Grey Guitars Emperor

So I guess this journey started when I got my latest Fender Stratocaster, I loved the idea of playing on an iconic guitar but after using it for a few gigs I found myself cursing a few little issues. One being the pickups and the other the bridge. I hated the two point floating trem, it made it impossible to play my whole set on one guitar and the trem bar always got in the way flopping about like a limp ………

Moving on I basically retired the strat and went back to playing my other guitar, writing Fenders off as not my thing. (I have bought and sold about 6 and in New Zealand it is very hard to find anything better than an elite to try. ) About 6 months later I had the opportunity to play a high end PRS and although the PRS sound is not what I normally go for. (I’m a single coil guy) I was blown away by the quality and from that moment on I decided I wanted to find a S style guitar that had that quality. The first choice would be Fender, I knew there was at least 4 Fender Custom Shops in New Zealand and sadly that made Fender the only real option from a New Zealand retailer. After trying a couple I found the experience a little underwhelming, and being inspired by Chris Buck, I decided to pull out the old strat and get some new pickups. The New pickups in my strat were exactly what the doctor ordered and for probably the first time in my life a guitar modification actually made the guitar better.

So here I was with a Standard American Strat that sounded really good, but it just didn’t give me that, I’m holding something special feeling and I found myself still lusting after something “Better.” I had heard Josh smith Playing a Gray Guitar and knew that Chris Buck thought is was that something stunning so the had been in the back of mind for at least a year. And when the opportunity came for me to get one, I had to have it.

My Experience So Far

To put it simply, the guitar has it.. From the moment I got it going (I play with 11 so It needed a trip to the tech) it was inspiring. I literally found myself recording the opening track within minutes of sitting down. New ways of approaching harmony popped into my head and seemed to just work and all my line seemed to fall under my fingers.

What I like

The Trem, it sound good , it looks good and I love the short bar.

The pickups the sound good and as a bonus the back pick splits amazingly.

The finish……….This thing is stunning.

The Neck , seems to be a C shape mix with a bit of asymmetrical V