One of the truly fun things about chatting with guitar enthusiasts—whether they’re players or simply observers—is coming to know the personal associations they have with specific guitar models. Some folks might see a Harmony archtop and think of their mom. Another might see a Les Paul and remember the first time they skipped school to smoke on the sly and watch their buddy’s copy of The Song Remains the Same. When it comes to the Gibson L-00, I have my own filmic associations. I came to know the L-00, or more specifically, it’s very close relative, the Gibson Nick Lucas model, via Don’t Look Back, D.A. Pennebaker’s 1967 document of Bob Dylan’s 1965 tour of England. Much of what made Don’t Look Back so arresting was watching Dylan perform alone to crowds that could fairly be called “rapt.” Dylan looked sharp in that film. But in his solitude, he also looked heroic—and the Nick Lucas like his Excalibur.
Not every guitar is suited to one-man-band duties like those Dylan took on in his pre-electric years. But the Nick Lucas certainly was. The L-00 Century reviewed here, which is the slimmer, 12-fret cousin of the Nick Lucas, could cut the mustard, too. Like its thicker-bodied relative, the L-00 is snappy, percussive, tight, and present in the midrange frequencies. And like a little dog that’s tougher than it looks, it’s surprisingly full of attitude—exactly the kind of instrument that could drive the snarling proto-rap of “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” or float along with the lazy country phrasings of “Love Minus Zero” with grace, authority, and ease.
Of Punch and Proportions
To those among our readership who have never held, played, or heard much from an L-00, a little clarification is in order. Gibson’s current marketing materials describe the new Century 12-Fret, obliquely, as a “parlor” instrument. While some folks may have referred to the L-00 as a parlor guitar in the past—or, indeed, played them in parlors—the L-00 is closer in proportions to a classical guitar or a Martin 00 than most of the very small instruments we would call parlors today. Though it’s more pinched at the waist than a Martin 00 and more narrow at the upper bout, it’s actually a touch wider than a Martin 00 at the lower bout. It’s a beautifully proportioned instrument—compact, curvaceous, and comfortable to cradle. Needless to say, those dimensions—and the guitar’s construction—inform the sound in a major way. In the case of this Century Collection instrument, there is the 12-fret construction to consider, too.
“It’s a beautifully proportioned instrument—compact, curvaceous, and comfortable to cradle.”
Players that keep a close eye on Gibson’s contemporary offerings will no doubt notice that most modern L-00s—from the Special and Studio to the Standard, Original, and even the 1933 reissue—are 14-fret models. This configuration, which many guitarists consider more playable, is a modern standard for a lot of guitars that began life in the pre-war era as 12-fret instruments. But significantly, on a small-bodied instrument like the L-00 Century the 12-fret configuration—and the resulting shift of the bridge closer to the center point of the top’s widest section—means more bass resonance, which is a wonderful, welcome bit of counterweight to the L-00’s generally tighter and more midrangey tone profile. The extra bass you hear from the 12-fret configuration isn’t exactly the kind that goes “thump!” Instead, it takes the shape of a warm resonance and glow that dovetails seamlessly with the guitar’s basic warm-and-sparkly voice—qualities that will serve fingerstylists with a nuanced thumb touch.
The warmth and sparkle are also, in no small part, a product of the solid Sitka spruce top and mahogany back and sides. The top-end detail that’s so easy to hear is aided perceptibly by the spruce, which also gives the more resonant bass an excited nudge in the overtone picture. These more activated overtones are supported by the signature toasty aura of the mahogany. The whole image is one of balance and an even-temperedness that could make it a recording star.
Balance is not the only virtuous outcome of the tonewood selection and 12-fret configuration. The L-00 Century 12-Fret also exhibits impressive headroom for a guitar of its size. A heavy touch with a flatpick yields lead tones that snarl and pop without blurring or sounding thin. And while unbridled flatpicking and strumming can yield startling power and brightness, the sound rarely turns compressed or mushy. For a guitar of this size, it flat-out has a lot of horsepower.
100 Years of Refinement
The L-00 Century 12-Fret was released—along with a raft of other beautiful flattops—to commemorate 100 years of Gibson flat-tops. Though there are guitars elsewhere in the Gibson line that celebrate the centennial with fancy—and expensive—appointments, the L-00 Century, along with its 12-fret stablemates the J-45 Century and J-185 Century, join the party in more understated style. Each has a satin finish—and while all three can be had in satin black or satin 2-color vintage sunburst, the hand-sprayed nitrocellulose vintage amber finish on the L-00 reviewed here strikes me as the most handsome and natural-looking of the bunch. If the satin finish is a means of making the Century Collection guitars more accessible, nothing elsewhere in the construction suggests cost-savings measures. I couldn’t find a misstep anywhere. My guess is that these guitars will age gracefully on the aesthetic front, and there is every indication they will endure as heirlooms for the hardiness in their build.
