April 09, 2004
Three Experts Discuss the Non-Vintage Collectible Fender Stratocaster: Part Three, Steve Pisani
by STEVE PISANI and Tom Watson
Part Three of a three-part series in which experts Allan Clarke (Outside Sales Manager and Custom Product Specialist, Guitar Center's Certified Reserve Collection), Frank Glionna (owner, The Music Gallery, Inc.) and Steve Pisani (Custom Shop Guitar Specialist, Sam Ash Music) share their opinions about the current state and future potential of non-vintage collectible guitars. Part One featured the opinions of Allan Clarke and Part Two presented those of Frank Glionna.
The Non-Vintage Collectible Stratocaster
by Steve Pisani
Custom Shop Guitar Specialist
Sam Ash Music Custom Guitars
Back to the future!
Greetings from Sam Ash Music on famous West 48th Street ("Music Row") in New York City! Allow me the pleasure of introducing myself. My name is Steve Pisani and I have worked on "the street" (West 48th) for over twenty years! Who would have realized way back then (when I was a young, scrawny, long-haired kid from Brooklyn), that one day I would be the Custom Shop guitar specialist for the Sam Ash Music Company’s thirty-three musical instrument Megastores?
If there is one thing I have learned over the last twenty years, it's that all of the many musicians, collectors, builders and customers I have come in contact with share a common vision, passion and love of guitars. Just think of the feeling you have when you open a guitar case and a hand made thing of beauty rests on your lap for the very first time (I swear it is better than sex!). Or when you are trying to explain to a non-guitar player how great a job the builders at Fender did on that killer ‘56 Relic Daphne Blue Strat you just picked up. After you scream, "It’s just like the original!" They look at you crossed eyed, call for ambulance and attempt to have you committed.
It can be said that "music is a passion" and I am very passionate about my profession. I remember how I began my career in the music business. Like many of you, I have had an interest in music from as far back as I can remember and I always loved guitars. My family is very artistic and mom was even a Rockette. For those who don’t know, they are the world famous high steppers, and I don’t mean line dancing! At twelve I got the bug like everyone else listening to the Beatles. I just had to get a guitar. My dad and I went to the Sam Ash store in Brooklyn to pick up my first instrument. Later I got started with a band called Dagger. Dagger had (and has) a big sound, big hair with big amps! After one of our many gigs, I was hit smack in the face by one of those big Marshall amps in its road case. That case hit me so hard it broke my nose and that's why I'm so handsome today!
While recuperating, my mom asked me of my plans until the school term resumed. I gave her a typical rocker response, "I’ll do some gigs and teach a bit, no problem Ma, I can make it as a gigging musician!" That didn’t cut the mustard with mom and she "suggested" I should work in the "business side" of the industry. What a great idea. I figured I could check out the scene, set up connections and pocket some money along the way until I got my record deal…
The very next day I jumped on the train and headed into the city to sell myself and land a job on the "street". As they say, the rest is history!
So you might say that incident with the Marshall (always keeping with the music products industry right from the start) road case was the "big break" in my career! As time passed by I continued to gig with Dagger, recorded a CD, "Fate of a Violent World", and even completing two tours of Europe.
I always enjoyed the music scene and being in the hot spot on famous West 48th was a dream come true. It seems like every other day one of the greats in the business would stop by the store. The guys from Kiss or Cheap trick, maybe George Benson, Steve Vai, Aerosmith or Buddy Guy and B.B.King would walk through the front door.
One day Carlos Santana was performing on David Letterman’s "Late Show". He stopped in to pick out a Santana signature Paul Reed Smith guitar to play on the show that night. (Yes it really happened!) Current acts from Seven Dust to the 80s shock rockers Twisted Sister are regulars at Sam Ash. J.J. French the guitarist of T.S. even dubbed me the "Pope of 48th Street". Now that’s what I call a high profile job!
Imagine...
...you are sitting with Sammy Ash and some of the top luthiers in the music industry and you are designing a custom shop guitar! How about that! I have found myself in that scenario countless times. On several occasions we have flown or driven to some of the greatest guitar factories in the world. We start with a hello, talk about business and trends, do the schmooze and get to work.
It starts with a basic idea of what we want to do and what we think the consumer-collector-guitar player would truly cherish. Is it something that is faithful to the past like a vintage Brazilian Rosewood C.F.Martin D-45 or something never tried before (semi-hollow PRS custom guitar with ebony fingerboard)? Should we get really exotic or stripped down and be totally basic?
