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Published on 06/30/11 at 12:44Jeff Beck has been a long time user of the Fender Stratocaster, so it was only natural that he would get his own guitar. There have been a lot of different versions of these, but this one has an alder body with a maple neck, a rosewood fretboard with 22 frets, dot inlays, two point tremolo system, SSS configuration, carved away neck joint with a micro-tilt adjustment, one volume, two tones and a five way switch.
UTILIZATION
Jeff Beck usually designs a pretty nice guitar, and this is no exception. The guitar's neck felt very comfortable to me. It wasn't too extreme in any direction. The frets should probably have been crowned a bit better, but there were no edges sticking out, so no issues there. The neck joint was perfectly fine, and the gap wasn't big enough to really cause any major concern. Jeff loves his roller nuts, but I can't say I'm a huge fan. They make the guitar sound a bit "pingy" at times, and I find that a properly cut bone nut can function just as well, if not better.
SOUNDS
The pickups in this were the Fender Noiseless pickups, and they really are pretty quiet. The bridge can get a nice overdrive sound going on, and it can work for most genres from blues to fusion to even metal with the right setup. However, I would advise against the metal setup unless you like bright tones. The neck sounded great for those lead tones, but it was even better when it came to clean tones. I never use the middle pickups, but it worked great for those funky kind of sounds with the in-between positions when it was combined with either the neck or the bridge.
OVERALL OPINION
Jeff Beck's guitars have gone through all kinds of different changes, and this is the latest version. Any of them are good, really. It all depends on what you're looking for out of a guitar. I really wish he would change to a real nut, though. Aside from that, they're great.
UTILIZATION
Jeff Beck usually designs a pretty nice guitar, and this is no exception. The guitar's neck felt very comfortable to me. It wasn't too extreme in any direction. The frets should probably have been crowned a bit better, but there were no edges sticking out, so no issues there. The neck joint was perfectly fine, and the gap wasn't big enough to really cause any major concern. Jeff loves his roller nuts, but I can't say I'm a huge fan. They make the guitar sound a bit "pingy" at times, and I find that a properly cut bone nut can function just as well, if not better.
SOUNDS
The pickups in this were the Fender Noiseless pickups, and they really are pretty quiet. The bridge can get a nice overdrive sound going on, and it can work for most genres from blues to fusion to even metal with the right setup. However, I would advise against the metal setup unless you like bright tones. The neck sounded great for those lead tones, but it was even better when it came to clean tones. I never use the middle pickups, but it worked great for those funky kind of sounds with the in-between positions when it was combined with either the neck or the bridge.
OVERALL OPINION
Jeff Beck's guitars have gone through all kinds of different changes, and this is the latest version. Any of them are good, really. It all depends on what you're looking for out of a guitar. I really wish he would change to a real nut, though. Aside from that, they're great.