Grosh NOS Retro TME Blackout Series Dakota Red/Timeworn

Grosh 'Blackout Series' - TME-spec hot-rod guitars with blacked-out hardware and vintage '80s attitude.

A lot of us here got into guitars in the '80s, when every builder was chasing the same thing and the whole instrument went black. Black bridge, black tuners, black knobs. Then our tastes grew, and one by one the pointy guitars went out the door in favor of something more traditional.

That soft spot never left us, so naturally we asked Don Grosh a question: what if the hardware stayed and everything else grew up? The Blackout Series is his answer.

This one is the traditionalist of the series. Three single coils, a 10" radius, non-locking Klusons, and a Dakota Red finish that has been aged and worn in before it ever reaches you. The '80s here is the hardware and nothing else, which is exactly the point. Black bridge, black tuners, black Klusons, gloss black pickguard, black color-matched headstock, and aged white covers and knobs sitting on top of faded red. It looks like it has been working for thirty years. Built on Don's NOS Retro platform: alder body, one-piece maple neck with an aged satin lacquer at Timeworn Level 2, 25 1/2" scale, 1 5/8" nut, and 22 6150 frets. The neck is Don's medium roundback at .830" to .930", which is the profile most players stop noticing after about a minute. Modern Gotoh 510 two-post tremolo. Grosh's own 60's Fat single coils in all three positions, with a base plate under the bridge pickup.

The 60's Fat set are fuller and rounder than a true vintage-output single coil, without giving up the top end that makes a Strat a Strat. The base plate on the bridge pickup (think Telecaster bridge pickup design), adding weight and low end and solving the thin, brittle bridge tone that sends most players straight to the 4 position and keeps them there. Alongside the 5-way, a blend control (instead of a 2nd tone control) brings the neck pickup into positions the standard switch won't reach, including neck and bridge together and all three at once.

Cleans are bell-like and dimensional. Push it and it compresses and thickens rather than falling apart. Ships in an RB premium soft case. We'd take it to a gig without a second thought.