The Verdict
The L-00 Century 12-Fret’s feel of lasting, built-for-a-lifetime craftsmanship makes its $2,299 price much easier to justify. The guitar’s lovely, versatile voice, its dynamism and headroom, its substantial-but-fast neck, and its grace have me, at times, thinking, “expensive, yes, but in a way that makes sense.” There are less pricey ways to experience a genuine Gibson L-00—the L-00 Special, for instance, is $1,999—but not less expensive by much. And the 12-fret configuration here gives the L-00 Century 12-Fret a distinct tone advantage.
Mojotone has launched the Quiet Coil H-90, a humbucker-sized P-90 guitar pickup designed to deliver authentic P-90 tone without the noise.
Engineered to fit any standard humbucker route, the Quiet Coil H-90 gives players the ability to achieve the rich, dynamic character of a traditional P-90 without requiring permanent or invasive modifications to their guitar. Available in either nickel or gold covers, this drop-in solution opens the door for greater tonal flexibility while preserving the integrity of your instrument.
At the heart of the Quiet Coil H-90 is Mojotone's award-winning Quiet Coil technology, which eliminates 60-cycle hum while retaining the organic character, clarity, and responsiveness that have made the P-90 pickup a favorite among players for decades. The result is authentic single-coil tone with the reliability and noise-free performance demanded by today's musicians.
Featuring AlNiCo 5 magnets and using traditional style 2-conductor wiring, the Quiet Coil H-90 captures the tone of a classic P-90 pickup without the hum.
"The P-90 has long been one of the most expressive and versatile pickup designs ever created, but many players have been limited by routing requirements and unwanted noise," said Michael McWhorter, CEO of Mojotone. "We designed the Quiet Coil H-90 to remove those barriers. Players can now get true P-90 character in virtually any humbucker-equipped guitar with no modifications and no hum."
The Quiet Coil H-90 is available in two-pickup sets -- featuring matched bridge and neck – for a street price of $299.95 per set; and as singles with a street of $149.95 per pickup. For more information visit mojotone.com.
What makes “vintage,” vintage? Is it just a matter of time? Or does an instrument need some extra, sui generis quality to become a true marker of an era in our minds?
Photos courtesy of Joel’s Vintage Guitars.
There’s no hard or fast cutoff for “vintage” like the 100 years required for something to be a true “antique,” but a range of 30 years for clothing or other types of collectibles generally separates what’s vintage from that which is merely used. By that benchmark, the first PRS McCarty—released over 30 years ago, in 1994—is now a vintage guitar.
Keep in mind: In 1994, at the launch of Paul Reed Smith’s McCarty, the original Les Paul Bursts (built 1958–1960) were about as old to the McCarty as the McCarty is to us right now. The vintage guitar market was then, as it were, already heating up, with Bursts going for anywhere between $20,000 and $100,000. Today, first-year McCartys still trade in the four-digit thousands, while price tags for Bursts and other “properly” vintage electrics have grown dramatically.
And so we ask, does this particular first-year McCarty that we’ve selected for this edition of Vintage Vault—serial #17 out of the 100 built in 1994—truly belong in the vault?
Up for sale now for about $8,500 via Reverb seller Joel's Vintage Guitars (no relation to this writer), this McCarty bears two autographs: Paul Reed Smith’s as part of the inlay headstock logo design, and Ted McCarty’s own on the guitar’s backplate.
While most of us here probably know the name, for those who don’t: Ted McCarty was the president of Gibson during the generally agreed “Golden Era” of the company, when classic guitars like the Les Paul, SG, and ES-335—and classic components like the Tune-O-Matic bridge and PAF humbucker—were born. He retired from Gibson in 1966.
Many years later, Paul Reed Smith himself kept seeing McCarty’s name on Gibson patents while diving into records at the U.S. Patent Office. While Smith knew McCarty’s work, at the time he didn’t know the name, nor did he realize just how instrumental McCarty was to Gibson’s most well known guitars and specs. But on patent after patent, listed as the inventor, his name kept popping up: “Ted McCarty, Kalamazoo, Michigan.”
