- 97
- 62 719
Eternal Guitars & Pickups
United Kingdom
Registrace 18. 03. 2014
Beautiful, authentically aged guitars and pickups, handmade in the U.K.
At Eternal Guitars and Pickups, we build authentically aged electric guitars based on classic models from the '50s and '60s. We carry a small selection of stock guitars and basses but are also happy to discuss custom aged builds, and we also offer a full range of standard and vintage replica pickups, which are available to purchase via our website.
Our stock instruments use the highest quality components and hardware available, our own handmade pickups and are finished in genuine nitrocellulose lacquer. These instruments can be purchased via the website or they can be viewed by appointment.
We also specialise in vintage restoration work on solid body electric and acoustic instruments.
At Eternal Guitars and Pickups, we build authentically aged electric guitars based on classic models from the '50s and '60s. We carry a small selection of stock guitars and basses but are also happy to discuss custom aged builds, and we also offer a full range of standard and vintage replica pickups, which are available to purchase via our website.
Our stock instruments use the highest quality components and hardware available, our own handmade pickups and are finished in genuine nitrocellulose lacquer. These instruments can be purchased via the website or they can be viewed by appointment.
We also specialise in vintage restoration work on solid body electric and acoustic instruments.
Eternal Guitars: "Blackie Tribute" S-Type demo with Gray Large
Since I began building tribute models to some of the most famous ever guitars used, the one that I'm most often asked about is Eric Clapton’s “Blackie”.
Our Eternal “Blackie Tribute” is a wonderful early mid-'50s combination of alder and maple finished in heavily aged nitrocellulose aged to mimic the battle scars and wear of the original guitar. The neck has a wonderful worn aesthetic and feel - broken in and comfortable but with the addition of medium-jumbo frets for an enhanced vintage feel, it’s accurate and a breeze to play - the perfect combination.The hardware is all Gotoh vintage repro with split-post tuners and a steel block vibrato bridge with bent steel saddles for THAT tone.Our “Timeless Blackjack” pickups are a perfect match and wired through our usual top-notch, highest-quality CTS, Switchcraft and CRL electronic components (there’s even a repro “Phone Book” paper in oil cap) for decades of hassle-free use.
I’ve recreated the heavily worn black nitro finish on a two-piece, 50s routed alder body and mated that to a truly sumptuous feeling one-piece maple neck with a soft but distinct “V” shaped back profile. A vintage correct 7.25” radius ‘board uses black dot markers beneath the heavily worn and lightly tinted nitro finish - there’s virtually zero finish left on the back of the neck and it feels broken in and well-used with rounded edges and a smooth effortless playing feel. The original guitar was re-fretted on numerous occasions so I’ve used medium-jumbo frets to aid string bending and offer a more definite, responsive feel.
Eric never used the original six-screw vintage vibrato, preferring to screw down to the body so I’ve used an excellent Gotoh reproduction and secured it firmly with a full complement of five springs tightened as far as possible into the body to ensure that it never moves.
There is very little actual documented information about how Blackie was wired but I assume it was as standard with the addition of a five-way sector to replace the original three-way, and most probably the small mod to wire the second tone pot to the bridge pickup.
The back of the one-ply pickguard has some additional copper sheet shielding added to reduce noise and undoubtedly a few small electronic parts would have been replaced during maintenance over the years. From the one or two images available, I believe that the original cloth-covered wiring has been replaced with plastic-covered wire (or the wiring loom is from a later period guitar) The pots are almost certainly approx 250k and an original ‘phone book” capacitor appears to be in situ, so I’ve replicated this as closely as possible but used cloth-covered hook-up wire as I much prefer it.
Things get interesting with the pickups, however. Both Eric and his long-serving guitar tech Lee Dickson always seemed vague on the subject of which pickups are in the original guitar, and the assumption is that they are a mixed set from the three mid-‘50s donor guitars - Eric having simply chosen the ones he preferred the tone from.
This makes perfect sense given that the neck and body are mid-50s but in my research, I discovered an anomaly: the pickups appear to be grey-bottomed. This is significant as grey-bottomed flatwork was first used in the mid-‘60s by which time Fender had swapped to using dark purple plain enamel pickup coil wire and the pickup winders at the factory were struggling to see it against the black fibre board. The solution was to use a light grey fibre board for greater visual contrast.
This is common knowledge but why significant? Well, just maybe all these glorious tones didn’t come from a set of Heavy Formvar wound ‘50s Strat pickups as has long been accepted, but just perhaps they were from a set of mid to late ‘60s Plain Enamel wound, lacquer dipped single-coils?