Once we have the concept down, the ideas really begin to fly. We review all the available options to produce a guitar that looks as good as it sounds. This process goes for both acoustic and electric guitars. We discuss the woods, hardware, fit, finishes and feel. What is the instrument's ultimate purpose? Will it have a great hard life with a bar band or will it end up on display in someone’s private collection?
What is a custom shop instrument and what makes it so valuable?
Today most of the better guitar manufacturers have a small division of specially trained luthiers set apart from the production line. These dedicated individuals make up a team of elite, specially equipped (sounds like the friggen Navy S.E.A.L.S.) craftsmen who do nothing short of miracles with wood, wire and steel. Unlike the people on the standard production line who specialize in one small aspect of the instrument, for the most part these people are involved from the start of the concept to the finish and on some occasions they even design the case or gig bag.
The end result of their endeavors is an instrument that is far superior to their assembly line counterparts. They tend to look better, feel better and sound better than the off-the-shelf units.
Another factor in the cost is the rarity or availability. For example, if the production line gears up to make hundreds of Stratocastors, the cost per unit goes way down. In the Fender Custom Shop, often the runs are for one (sometimes called one-offs) or just a few pieces. The series or runs are often numbered on the back of the headstock. The selection of the materials is more meticulous and often from a private stock of wood, excellent wood that has had a longer time to age and cure. More time goes into the setup and often to the player’s own specific requests of action height and strings gauge. Sammy and I are very proud when they are finally completed and shipped to Sam Ash Music. After all, we were there from the beginning!
Since these instruments are "limited editions", and of course exclusively offered by Sam Ash Music, they remain extremely popular and are great investments. One of the early models Sammy and I collaborated on is the "Fender Thinline Strat and Tele Set". There were 10 matching sets of these produced, each individually numbered and complete with Custom Shop certificate, a beautiful cherry red finish, African rosewood fingerboard, custom wound pickups and to consummate the package, a white pearloid pickguard! To this day, many of the owners that purchased the Thin Line set still rave about the unique sound of these instruments. Thin line instruments, as opposed to solid body electrics, are semi-hollow. There is more of an acoustic property to the sound. Also, the thin lines are not as heavy as a solid body.
Custom shops are not only limited to electric guitars. Just last fall Sammy Ash and I made the trip to Bensalem, PA to visit our friends at the Martin Company. The end result, a beautiful new "000" model Martin guitar! It's called the "76". Why? Because we ordered seventy-six pieces to be built! It is a wonderful instrument. [Insert photo] Working together with the master builders, Sammy and I designed a very unique instrument. The smaller "000" body size has been very popular the last few years. (An example of this is the Martin 00028EC Eric Clapton model) Some of the features on the ‘76 are a "bear claw" spruce top, snowflake inlays, a built-in pickup and a special "limited edition" numbered label signed by CF Martin!
Born to be wild!
Over the years, I have had many customers request unique one-offs, that is to say, a single guitar built to their unique specifications. The Master Builders and I work very closely with the guitarist to design an extraordinary instrument to suit their requirements. Here are some examples of one-off custom shop instruments: Fender Goldie Strat, Fender Phoenix, Gibson Pink Paul, PRS Dragons, Fender thin line pale sunburst natural flame Telecaster, Fender Master Built Jimi Hendrix Strat, PRS "tiger eye", Fender set-neck Telecaster, Fender Ice Blue Jazz Bass-Telecaster set, and a Fender Purple hardtail metal special, just to name a few.
Talk the talk
I have received numerous e-mails requesting information on the options available in a one-off and the definitions for the various terms in designing a custom shop dream instrument. Here are some pointers.
Body Wood
From the small shops like the Fodera Bass company to the major musical instrument manufactures, all of these companies face the same problem of finding quality wood. There is a limited amount of quality wood available. The music industry is in direct competition with furniture makers as well.
For example, Brazilian rosewood is no longer obtainable. The limited availability and environmental issues (resulting in the ban on the importation of wood from endangered trees) have had a direct impact on the materials used to build the instruments you and I play. Some companies have been experimenting with carbon fiber and graphite replacements. It will be interesting to see what the future brings. The custom shop builder hand selects only the finest grade wood to use for their instruments. From my many conversations with the builders, I have learned that as a general rule, the more dense the wood, the brighter the sound.
