This guitar shares the silhouette of various ’60s Harmony and Silvertone releases, like the ones played by Annie “St Vincent” Clark The original 1478 had the now coveted “harp” style gold foil pickups, but vintage tone lovers will not be disappointed with the reissue’s pickups. They show some of the character and punch of the gold foils, but with sound of their own.
Confession: I was not a Mahavishnu Orchestra fan. There I said it. Oh, I recognized the technical excellence and the energy of the playing, and the groundbreaking new melding of jazz and rock. But, for me, as jazz it didn’t swing and as rock I couldn’t get past McLaughlin’s note-y style and what I considered an inferior guitar tone to legends like Clapton, Beck and Hendrix. In fact, I never really got into the British jazz legend and fusion pioneer until his Coltrane tribute album, After the Rain, with Elvin Jones and Joey DeFrancesco. I loved the sound of his full-bodied archtop through a chorus and his use of the Bigsby to make the end of notes fall off plaintively.