SOLD- Fret King Custom Hand Built STVDIO County Squire

Sammy · February 19

This is my Fret King Top of the Range Custom STVDIO Country Squire, which I bought from new in 2016. The STVIDO models were one offs handbuilt by Trevor Wilkinson & Top Lufier Mike Smith his master builder and only a few dozen were ever built, each one being unique, as no two were alike.

Here are some of the details as appeared in the brochure at the time of my particular guitar.

Once Piece maple Neck along with 22 frets, alongside a deliciously comfortable 60's 'C' Profile.The neck utilises a 10" fingerboard radius to facilicate easier string bending, with a slinky, fast playing action.By utilising an original spec small diameter truss rod, there is a much greater ratio of wood to metal, all contributing to keeping the vintage tone you would expect from this guitar
SpecificationBody: Swamp Ash with distressed vintage white finishNeck/Fingerboard: 22 fret maple neck with vintage fret wirePickups & Controls: Single coil bridge pickup and distressed neck humbuckerPickguard/Hardware: Aged lacquaered tortoiseshell, Distressed hardware.Maple Bolt on Neck Scale 25.5"

The only alteration I have made was later on changing the bridge pickup to a Seymour Duncan Brad Paisley Pickup which gives a more rounded better overall bridge sound, to the original bridge pickup.

I also bought another pickguard, similar to the original one, but with a single coil cutaway which I fitted with Brad Paisley neck pickup, which is currently on the guitar, so you now have the choice of either a single coil or humbucker as the neck pickup, by swapping over the pickguard. Both sound excellent and go well with the bridge pickup.

This is really a great playing and sound Tele and is so easy to play with a wonderful hand finished neck plus also comes with a FretKing Hiscox case.

I originally had this up last year for a trade for a lighter weight Telecaster, though the Fret KIng at approx 7.6lbs is not actually heavy, but is to me now due to some back & neck problems and whilst I had offers of some good guitars, the Telecasters were of a similar or heavier nature and other types were just not suitable for me, so I withdrew the Fretking. Since then I have in the last few weeks actually found and bought a really nice lightweight Tele which is 6.5lbs, though needs a complete set up and the bridge pickup changing, which I am in the course of sorting out. Therefore I am now willing to sell the FretKing due my new aquistion, and will let it go for a really low price for what it's actually worth , so someone will get an absolute brilliant guitar for a real bargain!

The current bog standard Fretking Country Squire Classic with humbucker goes for discount around £600 (£699 retail) plus if you want a Fret KIng Hiscox fitted shaped case this will set you back another £179 making a total of £779.

All the FretKIng STVIDO's were over £2,000, with mine retailing at £2,300. Plus I have since added another pickguard with B.P. single coil neck pickup and also a better B.P. bridge pickup, which all in cost around £200.

So the price will be just £850 for a quick sale! Please no offers, just do the maths and see the little extra it will cost to buy my hand built one off Fret KIng Country Squire rather than a run of the mill factory churned out model! It's like comparing a basic Fender to a custom shop model.

This is collection only, will not post. I have sold various quality guitars/amps etc over the years on Fretboard, which you can check and everyone has walked away 100% very happy with their purchase. This is a one off absolute bargain at this price and honestly would not be selling if it wasn't too heavy for me now.

Will get some photos up ASAP.