December 2007 \ Features \ Product Spotlight \ The Best of '07

The Best of '07

 Premier Guitar December 2007
(5 of 6)
nship or your checkbook. Plus, you get a chance to check out a few of our top picks for 2007.
February 2007
Planet Waves Auto-Trim Tuners

Planet Waves has long been known for producing clever accessories for guitar players, offering up everything from smart case humidifiers to quick-release strap systems. This foray into guitar parts, with Ned Steinberger’s design help, shows the same level of end-user consideration present in the rest of their product line. The Auto-Trim Tuners come across as typical locking tuners, but with a nice curve thrown in: as it gets closer to pitch, the Auto-Trim Tuner cuts the string off for you, keeping one more tool at home – always a good thing for typically overburdened guitarists.

Planet Waves
MSRP $89.99
planetwaves.com
 Planet Waves Auto-Trim Tuners


Peterson Tuners StroboFlip February 2007
Peterson Tuners StroboFlip

Featuring sweetened tunings, along with Buzz Feiten temperaments, the StroboFlip proved to be more than capable of covering every tuning need. It also won over many fans around the office for its compact design and easy-to-read display. The intuitive layout gives easy access to the functions most commonly used, with the only downside being the unit’s depth of function, offering up perhaps more features than most will ever use, and the reason it earned top marks.

Peterson Electro-Musical Products, Inc.
MSRP $329
petersontuners.com


May 2007
WCR IronMan Humbucking Pickups

The WCR IronMan pickups deliver a unique approach to getting your own sound by shipping various magnets along with the pickups, allowing the end-user to determine if they prefer the flavor of an Alnico 8, Ceramic 8 or Alnico 5 in their humbucking stew. Our tone taster preferred the Alnico 8’s flavorful mix of tight top and bottom with nice mids. The magnet/pickup combo also offered up even upper harmonics and tasty musical feedback. The Ceramic 8 was deemed appropriate for metal and dropped tuning chores, while the Alnico 5 earned a respectable third from our expert, illustrating differences in taste as well as how flexible this multiple magnet arrangement is for finding your ideal tone recipe.

WCR Pickups
Starting at $180
crcoils.com
 WCR IronMan Humbucking Pickups


Glendale Tele Bridge and Saddles August 2007
Glendale Tele Bridge and Saddles

Glendale brought their “A” game this summer when they unleashed their nonmagnetic bridge plate and Twang saddle set on an unsuspecting PG staffer. By using stainless steel for the bridge plate, Glendale is able to deliver what our tester described as “more piano-like brilliance” as well as just all-around “more” tone and depth than a typical Tele setup. The compensated saddles were also a home run, offering a more even tonal response by adding aluminum for the E and A saddle and traditional brass for the other two. We gushed over the workmanship and design of Glendale’s products, earning the bridge-plate/saddle combination a perfect game.

Glendale Guitars
Twang Saddles $54.99
Non-Magnetic Bridge-Plate $125
glendaleguitars.com


September 2007
Amalfitano SP Pickups

Our tester delivered a glowing review praising the Amalfitano’s evenness in volume while switching from neck to bridge, the result of winding the pickups to different values. He also loved their ability to consistently deliver nearly perfect Strat tones, damn the knob placement. Featuring scatter-winding, described on Amalfitano’s website as a “hand-wound, non-uniform, wire layering technique,” the SPs offer up more response to dynamic input and a glorious vintage tone. The reviewer suggested the SPs as a replacement for a Strat with an anemic bridge pickup, opining that the Amalfitano bridge unit veers scarily close to Tele territory. If the bridge position is this good, you know neck and middle have to be phenomenal.

Amalfitano Pickups
MSRP $250
amalfitanopickups.com
 Amalfitano SP Pickups


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Comments

 (2 comments) display by
UsernameComment
Rebecca from PG
on 01/03/2008 		The Fender Classic Player 50s Stratocaster has an MSRP of $1142.84, but retails for more like $799, paired with the Orange Tiny Terror (MSRP $699) that retails for $550, you'll be set up very nicely for just over $1300. Hey, who doesn't like dreaming though?
Rory Bluesthug Connolly
on 12/14/2007 		Happy Holidaze,Ahhhh yes,to sleep is to dream.Especially when your a married man with 1 kid,2dogs,and all the bills that roll in every month!!!!was there nothing/guitars made for under $1,300.00 in the past year that we mere weekend hacks playing the open jam at the local------(icehouse,pizzia joint,you fill in the blank)could use?Come on ,say a prayer for the hard working people.Try again next year guys



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