Fender Select Series, Carved KOA Top Telecaster

The Select Series from Fender, Custom Shop Luxary for a factory price.  

Until now, if you were in search of a real luxary Fender; Telecaster or Stratocaster, you had to visit the Fender Custom Shop. The normal Fenders do come streight out of the factory, and the exclusive ones, as said, come from the Fender Custom Shop. But where to shop if you are into a special Fender, but you don't have the budget for the real expensive ones? Fender gave the answer: the Fender Select Series.


Fender Select Series

The Fender Select Series

The guitars from the Select Series can't be compared with the standard guitars from the factory. Luxary woods, carved tops and flamed maple are rarely seen on Fenders outside the expensive Custom Shop. The Select Series though, gives you all of this at reasonable prices. This special serie is valued in between the very modern "The Luxe Series" and the very vintage "Vintage series", and they offer the best of both series. The Select Series are the best Fender offers from the factory production lines with the focus on the use of the best available materials, superior selected woods, re-designed electronics and a stunning finish. It's supposed to be the top of the factory production models. And the price? Yes, the Fender Select Series are the top of the factory line, and so is the pricing of these guitars, but you sure get a special Stratocaster, Telecaster or Fender bass from the Select Series for your money.

The Fender Select Series are, as Fender says, the "best ones". They're guaranteed to sound good, they have the best woods, and the best pickups, according to an article in the 2012 Fender Magazine. The Fender Select Series instruments are all limited, and won't be around forever, but in the future, new designs, new woods, and new innovations will be developped for the Fender Select Series.
These Fenders can compete with a custom shop guitar from any other guitar builder.

Koa,  special wood for special guitars

It's no wonder that Fender uses, like lot's of guitar builders, Koa wood for one of their exclusive guitars, the Carved Koa Top Telecaster, from the Select Series. Koa comes from Hawai, is in short supply, and is a very expensive, very high quality wood. Koa deeply shines from light to rich golden colors to dark, with strong grain markings. Very often Koa has a wonderful flame or curl which gives every Koa made guitar it's own unique, exclusive character. Koa gives the guitar a well balanced sound, with the warm tones of Rosewood, and the bright tones of mahogany. The colors, flames and curls make Koa one of the most beloved materials when it comes to building luxury, mostly acoustic, expensive guitars. From the Select Series, I put the spotlight on the Carved Koa Top Telecaster, as I'm a huge fan of guitars made of Koa.

Koa Carved Top Telecaster Fender

Koa Carved Top Telecaster Fender

Carved KOA Top Telecaster, a master piece from the Fender Select Series

The body of the Carved Koa Top telecaster is made of Empress, a leightweight wood, originally used for traditional Chinese and Japanese instruments. The body is chambered, like a labyrinth or maze which leaves the weight balanced, but still keeps a great sound. It is a good, leightweight alternative for the common used woods like ash. One of the spectacular features is the bookmatched Koa Top. Slightly carved and very elegant. The Koa top and the Empress body together gives the telecaster an impressive depth of 53 mm.
Surprisingly the Telecaster control-panel on the Koa Top fits wonderful in the top, and is also slightly carved. As an extra, the standard no-load tone knob has a bypass-click if opened completely, to provide maximum hight tones, and makes this Koa Top Telecaster a bit more versatile than the standard Telecaster.

For the Select Series, Fender produced some re-designed electronics. This results for the Carved Koa Top Telecaster in two Fender Select single coil elements. The neck element has a higher resistance than the more standard bridge element, which results in a higher output and  more agressive tones. By doing this, Fender created the so much wanted mix between vintage and  more modern tones.

The carved top, and the use of Koa wood makes this Telecaster look very good. Combined with the Telecaster sound and the modern no-load bypass, the Carved Koa Top Telecaster deserves to be an item in the Select Series.

Koa Carved Top Telecaster Fender body

Koa Carved Top Telecaster Fender head

Fender Select Carved Koa Top Telecaster video

Below is a video of the Fender Select Carved Koa Telecaster. In this video the Koa Telecaster is shown, and the sounds of both pickups are demonstrated. The video is of excellent quality, so the carved Koa top, and the control panel plate which follows the carve of the Koa top of this Select Telecaster, is well presented. Worth watching!

Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster (vs Epi ES-339 Ultra)

Fender Acoustasonic Tele (vs Epi-ES-339 Ultra)

As I am the proud owner of a Epiphone ES-339 Ultra, I'm also very interested in other electric guitars with an acoustic pick-up system. One of these rare guitars is the Fender Acoustasonic telecaster.

fender acoustasonic fishman aura

Like the Epiphone ES-339 Ultra, the Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster is some kind of a hybrid. Apart from the "normal" electronics, both guitars have a little extra, something that perhaps doesn't attract the players who are into the the authentic sound of a Telecaster or a ES-339, but for those looking for an extra (acoustic) sound  in a typical Fender Telecaster or ES-339 body, they deserve a closer look. What makes these guitars different from the rest is the built-in acoustic pick-up system. I reviewed my Epiphone ES-339 Ultra with the Shadow Nanomag acoustic pick-up here (the good) and here (the bad). The Acoustasonic on the other hand uses the Fishman Auro system for acoustic sounds.

