The repair was extensive, involving carbon fibre strengthening plus fillets of carbon rod and much attention to detail. Kevin is a genius and I cannot thank him enough. This guitar was the brainchild of both of us and it’s as much his baby as mine, so he really applied himself to this one. It really was like a surgical operation with much thought and calculation before the work was actually started. Anyway, she passed the first test at the gig in Pontadawe, Wales, with flying colours. This cherished instrument sounded and felt even better than before, if that were even possible.
In addition to all this, it really was like Christmas coming early, because I also took delivery of a new black sparkle - finish guitar from Kevin (the third bespoke guitar he has made by his own hands for me - 6 months from inception to completion). This one is called Warrior and has the same construction as my other two, but with a ‘2 -pack’ finish, unlike the nitro cellulose of the earlier models. It comes with an ebony fingerboard as opposed to rosewood. It also has locking machine heads. It has an original ’68 Gibson Vibrola plus the usual Piezzo electronics which have become my trademark. Warrior is built like a tank (with stealthy carbon fibre reinforcement) and will be my main guitar for use in Germany. Other special features are these new humbucking pick-ups which Kevin and his partner have designed and built to my specifications. They are really close to the Seymour Duncan JB and Jazz pick-up combination that I’m currently favoring, but with more fidelity and less of an overblown low – end. The bridge pick-up, in particular, has some good mid range bite but without that honkyness that sometimes gets amplified with a mahogany body guitar. In short the Powell tone is still singing through and I feel that with these pick – ups, in this guitar, once again, ‘real guitars have wings!’ Thank You Kevin!!
A.P.