The timeline fits and maybe Eric simply preferred the brighter, louder tones that they offered. His friend Jimi Hendrix was using them after all and making some fairly decent sounds…
Another detail is that the original pickups appear to have black and white plastic lead wires rather than vintage cloth-covered. Okay, it’s extremely possible that a guitar this heavily used would have needed a pickup or two re-wound or repaired at some point, and it’s not beyond belief that a tech somewhere on the road would have suggested replacing old and worn cloth wiring throughout with more robust plastic wire - or maybe the pickups and wiring are from a later era guitar after all?
Without access to the original guitar, I would have to do what I felt was best and closest tonally, so I set about designing and building a bespoke pickup set that would nail the sweet, singing tone. A few prototypes later I was happy - so happy that I’ve decided to make this set of pickups available to purchase separately as part of my “Timeless” range and have named them “Blackjacks”.
Audio and video recorded and edited by Sam Bell.
Our Eternal “Blackie Tribute” is a wonderful early mid-'50s combination of alder and maple finished in heavily aged nitrocellulose aged to mimic the battle scars and wear of the original guitar. The neck has a wonderful worn aesthetic and feel - broken in and comfortable but with the addition of medium-jumbo frets for an enhanced vintage feel, it’s accurate and a breeze to play - the perfect combination.The hardware is all Gotoh vintage repro with split-post tuners and a steel block vibrato bridge with bent steel saddles for THAT tone.Our “Timeless Blackjack” pickups are a perfect match and wired through our usual top-notch, highest-quality CTS, Switchcraft and CRL electronic components (there’s even a repro “Phone Book” paper in oil cap) for decades of hassle-free use.
I’ve recreated the heavily worn black nitro finish on a two-piece, 50s routed alder body and mated that to a truly sumptuous feeling one-piece maple neck with a soft but distinct “V” shaped back profile. A vintage correct 7.25” radius ‘board uses black dot markers beneath the heavily worn and lightly tinted nitro finish - there’s virtually zero finish left on the back of the neck and it feels broken in and well-used with rounded edges and a smooth effortless playing feel. The original guitar was re-fretted on numerous occasions so I’ve used medium-jumbo frets to aid string bending and offer a more definite, responsive feel.
Eric never used the original six-screw vintage vibrato, preferring to screw down to the body so I’ve used an excellent Gotoh reproduction and secured it firmly with a full complement of five springs tightened as far as possible into the body to ensure that it never moves.
There is very little actual documented information about how Blackie was wired but I assume it was as standard with the addition of a five-way sector to replace the original three-way, and most probably the small mod to wire the second tone pot to the bridge pickup.
The back of the one-ply pickguard has some additional copper sheet shielding added to reduce noise and undoubtedly a few small electronic parts would have been replaced during maintenance over the years. From the one or two images available, I believe that the original cloth-covered wiring has been replaced with plastic-covered wire (or the wiring loom is from a later period guitar) The pots are almost certainly approx 250k and an original ‘phone book” capacitor appears to be in situ, so I’ve replicated this as closely as possible but used cloth-covered hook-up wire as I much prefer it.
Things get interesting with the pickups, however. Both Eric and his long-serving guitar tech Lee Dickson always seemed vague on the subject of which pickups are in the original guitar, and the assumption is that they are a mixed set from the three mid-‘50s donor guitars - Eric having simply chosen the ones he preferred the tone from.
This makes perfect sense given that the neck and body are mid-50s but in my research, I discovered an anomaly: the pickups appear to be grey-bottomed. This is significant as grey-bottomed flatwork was first used in the mid-‘60s by which time Fender had swapped to using dark purple plain enamel pickup coil wire and the pickup winders at the factory were struggling to see it against the black fibre board. The solution was to use a light grey fibre board for greater visual contrast.
This is common knowledge but why significant? Well, just maybe all these glorious tones didn’t come from a set of Heavy Formvar wound ‘50s Strat pickups as has long been accepted, but just perhaps they were from a set of mid to late ‘60s Plain Enamel wound, lacquer dipped single-coils?