Fender Acoustasonic with Fishman Aura-technology

Fender came out with the Acoustasonic Telecaster in 2010, and later that year it won the "best of the show" award at the NAMM. Understandable as the guitar stands out in the crowd due to the innovations packed in it.
The Acoustasonic Telecaster is available in white and sunburst and at first look it seems to be a regular Telecaster as we all know them.
At closer look you can see that the iconic Telecaster bridgeplate is replaced by a rosewood bridge in the same style. Under the rosewood bridge Fender mounted the Fishman acoustic pick-up, and this one is the big surprise! Here the Telecaster get's the unexpected acoustic sound. At the top - side of the Acoustasonic the Fishman pre-amp is located. It has all the functionality and controls for the acoustic part of the guitar. Further more the neck pick-up is a Fender single-coil Telecaster, and the normal Telecaster controls for tone, and volume are set on the Acoustasonic Telecaster body. Nothing weird going on there.

Two outputs are available for the, seperate or mixed, acoustic and electric, pick-up systems. Both systems can be played and combined by using 1 amp or an electric and an acoustic amp, making it possible to play all styles of music you can imagine, and more. The body is hollowed which should help to generate a deep warm acoustic sound, and lower the weight a little bit as all the electronics bring in a little extra. Old Telecaster looks, new sounds!

fender acoustasonic telecaster fishman controls

Fender Acoustasonic vs ES-339 Ultra

The Epiphone ES-339 Ultra and the Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster have lots in common. They each have, in their own way, a classic well loved body type. Both instruments use innovative electronics to bring, next to the 339 and Telecaster sound, a (modulated) acoustic sound to live. Hollowed bodies, seperate controls for magnetic and acoustic pick-ups, double output to split and mix the sounds. The Acoustasonic with Fishman and the ES-339 Ultra with Shadow's Nanomag; both systems are discretely mounted in the bodies.

The controls for the acoustic pick-ups are located at the back of the guitar(Epiphone ES-339 Ultra), and at the side-top of the guitar (Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster). I would prefer the controls located at the side-top. My ES-339 Ultra has them on the back, and you have to move the guitar away to use them. I think Fender did a better job with the Acoustasonic telecaster, speaking in terms of ergonomy. When it comes to making a choice between the Fender and the Epiphone I think it all depends on the looks and charactaristics of each guitar. You either love the Fender or the ES-339. The body types and electric sounds of the Acoustasonic and the 339 Ultra have their own color, and as both acoustic systems are well developed, and offer balanced acoustic tones, there's the choice.

fender acoustasonic telecaster sunburst

A view on the Gibson Les Paul Supreme

A view on the Gibson Les Paul Supreme



les paul supreme headstock

The Gibson Les Paul Supreme is within the famous Les Paul series a one of a kind.
The Supreme has all the looks of a classic Les Paul model, but has some features you will never find on an any other Les Paul, that's why it's probably called the Les Paul Supreme.

This special guitar is built by Gibson in, of course, Nashville USA. and what a magnificent work they did! The guitar was showed for the first time at the NAMM in 2003, a major show where music manifacturers present their latest products, in Anaheim, California USA, and the instrument was an instant success. The production was originally set on a maximum of 2003 guitars.The initial limitation of Supreme's produced will be the reason that they are hard to find, and the used ones don't come cheap. For some time now I want to lay my hands on a Les Paul Supreme, I'm on the look-out. Let me tell you why.

The looks and feel of the Gibson Les Paul Supreme

I have always been a huge fan of the flamed maple tops of some  Gibson Les Pauls, but the this one goes beyond the Standards. Not only the top is carved  maple grade AAAA figured, but also the back of the Gibson Supreme, without cavity covers, matches the top, and comes in heritage cherry sunburst or in desert burst, my absolute favorite. The body is hollowed and there are no disturbing holes in the back. This also gives the advantage of a slightly lighter Les Paul than the massive ones.



les paul supreme back

The hardware on the Les Paul Supreme gives you gold. From the humbuckers, Gibson's 490 R and 498 T, to the golden tuners and even the unsuspected golden frets. The Les Paul Supreme is spoiled! Gibson didn't even hesitate to add 7 ply bindings on the top, 5 ply bindings on the headstock and 3 ply bindings on the back to give it a superior finish. Even if you don't play guitar, you want this one hanging on your wall.

les paul supreme back and sides

I never had the pleasure of playing the Les Paul Supreme for a longer period to check out all the sounds and charactaristics, but I had it in my hands at my local guitar dealer. This beauty is  not yet within the reach of my budget, but it will be the next guitar I buy. I have been looking for a second hand (used) Les Paul Supreme on sites like Ebay, but becouse of the looks, this guitar should be in mint condition, so I prefer to by a new one from a authorized dealer, also to be sure not to get a fake / copy. The tone of the Les Paul Supreme is warm and funky, almost like a ES-339, and I love that sound. Prices are around 3000 Euro.

