Without wanting to make too bad a judgment on a different guitar, against the Reid Vaultback, a normal price industry guitar would seems as it were the handicraft of a ten-year old child. Extraordinary, unique, far away from any mainstream and artistically valuable. The Vaultback Halo of DAR is a masterpiece of contemporary lutherie – without ifs and buts. Its unbelievable value as a musical instrument competes with its artistic quality. I am honoured to have been allowed to play a guitar that differs so much from anything known and which leaves such an impression. Considering how rare these creations are, how innovative, refined and special, I want to predict that they will also play a prominent role in the future.

Grand Gtrs Magazine

Realwood Headstock
The Bare Knuckles are out!

The Bare Knuckles are out!

Find that elusive electric tone you have in your head! For some time now I've been fitting Bare Knuckle pickups for various customers, in a wide variation of guitars, at Ivor Mairants on Fridays. I am consistently blown away by the clarity of tone that you get from this hardware. I've never marketed myself as an electric guitar maker, restorer, re-furbisher, or player; but these pickups have changed all that! The tonal quality and clarity they produce equals that which I have achieved in my own acoustics; that is why I have been converted and am happy to announce that I am promoting these pickups, for me to fit, for you.

Just go to their site with the link bellow, check out their vast array of amazing pickups, choose the sound you want, then either let me know what to order on your behalf, or order them yourself. Then, drop me a line, or give me a bell, to arrange an appointment for a fitting.

There's one such job here - above. (Pickup choosing tip: the sound is in their name, usually a popular track by a popular artist, or the artist's nickname etc; if in doubt, stick the name in YouTube and have a listen).

As I said, they have a vast array to chose from, so go and check them out! I would also highly recommend new CTS pots, suitable capacitors and possibly a new jack socket and an Oak Grigsby switch.

More information at www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk…

Written: Tuesday March 2nd, 10:46am 2010