Suhr Guitars Classic/Henderson Hybrid

This is basically a Suhr Classic (strat-style), except that it has the Henderson model radius (16 inch). Also the neck 1 11/16 at the nut and about 1 inch at the 12th fret. John Suhr was the only custom builder who was willing to make a neck big enough to my specifications. Madagascar rosewodd fingerboard, Alder body finished in Cactus Green Metalic. 6100 frets, Gotoh 1099 bridge, V60 single coil in neck and middle, V60 with baseplate on bridge. Master tone and volume plus a blend control adds the neck or middle depending on the 5 way switch position to any combination. The Feiten system is a great addition as well. Actually, when I go to one of my other guitars I have to compensate quite a bit to get it to sound as tuned as with the Feiten. BTW, the notion that single notes sound "out of tune" because of the offsets used to make chords more in tune is ludicrous. The sperzel's together with the 1099 bridge keep the guitar in tune even when abuse the whammy bar.

I'm using it through a multi amp rig (Guytron GT100 into closed back 2x12 Guytron cab, Marshall non-master 50 watter into Bogner 4x12, and Mesa Trem-o-verb into open back 2x12). Efects are just standard fare fuzz boxes (Fulldrive FD2, Boss SD1 for that 80s thing hehehe, Ibanez TS9), vibe, wah, little old Ibanez analog delay. The 1,3,and 5 position got some noise...but that's the price you pay for single coils. The guitar sounds very rich and ballsy with a very loud ring acoustically. Plugged in you can get a few decades worth of tones. The neck single coil is the same old song and dance...a monkey wearing boxing gloves could make that one sound good. But in this guitars case there's still plenty of definition and tooth in the neck position. Clean with the tone rolled off it has a nice, warm jazz tone. Very odd for a strat. The in-between positions are instant hendrix. As a matter of fact this guitar does those sounds amazingly well...you know, the Hendrix, Landau, Uli Roth, Robin Trower, Eric Johnson stuff. Middle with the tone rolled back with distortion will get you Jeff Beckish tones. Clean it up and you got "Hey Joe". Turn down the mids on the amps and you have the ultimate funk tone. I'm not referring to that lame late 70s/early 80s LA sterile tone. I'm talking old skool stuff. As for the the bridge single coil...well, I've never been big on them in the past. But in this case, it sings like Tweety bird. Roll the tone back from 10 to 8, and it's Eric Johnson violin tone. More than likely it has alot to do with the big ass neck adding balls to the tone.Also I do use 11's for strings. And the bridgeplate under the bridge single coil takes some of that start razor's edge off. Almost Tele/Strat hybrid like. Clean, very bell like. Add the neck pick-up to it and it gets you to "fake Tele county".

Fit and finish was exactly as I expected. Perfect. But that wasn't a big concern for me. The action was a rather close to what I like. I raised it about 1/32. As I said I'm not really into the craftsmanship aspect of it. However, this is the first plank where I can pull the b or e string off the fretboard and still get a clear note by fretting on the sideedge of the frets. Think Vai's Attitude Song. Before I go into playabilty...I had played a Pensa-Suhr, and a Suhr built Fender Custom shop strat...both amazing instruments. But never a "official" Suhr..I didn't quite know what to expect. My dealer Mike Glazier at Mainstreet Music http://www.mainmusic.com was also very helpful in that respect. Even though this guitar had a neck that was highly customized for my hands he offered a money back gurantee if I wasn't 110% satisfied. He did the same with my Guytron. Anyway, I already had 2 Grosh's picked out, but since Suhr was the only one willing to accomodate my needs I gave it a shot. When I picked up the plank I could not believe it was strung with 11's. Bends from the d on the 7th fret up to g are easier than on any of the 10s equipped starts I've played in the past. That 16 inch radius is amazing. Also since it is flat and wide fast legato and sweep lines are rather easy to execute. On the downside my guitar buddies die on that neck...to quote one...it's ALL neck...or...a baseball bat sawn in half. Just remeber this the Even C Big .1 over. Suhr offers "girlie" necks as well.:-) And like Grosh, Suhr rounds the fretboard edges to give it that broken in feel. Very nice touch.

It's built like a tank, and since I'm a plank abuser only time will tell. I do believe that I can gig without a back-up, but since I just order a 2nd one(same specs except maple board, tele pick-up in bridge, and different color).

John was very helpful during the process. He discussed how certain changes will affect the tone, and advised me. He also took plenty of time from his schedule to accomodate a "nobody" that just happened to order one of his guitars. Also mike Glazier was great with helping me figure out the deatails on my order.

This is a very reponsive guitar. And unlike an old start it has the modern features I like. but still can get the best of both worlds. I compared it to some Grosh and Anderson guitars...lets put it like this...I ordered another Suhr. 'nuff said.