Return of the Hot Rod guitars
I've been hot rodding guitars and gear since I was about 15 years old. I tried wiring then, painting them, reshaping them, and doing anything I could to get something more out of a plain old, off the rack instrument. I got my first real electric guitar at A Alpha music in Norfolk Virginia in about 1983. It was a Kramer and at the time was exactly what I wanted. One Hum, stable bridge ( non fine tuner Floyd Rose) that was designed from the beginning to play like it was supposed to. It wasn't cheap. I paid full retail of about $500.00 and grabbed a Peavey Backstage 30 to go with it.Ever since then after owning literally well over 100 guitars myself and all the guitars I have worked on in my business I keep going back to the basics. One hum, one volume, and a stable bridge that plays effortlessly. The late Dan Martin of St.Charles Guitar Exchange always said I was nuts and that I was beating a dead horse in buying up all of the Hot Rods I could find and afford. About 2 years later low and behold they appear on the front of Premier guitar magazine. Hot Rods are back with a vengeance. I have customers asking for one hum builds, wanting the old Charvel, Jackson, Kramer, and even the 60's and 70's strats that were gutted and modified to be as simple as humanly possible.
A.T.D. Guitars has a large selection of Hot Rod 80's guitars. Charvel, Kramer, Jackson and custom built, one hum, Floyd Rose and V-trem shredders.
