Can’t afford custom shop or boutique? Fret-King steps up with a pair of new designs that focus on serious sound-mangling, high-build quality but pretty affordable prices. Are they as good as they look?
Words Dave Burrluck Photography Olly Curtis
Here, we have two T-style
neck pickups joined in
series. It might be inspired
by the Cream T Banger &
Mash pickup that Thomas
Nilsen designed for Keef,
although that uses a
standard humbucker base
FRET-KING COUNTRY SQUIRE MUSIC ROW
& ELISE CUSTOM £749 & £979
Back in 1994 when Fret-King originally raised its flag above the parapet at the Winter NAMM show, variations and mash-ups of classic guitars weren’t as commonplace as they are today. The brainchild of Trev Wilkinson, then based in the USA, Fret-King has since had its ups and downs, but nearly 30 years on – and judging by these two new models – little has changed: these are guitars that draw on the classics, usually mixed up a bit, with tricky wiring and a whole lot of bang for your buck.
Here, we have two T-style neck pickups joined in series. It might be inspired by the Cream T Banger & Mash pickup that Thomas Nilsen designed for Keef, although that uses a standard humbucker base
Country Squire Music Row
If this style of guitar was made in a small boutique workshop, you’d probably be looking at a £3k price tag. For some years now Fret-King’s guitars have been made in India, and this new model, based on the long-running Country Squire, might be loosely based on a T-style but just about everything is different. Except, as we’ve come to expect, it’s anything but boutique in price, listed at £749 and including a pretty rugged gigbag.
Typically neat Wilkinson design, this T-style bridge allows both through-body and top-loading for the strings, plus each of the three brass saddles is pre-intonated
