New Semi-Fret King Elise John Etheridge

[IbanezAS100]

This should be of interest, just unveiled at Frankfurt Musikmesse....great spec (ebony appointments, 45mm nut width etc), great price and I'm guessing it will be even cheaper when it hits the shops in May. I'll be seeking one out to try....
I've got a Corona (Strat style) and I'm very happy with it





Elise 'JE' COMING SOON

Carved from a solid mahogany blank, the Elise ‘JE’ body features an offset heel and lower horn scoop for enhanced upper fret access. Acoustically tuned chambers, a full length centre block and a double carved solid maple cap create a light, vibrant semi-acoustic body. This, combined with the Fret-King long-tenon neck joint, mated precisely to the body under the neck pickup, maximises the retention and transmission of the Elise’s fundamental acoustic properties.


The ebony fingerboard with 45mm nut width and traditional block inlays provides a supremely positive playing feel, whilst the elegant retro-styled ebony tailpiece with stagger drilled through body stringing further enhances the Elise’s inherent tonality, and provides perfectly balanced playing tension.


Two Wilkinson WVC double coil pickups give the Elise the authenticity, definition and power required for everything from mellow jazz to full-bore blues. The addition of the Fret-King ‘Vari-coil™’ allows you to wind the WVC pickups down to single coil progressively, opening up a whole raft of useable tones.


Finished in an attractive honey with pinstripe binding and an ebony Fret-King ‘signature’ pick guard, the JE looks just as good as it sounds.


Solid Mahogany chambered with double carved maple top



Neck

Solid Mahogany



Scratch Plate

Yes



Finger Board

Ebony



Scale

24.75”/628mm



Frets

22 Medium jumbo



Nut Width

45mm nominal



Nut

Graphite



Tuners

Wilkinson WJ455



Bridge

Tune-O-Matic



Pickups

2 x Wilkinson WVC



Controls

1 x Volume 1 x Tone 1 x Vari-Coil



Includes

Luxury genuine Fret-King carry bag






RRP: £949.00

Fret-King Price: £849.00


http://fret-king.com/black-label/elise-je.html

and some more pics here:

http://www.ivormairants.co.uk/fret-k...ure-model.html

[jads57]

I'd imagine this actually made by another guitar company (Korean?) to Trevor Wilkenson's recipe. Looks quite nice.
My only gripes w/ most of the lower end $ offerings is the heavy poly finiishes, and cheap electronics.

[IbanezAS100]

Yes, they are made in Korea as far as I know (apart from their Green label guitars which cost a lot more).
Very well made (judging by the few Fret Kings I've played and the Corona that I own) and an attractive alternative for working jazzers, although we'll have to wait and see what they play and sound like. I personally like the idea of an ebony board with a wider nut as it matches my main guitar so I'm looking forward to trying one out.

[David B]

Interesting guitar. Thanks for the info. The tailpiece had me confused until I saw that it's a string through body design. If John Etheridge is willing to put his name to it then it's worth a look.

[mangotango]

Wow, that looks nice. Sort of Gibson ES meets PRS. Wouldn't mind hearing that.......off to Mairants soon, methinks.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Interesting guitar. Thanks for the info. The tailpiece had me confused until I saw that it's a string through body design. If John Etheridge is willing to put his name to it then it's worth a look.

Yes, it's funny to have a non-functioning tailpiece.

[newsense]

Wow, that looks nice. Sort of Gibson ES meets PRS. Wouldn't mind hearing that.......off to Mairants soon, methinks.

I'm passing through London tomorrow, with probably an hour or so to kill, so Mairants was sneaking on to my itinerary - unfortunately the JE won't be available until May - possibly a good thing as I doubt that I would have been able to keep my credit card in my wallet otherwise !

[IbanezAS100]

..and here's a demo for anyone interested:

[newsense]

John has always had a good stock of "guitar faces"; plenty on show here, which I think means that he likes the instrument !

It will be interesting to see whether he is playing it next time I see him (although his gig list is a little light on North of England gigs at present !).

[IbanezAS100]

For anyone interested this should now be in stock at Ivor Mairants and Listers in Norwich-very much looking forward to trying it myself. Here are some 'real life' photos that I came across. A very attractive guitar in my opinion and the wider neck (45mm at the nut) is a major attraction (although the guitar reviewed by Guitarist magazine recently had a standard 43mm/ 1 11/16 nut width).





If anyone gets to try it in person soon, please post your impressions.

[jads57]

Very nice! Is the shape of the neck flatter slim type or rounder large type?

