sgt_steiner
Member
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2007
- Messages
- 145
Hey All -- Wanted to share some eye candy of my Nachocaster "Abigail", which I don't think I've shared before on LPF.
For those unfamiliar with Nacho Banos, he's considered one of the foremost experts on/students of Blackguard Teles in the world and his The Blackguard Book is considered the bible on the subject. Beyond all that, he's one hell of a Blackguard builder and simply one of the nicest human beings you'll ever talk to.
http://jklutherie.com/blackguard-telesfrom1950-54book.aspx
http://www.theblackguardbook.com/
So... here's Abigail. The aging detail is simply MIND-BLOWINGLY gorgeous. She has Ron Ellis Blackguard pickups and a crazy comfortable, heavily aged "D" profile neck, just to push this baby that much further over the top. She sounds AMAZING through my '62 Brown Fender Super.
Here are some pics my photographer buddy took --
Nacho builds these beauties in Spain and only does them in small batches once or twice a year. He tries to keep his guitars as close to original Leo Fender spec as humanly possible and bases them on real-life examples of Blackguards he's owned, handled and/or studied. This is his life's passion.
Nacho was personally allowed to go through Leo's original handwritten papers for the '50's Blackguard Teles and Esquires and his builds reflect that research and deep understanding of these guitars. Check out the level of detail in The Blackguard Book -- it's astonishing, beyond a Ph.D. dissertation on the subject.
Nacho sometimes uses Musikraft necks and bodies, and Dan Strain/Danocaster told me he even worked with Ken at Musikraft to make the "Blackguard" line of necks they do.
Hard to verbalize how beautiful these babies are, how much gravitas they have, how RIGHT they feel and sound -- basically, shy of a $20K to $50K original, I believe Nacho's work (and Clive Brown's as well) replicate the Blackguard experience as close as possible today.
By the way, Nacho's customer service, kindness and accessibility is second to none. He's known Net wide as a great guy and a real-deal old school gentleman. Many, many veteran players can vouch for this, including myself.
But hey, like many expensive, hand-crafted specialty guitars, a Nachocaster may not be for everybody. There are plenty of great Teles out there for far less money -- I've owned two Danocasters myself and LOVE them. End of the day, I'm a huge BG fan and felt the level of detail, sound and craftsmanship made the purchase totally worthwhile for me personally. Of course, this being TGP, YMMV.
*** For all those interested, here's the TONE QUEST REPORT from 2015 on Nachocasters!
https://www.mediafire.com/?d21dzo0wai9cjpe
Nacho also just posted a brand new batch on his site. Make sure to check 'em out. He's even doing Sunbursts now! -- http://www.nachoguitars.com/guitars/.
Hope you enjoyed a little Blackguard heavy-relic eye-candy, fellas. Thanks for looking. And thanks to you Nacho for such a killer guitar! Simply brilliant.
For those unfamiliar with Nacho Banos, he's considered one of the foremost experts on/students of Blackguard Teles in the world and his The Blackguard Book is considered the bible on the subject. Beyond all that, he's one hell of a Blackguard builder and simply one of the nicest human beings you'll ever talk to.
http://jklutherie.com/blackguard-telesfrom1950-54book.aspx
http://www.theblackguardbook.com/
So... here's Abigail. The aging detail is simply MIND-BLOWINGLY gorgeous. She has Ron Ellis Blackguard pickups and a crazy comfortable, heavily aged "D" profile neck, just to push this baby that much further over the top. She sounds AMAZING through my '62 Brown Fender Super.
Here are some pics my photographer buddy took --
Nacho builds these beauties in Spain and only does them in small batches once or twice a year. He tries to keep his guitars as close to original Leo Fender spec as humanly possible and bases them on real-life examples of Blackguards he's owned, handled and/or studied. This is his life's passion.
Nacho was personally allowed to go through Leo's original handwritten papers for the '50's Blackguard Teles and Esquires and his builds reflect that research and deep understanding of these guitars. Check out the level of detail in The Blackguard Book -- it's astonishing, beyond a Ph.D. dissertation on the subject.
Nacho sometimes uses Musikraft necks and bodies, and Dan Strain/Danocaster told me he even worked with Ken at Musikraft to make the "Blackguard" line of necks they do.
Hard to verbalize how beautiful these babies are, how much gravitas they have, how RIGHT they feel and sound -- basically, shy of a $20K to $50K original, I believe Nacho's work (and Clive Brown's as well) replicate the Blackguard experience as close as possible today.
By the way, Nacho's customer service, kindness and accessibility is second to none. He's known Net wide as a great guy and a real-deal old school gentleman. Many, many veteran players can vouch for this, including myself.
But hey, like many expensive, hand-crafted specialty guitars, a Nachocaster may not be for everybody. There are plenty of great Teles out there for far less money -- I've owned two Danocasters myself and LOVE them. End of the day, I'm a huge BG fan and felt the level of detail, sound and craftsmanship made the purchase totally worthwhile for me personally. Of course, this being TGP, YMMV.
*** For all those interested, here's the TONE QUEST REPORT from 2015 on Nachocasters!
https://www.mediafire.com/?d21dzo0wai9cjpe
Nacho also just posted a brand new batch on his site. Make sure to check 'em out. He's even doing Sunbursts now! -- http://www.nachoguitars.com/guitars/.
Hope you enjoyed a little Blackguard heavy-relic eye-candy, fellas. Thanks for looking. And thanks to you Nacho for such a killer guitar! Simply brilliant.
