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View Full Version : Texas Twang Master Guitars - fantastic guitars!



jpfeifer
April 14th, 2011, 05:42 PM
While I was at the South by Southwest show in Austin recently I went to the Austin Guitar show, that coincides with this festival. This was my first time ever going to a guitar show and it was quite a lot of fun, not to mention the South by Soutwest show (which is also incredible). At these guitar shows, you get to meet a lot of the people from various companies that make guitars, effects, etc, and talk with people who are all passionate about guitars and making music.

While I was there I found this small guitar company called Texas Twang Master Guitars, and I fell in love with their instruments. They make one model that is a cross between a Telecaster and a Gretch Duo Jet, in terms of it's overall design and sound. This really intrigued me because I'd been considering buying either a Telecaster or a Gretch since I'm playing in a retro-rock/surf band. I use these tones quite a bit and I was looking for something that could be good for all of these old sounds, and also be useful for more traditional Tele sounds for country, etc. I also wanted a Bigsby as part of my setup since this is essential for a lot of the surf and rock-a-billy stuff that I need to cover.

I played a few models from the guys at Texas Twang Master Guitars and I was immediately taken by the sound and feel of their guitars. The model I bought has a chambered body, flame maple top, TV Jones pickups, and a bigsby. It's all hand-made and they use the old Nitrocellulous laquer so these are pretty much custom-shop quality instruments without the custom-shop price tag. I just recieved mine today and I couldn't be happier. This is one incredible guitar! (see the photo below)

Here is a photo of the one I bought. It's called the TeleJet. This model is discontinued but they currently make a similar model called the Twang King, this is pretty much the same kind of sound and overall design concept. Check them out at http://texastwangmaster.com/

I will do a more detailed review of this guitar in the near future.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12497778@N08/5620004705/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12497778@N08/5620592074/

--Jim

Katastrophe
April 14th, 2011, 06:22 PM
Absolutely beautiful, Jim! Congrats, man. I like the look of their newer models, too.

jpfeifer
April 15th, 2011, 07:09 AM
Thanks Katastrophe! I played this guitar for most of the evening last night, and I could barely put it down. The neck is incredible. It feels like a vintage Tele or Strat. I've never had a guitar with Filtertron pickups before, they are a completely different animal. They are mellow sounding at lower volumes (great Jazz tones) but then they have a very nice bite when you turn them all the way up.

This guitar can do the Gretsch thing really well, but also sound like a nice Telly in the bridge position. The thing that I really like is that it is not as harsh sounding as some of the newer Telly's in the bridge position. It's got a slightly warmer version of that Telly bridge position sound. I'm having a lot of fun playing this. I'm planning to do a video demo of it in the near future.

--Jim

mapka
April 15th, 2011, 07:47 AM
Nice guitar! Congrats! Do you have a web page for the company? So are the pups TV jones or Filtertrons? I know somewhere I read that if you were to buy a newer Gretsch that you should get the models with the TV Jones pups in them because they mimic the classic Filtertrons better then the newer Filtertons do.

Robert
April 15th, 2011, 08:06 AM
That's nice, congrats!

I have never heard of this brand before. But I got a Hell of a guitar... see my thread about that one! :)

jpfeifer
April 15th, 2011, 09:17 AM
Nice guitar! Congrats! Do you have a web page for the company? So are the pups TV jones or Filtertrons? I know somewhere I read that if you were to buy a newer Gretsch that you should get the models with the TV Jones pups in them because they mimic the classic Filtertrons better then the newer Filtertons do.

The pickups in this guitar are actually TV Jones Classic (in the neck position) and TV Jones Classic Plus in the bridge. These are actually Filtertron pickups designed by TV Jones. They are the same pickups used in the Brian Setzer signature models guitars as I understand.

This company Texas Twang Master Guitars http://texastwangmaster.com/ is a new company just starting out. They are based in Austin, Texas. They are very nice folks and very quality focused. If you are interested in one of their guitars just call them up. They have a few more of the TeleJet model left but they are not making this model anymore. You might be able to get a good deal on one of these. Otherwise the Twang King model is equally amazing.

--Jim