Saint Blues 61 south

Made in Korea
Wilkinson WTB bridge, brass saddles, Wilkinson vintage-style tuners. St Blues T-style single-coil (bridge) and P-90 (neck).
Fingerboard Material:
Maple
Guitar Body Material:
Ash, with a bound top and bottom
Neck Material:
Hard Rock Maple
No. of Frets:
21
Nut Material:
Bone
Options:
Also available with two tapped single-coil St Blues T-style pickups.
Pickup Type:
Three-way lever pickup selector, volume, tone (with pull/ push coil-tap for bridge pickup)
Right handed model only

UTILIZATION

This is a fresh entry into the world of traditional-type guitars. The guitar is functionally equivalent to a Telecaster in neck, pickups, bridge, tuners, and electronics, yet the body shape is different. The shape is akin to a flat-top Les Paul, only smaller. The result of this amalgamation of American machinery is pure joy. The playability of this guitar is top notch, and the hardware is fantastic. I'm a big fan of brass saddles on a T-style instrument, and this delivers. The pots have a very smooth action - not too stiff, and the knobs are knurled well enough for a good grip. One tiny nitpick is that I prefer an old Top-Hat style switch cap, and this has a Strat-style cap. Horses for courses.

SOUNDS

This sounds great! The pickup configuration on my particular guitar is the 2 single coil, with the small neck pickup. The push-pull pot options combined with the pickup sounds make for one versatile-sounding guitar, yet always with a decidedly Tele flair. The brass saddles add a great ping to the timbre, as well as sustain.

OVERALL OPINION

This is a fantastic instrument, and would make folks happy at twice the price. It is well crafted, very clean construction, with a fresh shape, familiar sounds, and excellent playability. I LOVE how tight the strings feel- the scale length is the standard 25.5 inches, and the strings are 9-42 on mine, yet they seem to feel tighter than normal, and that makes me a happy guitarist. Highly recommended.