REVIEWED:

VINTAGE

Thomas Blug
Signature
Series V6
Words: Joey Setano

VINTAGE JHS’ incredible Vintage Icon series

Thomas Blug unveils its first official Signature series
instrument, inspired by the favourite
Signature Series V6
SRP £399.00

All prices incl VAT guitar of German session guitarist

Contact:
John Hornby Skewes
Thomas Blug...
T: 01132 865 381
W: www.jhs.co.uk German born Thomas Blug exact look, feel and unique custom Hardware
is one of Europe’s most respected electronics of the German virtuoso’s Whilst this Korean-made guitar is
guitarists with many awards under old faithful, virtually down to the designed to replicate Blug’s original,
What is it?
his belt, including Germany’s Best last detail. A guitarist of Thomas the only obvious visual difference is
An artificially aged Solid bodied
Pop and Rock Guitarist, and in 2004, Blug’s calibre would have little the Vintage headstock which, when
electric six string electric guitar
the Stratocaster’s 50th birthday year trouble commissioning an expensive all is said and done, echo’s the
that is microscopically modelled
he was voted ‘StratKing of Europe.’ custom shop signature guitar but his essential vibe of the original without
on a much-loved golden oldie.
Blug (pronounced Blerg) is very incredible new Vintage V6 Signature treading on anyone’s toes. Vintage
much a one-man one-guitar type of Series has a street price that just have carefully given the headstock
Why Should
player and his constant companion skims deftly below the £400 quid plenty of authentic-looking dings
I Want One?
is a genuinely ‘road worn’ ’61 threshold! This guitar’s affordability and the vintage style Wilkinson
As an excellent substitute to
Fender Stratocaster that Thomas is obviously one of its main strengths Deluxe EZ-Lok tuners have been
Thomas Blug’s ’61, the Vintage
subtly modified to his personal but its development is also fascinating artificially aged to remain true to the
V6 has the right vibe, looks,
specifications. story. Thomas teamed up with vintage vibe whilst offering modern
sound and playability, and is a
The old Strat is so closely identified British guitar guru Trevor Wilkinson, tuning stability and performance.
fab alternative to higher priced
with Thomas that one couldn’t really mapping out every ding and dent The single string tree helps the top E
vintage styled guitars, including
imagine him playing anything else on the old Strat’s battered Olympic and B strings to maintain an even
Fender’s Road Worn series.
but one enterprising company has white body and the result is certainly pressure across the Wilkaloid
For more information on Thomas
persuaded Thomas to help them one of the most stunning looking low-friction nut to help side-step
Blug: www.thomasblug.de
develop a brand new signature and intriguing signature guitars that any potential tuning problems
model that faithfully reproduces the we’ve ever seen. during heavy use of the vibrato arm

