Bravewood Guitars '59 S Type

This is a replica of a '59 slab rosewood board Strat type guitar so you pretty much know what the spec should be for neck profile etc. It is typical of the construction of that era, with a nice, light weight alder body. John will paint these pretty much any colour you like and I opted for Inca silver (after some deliberation) as it's not a colour you see that often. You can get it aged to your liking, and I went for a pretty beat up 5 out of 10 finish. The aging is really authentic looking and I guess you could pretty much spec every ding if you wanted. Mine has wear where you would expect it (forearm contour, belly cut and back of neck) and dings where on the lower bout and bottom horn consistent with a well used but not particularly loved gigging beast. What Bravewood do that the big boys don't is properly age the neck, which makes for a beatifully smooth and fast feeling neck. Conversely, the finish, where not smacked up is of sufficient quality to reassure that if relics aren't your thing, he's no slouch when it comes to creating a mirror like finish so a NOS type finish would be equally well reproduced. This is really top notch stuff.
The pickups are Wizard Spangles (hand wound in south wales somewhere) and are a vintagey (low) output which is nice and clean and bright, but you can again, spec more or less what you want I think. On the other hand whilst everything else on this guitar is pretty much vintage accurate, the pickups have PVC coated hook up wire, which doesn't worry me or affect the sound, but might rile the purists. Having said that, you could just spec a different brand of pickup if that was going to upset you, and cloth covered wire has been used everywhere else. This is I guess just the only bit beyond John's control.
The hardware is also vintage style stuff, and it has to be said, has been aged really well. Just the right amount of tarnish, and not like it's all just been dipped in battery acid. It's all done in the best possible taste.
Overall this guitar is EXACTLY what I asked for and consequently well deserves a 10.

Unplugged open chords sound quite zingy for a rosewood board, but further up the neck the sound fattens out nicely into a warm and woody tone. Plugged into my POD this coupled with the vintage output pickups translates into a beautifully warm yet bright and clear clean tone, perfect for Frusciante fans (now I just need his fingers). Cranked sounds are also very articulate and there is no loss of definition or muddiness although these pickups won't push any amp very hard without some help from an OD box. In any case I think different pickups would change this, and it's not what I wanted the guitar for anyway. I reckon with my Van Zandt vintage+ set installed this guitar would be SRV through and through (again fingers permitting).
One departure from vintage specs is the shielded pickup cavity which really cuts down on interference which is a real bonus

Well out of the box this plays great, and is more or less exactly how I like my strats. With the trem there is only a little up bend, and minor trem waggling doesn't disrupt the tuning at all. I have played up and down the neck and I can't find any buzzes even with fairly big bends. The action is about medium, not too high, not too low, and again, that neck feels just beautifully worn in.

I will happily gig this guitar, although I do have another strat as backup I don't expect to need it. I expect I'll still break strings, but I have no doubt that this guitar will not let me down.
The beauty of the worn look is of course that you don't have to worry too much about scuffing your nice shiny guitar.
Even though the hardware is also aged, it works 100% normally so there's nothing to worry about there.

This is one section where Bravewood deserve massive praise. They are helpful, courteous, listen to your requests and offer constructive advice. You will not be made to feel like a moron, and when I changed my mind about the colour I wanted it painting I was not made to feel like a fickle tart or stupid child.
I was kept up to date on how progress on my guitar was going even given pictures of each stage.
John knows his vintage fenders and could give many companies and shopkeepers some good advice on how to develop a loyal customer base.
If I want to augment my guitar collection with something new in the future (and the chances are I will, I will definately go back here)

If this guitar was stolen I would cry for a very long time, then I would tell the insurance company that it cost twice what it did (and it should have cost that anyway) and buy another 2.
This is going to sound really cheesy, but I actually felt guilty about the price I paid for this guitar and really thought I should have paid more.