GEAR OF THE YEAR
The epitome of craft and style, these superlative electrics can’t be beaten
Gibson Kirk Hammett ‘Greeny’ Les Paul Standard
This is probably one of the most-discussed guitars in the past year or so, and Gibson has certainly pushed the boat out in celebrating this 1959 ’Burst, which was once owned by Peter Green, then Gary Moore and now resides in the collection of Kirk Hammett. While the Custom Shop version will set you back £20k, this USA production version – which comes in just one low-gloss nitro colour, Greeny Burst, of course – is cheap, right? But thanks to the Greenybuckers, it’s a surprisingly muscular Les Paul, and with its flipped magnet neck pickup it gives us those fabled out-of-phase tones. “It’s raw power personified,” we said.
Price: £3,130 Website: www.gibson.com
Seth Baccus Argonaut Classic
Another year, another shout-out for the craft of one of the UK’s rising stars, Seth Baccus. We’re spoiled for choice with our domestic makers, but this Argonaut Classic – Seth’s first entry into offset style – is beautifully designed and perfectly executed. There’s plenty of vintage-y boutique-style on show, although Seth will just as easily build you a baritone or modern version, while the Mojo dual-coil Gold Foil humbuckers impart that complex, low ‐output growl with a detailed sparkle that becomes a janglefest in single-coil mode. All this wrapped up in a non-precious aged gloss nitro finish with a neck to die for.
Price: £3,999 Website: www.sethbaccus.com
Patrick James Eggle 96 Contour Top
The hugely experienced Mr Patrick James Eggle and his small team build guitars that most of us can only dream about. He might be best-known for his Macon range, but, as this 96 Contour Top proves, he’s no slouch at creating hugely vibey and thoroughly customisable ‘SuperStrats’, a style we’d say is having a bit of a resurgence. It’s slightly downsized with its vividly striped maple top ‘dropped’ over the forearm contour – guitar-making rarely gets better. Another master of neck craft, this 96 also features UK-made Mojo pickups with an expansive, resonant voice: a real journeyman guitar that will challenge any maker worldwide.
Price: £4,110 Website: www.eggle.co.uk
MY YEAR IN GEAR
“This year, gear purchases have had to take a bit of a back seat to funding an album (see Raising The Tone on page 48), and in a way that’s almost taken me aback – it feels like such a nice thing to be investing in music creation directly, rather than in buying another guitar I might never gig or record with. The process of making an album, for me, meant selling a really decent 335 I picked up for a song last year and, although I agonised about doing that (who doesn’t want a good 335 in their collect