Smith reached out to McCarty in 1986 and asked him to be a consultant for the fledgling PRS company. Paul wanted to know everything about how the most prized Gibsons were made during McCarty’s reign: “What kind of glue did he glue the frets in with?” Paul remembers asking. “How did they glue the tops on? How did they glue the necks in? How did they level the fingerboards? How did they dry the fingerboards, the necks?”
McCarty was not only forthcoming with his answers, but was thrilled to share his life’s work. “Nobody has asked me these questions in 30 years,” he told Smith, in Smith’s retelling. And did you catch that, reader? “In 30 years,” he said. Just about the length of time it takes for the next generation, in this case Paul Reed Smith’s, to reconsider what is old and unwanted versus what is vintage and desirable. Paul decided McCarty’s work was so valuable that he built a guitar model as tribute.
Photos courtesy of Joel’s Vintage Guitars.
The McCarty was offered as a vintage-style guitar, compared to PRS’ more modern-flavored Custom 24. In fact, its original inspiration came from guitarist David Grissom, who asked Smith to make a guitar that sounded like Duane Allman’s from At Fillmore East (which, as history would have it, was a ’59 Burst and a ’57 Goldtop).
This ’94 McCarty nods to a Les Paul in many ways: It has a two-piece carved maple top with a tobacco burst finish over a mahogany body. It has a mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard, 22 frets, two humbuckers, a wrap-around tailpiece … So far, so Les Paul.
But there are obvious differences, too, with the double-cutaway body being the most obvious. Runners-up are the single volume and single tone knobs. And the more subtle is the scale length: The McCarty’s is 25", in between Gibson’s standard 24.75" and Fender’s standard 25.5".
At over $8,000, if this McCarty sells it will be the most expensive first-year McCarty to sell on Reverb, though that’s plenty reasonable when compared to prices asked for vintage Gibsons and Fenders. (The most expensive ’94 McCarty sold on Reverb to date went for $4,400, paid four years ago for a higher serial number.)
Perhaps there’s a ceiling on what guitarists are willing to pay for a vintage PRS. Adjusted for inflation, the $8,500 price tag is just slightly above what its brand-new price would’ve been in 1994 dollars. But with the McCarty connection—and through him the connection to lineage of golden-era Gibson—perhaps we’re just at the start of a new vintage boom. Could buying an original McCarty for $8,000 today be as big of a steal as buying a burst LP for eight grand in the ’80s? Only time will tell.
Sources: PRS’ The Unforgotten Man: Ted McCarty and His Impact on Paul Reed Smith, Reverb’s Former Gibson Chief Ted McCarty on Tonewoods and the Problems of 'Top-Heavy' Management, Reverb listings and Price Guide sales data
Before the humbucker, before active electronics, before any of the boutique winding methods players argue about online, there was a coil of wire wrapped around a magnet. That simple design is still one of the most widely used pickup formats in the world. In this episode of Pickups Demystified, PG contributor @TomButwin traces single coils to their origins in the early 1930s and works through four formats that define the category today.
Seymour Duncan
Psychedelic Strat
For those of us who aren’t able to own a late ‘60s Stratocaster, installing a set of our Psychedelic Strat pickups is the next best thing! These vintage voiced pickups have the signature psychedelic and paisley underground sound found in all of our favorite feedback and wah drenched extended solos.
Using traditional materials and period accurate wind, these Alnico 5 loaded pickups deliver unique depth and fullness to your sound. On the clean side, they deliver the desired scooped and glassy tones, and when you stomp on a fuzz, you’ll get tight and defined clarity in all positions.
Power up your Telecaster with the upper midrange growl and drive of the Quarter Pound for Tele pickups. The Quarter Pound for Tele Rhythm’s custom overwound coil provides a powerful midrange that cuts through any mix without sounding bright or brash. This makes it a rhythm beast with huge sounding chords, and full, fat lead tones.
The Quarter Pound Tele Lead is our highest output Tele single coil. Its special high output coil, with hand polished ¼” diameter alnico 5 rod magnets, deliver a huge sound with an almost P90-like growl. Leads will jump out and sound fatter than ever, while chords will be rich with sparkly midrange harmonics. The perfect choice for Tele players who demand to be heard.
Both pickups are available in an optional tapped variation as well, allowing you to tap into both vintage and high output tonalities with a single Tele set. The Quarter Pound high output Tele pickups are hand built in Santa Barbara, CA using hand polished ¼” diameter alnico 5 rod magnets, and Forbon flatwork along with a traditional deep drawn chrome plated Telecaster cover for the neck. Wax potted for squeal free performance.
