It’s nice to see a young guitar company come a long way in a short time—particularly one that serves the more accessible end of the price spectrum. We’ve reviewed two other PureSalem guitars since the company got going back in 2012, starting with the truly odd Electric End in 2013 and the less eccentric but still unusual Gordo. Each guitar marked an evolution in quality and vision. And though the Mendiola reviewed here may be the most, well, normal PureSalem we’ve ever reviewed, its superb build quality, tones that invite mellow-to-mad interaction with the instrument, and positively inviting playability signal yet another step forward for a company that keeps delivering inspired twists on familiar and idiosyncratic classic designs.
Alfa Romeo Meets Bucket T
Casual guitar spotters will no doubt take one look at the Mendiola’s surfy lines and assume a Jazzmaster influence. In truth, the more direct influence is the sparkly and fantastic Eko Ekomaster 400—as lovely an Italian solidbody mutation as there ever was (which is saying a lot, coming from this fan of ’60s Italian guitar curiosities and monstrosities). To be fair to Fender, the Ekomaster was shamelessly Jazzmaster influenced. But Eko must be given credit for its graceful slimming and trimming of the Jazzmaster’s lines, which PureSalem has aped here.
The small deviations from Fender offset dimensions don’t just pay aesthetic divedends. The body, which is slimmer at the waist, feels and looks compact, nimble, light, and elegant (almost like a cross between a Jazzmaster and Mustang), making it inviting and comfortable to explore. Offsets aren’t the only source of inspiration. The neck pickup, Telecaster-inpired headstock, and ’60s Telecaster Custom-style bound top are nods to Leo’s original masterpiece. Elsewhere, the Mendiola trades in well-chosen Gibson-style elements.
The three most important of these Kalamazoo cues are the mahogany body, the mini-humbucker pickup, and the 24 ¾” neck and 12” radius rosewood fretboard. The pickup, as we’ll see, is a major contributor to the Mendiola’s savage and articulate duality. But the lovely mahogany neck and flattish fretboard with medium-jumbo frets provides a postively SG-like sense of playability—inviting bend-happy lead excursions and jazzy chord explorations. The neck has an almost Fender-like C profile (another nice blend) and the lovely neck binding can feel a little sharp at the edges. But in general, it beckons to be played.
The first PureSalem we encountered was less than perfect in terms of build execution. Since then, PureSalem partnered with a new Korean factory, and the payoff is easy to see. The Mendiola is nearly flawless. Fretwork is perfect. So was the setup and intonation in spite of the guitar sitting in our review queue for a few cold winter months. The glossy, ink-black finish is dazzling and a perfect compliment to the Mendiola’s stripped-down, rat-rod-inspired design economy. The pin lock tuners unquestionably aid tuning stability, which is excellent. In fact, the only two very small issues I could find with the guitar are the sharp-ish edge on the fretboard binding (which was easy to get used to) and a small area of underspray in the truss-rod bore that’s only visible when you peek into the recess. Those issues aside, the guitar is just about perfectly put together.
Soaring, Stinging, and Dirty Mud Slinging
Any guitar that costs 900 bucks should deliver a little something extra in terms of sound and playing experience. On that count, Mendiola dishes the goods many times over. The Firebird-style mini-humbucker is the nicest surprise. It’s lively, responsive, and hot without being brash or lacking dynamics, and it communicates the mahogany body’s intrinsic snap with aplomb.
Ratings
Pros:Well-executed mix of Fender and Gibson design elements. Great-feeling neck. Sweet and searing mini-humbucker tones.
Cons:
Fetboard binding can feel a bit sharp at first. Neck pickup can sound relatively weak on its own.
Tones:
Playability:
Build/Design:
Value:
Street:
$910
PureSalem Mendiola
puresalemguitars.com
The volume and tone pots, which both have very nice range and taper, help expand the mini’s palette. But it’s already pretty expansive thanks to high headroom, minimal compression, and a high-mid-focused but still very even frequency range. Bass tones are round, balanced, and don’t overpower or overcompensate for the top-end emphasis. The clean but stinging qualities mean you can push an amp verging on distortion to sizzling heights. It’s great for a slightly less microphonic and dimensional take on Neil Young’s mini-humbucker and Fender Deluxe recipe. It’s also beautiful for Jerry Garcia- and Jorma Kaukonen-style lead lines when paired with less-compressed, higher-wattage Fender circuits—delivering tweeting overtones on top of nicely contoured fundamental tones.
