Matt from Gear For Guitar was at the 2010 Montreal Guitar Show interviewing luthiers for his podcast. He was a lot of fun to talk to and as he learned, once you get me talking about guitar building... watch out! Here's a link to the MP3 interview I did with Matt.
While at the 2010 Montreal Guitar Show, Jason of GuitarBites.com stopped by to introduce himself. Here's snip from his blog post:
"Mike had some beautiful semi-acoustic telecaster types on display. I took a Ranchero Grande Thinline in my hands and it felt made to measure." [Read the full article]
The December 2009 issue of Premier Guitar has a review of both the El Camino and the Ranchero! Read their take on these two models and listen to some sound clips.
Click here for the [text] version or here for the [fancy shmancy] version (both open in a new window).
Be sure to check out the video interview (below) I did with Premier Guitar at the Montreal Guitar Show.
Here's a blog post about the Ranchero on 300Guitars.com:
"The Ranchero is sort of a cross between a Tele and a LP Jr. leaning more towards a Tele (yessss!). It has the best parts of both guitars. The Tele shape and layout with the Jr’s P-90 (made by Lollar) and the wrap-around bridge. And ain’t it purty?" [Read the full article]
Premiere Guitar Interview from 2009 Montreal Guitar Show
I talked at length with the guys from Premiere Guitar while at the Montreal Guitar Show. They posted some pictures and we also filmed an interview.
Mike Potvin also turned heads with two guitars that could be described as the end result of leaving a Tele and a Jr. together in a closet together for too long with some Barry White playing in the background.
The folks over at Daddy Mojo had some nice things to say on their blog. Visit their web site to check out some incredible Cigar Box Guitars.
Fellow Canuck Mike Potvin builds a mean, no-bullshit guitar. The product of a sexy time between a Melody Maker and a Tele - and I like. The best part is they are quite affordable (1400$ IIRC) and all hand-made, a philosophy we at Daddy Mojo greatly appreciate, no-bullshit handmade stuff that's affordable. Mike runs the risk of being somewhat of an influence on our upcoming solid body line. [Read the full article]
I met up with Wes from The Gear Page / TGP's webzine at the Montreal Guitar Show. He had a chance to put the El Camino and the Ranchero through their paces. Here's what he had to say...
Potvin guitars run from semi-traditional to avant-garde. He builds an Iceman as well as a guitar that resembles the very odd Gretsch Billy-Bo. My attention fell on a pair of guitars that looked right at first, but then something caught my eye. The Jr Tele he calls the El Camino while the Tele Jr is the Ranchero.
They're backwards. The LP Jr style guitar has the controls, bridge, and pickup from a Tele, while the Tele style has a P-90 and wraparound bridge. Potvin relies on Lollar pickups, Wilkinson, Hipshot, and Bigsby bridges as well as Gotoh and Planet Waves tuning machines.
Potvin uses traditional tonewoods - korina, swamp ash, mahogany, maple, and rosewood - and finishes them with water-based acrylic lacquers, which he says behave like nitro but cure faster. It's a very eco-friendly finishing process compared to other lacquers and traditional nitro.
His korina El Camino (not pictured) has a chunky neck with '59 Les Paul-style shoulders. It's not excessively thick, though the shoulders might be a bit much for some players with smaller hands. The 3-piece set neck has a slight D shape. The electronics are like a '52 Tele - the switch controls the tone circuit (tone cap, flat out, or tone pot). The guitar plays extremely well with nice, low action. It gets an aggressive rhythm tone when digging in, but yields a sweet, shimmering clean when backing off the volume slightly.
His Ranchero plays like a traditional Tele, but sounds like a monster thanks to the P-90. It fights back a little, benefitting from harder playing due to the higher action. It's kind of a one-trick pony of a guitar, but it is a very impressive trick.
