Good ol' G.J. is the creator of the modern guitar. When EVH came on the scene it wasn't long before it seemed obvious if Fender was not going to imitate that homemade guitar played by Eddie someone would.
In fact soon we had many makers that came along with if nothing else but a substitute.
Grover Jackson saw the potential to not only make such a guitar but to improve on it. He soon found price was not an issue. Overtime such guitars became numerous enough to be competitive and then popular enough to mass produced. Over just a few years G.J. went from Charvel, to Jackson and then to Washburn, Rickenbacker, G&L, Lace, B C Rich and finally Friedman but also does freelance design and makes small runs of other brands. He designed Lace from scratch right down to the hardware.
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| Picture taken at the Chicago Music Exchange ...before it was mine! |
During this time PU designer LACE makers of several innovative PU's commissioned Grover to design and make a Lace guitar. It is debatable if they ever really intended to be a guitar company. They did very little to promote the guitar. I think it was more about creating an upmarket cool factor for the company. It was ideal tool at trade shows to have out several Cybercasters for buyers to try out the latest Lace PU's.
Regardless of how it all turned out G.J. designed it like all his commissions not just as an eye catcher but a beautifully designed and very playable guitar that sounded great.
The Standard Cybercaster had two PU's but they offered a single PU model that was a very poor seller. I think the problem was that a 2 PU model was only a hundred dollars more. So for that little difference no one bought one. Chicago Music Exchange had one that was left sitting around for years. So they wisely sold if off to me as a used guitar. Odd ...used? It still had the pickguard cellophane left on the pickguard.
The bottom line is I got a brand new guitar and super heavy duty custom made gig bag that is even in the shape of the guitar. It came setup with really low action and playable right out of the box. How much???? $500.00 USD How cool is that.
WHATS WITH THE RED
As much as I loved the guitar and found that the Lace Alumitone PU sounded damn good it wasn't for me.
My favourite PU has for years been a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates PAF.
BUT! I wanted to do something special. I wanted a red one! So after endless letters to the good ol' Duncan Custom shop I finally got a handmade handwound one in red. I just would not take NO for an answer!!!!
Why NO in the first place???
Well the 'Pearly is a clone of the PAF from Billy Gibbons 59 Les Paul. Hand wound versions are only made for Billy himself. Every guitar he owns with a hummie has them. He is famous for touring with crazy custom made one off guitars. Often the PU's in them match the guitar. SO... Duncan keep a few of these hand wound Pearlys in different colors on hand for when ol' Billy phones to get one. The short story appears to be in order for me to get one someone had to say OK. Someone who felt sorry for my long wait and tenacious pursuit. So when I say I have a Billy Gibbons PAF it takes on a whole new meaning then scooping one up at my local Duncan dealer. LOL
ICING ON THE CAKE
The guitar strap is glove leather that I got from a store for $20.00 USD who just couldn't sell a red guitar strap. These things are usually over one hundred...and if you tried one you still might not get one. When new they are as stiff as cardboard. Once you have used it for a couple weeks it is unbelievably comfortable and never slips.The Cyber was meant to have Fender Tele meets the Jetsons vibe. It came with Tele knobs to go along with that look. I was able to find copies of the original knobs used on the first Jazzmaster guitar which were the black knobs that are still used on the Fender Jazz bass but in red. I wanted to preserve the Fender vibe of the guitar.
Finally ...the PU?
Well I have several guitars with Pearlys in them. BIG BUT...yes this is unmistakably a Pearly but it has a hell of a lot more overtones. If you use a bit of dirt it sings and sings and sings!!!
The guitar is totally KILLER!!!
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