Guitar Info

Once again I've been visiting Nick Page's website and once again I was not disappointed - if I may say, Page's guitars are getting better and better, and they'd started already quite high. 

You probably remember the Baron - whose prototype I discovered on the workbench three years ago, and it was already exciting. Well it's been now upgraded to the Baron Interceptor - just by having its body reversed. It's quite a bold move from Nick Page, since it's usually what Gibson does (when they need a new fancy model and can't come up with a new idea - in the last 50 years...), but in the case of the Baron it really works.

The non-reverse Baron was conceived as an hybrid of Fender and Rickenbacker, this simple procedure added a strong Mosrite/Ibanez Iceman feel (and I noticed since GL's post last week that it also has similarities with the Quest Manhattan series but I don't know if it's deliberate or a coincidence), but the Interceptor is unique and one of the most beautiful guitars ever - and it is my new dream guitar - I would even choose it over a Mosrite (I finally saw and tried a vintage one last week at my local guitar shop, it weighs almost 6 kilos, you can't play that on stage!).

As you can see all the Interceptors are one-off custom models and I know already how would be mine if I could order one: it would combine the Junior style metal pickguard and the wood texture of the Tiki with transparent black finish and white binding like on the Stingray, the stoptail and two Filtertrons of the Blue Paisley and the telecaster control plate of the 1813...

Thanks again to all the small luthiers who keep the spirit of innovation in the electric guitar field alive, when the big companies, once pioneering, are just busy cashing in.

I regularly check what's going on at Berliner luthier Nick Page (I evoked here a couple of time his Baron model and mentioned his metal front or paisley ultra-cool telecasters), and I'm never disappointed. Today I want to show the res-o-glas body Strich-2, again a perfect combination of old school design and contemporary spirit. The shape is reminiscent of Rickenbacker Combo 600 or Gretsch Astro Jet, with its big upper horn and German carve, but more rounded, probably to increase the resonance of a bigger hollow body made of the res-o-glas you find in 60s original Airline guitars. 

This model has Filtertron pickups, but other ones are equipped with Nick Page custom ones, that is not so common amongst small luthiers. Gear and headstock are also original, and all this confirms that German guitars legacy is still alive, and that small companies keep the spirit high, where fat ones just manage to stay fat.

This week, on my way to rehearsals, I've been passing everyday in the metro by some ugly poster for I don't know which discount shop trying to convince suckers that their lives will be more complete if they watch TV on a flat screen. For some reason there was on this poster a photo of a caricature rock musician holding a engraved metal front guitar with a bizarre headstock...

I managed to not really see it for three days but this morning I realized that, beside the fact that it's quite exceptional to see on a mainstream media an electric guitar that is not Fender or Gibson, I knew this guitar, and I even love it!

It is actually a new version of Nick Page's Baron, a guitar I presented on this very blog last year, and if at that time you didn't check this Berliner luthier's website, I recommend to have a look there; I really appreciate what they do (and I don't say this because their workshop is in my neighborhood  or because they gave me a hand with some of my projects!). They have some cool guitars - original models and standards - and are particularly good with finishes, including aluminium fronts and better paisley Telecasters than Fender ever released!

Let me add here a more dignified picture of the 'Iron Baron', a real beauty with its Rickenbacker-inspired 'crest wave' horns, sober floral pattern engraved aluminium front, sophisticated binding, big stoptail and acoustic guitar-like headstock. Honestly, if I ever get to buy a luthier's guitar, it would be this one!

I didn't check Nick Page Guitars website for a while so I just found out about the release of the Baron and I looooove it! I saw its prototype in their workshop months ago and I was impatient to see it achieved - and I'm not disappointed at all.

I was told then that they started from the idea of merging a Fender Mustang and a Rickenbacker 4000 and if the references are clear and honest, the result is just excellent, sexy, classy and original without being eccentric. Even the "Sherwood Green" finish - though this kind of color is ordinarily not my cup of tea - contribute to its aristocratic line... I should go soon to listen how it sounds!

I first noticed Nick Page's guitars for their aluminum front tele-style Lucid model, that is also something to check...