Reader: Brennan Kuhns
Hometown: Baltimore, MD
Guitar: Lydia
This is Lydia, a 2007 Squier Vintage Modified Telecaster SSH. I saw this guitar played by a customer of mine at family-owned Bill’s Music in Baltimore, and was very impressed with its tones. I complimented the player afterwards, but as it turned out, she was displeased with the guitar’s weight and was in the process of making a lighter version from various parts. After she created her version, called the Bucky 13, she gave me her old guitar—now Lydia—as a surprise birthday present.
Lydia began life as a 2007 Squier Vintage Modified Telecaster SSH—an already versatile guitar. With the addition of the Hipshot Trilogy Bridge it can move easily between different tunings.At that time, I was playing in an indie-rock folk-influenced band called Petal Blight, and using alternate tunings like DADGAD, Open D, and Open Gm (G-D-G-D-Bb-D, low to high). So, I added the Hipshot Trilogy bridge, which offers me quick access to those and other alternate tunings. As I played the guitar more, I traded the pickup selector top hat for a carved tip from a drumstick.
I also sanded down a forearm contour, added a little bit of belly contour, and added a carve on the back of the cutaway. To smooth out the carves I simply used steel wool. The neck pickup, by the way, is a mini-humbucker, and the other two are Seymour Duncan-designed hum-cancelling single coils.
At one point, I helped a customer who broke a tuner on their child’s guitar by giving them the matching tuner from Lydia— later replacing it with a Gotoh from my very first electric. These days, I play in a band called Wanderlight, and I use the Hipshot to move between DADGAD, open Em (E-B-E-G-B-E, low to high) and open G (D-G-D-G-B-D, low to high) for slide work. I purchased another guitar for my birthday in 2008, but I’ve long since sold that. Lydia has remained one of my primary instruments for 18 years. It’s a tank and a screamer.
