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NAMM 2022: Michael Kelly announces four new electric guitar models
The Hybrid 55T, Hybrid 60 port, 59 Port Thinline and 1962 Flame have joined the brand’s array of offerings.
Credit: Michael Kelly Guitars
NAMM 2022: Michael Kelly Guitars has gotten into the spirit of the season with the announcement of four new electric guitar models in its 1950s, 1960s and Hybrid collections.
The Hybrid 55T, Hybrid 60 port, 59 Port Thinline and 1962 Flame have joined the brand’s array of offerings, which includes a line of solid body and semi hollow electric guitars since their move away from producing acoustic basses and mandolins 15 years ago.
The 1962 and 1962 Flame ($449.99) is touted as a combination of classic looks and modern features, blending a modern C profile, 22 frets and matching headstock with a double-cutaway shape for easy upper fret access. The guitar uses a contoured basswood body with a roasted flame maple neck.
Hardware-wise, the 1962 and 1962 flame sport Rockfield PAF humbuckers with a built-in mini-toggle switch that allows impromptu coil splitting. Die-cast tuning machines and a two-point floating tremolo system have also been incorporated.
The Hybrid 60 Port ($499.99) boasts both electric and acoustic tones through a pair of single coils and a single under-saddle piezo pickup. An onboard five-way selector switch also allows players to switch between electric and acoustic tones or a combination of both to make for a highly flexible guitar.
The guitar’s appointments are a semi-hollow mahogany body and spalted maple top with a modern C-shaped roasted flame maple neck.
The Hybrid 55T ($999.99) boasts tonal flexibility seen in the Hybrid 60 Port, as it comes equipped with two custom-voiced, coil-splitting Rockfield SWC humbuckers and a Fishman Powerbridge pickup system. The Hybrid 55T’s onboard pickup selector switch is a three-way one, however, though using a Y cable can enable players to split the acoustic and electric outputs.
The understated guitar’s all-black look uses a mahogany body with a black satin finish, black binding, black pickguard and ebony fingerboard.
Lastly, the 59 Port Thinline ($379.99) semi-hollow offers some visual pizzazz in Transparent Blue or Transparent Red that shows the grain of the wood underneath. The looks of this model are complimented by two Rockfield P-90 pickups that Michael Kelly claims provides “warm tones with a bite that screams when pushed into overdrive”.
The mahogany body and highly figured spalted maple top sports an offset soundhole and side port that the brand says enhances resonance.
More information at michaelkellyguitars.com.