Jerry Donahue, known as ‘The doyen of the string benders’ and founder Hellecaster is an outstanding player whose talents have seen him feature with major artists the world over.
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For some years, Jerry’s ‘guitar arsenal’ has featured a Trev Wilkinson designed Vintage ICON Series V52, a guitar he, along with a host of other stellar players, rates very highly indeed.
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Recognising the heart and soul of Vintage®, Jerry threw down the challenge to create a Vintage® guitar with his specification which he could be 100% happy with. The challenge was accepted by Trev Wilkinson with alacrity!
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Using unique Wilkinson single coil pickups custom wound to Jerry's exact recipe and his custom wired five-way switch and circuitry, Trev has created an instrument which achieves Jerry’s vision - one single guitar which can emulate a huge number of the most instantly recognisable solid-body and semi-acoustic tones out there.
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In just the flick of a switch, the V58JD moves seamlessly between soaring blues tones, rich dark midnite Jazz tones, ‘woman-tone’, the elusive `in-between quack-tone' and country twang!
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From the playability point of view, the classic vintage style one piece fretted maple neck, with 7/14” radius fingerboard radius round off a real player’s guitar.
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Jerry says; “Of all the special guitar projects I’ve ever been involved with in my quest for the perfect guitar, it’s a simple truth to say that with the V58JD Trev Wilkinson and Vintage have created (at a price I just could not have imagined possible) a most amazing guitar, and one which I use on a daily basis!”
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V58 Pickup selections:
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Position 1 (neck-Wilkinson custom design WJDTn) Offers the rich, sparkling neck pickup tone of the traditional three-pickup guitar with that unmistakable single-coil sound that echoes the soaring, majestic blues tones of the '60s and '70s.
Position 2 (neck with custom special capacitor) Exudes the instantly recognisable tonal quality associated with the iconic full-body jazz guitars. Kick in an overdrive and capture the classic late '60s ‘Woman Tone’.
Position 3 (neck and bridge pickups with customised parallel wiring) Produces an enhanced, more contemporary version of the customary middle position timbre on the classic two-pickup guitar.
Position 4 (Neck and bridge combined with a capacitor and resistor in a controlled degree of reversed phase). Offers the popular ‘in-between quack tone’ found in this position on three pickup guitars.
Position 5 Utilises a Wilkinson custom design WJDTb pickup with symmetrically staggered polepieces for great string balance and a special wind for increased sustain to capture the amazing gutsy lead sound found on the very best of those traditional two-pickup guitars!
nV58 Features:
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Body:
American Alder body provides resonance, tone and ‘correct weight’ comfort, enhanced with correctly radiused contoured body.
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Bridge:
The Wilkinson WTB intonatable bridge featured on the Vintage V58 is a masterpiece of design, eliminating age-old intonation problems often found in three saddle, fixed bridge designs.
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Pickups:
2 Custom Designed Wilkinson® WJTD Single Coils (N), Full Size, Alnico II (B) JD Spec, Alnico II.
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Controls:
Single master Volume and Tone controls with custom wired five-way switch and circuitry.
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Machines Heads:
Wilkinson WJ55S patented E-Z-Lok machine heads. Simple, effective locking action for increased tuning stability.
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Neck:
One piece hard maple neck with instant comfort, speed, accuracy and great feel.
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Fingerboard:
Maple fingerboard. Traditional 7 1/4" radius fingerboard provides positive feel and superior playability.
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Scale Length:
25.5" / 648mm.
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Frets:
22 Medium profile frets add to comfort, accuracy and overall positive feel of the Vintage V58.
Nut:
43mm Graphite nut, smooth and friction free.
Headstock:
Classic Vintage headstock design for balance and visual appeal.
The V58™ is an original Vintage® ReIssued Series guitar, designed in the UK by the Vintage® design team.