Fritz Brothers Custom Semi-Hollowbody

This is the first electric guitar to come out of Roger Fritz's new Mendocino guitar shop. Roger completed it in July of 2003. It is a semi-hollow body, double cutaway, with a stunning, book-matched California walnut body. (Although a semi-hollow body with 3 cavities in the body, Roger avoided cutting any f-holes in the guitar to preserve intact the beautiful walnut body -- from the front, it appears to be a solid body). It has 3 custom single-coil pickups that were hand-wound by Seymour Duncan himself and a push-pull pot (to allow 7 pickup combinations), ebony fretboard with medium frets, maple strat-style neck, the patented "Big Daddy" precision stainless stell nut, ivory bound walnut body, and locking Sperzel tuners. The guitar made its first concert appearance in August 2003.

Before this guitar, I favored Fender strats. I told Roger I liked a Fender strat sound, but wanted more "heat" from the pickups, and liked the resonant, full-bodied tone of a semi-hollow body. But I also wanted Roger to have wide lattitude to make choices to create for me what he thought would be the best sounding guitar, given the woods (walnut, with maple/ebony neck) and semi-hollowbody style. What Roger created for me is the finest electric guitar I've ever played. Rich and full. In bridge pick up position, it has the punch of a Telecaster with big roundness to fill out the twang; switch to the position that combines the the bridge and middle pickups the guitar sings with the beautiful silky/funky tone of a Fender strat; in the middle pick up position you get the resonance and bright clarity of a semi-hollowbody; pull up the pot to combine the bridge and neck pick ups and you get the tonal heat and bass of humbucker; all three pick ups together sound a bit like a Gretsch 6120. A fantastic range of tones -- which can go from strong punch to elegant, from hot and round to resonant and clear.

I play the guitar through a Fender '59 Bassman reissue, and use a Holy Grail reverb pedal (the Bassman lacks reverbe) and Digitech Hot Rod distortion pedal.

When this guitar comes out of the case, musicians gather round. The book-matched walnut body, with natural finish that brings out the brown and red highlights, is dripping with character. (The walnut used for the body came from Booneville, California, courtesy of John Buckner). The ivory binding and pickups bring out the contrast. The ebony finger board is easy and relaxing to play. The intonation is excellent.

This guitar seems very solid, but I can't fully evaluate this criteria as it is only a month old. The guitar has a life-time warranty.

Roger is now launching his guitar shop in Mendocino County, CA. I've had no need so far to use customer support. But when you call the shop to chat, Roger answers the phone.

I've been playing guitar for 30 years. This is the best electric guitar I've ever owned, hands down. A friend of mine playing it for the first time stopped after fifteen seconds and looked up in amazement. The tone is that rich and full. I love the guitar's fantastic tone, its playability, and the incredible character of the walnut body. As a custom guitar with a ton of personality, it can't be really replaced. But if I lost it, I'd call Roger to make me a new guitar for sure.