Pure Salem Cherry Bomb

This is definitely not an Explorer(TM) shape because it has a little burr on the horn. It also has a rabbet(?) carve on the headstock. (Is it still a rabbet if it is not along a straight edge? We’re going to call it a rabbet.)

The Cherry Bomb is available in (among other colors) Metallic Plum and Metallic Purple, both of which really ought to be purple, yet neither actually is‽ One is too red and one is too blue, but if you could somehow blend them together…‽

Of course, in mashing them together, one has a white pearloid pickguard, while the other is black, either of which is fine. One has dot inlays while the other has pearl blocks. Curiously, the neck pickup on the plum one is further away from the end of the fretboard‽ Almost as if it was to accommodate a 24 fret neck, instead of the 22 it actually has.

Gold foil pickups were commonly used on cheap “student” guitars in the 1950s. Because of that association, they fell out of favor for many decades, but have made a resurgence in recent years due to their unique tone. However, the actual gold foil is purely aesthetic, and while some manufactures attempt to recreate the original pickup construction, others simply add a gold foil cover to any type of pickup they choose. Here we see some type of humbucker with gold foil covers. Which is not a criticism, it is merely to point out that this was a visual choice rather than a tonal one.

The controls are volume, tone, and pickup selector, with an additional “kill switch.” On guitars that have a separate volume control for each pickup (such as a Gibson Explorer, which again, this definitely is not, so it is weird to keep mentioning it), some players turn one completely off, then rapidly flip the pickup toggle switch to create a stuttering effect. A dedicated kill switch allows that effect with any pickup combination, without having to sacrifice one pickup as “off.”

This guitar makes us think of the Runaways song, although both are more likely named for the firework.

#PurpleGuitarPhursday

Paoletti Guitars Nancy Lounge 450 Heavy Purple

Paoletti is an Italian company who make all of their guitar bodies from reclaimed chestnut wine barrels. The Lounge series is their semi-hollow line. Nancy is their Tele shape.

Though clearly inspired by a Thinline Tele, it has a vintage style 6-screw Strat tremolo bridge, along with P90 neck and humbucker bridge pickups. Combined with the unique body wood, this is unlikely to sound or feel anything like a traditional Tele.

“Heavy Purple” apparently means “heavily distressed purple.” They painted the guitar in a three tone sunburst, then painted purple over it, and then sanded/scraped/beat the crap out of it so that you can see through the various layers of finish, all the way to bare wood in places. We personally feel that relic’d guitars are like pre-ripped jeans. They’re missing the point. This LOOKS like a guitar with a long history and stories to tell, but it came that way from the factory. Some people like that kind of thing. It certainly is an attention grabber in any case.

The hardware and pickguard are all made of weathered brass, with the exception of shiny chrome tuners, but notably including the humbucker mounting ring. (Which is notably included on the guitar. (Notably around the humbucker. (Other manufacturers should take note.))) Also, unlike a Thinline, it has a standard Tele style control plate and nominal tele pickguard shape, except for a cutaway to jog around the f-hole and that the part covering the horn part is a whole separate piece, with a strip of the body visible in between. There is no practical reason for this, but we have seen similar designs other guitars (Burns, for example).

It has a roasted maple neck with (speaking of design elements of no practical value) that headstock rabbet carve that gets us every time. (We like what we like.)

Other notes are that the knobs look like shotgun shells, and although it is hard to determine from this picture, we believe that the P90 pickup cover is actually made of wood.

#PurpleGuitarPhursday

Mayones Duvel Elite 7 Trans Dirty Purple Raw

Mayones guitars are made in Poland. This is a seven string, hardtail bridge, couple of humbuckers, with just a single volume knob and pickup selector.

Poplar is an inexpensive hardwood, commonly relegated to paint-grade applications due to its relative softness and wildly inconsistent coloring. Conversely, this guitar features a top veneer of “eye poplar”, a knotty grain pattern which comes from abnormal tree growth due to some problem. This guitar makes that problem EVERYONE’S problem with a “raw” finish that showcases all of the pits and holes with no grain filler.

It also features faux binding, which is where they color the face but not the edges of the top cap, leaving a strip of lighter wood that contrasts with the darker mahogany body.

To be honest, we mostly like this guitar because they call the color “dirty purple”, which we absolutely cannot stop singing to the tune of “Dirty Pretty” by In This Moment.

#PurpleGuitarPhursday