The timeline fits and maybe Eric simply preferred the brighter, louder tones that they offered. His friend Jimi Hendrix was using them after all and making some fairly decent sounds…
Another detail is that the original pickups appear to have black and white plastic lead wires rather than vintage cloth-covered. Okay, it’s extremely possible that a guitar this heavily used would have needed a pickup or two re-wound or repaired at some point, and it’s not beyond belief that a tech somewhere on the road would have suggested replacing old and worn cloth wiring throughout with more robust plastic wire - or maybe the pickups and wiring are from a later era guitar after all?
Without access to the original guitar, I would have to do what I felt was best and closest tonally, so I set about designing and building a bespoke pickup set that would nail the sweet, singing tone. A few prototypes later I was happy - so happy that I’ve decided to make this set of pickups available to purchase separately as part of my “Timeless” range and have named them “Blackjacks”.
Audio and video recorded and edited by Sam Bell.
zhlédnutí: 210
Video
Eternal Guitars: Sam Bell "Parami" demo
zhlédnutí 132Před 9 měsíci
In this video the incredible Sam Bell demonstrates the tones available on his own Eternal "Parami" T-Type guitar. This is the guitar that Sam used on his recent stint playing on tour with the awesome Kosheen. Featuring a lightweight obeche body, one-piece maple neck with jumbo frets and a lightly aged all nitro finish - Candy Apple red on the body with tinted, worn lacquer on the neck and our o...
Eternal Guitars: "Timeless '59 Strat Pickups". Demo by Gray Large.
zhlédnutí 245Před 9 měsíci
Watch and listen as our buddy Gray 'Groover' Large demonstrates the tones available from our "Timeless '59 Strat Pickups". Installed here in my own "Tallulah" S-Type Eternal Guitar. Video/audio recorded and edited by Sam Bell We first made these wonderful pickups for our SRV Tribute guitar, and they sounded so authentic that we were asked to make them available to buy. We used the correct magne...
Eternal Guitars: "Mishca" the semi-hollow T-Type Deluxe. Demo by Sam Bell
zhlédnutí 75Před 9 měsíci
Our "Mishca" is a lightweight "Gold Foil Novatron" equipped T-Type Deluxe. Built from semi-hollow ash with a one-piece maple neck and our own "Novatron" pickups in snazzy "Gold Foil" covers. Here the incredible Sam Bell takes you through some of the tones onboard... Model: “Mishca the semi-hollow T-Type Deluxe” Body: Semi-hollow ash Neck: One-piece maple Neck profile: Slim C Neck dimensions: 21...
Eternal Guitars: "Polina" the Obeche T-Type. Demo by Sam Bell.
zhlédnutí 115Před 9 měsíci
In this video the one and only Sam Bell demonstrates the tones available on our "Polina" T-Type guitar which blends the best of best vintage-inspired tones with a modern feel and stunning aesthetics. “Polina” is a proudly unsubtle blend of different styles in one stunning package. Beginning with a contoured T-Type body carved from lightweight and resonant Obeche (which has the best tonal qualit...
Eternal Guitars: 'Timeless '69 Strat Pickups" Demo by Sam Bell
zhlédnutí 166Před 9 měsíci
Our “Timeless ’69 Strat Pickups” are an authentic and detailed recreation of the finest post-'65 CBS era Strat pickups ever made. Although much-maligned when compared the pickups found on the '50s and early '60s fender instruments, many of these late ‘60s pickups had a wonderful sweet voice all of their own with bags of clarity and character, and that’s what we’ve recreated here. We use the dis...
Eternal Guitars: "Timeless '54 Strat Pickups". Demo by Graham "Groover" Large
zhlédnutí 173Před 9 měsíci
Fitted to our own Eternal "Coralina" S-Type guitar, our “Timeless ’54 Strat Pickups" are an authentic recreation of the iconic low output pickup with all the bell-like, open and chiming tones found on some of the finest electric guitars ever made. We use the correct stagger Alnico 3 magnets with vintage correct black bottom Forbon flatwork dipped in nitrocellulose lacquer to insulate the poles....
Eternal Guitars: "Cantata" S-Type build for John Gregson
zhlédnutí 143Před 11 měsíci
I built this classy guitar for our friend John Gregson back in the darker days of lockdown. At the time I didn't publicise it a great deal, but when I came across these pics recently I realised that it was time to share this stunning build. John loves a big neck profile so this one is huge with 24 frets and a bound dark rosewood fingerboard. The contoured body is alder and houses a Floyd Rose n...