36 3pickup

and even straight from the box the
guitar feels extremely stable.
In keeping with aged-tradition, all
of the metal hardware has received
an authentic tarnished and corroded
effect, including the tuners, vibrato
plate, push-in vibrato arm, vintage
style bridge saddles, jack socket, neck
plate and strap buttons, as though
The Bukka switch kicks in a hum-cancelling dummy coil
Rust lust: Aged EZ-Lok tuners keep it real
The 7.25-inch fingerboard radius mantains the vintage feel
this guitar has captured a lifetime’s
worth of the sweat and toil of a
hard-pushed, working guitar.
Like the headstock, the shallow C
profile neck conveys a convincing
feel, not only due to the vintage style
7.25 inch radius specified by Thomas
Blug (the standard V6 model has a
flatter 10 inch radius) but also due to
the back of the neck, whose worn
finish painstakingly recreates the
aging process bought on by gigging
night after night in smoked filled
clubs. It looks and feels awesome –
like a favourite pair of jeans or
trainers that have been worn on a
daily basis -and the dark rosewood
fingerboard tenders a gorgeous
worn-in sheen. This factor, along with
VINTAGE THOMAS BLUG SIGNATURE SERIES V6
an extremely neat set of 21 well “I just feel it’s so important to get saturated with high gain overdrive
honed frets, offers one of the best as many different tones from the The treble condenser linked to the
replicated vintage necks we’ve guitar, this breeds emotion within my volume control proves invaluable
played in an age. The tighter vintage playing and writing, and creates for clean-up duties, maintaining a
style fingerboard radius suits the different melodic moods on stage. sweet-sounding treble when the
natural curve of the player’s left For me, the guitar sound has a lot to volume is backed-off with enough
hand and feels spot-on for chord do with voice, the whole dynamic headroom for a dramatic solo lift
work and lead playing, as specified range, from a whisper to a dirty when wound back to the stopper.
by Thomas himself. mean scream. A lot of guitar players The Blug Bukka switch is subtle
think the best sound their instrument enough not to change any of the
Scar wars can produce is at maximum volume. classic single coil tone but it certainly
The Blug Signature’s Think in terms of driving your car flat is very effective for kerbing the highs
basswood body is out, there’s no room left for any at high-gain settings when they
cosmetically very acceleration. If your guitar is on ten, might otherwise get a little crashy,
striking, finished in a the only versatility you have is how but if that’s your preference, you
very fetching shade of hard to attack the strings. have the choice not to use the switch
distressed vintage Over the years I’ve developed this if you want to preserve the true
white with accurately soft and heavy energy technique by integrity of the single coil character.
traced out battle scars lowering the guitar volume and, with All the classic sounds you’d expect
that look uncannily a combination of the pick and soft are ready to be coaxed from the
close to Blug’s finger approach on the strings, I can Thomas Blug Vintage Signature
original. Of course, no express the whole dynamic range of Series V6. Combined with high gain
amount of artificial the guitar, augmented with various it virtually plays itself and when
aging would be worth overdrive pedals set to different pushed hard with minimal overdrive
a light if the rest of levels of gain. and a hint of compression harmonics
the guitar didn’t This has been possible thanks to are rich and to the fore, with a
match and the some very special custom wiring, belting snap and twang, no doubt
battered finish is which I’m pleased to say we have added by the snug fitting bolt-on
complimented by included within the Vintage V6.” neck which is a sure fire contribution
yellowed control The Blug Signature V6’s custom to the unmistakable voice.
knobs, pickup covers, wiring includes a condenser in the
vibrato arm tip and volume control circuit which doesn’t Conclusions
selector switch tip. bleed off any high-end when the Pre worn guitars are a controversial
The aged eleven volume pot is backed-off, allowing subject with players. Some think the
screw three-ply for a cleaner, brighter signal on the price asked for a beat up guitar is
scratch plate’s vintage lower settings and a beefier growl crazy whilst others love the idea they
appearance isn’t just when the volume is cranked up full. can buy a ‘been-round-the-block’
skin-deep either, The bridge single coil pickup is linked guitar that looks and sounds like it
employing authentic to a dummy coil beneath the scratch has been played for decades. If you
‘60’s style aluminium plate that is activated by a come down firmly in favour of the
shielding beneath the push-push pot on the lower tone whole ‘relic’ concept then the
battered surface. control. Christened the ‘Bukka’ Thomas Blug Signature V6 is very
Basswood is a good switch by Thomas blug, the dummy timely. Price wise, it undercuts
choice of tone wood coil allows the player to switch Fender’s Mexican Road Worn series
for a rock n’ roll between traditional single coil of pre-aged guitars by a significant
guitar: it has a sounds or the noise cancelling mode margin, plus you benefit from the
pleasing resonance with the Bukka switch engaged, as hands-on attention and knowledge
that isn’t a million he describes, “A Strat’s natural of two experts: a world renowned
miles away from glassy output can often be critical to guitarist and a guitar tech with forty
mahogany, including certain classic designed high-gain years experience. All of this in a
plenty of fat punchy valve amps, the Bukka switch, with superbly produced package for less
mids and is tonally its push-push action, operates a than £400? It’s a no-brainer if you
well balanced. Its dummy coil which reduces unwanted ask me! PM
user-friendly weight is slightly noise and the high frequencies by
undermined by basswood’s softness the right amount, this offers soaring
compared to other timbers; it dents lead lines and beefy chords when
easily, but hang on. Aren’t we played at high gain amp settings.”
talking about a guitar that is To complete the picture, the V6
deliberately geared-up to look like it Signature also includes a reverse
has been dragged through a hedge wound, reverse polarity middle
backwards? In that event the odd position pickup that automatically
extra ding or two from the corner of bypasses the dummy coil in position
an amp as you reach for a mid-gig two and four on the five-way pickup
beer hopefully won’t result in a selector switch, preserving the classic
nervous breakdown. in-between ‘cluck’.
Wired for sounds Tone to the bone
As a fanatical tone connoisseur, We played Blug’s signature model
Thomas is also a past master at through a wide selection of tube and
coaxing a multitude of sounds from solid state guitar amplification and
his guitar by simply varying the each pickup maintained its
volume control, as he explains, characteristic tone, even when
Spot the difference: Thoms Blug, his
‘61 Strat and his V6 Signature
pickup437