Name: Rodriguez Full Nelson MPH
Brand: Rodriguez
SKU: ROD-FNMPH
Price: 4950.0 USD
Availability: InStock

New

Body

Sassafras

Pickups

Custom Fralin

Scale

25 1/2"

Weight

8lbs 5oz

Authorized Retailer

Free UPS Ground Shipping On Orders Over $299 (Continental U.S. Only)

The Full Nelson MPH is an extraordinary mash-up of an early 50s Fender P-Bass and a Strat. Yes, that's a very cool thing.

The Rodriguez MPH (named for session ace and design mastermind Matte Henderson) might look oddly familiar in that deja vu sort of way. "Now where have I seen this design before?"

There are a few answers to that question, starting with the original Fender P-Bass. Giveaways are the slab body (think Telecaster), distinctive pickguard, two knob control plate, maple neck w/a Tele shaped headstock, and single coil pickups sans covers.

Folding these specs into a Stratocaster format is one of the cooler ideas we've seen in a while (if you've been at this guitar thing for a long time, you'll remember that Robin guitars made similar guitars). With regards to the playing experience, it really comes down to the sum of the parts / ideas. Yes, for all intents and purposes, this is a Strat - but - it has a different feel in hand.

Like chunky necks? You'll love the early '50s Nocaster-like carve. When we first sat down to check out this MPH, we admittedly wondered if the carve might be too big for our tastes. Funny thing with Tommy's guitars though - the necks are indeed chunky, but, they're remarkably comfortable. The soft V carve and 10" radius no doubt factor into the comfort equation. After 5 minutes of playing our concerns vanished.

Tonally? Phenomenal. The sassafras body pairs beautifully with the custom spec'd Fralin single coils. Eric Johnson fans will note the use of sassafras here (EJ's Virginia model features the same wood). It's very resonant wood and on this MPH features a silly amount of sustain.

The Fralin single coils are clear, beautifully compressed, and ultimately very inspiring whether played clean or overdriven. Fantastic stuff here (to be expected in our experience).

As you can probably tell, we're really impressed with this guitar. So much so, it has a few of us reaching for our wallets. Work hazards, right?

Body

Sassafras

Finish

Vintage 2 Tone Sunburst (nitro)

Hardware

Controls

Volume/Tone/5 way switch

Pickups

3 custom designed/spec'd Lindy Fralin single coil pickups

Bridge

Gotoh VSVG tremolo

Tuners

Gotoh Vintage 6 in line (left handed)

Neck

Fingerboard

Maple

Scale Length

25 1/2"

Fretboard radius

10”

Frets

Medium Jumbo .095 wide and .045 tall

Neck profile

Soft V

Nut width

1 5/8”. Nut

Bone

Other

Serial Number

363

Weight

8lbs 5oz

Case

Hardshell

Brand Story

We are really excited to be working with the extraordinarily talented Thomas Rodriguez. Based in Virginia, Thomas has been building guitars, including highly regarded nylon strings, for the last 35 years alongside fellow VA-based contemporaries Lindy Fralin and Bill Callaham.

Thomas builds each guitar the old fashioned way, ie. by hand with no CNC, and the results are spectacular. They consistently embody the feel and soul of great vintage guitars but with modern, world-class build quality. If vintage is your thing but you want something made in the current era (at a fraction of the cost of vintage)? Don't pass these up. Exceptional guitars, period.

SHOP RODRIGUEZ GUITARS