Originally developed by Fender in the 60s to salvage a production issue with their Coronado II models (and later revived in the 70s for their entire lineup), the Antigua finish may be one of the most polarizing finishes in electric guitar history. Truth be told, we love this finish and have wanted to do a guitar in this color for some time now. Per usual, our friends at b3 Guitars were on the same page - behold, our Antigua finished Phoenix III, the first b3 Phoenix to sport a maple fingerboard, and, a featured guitar at the recent NAMM show.
Designed to be a Gibson Firebird dressed up in more comfortable Telecaster clothing, the Phoenix III offers fans of both Gibson and Fender guitars a perfect mash-up of the two designs - a Tele body w/a raised center section, neck-through construction, 2 Lollar Firebird pickups (neck and middle), a Tele bridge and Lollar Speccial T bridge pickup, 5-way switch, master volume, master tone (push/pull - all 3 pickups), 22 frets (6105), Standard C neck carve (.83-.96)...
Everything is so well thought out, designed, and executed. It'd be a mistake to say this is "just" a Tele-style build though - it's got its own familiar feel and truly melds all the best parts of each guitar (Firebird/Tele) into something new, very inspiring, and just plain cool.
If you're in the market for a high-performance, modern leaning guitar that's still got vintage vibe, feel, tone, and attitude? Here ya go! This is a killer guitar by any measure, period. Priced with hardshell case.
- Mahogany body and neck
- Roasted flame maple fingerboard
- Standard C Carve - .83"-.96"
- 25 1/2" scale length
- 12" Radius
- 6105 frets, 22
- 1.687" nut width
- Lollar Special T (bridge), Lollar Firebird (neck and middle)
- Volume, Tone (push/pull for all 3 pickups), 5-way
- Lightly Aged nickel hardware
- Dunlop straplocks
- Kluson vintage style tuners
- Strung with 10's
- G&G Hardshell Case
- SN 22 048
- 7lbs 8oz