cliffsjam

Gibson Byrdland

1955-Present
Spruce, Maple, Ebony

The name Byrdland is a mashup of the names of Billy Bird and Hank Garland the two guitarists who participated in its design. They had requested a short scale archtop that would be less bulky than the traditional hollowbody, and this is basically what they got: A short-scale thinline L5CES.

P90s, PAF pickups, venetian or florentine cutaway, the Gibson Byrdland went through several phases, but was always seen as a remarkable and prized instrument. Some of Gibson’s finest. Hear it

Photo: Georgesmusic

Bo Diddley

1928-2008

The Stones, the Beatles, the Who, Hendrix… You name it. Everyone has been influenced by the simple yet feverish rhythms of Bo Diddley. “The Originator”, as they called him, defined the genre and is unmistakably considered a cornerstone of blues rock. He was also famous for having female guitarists in his band. 

His two main instruments were the cigar-box shaped Grestch Twang Machine and the Gretsch Jupiter Thunderbird. Both were designed by Diddley himself, respectively in 1958 and 1959. Yes, Bo Diddley was a man, and a remarkable one.

Rickenbacker Tom Petty Signature

1991-1993 (circa)
Birdseye Maple, Rosewood

Poor Tom Petty had many of his guitars stolen recently, but he still has a Rickenbacker signature model. Its official name is Model 660/12TP. No surprise with such release, Tom Petty has been a long time supporter of the brand. Although it was officially introduced during the 1991 NAMM Anaheim show, prototypes were hurling around as early as 1988. A total of 1000 TPs were made, the majority with a Fireglo finish (813), the rest in Jetglo (187).

Neck through body, the TP is entirely made of Birdseye Maple, with the addition of a rosewood fretboard. It also features the traditional toaster pickups that Petty favored.

Casio PG-380

1987- Early 1990s
Alder, Maple, Ebony

Before Casio came into play, Roland had no real competiton in the Midi guitar market. A total of five models were made by the japanese brand, all at the famous Fuji-Gen factory were Fender and Ibanez models were also produced.

The Casio PG-380 established Casio’s superiority over Roland. Like all the other Casio models, the PG-380 is a superstrat stuffed with loads of electronics; so many in fact the designers had to give up the contoured ‘beer gut’ typical to the stratocaster body. Hear some bits

PRS McCarty Model

1994-2007
Maple, Mahogany, Rosewood

Ted McCarty, former president of Gibson (during the 1950-65 golden era) has been involved with PRS since 1994. His first contribution was properly called the McCarty Model. Thicker neck and body than usual PRS, The PRS McCarty has a strong, pleasant vintage Les Paul influence in both sound and feel. It is also the first PRS to feature a three way switch.

the first 100 units were signed and numbered. In 1998, a rosewood fretboard was offered as optional. Hear it

Ibanez JS 10th Anniversary

1998
Luthite, Maple, Rosewood

Since the opening of its Custom shop in 1988, Ibanez gained popularity among heavy metal players with endorsements from numerous Speed legends. The Ibanez JS 10th Anniversary guitar, reasonably nicknamed ‘Chromeboy’, marked a decade of fruitful collaboration with Joe Satriani.

Unlike other JS which were made of basswood (with a chrome coating), the body of the JS 10th is built out of a composite synthetic material with unique tonal properties called Luthite. DiMarzio humbuckers, double locking vibrato, scalloped back, good sustain and harmonics, melting hot tone, this guitar is designed for complex, speedy solos with mandatory tapping and dive bombs. Hear it blast. A total of 507 Chromeboys were made.

Photo by Red&die

Dunlop Tortex Pick

1972-Present
Thermoplastic

Since an international ban on tortoiseshell in 1973, Dunlop has been successfully offering the most iconic and recognizable pick in guitar history. The variety of colors/thicknesses makes any decently obsessed guitarist want to try them all. And that logo is spot on. Keep smiling, Turtey.

Ferrington Richard Thompson Model

1990
Basswood, Maple

Made by legendary California luthier Danny Ferrington, this magnificent guitar shines by its simplicity. The pickups are glued into the Basswood body. As a result, it captures all vibrations from the body and produces a smooth, deep woody tone. Way over most of us budget, but this one’s for sale

Danelectro Mod 7

1998-2001
Plywood, Maple, Rosewood

If there was a pantheon of unreasonably likeable guitar brands, I’d place Danelectro way up there. I mean, how often do you stumble upon a 7-strings with lipstick humbucker pickups at your local pawnshop? To top it all, a blow switch bypasses the existing three-way and turns on all three pickups at the same time. According to the very enthusiastic Bertram from guitarz, who wrote a must read praise for the Mod 7, it sounds just fantastic.

So if you got an extra $600 laying around, I’d suggest you pretend not caring about the masonite/plywood body and jump on this offer from Kev’s Guitarville for an ode to lipstick loudness.

Heritage Parson Street Model
1991

Heritage Guitars was founded by former Gibson employees who didn’t want to leave the Kalamazoo plant that was about to be abandoned. Then they started doing what they knew what to do best: Gibson models… but better because, as the legend goes, almost everything is hand made, and in small production. What’s less well known is that they also made beautifully crafted superstrats, just like this very rare Parson Street model.

Albert Lee dropped his Telecaster for this guitar, which officially became in 93 the Ernie Ball/Music Man Albert Lee Signature

Californian based National Reso-Phonic does a pretty good job at reviving the vintage Nationals. Merging the best of both eras, This 1993 National Reso-phonic Model II features a resonator and a pickup. Only 78 would have been made…. Got one?