Up for sale, a circa 2020 Custom-Built HH Strat-style guitar in near-mint condition and in perfect working order, complete with a hardshell case. With premium tonewoods and componentry utilized throughout, this Strat features a Bigsby B5 vibrato, Callaham bridge, and Kuwabara PAF-style humbuckers wired to a five-way "superswitch."
Tonewoods comprise an ash body and a heavily figured, bookmatched quilt maple top, paired with a birdseye maple neck and thick slab rosewood fretboard. The resulting tone is bold and broad, with excellent note attack and midrange heft. The Kuwabara 1959 PAF-style humbuckers were made by Sayoko Kuwabara, hand-wound and made to order, assembled with vintage-correct materials including the bobbins, baseplates, covers, slugs and keepers for optimal accuracy. The full-yet-articulate PAF sound has spongy, defined lows, growling trebles, and great midrange clarity. Additionally, the 5-way “superswitch” pickup selector coil taps the pickups for single coil sparkle and shimmer at positions 2 and 4. This guitar weighs 7lbs 13oz, professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 11-49 strings, low action, and accurate intonation.
The birdseye maple neck has a proper "boat neck," splitting the difference between a substantial U and soft V-shaped profile carve with lightly rolled fretboard edges, measuring .985” deep at the 1st fret and .970” at the 12th. The thick slab rosewood fretboard is a dark cut with a 12”-16” compound radius, and the medium jumbo fretwire is flawless. This guitar plays cleanly up the 25 1/2“ scale with a straight neck and a responsive, optimally-adjusted truss rod, and the aluminum nut measures a hair over 1 11/16" in width. The headstock sports a quilted maple veneer with Kluson-style gold-plated tuning machines.
The pickups are governed by Master Volume and Tone controls, with 500K CTS pots and a Sprague Orange Drop tone cap. The hardware all shines like new, including the chrome-plated flat-topped knurled knobs, Callaham bridge with compensated brass saddles, and gold Bigsby B5 vibrato. The vibrato has been outfitted with a Vibramate String Spoiler for easier restringing and reduction of unwanted radial sprain that Bigsby’s wraparound design can sometimes cause, increasing the range of motion and responsiveness of the vibrato. This particular B5 actuates very smoothly with a wide expressive range and good spring tension.
The gloss nitro lacquer finish highlights the deep, three-dimensional figuring in the quilted maple top, and exhibits a subtle “closet classic”-style relic with light lacquer checking across the body and a few tiny nicks along the edges and perimeter. Beyond the synthesized wear, this guitar shows virtually no wear. The ambered gloss on the neck profile is immaculate.
An AE-brand red alligator teardrop hardshell case with red plush interior is included.