I built this guitar to demonstrate how a custom guitar need not be a radical new shape. It borrows elements from two of the most popular 'bolt on' neck guitars by combining the shape of a Strat with the hardware of a Tele. By doing this, the comfort and tonal flexiblity of the Strat are available to a player more at home with the controls and bridge of a Tele. Truly the best of both worlds! In its current configuration the guitar leans more towards the Strat side of the tonal fence by using Strat pickups in the middle and neck positions, but I need only change the pickguard and fit a suitable neck pickup to realise the full purity of the Tele tone. The pickup routs are large enough to allow the installation of Danelectro style Lipstick tube pickups if desired.

The body is made from Koto wood with a bookmatched Amazaque top. There are tone chambers behind the bridge and inside the top body horn. These are there mainly to reduce weight, as the jury is still out regarding the tonal merits of body hollows. In my opinion, if you make the body cavity large enough, the guitar does produce a different tone from a totally solid equivalent.

Standard Rib and Forearm contours are present, and the forearm contour exposes some of the main body wood, providing a nice contrast.

The neck is lightly flamed Maple, and the 22 fret Wenge fingerboard is home to the usual heavy duty frets with a fretboard extension for the 22nd. Abalone dots are the only ornamentation, and the neck profile is a 'Big Vee' shape.

The bridge is a 6-saddle 'deluxe' tele job, and all the hardware is gold coloured.

The pickups are all Kent Armstrong (as usual)- a Vintage Tele at the bridge and a pair of 'Kent Specials' in the neck and middle positions. They are currently wired through a standard 5-way switch giving the usual Strat tones, but there is no reason why a more sophisticated arrangement could not be used - or for that matter a simpler one with only 2 pickups.

In use, the 'big Vee' neck is very comfortable. Players more used to a conventional round neck are usually taken aback at first, then are surprised by how much more comfortable it is.

The sounds are much as you would expect from a 3 pickup bolt-on, with the koto body giving a strong presence to the higher frequencies. The guitar has good string to string definition, helped, I think, by the through-body stringing and the fixed bridge.