Arnold Hablewitz’s Fender Heartfield Talon was a birthday present from Arnold Hablewitz’s wife, who paid $160 (original case included) after the couple saw it at a pawnshop that was having a 60% off moving sale. “I left angry because the owner wouldn't let me open the back plate to inspect it,” he remembers. “The wife bought it for me anyway.” It’s a straightforward, Japanese-built “super strat” from 1991 with a maple neck, rosewood fretboard, and basswood body. “After polishing up the bridge and the frets and swapping out a lackluster bridge pickup for a Seymour Duncan Alternative 8, I have a very dark-sounding, yet extremely articulate guitar that plays buttery smooth,” says Habelwitz. “It is an invaluable studio instrument for me. I own many guitars in many price points, but none of them track lead lines on record better than this. If Fender ever brought these back, I'd be first in line for a new one.”