Designed to be a Firebird dressed up in more comfortable Telecaster clothing, the Phoenix V is a powerhouse of player-centric design. It's sleek and ergonomic - yet - retains a lot of what we all love about older guitars. The term "modern vintage" gets tossed around a lot but that's a really apt way to think about this model.
To start, b3's neck carves are outstanding. This faded Sonic Blue beauty features a Standard C (.83"-.96") carve and a neck-through heel, which we might add, is not something you expect to find on a guitar that looks like this, right? This is exactly where a bit of 'the modern' shows itself in the design. Upper fret access feels absolutely effortless - it's just a non-issue, period.
(Quick side note - Gene Baker is a hell of a player himself and you can tell in the way this guitar performs.)
Next up is a dive into how versatile this guitar is. Yeah, yeah, everybody says that but it's hard to ignore with this guitar. The Lollar pickups (Special T and low wind humbucker) are wired using a very versatile wiring scheme. You have a master volume, master tone (with push/pull), and a 4-way switch. The push/pull tone control puts you into out-of-phase Peter Green land which sounds unreal with your amp pushed (or via an overdrive or fuzz pedal) and the in-phase tones are incredible. Fat, jazzy neck pickup tones, muscular twang via the bridge pickup....there's SO much you can do with this setup it's really up to your imagination where you want to take it.
Condition: Like new (keep in mind, it came relic'd from b3).
If you're in the market for a high-performance, modern leaning guitar that's still got vintage vibe, feel, tone, and attitude? Look no further, you've found your next guitar. This is just a killer guitar by any measure, period. Priced with hardshell case.
- Mahogany body and neck
- Sonic Blue, Medium Relic
- Rosewood fingerboard
- Standard Carve - .83"-.96"
- Tortoise binding (neck only)
- 25 1/2" scale length
- 12" Radius
- 6105 frets, 22
- 1.687" nut width
- Lollar Special T (bridge), Lollar Low-Wind Imperial Humbucker (neck)
- Volume, Tone (push/pull), 4-way
- Lightly Aged Nickel hardware
- Ebony headstock overlay w/yellow moto b3 logo
- Dunlop straplocks
- Grover Rotomatic tuners
- Strung with 10's
- G&G Hardshell Case
- SN 22 017
- 7lbs 8oz