It also pairs gracefully with the lower-output Telecaster-style neck pickup, which is slanted bridgeward on the bass side, presumably to add top end emphasis. The combined pickup tone is focused, detailed, and spacious, and communicates these qualities clearly through sheets of reverb and delay. It’s easy to see why PureSalem counts so many shoegaze players among its endoresees: Few basic tones are quite so perfect for the genre as the airy but present sounds from the Mendiola’s pickups working together.
If there’s a weak link in the pickup array, it’s the neck unit by itself. The basic sound is a bit generic, with a somewhat narrow frequency spectrum. The output is also quite low compared to the sparkling mini-humbucker. That said, the perfect balance achieved by the two pickups working together—oxygenated and never overbearing—makes the less-than-heavenly output from the neck pickup worth the trade off.
The Verdict
Though lovely in its own no-frills, hot-rod kind of way, the Mendiola doesn’t look full of surprises at first. That, of course, makes its sonic and tactile treats that much sweeter. The combined and bridge pickup tones can be made to sound simple, subtle, or celestial. The neck—which combines the most inviting aspects of a Fender C profile and an SG’s flat, fast runway-for-ripping feel—is a joy. At $910 Mendiola lives at the fringes of upscale pricing. But it is mindfully designed and delivers more than enough character and charsima to make its slightly-above-midrange tag feel reasonable. In doing so, it also inhabits a sweet spot between Fender and Gibson look and feel that more than a few players are bound to find intriguing, if not irresistible.
Gibson originally launched the EB-6 model with the intention of serving consumers looking for a “tic-tac” bass sound.
The Gibson EB-6 was announced in 1959 and came into the world in 1960, not with a dual-horn body but with that of an elegant ES-335. They looked stately, with a thin, semi-hollow body, f-holes, and a sunburst finish. Our pick for this Vintage Vault column is one such first-year model, in about as original condition as you’re able to find today. “Why?” you may be asking. Well, read on....
When the EB-6 was introduced, the Bass VI was still a glimmer in Leo Fender’s eye. The real competition were the Danelectro 6-string basses that seemed to have popped up out of nowhere and were suddenly being used on lots of hit records by the likes of Elvis, Patsy Cline, and other household names. Danos like the UB-2 (introduced in ’56), the Longhorn 4623 (’58), and the Shorthorn 3612 (’58) were the earliest attempts any company made at a 6-string bass in this style: not quite a standard electric bass, not quite a guitar, nor, for that matter, quite like a baritone guitar.
The only change this vintage EB-6 features is a replacement set of Kluson tuners.
Photo by Ken Lapworth
Gibson, Fender, and others during this era would in fact call these basses “baritone guitars,” to add to our confusion today. But these vintage “baritones” were all tuned one octave below a standard guitar, with scale lengths around 30", while most modern baritones are tuned B-to-B or A-to-A and have scale lengths between 26" and 30".)
At the time, those Danelectros were instrumental to what was called the “tic-tac” bass sound of Nashville records produced by Chet Atkins, or the “click-bass” tones made out west by producer Lee Hazlewood. Gibson wanted something for this market, and the EB-6 was born.
“When the EB-6 was introduced, the Bass VI was still a glimmer in Leo Fender’s eye.”
The 30.5" scale 1960 EB-6 has a single humbucking pickup, a volume knob, a tone knob, and a small, push-button “Tone Selector Switch” that engages a treble circuit for an instant tic-tac sound. (Without engaging that switch, you get a bass-heavy tone so deep that cowboy chords will sound like a muddy mess.)
The EB-6, for better or for worse, did not unseat the Danelectros, and a November 1959 price list from Gibson hints at why: The EB-6 retailed for $340, compared to Dano price tags that ranged from $85 to $150. Only a few dozen EB-6 basses were shipped in 1960, and only 67 total are known to have been built before Gibson changed the shape to the SG style in 1962.
Most players who come across an EB-6 today think it was a response to the Fender Bass VI, but the former actually beat the latter to the market by a full year.
Photo by Ken Lapworth
It’s sad that so few were built. Sure, it was a high-end model made to achieve the novelty tic-tac sound of cheaper instruments, but in its full-voiced glory, the EB-6 has a huge potential of tones. It would sound great in our contemporary guitar era where more players are exploring baritone ranges, and where so many people got back into the Bass VI after seeing the Beatles play one in the 2021 documentary, Get Back.
