Fret King Esprit 111 (GB)

Mines the natural blonde Korina model, bought second-hand from a high street music shop in Essex, back in 2002. It has a three piece Korina body, a vintage "C" profile one piece Korina neck with 22 med-jumbo frets and Klusson style tuners, 3 (cream) Alnico P90 pickups, a 5 way selector switch, 1 x tone and 1 x vol control. When I saw this beastie hanging up I was awe-struck by its incredible good looks, the reverse headstock included! When I layed hands on it, it felt solid (very solid), well made and very played in (I put that down to the fact that it was so well set-up before it left the factory and the previous owner didn't fiddle about with it), and it was in 10/10 condition. It has a juicy fat neck with just the right size jumbo frets on it, and the guitar's ballance "on the strap" is perfect!

I play Blues and Rock through valve Marshalls amd Fenders and it suits perfectly. The P90's are just so damn sweet-and-honky! As soon as I plugged it in for the 1st time I new I had to have it. It played so easily, unusualy easily, and sounded creamy sweet. The access to the upper neck is excellent although I feel as if I have to reach out to get to the (low) first frets, 'cos of the neck length. Super blues guitar! I could well imagine Johnny Winter taking to using one of these for its unusual good looks, speedy neck, and creamy tones.

As previously stated this guitar was perfectly finished, well set up, and all I had to do was raise the action a little (my preference) and add a set of 10-52 GHS Boomers. The neck stayed perfectly straight and the frets are finished to perfection. For my money you can keep your Strats, don't like 'em anyway! So, if you want a 3 pick-up guitar, and no whammy bar, try a fret King esprit 111 GB. I'm on the look-out for an Esprit V next!

This guitar will out-live the best of 'em. Built to last! Depend on it? You bet I can, and do! My back up to this guitar is one of two Les Pauls.

When I bought it (second-hand) it had no case ...... why I don't know! I got the shop to chuck in a bass case free, it the only size that would fit its unusual shape and length. When I got home I phoned Fret King, who were more than helpful, and they supplied me with a fitted Hiscox, Fret-King logo embossed, case .... at a good price too. They also chucked in a replacement toggle swich tip to replace the cracked one on the guitar, and some blurb on Fret Kings. Wonderful!

I've been playing for 40 years. I also own a couple of Les Pauls, an 80's original Tokai (L.P) Love Rock, a Framus Panthera Custom, an unknown make of superior custom Strat, a Yamaha SA800 (335), and a couple of latter-day Selmer Maccaferri copies. I love everything about this guitar, especially the fact that it's British, and the fact that it was a second-hand bargain!
PLEASE NOTE....THIS IS A "GB" MADE FRET-KING IMMEDIATELY RECOGNISABLE BY THE REVERSE (INVERTED TUNERS) HEADSTOCK, UNLIKE THE CHEAPER "EU" VERSION WHICH HAS THE STANDARD HEADSTOCK. I have no knowledge of the "EU" model! And I don't know where Lord Lucan is either!