Visions In Blue

Fancy something a little different? Here are two contemporary-made ‘shapes’ – one conceived back in the early 60s, the other a more up-to-date vision

- Dave Burrluck

We guitarists remain a conservative bunch, don’t we? Outside of the classic electric benchmarks, few differently shaped guitars exist and even fewer achieve player acceptance. Of course, Gibson’s modernistic ‘shapes’, the Flying V and the Explorer, have passed into the mainstream despite being ridiculed on their late 50s release, likewise the reverse and non-reverse Fire birds. But many other, err, oddly shaped guitars lie in cupboards, under beds and in dusty shop corners. What were those guitar designers – or in indeed artists – thinking?

Guild happily joined in the alternative shape craze in the swinging 60s with the S-200 Thunderbird, in stark contrast to its ‘stuffy’ arch tops and semis. It appeared in 1964 and ran through to ’68 before Guild swapped its shape for a more conservative Gibson SG-like style. Under the current Newark St Collection banner, made in Korea, the guitar was re-released last year as the S-200 T-Bird, complete with its Jazz master-inspired dual-circuit controls and the original-style Hagstrom vibrato. Earlier this year, Guild released a trio of ‘ST’ models with more stable tune-o-matic bridge and stud tailpiece, and a colour-dependent choice of either Franz style soapbar single coils or Guild LB-1 minihumbuckers and simplified controls.

Music Man’s St Vincent appeared last year, too, and this hugely individualistic statement designed by Annie Clark (aka St Vincent) might well have been conceived to better fit the female form, but it has the sort of cool that should appeal to chaps, too. At the start of this year, Music Man announced an Indonesian made Sterling version of the instrument at a third of the price, on review here.