Copies of the Les Paul Supreme (fake Les Paul Supreme)

The Gibson Les Paul Supreme is a very popular, fairly expensive guitar, much in demand, so it's no wonder fake Supreme's are offered. Some of them do have the looks of a real Supreme, for prices you won't believe. For example tradetang.com has a musical instrument, guitar, section where different suppliers offer guitars that are obviously copies of all the major brands like Gibson and Fender. Not only the Les Paul Supreme can be found here but also the Les Paul 1954, 1956, 1957, Goldtops, Vos and many more. Pricing about 250-400 USD. I'm not in any way promoting to buy an imitation, but you get this information from Google; the name comes up, even when you're not looking for a major guitar brand copy, so there must be a demand for these instruments. An earlier Supreme imitation can easily be recognized by the pot cavity covers on the back, which the original Les Paul Supremes don't have. The newer imitations are harder to recognize. Be careful when buying this Gibson on the open market. If you know it's fake, it's not the real deal!

les paul supreme bridge and knobs

How to spot a fake Gibson (Suppreme, Les Paul)

I noticed that a lot of buzz is going on about fakes, copies, or so called counterfeits of the Gibson Supreme. If you are in for a "copy" Supreme, so be it. But if you want a real Gibson Supreme, and willing to pay the price of a real Supreme then, unless you buy from an authorized dealer, you have to know how to recognize a fake Gibson. Always pay attention to the following:

• A real Gibson (Supreme) does not come for 250 - 300 Euro or Dollar. Not new and not second hand. To good to be true? Not True!
• No Gibson is made in China. All Gibsons are made in the USA. Some sellers will admit the guitar is produced in China, admitting the Gibson is a copy, selling for a "copy" price, although "made in USA" is stamped in the back of the headstock. Problem is that most "resellers" (for example on Ebay, or local) don't mention the fact that the guitar is made in China, trying to sell the guitar "for real".
• If possible, check the measurements before buying. The measures of each Gibson can be found on their website.
• The truss rod cover on an original Gibson is bell shaped, with 2 screws. Copies though often have 3 screws. Also, the brand name "Gibson" is never written on the truss rod on a real Gibson.
• Wiring should be neat, streight and metall. If plastic, sloppy, and cavity painted black inside, wrong!
• Most Gibsons come with a case, owners manual and inspection / warranty card. If not, watch out.
• All pearl on the neck should be inlayed.
• Serial numbers are stamped in the back of the headstock, but the numbers of the fakes often don't represent the years of the production of the real Gibsons. If you want to be sure, check the serial numbers at http://www.guitardaterproject.org/default.aspx  ,where information is provided hidden in the serial number of a guitar. Gibson is supported, but also Epiphone, Fender, Yamaha and Ibanez.
• If still not sure you can always contact  the Gibson Customer Service. All the knowledge is there, and they are willing to help you find out whether it's a real Gibson or a fake.

I'm aware of the fact that this is not a complete list. New fakes are being build, and specifications can be changed. If you have more info about spotting a fake Gibson Supreme, please leave a comment so I can update the list! Any way, when in for buying a Gibson Les Paul (Supreme), and one of the above mentioned comes up, be alerted!

les paul supreme body pickups

Free sheetmusic for classical guitar

Free sheetmusic for classical guitar

Until now I haven't done any writing about playing classical guitar. At the moment I'm more into steelstring and electric guitar, but from time to time I still play my classical guitar, and yes, I play notes from sheetmusic!

Like lot's of classical guitar players I searched the internet for free, good quality sheetmusic, which can be hard to find. I would like to save you the time by presenting you the best source for classical guitar sheetmusic I found during my search.

One of the best sources for classical guitar sheetmusic is the Classical Guitar School from Iceland. 

This Classical Guitar School has been around on the internet for about 10 years now. The guitar school offers an impressive collection of sheetmusic for the classic guitar, covering almost the whole spectrum.
Everything can be found: studies, methods, solos, duos, collections, you name it, they have it. All major composers are listed here: Fernando Sor, Ferdinando Garulli, J.S. Bach, M. Carcassi, M. Giuliani, and all the other classical guitar heroes

The index on the website is easy to navigate, and all the sheetmusic is in the same perfect quality and layout. Downloads are in pdf, and absolutely for free.

For beginners, one of the greatest collections are the Guitar Moments, volumes 1 to 4. All the music is from different classical guitar composers, starting for absolute beginners, and ending with music for experienced players. You have to be able to read some notes though.

If you are looking for free classical guitar sheetmusic, visit the

Classical Guitar School!