Mojotone is excited and honored to have worked with such a renowned luthier to develop our Rene Martinez "Texas" Strat® Pickups. These were developed to emulate that specific and unique "Texas Tone" which was inspired by the one and only SRV.
Greg Koch Gristle-Tone Signature Series Single Width 3-Pickup Set
Greg Koch channels the influence of legendary players like Hendrix, Vaughan, and Beck, blending blues, funk, and R&B with his own unique twist of grunge and grit. His signature “Gristle” tone is all about high energy, versatility, and a little bit of dirty fun—perfect for players who want a dynamic sound with character. With these pickups, you get that unmistakable blend of classic warmth and raw power, designed to fuel your playing with every note.
The Vintage Jazzmaster® Silencer is a noiseless pickup that retains the bright, punchy neck tone and tight, snappy bridge sound that defines the Jazzmaster®. Clean or overdriven, the Vintage Jazzmaster® Silencer’s vintage-voiced tone is perfect for shimmering indie textures, surf-inspired riffs, and modern pedal-driven explorations. No more hum holding you back—just the pure, classic Jazzmaster® tone you love.
Darkglass Electronics announces the launch of KosmOS 1.16, a major operating system update for its Anagram modeling platform. Developed to enhance the device's functional capabilities for modern players, producers, and engineering professionals, this firmware update expands the platform's digital architecture by introducing new core modeling frameworks, dedicated vintage-inspired bass blocks, and optimization tools designed to streamline both studio and stage utility. The release marks a deliberate step forward in expanding the software ecosystem of the hardware, offering users unprecedented flexibility in sound curation and processing deployment.
At the center of the KosmOS 1.16 release is a strategic partnership with Tone3000, which brings full Neural Amp Modeler (NAM) Architecture 2 (A2) support directly to the Anagram platform. This update introduces three dedicated processing blocks—Neural Amp, Neural Pedal, and Neural Loader—allowing users to run up to three simultaneous instances of NAM A2 Full, A2 Lite, or A1 configurations. By integrating this architecture, players can directly import custom digital captures created by a global community of over 300,000 musicians and recording engineers, allowing the exact tonal characteristics of various physical amplifiers, pedals, and studio gear to be used anywhere.
The update significantly expands the device’s internal signal chain and tone-shaping flexibility with the addition of targeted processing blocks, including the new Peggy Classic and Peggy Fliptop options. The Peggy Classic block provides a harmonically rich punch designed to replicate the foundational bass tones found on global studio recordings and live stages, scaling from clean and articulate tracking to aggressively overdriven textures. For vintage applications, the Peggy Fliptop and its matching Peggy Fliptop 1×15" cabinet emulation bring the distinct sound of 1960s recording studios to the hardware, delivering dynamic tube warmth. Additionally, utility routing is streamlined via a new combined High-Pass and Low-Pass Filter (HPF+LPF) block, which combines filtering controls into a single slot to remove unwanted low-end rumble and harsh top-end frequencies simultaneously.
Darkglass has also overhauled the user interface and control workflow within KosmOS 1.16 to give players immediate feedback and precise parameter manipulation. A new DSP Meters view, which can be enabled via the advanced settings menu, allows users to visually measure the exact processing load of every single block within their active signal chain. For fine-tuning parameters, the update introduces a Type Parameter Values feature, allowing users to touch a specific setting on the block screen and input exact numerical values via an on-screen numpad. Hardware configuration is further expanded by new Behaviour Device Settings, which introduce customizable footswitch layouts including Mode Cycling (such as Preset to Stomp, Preset to Scene, and Stomp to Scene) alongside specialized Up/Down behavior modifications for dedicated Preset, Stomp, and Scene modes.
System integration and memory management receive a major expansion through the new Scenes Expansion and Scenes Manager features. The system now accommodates up to 126 user-configurable Scenes, giving players the ability to copy, rearrange, and instantly recall dense system states.
From a practical application standpoint, these additions directly refine the Anagram for high-pressure environments across live performance and studio tracking sessions. The combined HPF+LPF block delivers a tone that is instantly ready for a front-of-house PA or a DAW recording input without requiring external corrective equalization. Meanwhile, the ability to run three simultaneous NAM instances means complex multi-amp or pre-and-post-effect capture chains can be transported to any venue or session without bringing physical cabinets or outboard gear. The implementation of the Scenes Manager and structural footswitch customization allows players to adapt their physical layouts to the exact technical constraints of a performance setlist, reducing overall workflow complexity.
For more information about update installation instructions and full system compatibility, please visit the official Darkglass Electronics website at www.darkglass.com