Poplar
Poplar is generally lighter in weight and has a warm, sound. This type of wood will produce a traditional Fender-type tone.
Alder
Alder is a bit heavier and denser, with a sweet and mellow timbre.
Mahogany
Mahogany comes in a wide range of weights and densities. Based on the weight and density, mahogany varies from mellow to bright tones.
Figured Maple
Maple is a dense and heavy wood and of course tends to be very bright sounding. Figured maple is often combined with alder or mahogany, functioning as a top wood rather than being solid maple throughout. Figured or "flame" maple often consists of beautiful grain patterns and are very popular with collectors. The Gibson Les Paul reissue series has a "book matched flame top", that is to say, the two top pieces are cut from a single piece of wood and then the flame pattern is lined up to match as if the two pieces were a mirror image of each other. Another unique and very popular type of maple top is a "quilt top". This grain pattern would remind you of clouds, wavy and Not as straight across as the flame top.
Neck Wood
Many players overlook the fact that the type of wood used for the neck is as important as the body. The same rules apply here, the thicker and denser the wood, the brighter the tone. To achieve the sound you want, you might choose a straight-grain wood or a highly figured maple or mahogany.
While visiting the Gibson factory in Nashville, TN, Sammy and I had the opportunity to watch the luthiers work on some ES-335 and Les Paul necks. One young lady was finish sanding a neck for the new limited edition Peter Frampton Les Paul model. After the rough work utilizing a belt-sanding machine was completed, she proceeded to complete the final process by hand sanding. The neck was repeatedly checked and sanded. A special template was used to insure the correct size and feel. Believe me, this was not a job for a careless craftsman!
Fingerboards
Ebony
Ebony is the darkest, hardest and brightest-sounding of the fingerboard woods. The players that prefer ebony usually would favor the darkest (black) color boards. I remember when I visited the Paul Reed Smith factory, Paul himself took me on the factory "grand tour". When we reached the rough-cut fingerboard area (in a climate-controlled storeroom), he picked up several ebony boards and held them between his fingers and tapped them. Each fingerboard had a distinctive tonality and ring to it. We checked the sustain and quality of the grain as well. An amazing example of how the fingerboard affects the tone of the instrument. A very cool experience, thanks Paul Reed Smith!
Rosewood
Very popular choice - dark brown color and medium tone. The most common type of fretboard wood used on acoustic instruments.
Maple
Bright, yet versatile, many Fenders with maple fingerboards also have a lacquer finish applied. In the case of the "Relic Series" instruments, (yes they are new and made to look old and used), the fingerboards are very worn in the first position suggesting this area of the fretboard was used most often.
Flamed Maple and Birdseye Maple
Birdseye maple, as the name implies, has small dots or "eyes" in the grain. Flame maple has a straight figure across the grain. Collectors of limited edition models tend to prefer this style of neck.
Pao Ferro / African Rosewood
Many instruments available at Sam Ash Super Stores offer these types of distinctive fingerboards. They have exquisite grain patterns. Usually these woods are reserved for unique one-off’s (one of a kind) instruments.
Frets (general fret information)
Large frets tend to allow for easier string bending. Smaller frets are "true to vintage" in many cases and facilitate easier chording.
Coda
Guitars! Guitars!Guitars! We play them, we collect them, we talk about them and yes, we love them! Where would our lives be without the gift of music? Guitar players share the dream and have the passion, it’s a way of life! I hope to see you on "the street" real soon!
Steve Pisani
April, 2004
[Images from top to bottom: Steve Pisani; PRS Santana III; Fender Custom Shop Master Built NOS 50s Stratocaster, natural Paduk finish; Fender Custom Shop Senior Master Built (Todd Krause) Eric Clapton model in black; Fender Custom Shop Senior Master Built (Art Esparza) Thinline Strat and Tele set. All images copyright 2004, Sam Ash Music, Inc.]
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Contact Information
Contact: Steve Pisani
Address: 155 West 48th Street, New York, NY 10036
Website: Sam Ash Custom Guitars
Email: gtr1a@ aol.com
Telephone: (212) 719-2625
Messages: (212) 768-4831
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Three Experts Discuss the Non-Vintage Collectible Fender Stratocaster - Part One, Allan Clarke
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Fender Custom Shop Master Built Thinline Strat and Tele Set
Fender Custom Shop Limited Editions
Fender Custom Shop One-offs and Art Guitars
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