Why don’t more makers just focus on simplicity, playability and sound? Well, here’s a boutique level Junior-style guitar that does exactly that. Fasten your seat belts, you’re in for a ride!
What is it about Gibson’s Les Paul Junior that–some 68 years on–continues to inspire both guitar makers and guitar players? For that matter, the good ol’ Fender Esquire shares an equally blue-collar appeal and vibe. Pared down with just a single pickup, both designs can be huge tone machines with a very seatof-your-pants drive.
We’ve seen plenty of contemporary makers focusing on either of these benchmark designs, but combining the two is what’s at play with PJD’s latest electric, the Carey Apprentice – aspecial run of just 12 pieces in either 3 Tone Tear Drop Burst, as here, or Butterscotch. For this fast-rising UK maker, the Carey was the design that put the company on the map. While that guitar features twin pickups, typically a humbucker at the bridge with a P-90 single coil at neck, the Apprentice strips that down to one soapbar single coil. So what?
Well, anyone who’s been lucky enough to get their hands on a Carey will know that PJD’s recipe is a little unique, combining the scale length of a Fender with a Les Paulstyle single-cut slab body that’s chambered and can be ordered with or without an f-hole. The ones we’ve played, not least the start-up Carey Standard, combine light weight with plenty of character and depth. The Carey range starts with that Standard model, which includes a logo’d Hiscox case and Cream T pickups, and is priced the same as this special run.
While the body finish and that P-90 might nod to the Junior, there’s a real old Tele feel at play
However, the Apprentice signals a few firsts for PJD Guitars. It’s the brand’s first single-pickup guitar and the first of its models to use obeche – solid, not chambered. There’s a new Cream T soapbar on display here, too, and the hardware, untypically, is aged. But perhaps the biggest difference comes with the gloss nitrofinished body and headstock face, using a formula that’s cracked, and will continue to do so, to emulate age. Unusually, too, both the front and back have this black through red to yellow sunbursting–more Fender in colour than Gibson Junior. So it’s not a relic, but with a satin feel to the neck back and fingerboard face it feels and looks like an instrument that’s been ar
