Description
The core of Gene Baker's SL Deluxe design is simple in theory - take the best aspects of a Stratocaster and a Les Paul and combine them. While other builders like Paul Reed Smith have worked from similar concepts - Fender meets Gibson - b3 guitars have a decidedly more vintage feel and tone vs a PRS (makes sense given that Gene was a Master Builder at the Fender Custom Shop and also spent time at Gibson's Custom Shop - he has intimate knowledge of what makes great instruments from those brands tick).
This gorgeous, lightly relic'd Dark Burst SL Deluxe features a 4/5A flame maple top, hollow mahogany body (sans F hole), mahogany neck w/a rosewood board, 59 carve (.87"-.95", soft V), 12" radius, trapezoid inlays, Lollar Imperial humbuckers, TonePros bridge/tailpiece, 24.625" scale, and a 1 11/16" nut.
Gibson players will no doubt recognize these specs as the basic "recipe" for a Les Paul style guitar. For all intents and purposes, this is a Les Paul (save for its hollowbody construction) - but - its quite a bit more comfortable with better balance, a tummy cut, effortless upper fret access, and it weighs in at a whopping 6 1/2 lbs!
The Lollar Imperials deliver a slightly scooped midrange, medium output, and a clear, articulate top end that excels at both clean and overdriven tones. You can easily pull gorgeous, almost ES-335-like clean tones out of this guitar in addition to killer overdriven tones (there's also a coil tap via the push/pull tone knob).
A fine example of modern and vintage aesthetic brought together by a legendary Master Builder - what else could you want? Priced with hardshell case.
Specs
- Mahogany body, hollow
- Dark Burst, light aging
- Mahogany neck
- Rosewood fingerboard
- 59 Carve - .89"-.98", soft V
- Cream binding
- 24.625" scale length
- 12" Radius
- 6105 frets, 22
- 1.687" nut width
- Lollar Imperial Humbuckers
- Volume, Volume, Tone, 3-way
- Lightly Aged Nickel hardware
- TonePros TOM bridge
- Dunlop straplocks
- Grover Kluson tuners
- Strung with 10's
- G&G Hardshell Case
- SN 21 079
- 6lbs 8oz