Kavanagh Customs RT

The RT is a cross somewhere between a Fender Telecaster and a P90 Les Paul. It's very hard to describe but it has a mahogany body with all-maple neck, nitrocellulose finish, two very unique-looking P90 (humbucker sized) pickups, string-through body, Wilkinson bridge, quality strap locks, and all came in a tweed case. The front of the body is bound and the rear has a tummy tuck which is perfect for me!

The two pickups are unique and sound fantastic. The RT was intended as a gigging and touring instrument so a lot of time and effort has gone into developing these pickups. The guitar offers a wide range of tones (especially considering it only has two pickups!) and seems to serve much fatter and thicker Les Paul-type sounds at one end of the tone dial. Turned the other way you slowly blend into more single-coil type sounds. It's very versatile although that also means I've spent a lot of time tweaking it!

The pickups are totally quiet, even when you're playing an arena-sized concert and the rich and full tones still hold up - even at plane-taking-off-overhead sound levels. Of course, the solid mahogany body probably helps matters too.

There really isn't anything to fault here - the setup as spot on, the finish is virtually flawless. The only thing that brings it down ever-so-slightly is that I noticed the nut seems approximately 0.5mm too wide for the neck - it just protrudes that tiniest little bit which although is really only cosmetic, isn't something you would particularly expect from a top-of-the-range instrument. I've just filed it down.

This guitar was built for the road - for gigging and touring, for being used and abused. You can tell. The hardware is all of excellent quality- mainly coming from Wilkinson. The finish is really beautiful - so far it's stood up to the sweaty and humid atmosphere of live shows very well - only one scratch and that was my fault. It is nitrocellulose though so expect it to age gracefully and still look good even then. I've been using this guitar a lot the past few weeks and it hasn't failed me yet - not even a broken string.

I have never had to contact them about this guitar since I've had it because it's never skipped a beat but I have been in touch with them asking about options when ordering, throughout the build and in other occasions seeking advice on other guitar projects. Kavanagh Customs have some of the very best customer support I've come across. Although difficult to raise by phone (if you are ever lucky enough to get a telephone number for them!), they respond to emails usually within hours and are always very friendly and helpful.

I don't believe this guitar comes with an 'official' warranty although I have every confidence that should a problem ever arise, they will fix it.

Those 'in the know' have come to see the Kavanagh Customs guitars as some of the best guitars around: they hand build them in Manchester (North UK) and only ever release what they call a 'very limited number' of each type - in this case only 100 - and they are always snapped up very quickly by collectors, musicians and studio owners. The RT is made for the road and you can really tell. I've been playing for over 30 years and I've thoroughly enjoyed every moment I've spent playing this guitar. If it were lost or stolen, I'd beg and plead with Kavanagh to make me another and the only thing I wish it had is a rosewood or ebony fingerboard option - then I would have bought two.