Released at NAMM 2012
b3 Phoenix – Takes flight on Mean Gene’s b3 Metal series neck thru designs. Based on the concept of the flowing structure of the metal – fluid in form, one piece in design. 25.5 scale neck thru for expanded tonal range with increased sustain and resonance.
Released at NAMM 2012, the b3 Earth
Organic, simple, solid – a straight-up performer from a pro’s pro and one of the most highly respected builders in lutherie. Not just a junior model of the acclaimed b3 Fire but a solid body guitar in Poplar or Basswood with a German carve top.
b3 Earth
Released at NAMM 2012.
Many of the guitar gods we worship were regular customers at Roger’s workshop by the river Thames. Now Roger brings us the Vikta, a no-nonsense rock and roll tool that delivers the classic sound of those great P90 guitars of the ’50′s.
From Giffin Guitars – The Vikta
The Vikta is a simplified version of the Valiant without the carved top. It’s a more vintage vibe with the p90 pickup and a Les Paul Jr. concept.
Released at NAMM 2012
New playable art from master builder Saul Koll. The name evokes the world famous West LA club. The vibe is Southern California: Think the uniquely exciting sound coming out of Fullterton from the mid-50′s on. The body shape is classic Glide.
The newest guitar from the great Saul Koll and Koll Guitars – The Troubador.
A Glide design but envisioned through the eyes of Mid-Century California.
“Great things happened in that time period including great music” – Saul Koll
The new 12W, 1×10 Falcon will be introduced this week at NAMM.
Inspired by the rounded, burnished tones, syrupy overdrive, and chunky grit of vintage tweed and pre-tweed era amps, the Falcon is a whole new type of Tone King amp. Think vintage Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, and even Joe Maphis.
Tone King Falcon
A stripped-down single channel preamp means that more pure tone makes its way from your guitar through to the speaker. This new preamp is built around a raw, tweed-meets-supro tone with beefy mids and a sweetly burnished top end. A 3-position voicing switch allows you to tailor this basic voicing to be a bit cleaner and brighter (rhythm) or a bit tighter and gainier (lead).
The all-new 2x6V6 output stage is where the real magic happens. Using a unique ultra-linear configuration, cathode biasing, and zero negative feedback, this totally old-school output stage gives you a feel and response that can’t be had from more conventional designs. Overdrive comes on gradually, with a huge range of tonal variation between clean and overdriven. You can actually hear the tone evolve from soft and warm to angry and aggressive as you hit the strings harder, all before any grit even starts happening. When the 6V6s do start to growl, they break up with a consonant set of even ordered harmonics. This means that, instead of buzzy or hashy grit, you get chunky, syrupy, candy-coated overdriven tones.
The Falcon includes an Ironman precision power attenuator, complete with a tuned reactive load and 100% transformer load matching. The ultimate in attenuation technology, the Ironman ensures that you get the same tone and feel from full power down to bedroom levels (-36db max attenuation).
Specs:
Please contact your nearest dealer for pricing. You can view the complete list of Tone King dealers at: www.premierbuildersguild.com or www.toneking.com
With our first post for NAMM 2012, we are giving you a complete and comprehensive list of all of the scheduled dates and times the PBG artists will be dropping by our booth (#2538) to demo our newest products and put on a little bit of a show!
11:30 AM – Eric Gales
2 PM – Jared Scharff
4 PM – Adam Miller
11:30 AM – Eric Gales
2 PM – Matt Schofield
11 AM – Eric Gales
12 PM – Volker Strifler
1 PM – Jeff Pevar
4 PM – Tomo Fujita & Thaddeus Hogarth
12 PM – Matthew Sweet
WE HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL THERE!
1. I’m really excited about the Sphear’s launch at NAMM on January 19. They have been a real labor of love and the initial response to them has been overwhelmingly positive. I’ve already got a couple of ideas for new Sphear models.
2. I want to add a few new models to the Alt de Facto line and venture into sonic territory that we have not yet covered. One of the ideas that I’m currently working on is a semi-hollow body design that will work great as both a 6- or 12-string guitar, and a medium scale bass.
3. I’m looking forward to collaborating with the other builders in the guild. I am truly fortunate to have colleagues who just happen to be some of the best guitar builders in the world.
4. I want to spend more time with the Gene Baker and his amazing crew in Arroyo Grande, Calif. I swear … it has nothing to do with the most incredible, MASSIVE filet mignon at Jocko’s!
