Most Fender-tone oriented geeks are at least familiar with the name Fred Stuart as one of the original core Fender Custom Shop luthiers. I've seen & featured a few Fred Stuart Masterbuilds in our weekly Friday Strat series. But recent conversations with Portland Blues guitarist Jacob Petersen and Jason Allen of Virtual Vintage Guitars have led me to the gates of major Fred Stuart enlightenment.Jacob, a recent & raving convert to Fred Stuart's pickups, certainly knows Strat tones, as you can discover at his link above. Jason Allen, who runs a hi-end boutique gear establishment/website and THE exclusive source for Fred Stuart guitars & pickups, referred me to the May '06 ToneQuest Report feature on Stuart, a MUST read.
Having just recently read the 1977 Jon Sievert GP Les Paul interview really primed me for the TQR on Fred Stuart. If you want insights into Leo Fender production culture, Custom Shop evolution, scatterwinding, wood and all around serious tone wisdom from a guru builder who does it all from scratch, ya better read it kids!
I originally wanted to do a quick post about Fred Stuart pickups, but he's got a lot more goin' on since leaving the Custom Shop to do his own thing. Besides pickups and super Strat & Tele-type builds, Fred has been developing the ultimate tone weapon in his Rock-It Tone model, also reviewed by TQR in June, '08 (click the link). I say "ultimate tone weapon" based on the TQR reactions-- those folks were losing their minds! And those people know their stuff, so find out about Stuart's Rock-It Tone guitar too.
virtualvintageguitars.com
!
Pin It Now!
