10 new electric and acoustic guitars: February 2021
Our favourite new electric and acoustic guitar announcements, releases and rumours of the past month.
Every month, we compile a few lists of guitars fresh out of the oven. Here’s one dedicated to the latest electric and acoustic guitars.
Gibson Dave Mustaine Flying V EXP
Dave Mustaine’s new partnership with Gibson is set to bring on a slew of new axes for 2021, and leading the pack is the Gibson Dave Mustaine Flying V Exp. This round-horned Flying V comes finished in Metallic Silver and packs some surprising features: it sports a Tune-O-Matic hardtail in lieu of a string plate and features six-in-line tuners just like Mustaine’s past signature models with Dean and Jackson.
BilT Revelator w/ Chase Bliss Blooper
BilT Guitars marries the highly-flexible Chase Bliss Blooper with its Revelator offset electric in this pair of custom models. With the Blooper always within an arm’s reach, dialling in effects and tweaking loops is much more ergonomic – at least when compared to bending down to fiddle with a pedalboard.
For the uninitiated, the Blooper launched back in 2019 and offers a colourful approach to layered looping. On top of modifiers that affect pitch, speed and tone, it also has effects to take things into wobbly lo-fi territory, or help pull off psychedelic reverse-signal soundscapes.
Rickenbacker 480x
This fresh take on the Rickenbacker Model 480 arrives in tandem with the legendary guitar brand’s 90th anniversary this year. The Rickenbacker 480x sports sleek black hardware, classic checkerboard binding and a Macassar ebony fingerboard.
For classic Rickenbacker jangles, there’s a pair of hot wound Toaster pickups. Perhaps one of the more modern inclusions is a Schaller bridger in lieu of the original’s covered one. The Rickenbacker 480XC comes in Tobacco Glo and JetGlo finishes and ships with a vintage-style reissue case.
Gibson Richie Faulkner Signature V
It looks like a Gibson edition of Richie Faulkner’s signature Flying V model is on the way. Last month, an Instagram post from Gibson CMO Cesar Gueikian supplied a first-look at a prototype instrument. It had a highly-similar featureset to the Judas Priest guitarist’s signature Epiphone model.
Along with two humbuckers, the guitar looks equipped with a Floyd Rose-style vibrato bridge and locking nut, a single volume knob and a symmetrical pickguard. Faulkner further teased the instrument in an Instagram video. As for any changes in terms of specific electronics or construction points, we’ll have to wait until the guitar progresses beyond the prototype phase.
Duesenberg The Falken
Duesenberg returned with a handful of electric models, including the Falken, which introduces a brand-new body shape. This guitar features an alder construction, which the brand says helps to deliver a snappy response, improved sustain and feedback resistance. It also has a set maple neck with a D profile and an Indian rosewood fretboard with 22 jumbo frets.
The Falken packs two Split/King pickups, with a dedicated switch for each. Notably, these split-coil pickups feature full-sized single-coils for authentic tones. The Falken comes in two varieties, one with a fixed bridge and one with a vibrato.
Fender Spark-O-Matic Jazzmaster
The latest member to Fender’s Parallel Universe range imagines the Jazzmaster with the triple-mini-humbucker layout of a Gibson Firebird. The Spark-O-Matic Jazzmaster features a three-piece body, with a mahogany centre block and chambered ash wings. Its three pickups are Seymour Duncan Mini Humbuckers, which route to a five-way blade switch and master volume and tone controls. Further hinting at the guitar’s Firebird inspiration: a tobacco sunburst nitro lacquer finish on the body.
The guitar lists for £2,079.
Jackson Marty Friedman Pro Series MF-1
Marty Friedman’s signature Jackson model gets updated for 2021 in the Pro Series MF-1, a sleek electric guitar with an eye-catching Purple Mirror finish. The guitar features a single-cut mahogany body fitted with a duo of Friedman’s signature EMG MF humbuckers – which are passive, so you don’t have to need to worry about batteries.
The Jackson Pro Series MF-1 is priced at $1,199 and is available now.
Fender Chrissie Hynde Signature Telecaster
Pretenders founder Chrissie Hynde finally gets her first-ever signature model, and it’s designed after her trusty ‘65 Fender Telecaster. To match the original, this alder-bodied Telecaster features an Ice Blue Metallic finish, artificially worn to have a weathered look as well as a custom “mid-60s” C-shaped maple neck.
For pickups, there’s a pair of vintage-style 50s single-coils, “voiced to match Chrissie’s original set”. One addition that isn’t found on the original: locking tuners, which Hynde specifically requested. Other hardware appointments include a stainless steel bridge and a chrome mirror pickguard.
The Fender Chrissie Hynde Telecaster is available now for $1,399.
Godin Montreal Premiere Laguna Blue
Godin’s newest semi-hollow electric, the Montreal Premiere HT Laguna Blue, features a carved cedar core with a Canadaian cherry body and a set mahogany neck
The construction of Godin’s newest semi-hollow electric, the Montreal Premiere HT Laguna Blue, involves an array of different woods. It has a carved cedar core, a Canadian cherry body, a set mahogany neck and, atop that, a rosewood fingerboard. For sound, there’s pairing of a Seymour Duncan Jazz SH-2n in the neck and a Godin Custom Humbucker in the bridge.
This guitar’s finish is also particularly thin, drawing from Godin’s new approach to finishing. “Because the finish is thinner and more organic in nature,” it said. “It breathes more freely and offers even more sonic properties to the Montreal Premiere HT.”
Fender Boxer Telecaster
Fender’s Boxer series was a short-lived collection of Made-In-Japan guitars from the 1980s. Now, a fresh edition of the range has arrived and includes the shred-happy Boxer Telecaster.
This HH Telecaster features a light basswood body, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard. It comes with special high-output pickups designed for the range, which according to Fender, offers “full lows, punchy mids and crisp treble” which make them well-suited for rock and metal.
The Boxer Telecaster features black hardware and a black-painted headstock and comes in either Torino Red or Inca Silver/ Notably, the Telecaster and Stratocaster models come fitted with TBX tone controls – Fender’s own Treble Bass Expander system, which offers far more dramatic EQ control than a regular tone pot.
The two guitars also feature coil-split mini-toggle switches for instant access to single-coil-esque tones.
The Boxer Telecaster, Stratocaster and Precision Bass all list for £1,209.
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