[IbanezAS100]

I haven't played it yet but the Guitarist magazine review states a rounded 'C' profile with a 22mm depth @1st fret (0.860'') to 23.5mm (0.925) @ 9th which is close to the '59' profile.

[David B]

I'll be near Ivor Mairant's tomorrow so will pop in to take a look at it.

[IbanezAS100]

That'd be great David-definitely let us know what you think!

[David B]

Got to spend a couple of minutes on this guitar yesterday, albeit unplugged. The first example arrived in store this week.
- Neck felt closer to the '50s Gibson neck profile than the 60/30 neck on the ES339 I used to have.
- Very flat feeling fretboard. Fretwork is excellent.
- Build quality felt and generally looked good - black F hole binding could do with a wipe clean.
- Lighter weight than my old ES339

It's a very nice option if you're looking for a semi.

[IbanezAS100]

Thanks for the update David. Lightweight, chunky neck and wide nut is a winning combination for me- look forward to trying it myself.

[Spook410]

Don't understand the tailpiece thing. Makes me think of a car with a vinyl roof from the 70's.

What's a 'double carved' maple top?

Like the idea of a solid mahogany back.. but if it isn't arched and they then proceeded to build a top that won't vibrate much not sure I see the point.

Nice to see a neck wider than mainstream for those that like it. Too wide for me though.

[IbanezAS100]

Here's a review of the JE as well as the PRS Zach Myers and Comins GCS

[Sonny Rollins]

Any more info on these?

How loud are they acoustically?

Are they hollow/semi-hollow ... full or partial centre block etc? Seems to be conflicting information.

Anyone?

I am drawn to the smaller size and wider nut and would love it if they were loud enough to practice acoustically, ie louder than a regular solid body.

[Sonny Rollins]

Was it something I said?

[GNAPPI]

Was it something I said?

No, it's not :-)

I "think" it's because there's very little known about them here in the U.S, as there are so few here. Every once in a while a used one pops up here in the U.S on Reverb but I don't think many are about to buy into a $1400 tryout on an unknown. One there now is ~$1150, and its description has:

"Semi-Hollow Body-Double Carved Maple Top, Chambered & Acoustically Tuned Solid Mahogany Body. "

And another description states:

"Carved from a solid mahogany blank, the Elise ‘JE’ body"

To me, its construction sounds like a number of gits like the Gibson Pat Martino Custom (and more with a DC from Gibson) and the Eastman 165MX series, all are pretty much acoustically blah but all (IMO) very decent gits overall.

[Hammertone]

Gibson made an offset semi model called the Vegas for at least five minutes. It had a flat top and a tilt-back 6-inline headstock (ala Firebird). Carved-out mahogany body with a flat maple cap. It was available in a few iterations - diamond or regular f-holes, diamond or block inlays. Simple controls, but a reasonably wide neck according to some of the specs I've seen. I played a purple one with diamond soundholes once but just don't remember much about the guitar other than it was very nicely made.

Kind of chicken & egg - not sure if it was before or after Trev came up with the original Elise.
Of course, Fender got there way earlier with the offset Starcaster, but that was a bolt-on neck, laminated semi.

[IbanezAS100]

Any more info on these?

How loud are they acoustically?

Are they hollow/semi-hollow ... full or partial centre block etc? Seems to be conflicting information.

Anyone?

I am drawn to the smaller size and wider nut and would love it if they were loud enough to practice acoustically, ie louder than a regular solid body.

As far as I remember (I played it acoustically for 5 minutes) the acoustic sound was on par with an ES335 or similar, i.e. loud enough to practise on but definitely not an acoustic archtop.

My understanding is that they are semi-hollow-have you tried contacting Fret King themselves? They've been helpful to me in the past (I used to own one of their Strat style guitars which was also very well made).

Here's a nice clip-this chap has quite a few videos where you can hear a good range of tones. Worth checking out if you haven't already.

[mad dog]

Not many around. I happen to have a Fret King Elise. Traded for it 6 months ago. Not the JE model. Has a different headstock and tailpiece.



Strange to say, can't tell you much about it. Took it over to my luthier friend for a setup. He's been out of action ever since for various reasons. So I didn't have much time with it. Remembering the pickups are outstanding, quite nice. And that it is what I had hoped, one of those semi-hollow alternatives not much like others. Small, light, nice resonance in the sound.

I'll post more when I finally get it back.
MD

[Sonny Rollins]

Thanks for the input. It seems there aren't too many floating around. I think they look great and the 45mm nut appeals. They sound great from the few examples on the web that I've seen. Food for thought. Thanks