It’s sadder, still, how many original-era EB-6s have been parted out in the decades since. Remember earlier when I wrote that our Vintage Vaultpick was about as original as you could find? That’s because the model’s single humbucker is a PAF, its Kluson tuners are double-line, and its knobs are identical to those on Les Paul ’Bursts. So as people repaired broken ’Bursts, converted other LPs to ’Bursts, or otherwise sought to give other Gibsons a “Golden Era” sound and look ... they often stripped these forgotten EB-6 basses for parts.
This original EB-6 is up for sale now from Reverb seller Emerald City Guitars for a $16,950 asking price at the time of writing. The only thing that isn’t original about it is a replacement set of Kluson tuners, not because its originals were stolen but just to help preserve them. (They will be included in the case.)
With so few surviving 335-style EB-6 basses, Reverb doesn’t have a ton of sales data to compare prices to. Ten years ago, a lucky buyer found a nearly original 1960 EB-6 for about $7,000. But Emerald City’s $16,950 asking price is closer to more recent examples and asking prices.
Sources: Prices on Gibson Instruments, November 1, 1959, Tony Bacon’s “Danelectro’s UB-2 and the Early Days of 6-String Basses” Reverb News article, Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars, Tom Wheeler’s American Guitars: An Illustrated History, Reverb listings and Price Guide sales data.
Originally released in the 1980s, the Victory has long been a cult favorite among guitarists for its distinctive double cutaway design and excellent upper-fret access. These new models feature flexible electronics, enhanced body contours, improved weight and balance, and an Explorer headstock shape.
A Cult Classic Made Modern
The new Victory features refined body contours, improved weight and balance, and an updated headstock shape based on the popular Gibson Explorer.
Effortless Playing
With a fast-playing SlimTaper neck profile and ebony fretboard with a compound radius, the Victory delivers low action without fret buzz everywhere on the fretboard.
Flexible Electronics
The two 80s Tribute humbucker pickups are wired to push/pull master volume and tone controls for coil splitting and inner/outer coil selection when the coils are split.
For more information, please visit gibson.com.
Gibson Victory Figured Top Electric Guitar - Iguana Burst
Released in 1983, the Roland SDE-3000 rackmount delay was a staple for pro players of the era and remains revered for its rich analog/digital hybrid sound and distinctive modulation. BOSS reimagined this retro classic in 2023 with the acclaimed SDE-3000D and SDE-3000EVH, two wide-format pedals with stereo sound, advanced features, and expanded connectivity. The SDE-3 brings the authentic SDE-3000 vibe to a streamlined BOSS compact, enhanced with innovative creative tools for every musical style. The SDE-3 delivers evocative delay sounds that drip with warmth and musicality. The efficient panel provides the primary controls of its vintage benchmark—including delay time, feedback, and independent rate and depth knobs for the modulation—plus additional knobs for expanded sonic potential.
A wide range of tones are available, from basic mono delays and ’80s-style mod/delay combos to moody textures for ambient, chill, and lo-fi music. Along with reproducing the SDE-3000's original mono sound, the SDE-3 includes a powerful Offset knob to create interesting tones with two simultaneous delays. With one simple control, the user can instantly add a second delay to the primary delay. This provides a wealth of mono and stereo colors not available with other delay pedals, including unique doubled sounds and timed dual delays with tap tempo control. The versatile SDE-3 provides output configurations to suit any stage or studio scenario.
Two stereo modes include discrete left/right delays and a panning option for ultra-wide sounds that move across the stereo field. Dry and effect-only signals can be sent to two amps for wet/dry setups, and the direct sound can be muted for studio mixing and parallel effect rigs. The SDE-3 offers numerous control options to enhance live and studio performances. Tap tempo mode is available with a press and hold of the pedal switch, while the TRS MIDI input can be used to sync the delay time with clock signals from DAWs, pedals, and drum machines. Optional external footswitches provide on-demand access to tap tempo and a hold function for on-the-fly looping. Alternately, an expression pedal can be used to control the Level, Feedback, and Time knobs for delay mix adjustment, wild pitch effects, and dramatic self-oscillation.
The new BOSS SDE-3 Dual Delay Pedal will be available for purchase at authorized U.S. BOSS retailers in October for $219.99. To learn more, visit www.boss.info.