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Logan Custom Guitars "Logo" Thinline Telecaster-style Electric Guitar
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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1
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4732
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Mon July 19, 2010
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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Average Rating
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100% of reviewers
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$684.00
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10.0
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Description:
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A custom-made Telecaster style electric guitar, semi-hollow Thinline, Alder veneers, pine core, distinctive "Logo" cutout on the lower bout of the body, vintage style bridge plate, vintage style pickups, Honey Blonde Blackguard.
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Keywords:
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Logan Custom "Logo" Thinline Telecaster Tele Alder Maple vintage |
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Find the lowest price for the :
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Posts: 4,876
Registered: May 2008
Location: Corpus Christi, Texas
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Author
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LGOberean
Registered: May 2008
Location: Corpus Christi, Texas
Posts: 4876
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Review Date: Mon July 19, 2010
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $684.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Appearance (fit & finish), tone, playability
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Cons:
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Wilkinson neck pickup
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Up for review is my 'Logo' Thinline Tele-style, built by Bob Logan of Logan Custom Guitars. I've had her for a little over a year now. Here are the basic specs on that guitar:
Body: semi-hollow body electric, custom 'Logo' cutout, Telecaster style, 3/8" Alder veneers top and back, Honey Blonde stain, nitrocellulose lacquer.
Neck: Maple neck and fretboard, 25.5" scale (of course), 21 medium jumbo frets. "Modern C" profile, 9.5 radius.
Appointments: Chrome appointments, Wilkinson sealed tuners and vintage 3 saddle style bridge.
Pickups: Wilkinson/Mighty Mite pups w/ Alnico 5 magnets, Vintage Tele style bridge and 'lipstick' neck.
Pickguard: 3-ply black.
Electronics: .047 Sprague Orange Drop tone capacitor, 250K audio pots, 3-way toggle switch pickup selector.
Price: $684 delivered.
Where to buy: http://logancustoms.com/
In my previous review, I spoke of the pleasure it is to deal with Bob Logan. To have personal interaction with the guy who is building a guitar just for you according to your specifications is a great experience. And that was especially true with this Logan Custom 'Logo' Thinline Tele.
Bob had begun to build thinlines, and since he was doing custom work, he thought he might try something other than an f-hole for a cutout on the lower bout of the guitar top. He experimented with a lightning bolt, and then sent pics out to a few of his customers (I consider myself fortunate to be on that email list). Some liked it, others not so much. I was leaning toward the more traditional f-hole until someone mentioned the idea of a cutout that approximated the cursive capital 'L' of his name on the headstock. That idea appealed to me, and I told Bob so.
He sent me an email with a drawing of a proposed 'L-hole' cutout. I liked it okay, but it wasn't actually an approximation of the cursive capital 'L.' Then my artistic and computer savvy wife Beth got in on the act. She designed several potential 'L' logo cutouts, and then superimposed her computer-assisted drawings onto pics of Bob's guitars to give a sense of the look. We sent them to Bob just as ideas. He liked and chose the one that is now the cutout for his 'Logo' Thinline Teles.
I also gave him my opinion about the pickguard and controls. I have never liked the look of the PG and controls on FMIC Thinlines. To me it looks like an amoeba with a pseudopod extended.  I told Bob that I preferred the look of a standard pickguard and control plate on a Thinline, and I'd like to see it with the 'Logo' cutout. I wasn't actually placing an order, just expressing my opinion, since Bob asked for it.
The next thing I knew, Bob made a prototype 'Logo' Thinline, with Beth's cutout design and my preferences of pickguard and control plate. That guitar just blew me away. Bob finished her in a Honey Blonde color, with the Wilkinson/Mighty Mite Vintage Tele style bridge and 'lipstick' neck pups. She wasn't a Butterscotch Blonde Blackguard, but she was close. Aside from the custom 'Logo' cutout, this guitar has a very traditional, vintage Tele look.
Well, I had already been thinking of ordering another Logan, even before Bob announced he was doing Thinlines. But when I saw this guitar, I knew if anyone else bought her, I'd always be thinking of her as the one that got away. She was too beautiful, and I had too much personal connection with that guitar to let her go. Those were my specs/preferences, and that was my wife's cutout design. And this was the prototype model. So I bought her, and haven't had a day's regret since.
And she was quite a bargain. The appointments, the neck, the pups, switching, every feature was what Bob considers standard, and so the price of this guitar was $684, shipping included.
But again, the looks and the price of Logans are great, but the best thing about them is their playability. My Honey Blonde is very resonant and plays well unplugged, even more so than my Mahogany. And as I said with my solidbody, my Blonde is an eminently playable guitar. She's wonderfully light (6 lbs. 12 oz.), especially compared to my Mahogany. She's well balanced; I strap her on and she just hangs in place, no neck diving. And speaking of the neck, again, she's a Logan. Great feel, perfect set up, action, intonation, and those perfect 'Loganized frets.'
She has a different tone compared to my Mahogany. This is particularly apparent when playing through the bridge pickup. It is the same bridge plate and the same Wilkinson/Mighty Mite Vintage Tele style bridge pup that's on my Mahogany, but the sound is still noticeably brighter, and even jangly. The difference has to be the tonewoods and semi-hollow construction. The Alder veneers on a pine core just give her a brighter sound.
If there is a down side to my 'Logo' Thinline, it's the Wilkinson/Mighty Mite 'lipstick' neck pickup. It just doesn't have the output that I'd hoped for. It's not bad, I've adapted to it. It just doesn't quite have the oomph I'm looking for. As a result, I mostly play through the bridge pup or in the middle position. Of course, there's an easy fix for this; for future reference, I'll just order a different pup for the neck position. I'll either return to the P-90 option, or maybe I'll follow the lead of some other Logan owners and try a set of Bill Lawrence pups for neck and bridge.
So, my conclusion? Two thumbs all the way up. Five stars. Ten stars. 100%. However you want to rate things, I highly recommend Logan Custom guitars. So if you're looking for a guitar buying experience that's not just off the rack, if you're looking for something more than a cookie cutter, run-of-the-mill model, then do yourself a favor; consider a Logan. In my experience, I do not see how you could possibly get better bang for your buck.
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Larry G
The soon to be famous musician/Cranks out Top 40 tunes in a bar/While his mind is somewhere on vacation/Far away from his voice and guitar
Bob Bennett
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