Luke2, Eggle Berlin Pro 22 HSS, Levinson Blade Texas Std, Fender US Std Deluxe Strat & Ibanez S470
If I've to pick one guitar to 'do all with no breaks in between' for a gig then it'll be one of these 2 ......
The EBMM Luke is built beautifully and the EMGs are powerful yet versatile in the HSS set up. Trem is simple and stable, the guitar is light and resonant and has a fantastic feel to the neck.
The Eggle is a 1996 Berlin Pro Custom 22 .... passive SD pups (Custom Custom in bridge). As can be seen by the lack of gold finish on the pickup surround and bridge, this guitar has been my workhorse since I bought it new direct from the factory showroom. Soundwise, it can turn it's hand to any style except perhaps mad trem stuff. The trem is a Wilkinson locking bridge - it locks when the trem arm is at rest and unlocks to fully float when the trem arm is pulled up to about the level of the vol pot. It works fine for dives and wobbles .... but forget about doing any fancy trem arm warbles etc. Nice thing is that if a string breaks you still stay in tune if the bridge is in the locked position.
Both the Luke and Eggle have been refretted in the last year with jumbo SS fretwire and play really nicely.
For Stratness I have these 2 ..... Levinson Blade Texas Std and 1998 USA Std Deluxe Strat
The Levinson Blade I picked up used for ridiculously little money about 6 months back - no idea how old it is .... the original 6 screw bridge and springs were rusted up and done so I've just replaced it with a Bladerunner and set it up to float - now it's my favourite 'Strat'. The neck is std 25.5 inch scale but the neck has a Gibson like 12 inch radius - makes it easy to set up a low action. It's fitted with the Jeff Beck Noiseless pups.
The US Deluxe Strat is a very recent addition .... I got first refusal on it at a very good price so decided it would be nice to have the real deal. It's still work in progress with this one ..... not really liking the need to do the trem full depress trick to keep the tuning even though it's a two post trem. Even though I told myself I'd keep it stock when I bought it, I'm starting to think a Super Vee full locking trem system could find it's way onto this. It's got the same JB Noiseless pups as the Blade has but has a darker sound due to it's heavier body and rosewood FB.
Finally .... for the 80's revisited gig ..... Ibanez S470 ...
Another steal at a price I couldn't refuse ..... unmarked and practically unused ex studio only guitar. It still has the Zero Return bar in it's trem .... but I'm thinking to lose that and just let it become totally FR like. Good stable double locking trem system, effortless neck and light as a feather due to an almost non-existent body - yet still manages a good tone - really well made guitar and a total surprise when I picked it up.