- Dennis Fano
Here are my New Year’s resolutions for Baker b3 Guitars and Premier Builders Guild:
- Gene Baker
Typically, I’m not a big “New Year’s resolution” kind of guy, but there are a few things coming up in the next few months for Koll Guitars that I’m very excited about. For the past year, I have been working on designing and building several concept guitars including a baritone, a semi-hollow short scale bass and a refined Glide 12 string. Once they are completed, I’ll share these concept guitars with the rest of the guild and we’ll see if these fit into what we do. If they are ready for prime time we’ll get them into production and out to the players.
I’m also hoping to collaborate with Dennis Fano in order to provide different views on paints and lacquers for finishing the guitars in order to keep the PBG-KOLL instruments fresh and innovative.
Koll Guitars will also debut a new guitar at NAMM called ‘The Troubadour’. This is my take and twist on a classic Southern California theme, paying homage to the Fender Telecaster, developed in So Cal at the turn of the century. With the new Troubadour model, I’m venturing into a more “Fendery” sort of vibe, something I haven’t done with the Glide series before. With ‘The Troubador’ I’m thinking of the Mid-Century So Cal experience. The war was over, there was prosperity, lots of clubs, surfing and the birth of rock and roll. Take all of that and mash it through the funnel and into the guitar extruder. My Troubadour model is how I celebrate this stuff.
After NAMM I will be working with Gene Baker to develop tooling and manufacturing methods in order to get this new model into production. I’m very excited about hanging out with Gene and his crew (In fact, THAT’S my New Year’s resolution: to go to Jocko’s in Arroyo Grande and eat steaks with Gene Baker).
After that, I will be working with Jimmy Lovinggood and our dealers to get these out to our players.
Something else I will be excited to do is work with Gene and crew as we build a Koll JR Glide for Hershel Yatovitz, the guitar player for Chris Isaak.
If I were to write a list, I don’t think I could improve upon the list that Woody Guthrie wrote in 1942. I think I’d copy everything on his list, including the one about washing my teeth.
Here is the list of Woody Guthrie’s 1942 New Year’s Resolutions from the picture above.
-Saul Koll
What more appropriate time to write the first blog entry for our new and improved Premier Builders Guild (PBG) blog than on the eve of our second anniversary ! Wow. Two years . When Michael and I started this company two years ago the vision was to fill a void in the guitar industry that was so desperately needed. Create a business model where a relatively unknown boutique guitar or amp builder could not only have the ability to build more instruments without the restraints of running a one or two man show, but do it with less headaches, less paperwork, less nonsense, while at the same time being able to get a voice in an industry that has a lot of big shots. It was never our intention to compete against Fender or Gibson, but to create an alternative for true gear heads that were looking for something different, something unique enough to garner extreme pride of ownership and exude handmade craftsmanship. Instruments for players, professionals, hobbyists, collectors and stay at home dads!
So here we are two years later and over 70 dealers in 21 countries…Two-Rock, Fano, Tone King, b3, Koll , Giffin, Schroeder, Gustavsson and Gjika . Not bad for a couple years. I’d like to say mission accomplished but that would be premature, after all, we are just getting started . 2012 is sure to be exceptional . But instead of looking forward , let’s look back for a brief minute and see what we did…Matt Schofield, Eric Gales, George Pajon (Black Eyed Peas), Jimmy Herring , Brad Whitford, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Joe Bonamassa, John Scofield, James Valentine (Maroon 5), Matthew Sweet, Lou Reed, Walter Becker (Steely Dan) , Scott Sharrard (Gregg Allman Band), and the list goes on and on.
Just today, the December issue of Premier Guitar magazine arrived and a Tone King Galaxy is on the cover of the magazine featured best of 2011. Inside is a teaser ad for a brand new line of guitars from our own Dennis Fano. New products like crazy in January from all of our builders . None of this could have been possible two years ago without the incredible hard work of every one at PBG. I am genuinely grateful to everyone that has contributed and can honestly say none of this could have happened without all the brilliant artistry and hard work. I know I can speak on behalf of Michael and my other partners and say we are truly humbled to be part of such a great group of people.
We are really looking forward to 2012 and hopefully this time around, we can adjust the action on our blog just right so all of you can tune in regularly and keep in touch.
Best regards,
Howard Swimmer, President
Premier Builders Guild
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