Shergold Guitars return.

2017 has started with a really good piece of news.  Back in the late 70s / early 80s Shergold guitars were one of the top British brands around growing in the Burns tradition of something unique and quirky not just based on USA designs.  A nascent band I was in that was a 5 piece that reformed itself a few months later as a 4 piece that had some success had a lead guitarist who had a Shergold Masquerader.  I remember it being a seriously good guitar - esp when compared to the Columbus Strat copy I possessed at the time.  This is the model I remember...

Well Barnes and Mullins, a well known distributor in the UK, has bought the company name and set up with a 21st century make over and relaunch.  They've enlisted Patrick Eggle as the consultant to design the launch model.  Patrick has taken the Masquerader body shape, updated the headstock to avoid the friction inducing string guides and used Seymour Duncan pickups offering various pickup combinations and introduced a 21st Century Shergold model.

It's a good looking thing and if the Faith acoustic guitars that Patrick helps design are anything to go by I expect these to be really good to play.  For me a little shame that some of the Masquerader's pioneering, but complicated, pickup switching has gone and that the pickups are not Shergold home wound ones but there again I chuckled at seeing a reliced Les Paul hanging in a London Store the other day - £4,000 and with DiMazio PAFs in it to create what many did in the 70s when they found their tour weary 20 year old units failing i.e. looked to the component market.   However I'm really keen to see another old UK name back in the fold and wish it success.