Eternal Guitars & Pickups: Jamie West-Oram "JWO-1" Guitar demo.
zhlédnutí 2,1KPřed rokem
Jamie West-Oram is best known as the sonic wizard guitarist in “The Fixx”. Since forming in 1980 the band have recorded fourteen studio albums including the Platinum selling “Reach the Beach” and Gold “Phantoms”. His resume also includes session work, touring and writing with such luminaries as David Bowie, Tina Turner, Brian Eno and Stevie Nicks among many others. Jamie has been a customer and...
Eternal Guitars: "Esmé" demo with Sam Bell
zhlédnutí 111Před rokem
In this video, the delicious Sam Bell demonstrates the tones available from our "Esmé" all mahogany Solid Guitar. Recorded straight into our Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III demo room amp mic’d up with a SE VR1 Ribbon Mic and the occasional slight push from an Ibanez 808 Tubescreamer. "Esmé" is my take on the classic twin pickup “solid guitar” but with a few subtle tweaks to improve neck strength. Fea...
Eternal Guitars: "Betsy" demo with Sam Bell
zhlédnutí 98Před rokem
In this video, the splendid Sam Bell demonstrates the tones available from our "Betsy" all mahogany doublecut Junior. Recorded straight into our Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III demo room amp mic’d up with a SE VR1 Ribbon Mic and the occasional slight push from an Ibanez 808 Tubescreamer. "Betsy" is my take on a twin pickup Junior, but with simplified electronics for a less cluttered control layout. A...
Eternal Guitars: "Leilani" T-Type demo with Sam Bell
zhlédnutí 105Před rokem
In this video, the fabulous Sam Bell demonstrates the tones available from our "Leilani" T-Type. Recorded straight into our Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III demo room amp mic’d up with a SE VR1 Ribbon Mic and the occasional slight push from an Ibanez 808 Tubescreamer. ‘Leilani’ is a heavily worn T-Type built from a solid ash body with a sleek, one-piece maple neck. The body is contoured for extra play...
Eternal Guitars: “PAF Replica T-Type #7” demo with Sam Bell
zhlédnutí 69Před rokem
In this video, the mighty Sam Bell demonstrates the tones available from our latest "PAF Replica T-Type". Recorded straight into our Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III demo room amp mic’d up with a SE VR1 Ribbon Mic and the occasional slight push from an Ibanez 808 Tubescreamer. Our lightweight Eternal 'PAF Replica'-equipped T-Types have become a very popular for those looking for a versatile, tone-pack...
Eternal Guitars: "Emmeline" the '50s style T-Type demo with Sam Bell
zhlédnutí 169Před rokem
In this video, the wise and powerful Sam Bell demonstrates the tones available from our "Emmeline" '50s style T-Type. Recorded straight into our Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III demo room amp mic’d up with a SE VR1 Ribbon Mic and the occasional slight push from an Ibanez 808 Tubescreamer. “Emmeline” is our take on an early Blackguard-style T-Type, but with a couple of tweaks to the classic design. We’...
Eternal Guitars: "Tatiana" the mid-'60s inspired S-Type with Sam Bell
zhlédnutí 289Před rokem
In this video, the mighty Sam Bell demonstrates the tones available from our "Tatiana" mid-60s style S-Type. Recorded straight into our Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III demo room amp mic’d up with a SE VR1 Ribbon Mic and the occasional slight push from an Ibanez 808 Tubescreamer. “Tatiana” is an early/mid-‘60s inspired S-Type built with a lightweight two-piece alder body mated to a slim, C-profile nec...
Eternal Guitars: "Missy" the PAF T-Type Deluxe with Sam Bell.
zhlédnutí 158Před rokem
Eternal Guitars: "Missy" the PAF T-Type Deluxe with Sam Bell.
Eternal Guitars: '74 Special Pickups for Telecaster Custom. Demo by Chris Cox
zhlédnutí 98Před rokem
Eternal Guitars: '74 Special Pickups for Telecaster Custom. Demo by Chris Cox
Mike Bradley "Little Wing Thing" on our "SRV Number One Tribute" guitar.
zhlédnutí 424Před 2 lety
Mike Bradley "Little Wing Thing" on our "SRV Number One Tribute" guitar.
Eternal "Luna" S-Type demo by Alex Ward and Lewis Harding
zhlédnutí 146Před 2 lety
Eternal "Luna" S-Type demo by Alex Ward and Lewis Harding
Eternal “Chloe” the Candy Apple Red late ‘60s inspired T-Type - demo video by Alex Ward
zhlédnutí 65Před 2 lety
Eternal “Chloe” the Candy Apple Red late ‘60s inspired T-Type - demo video by Alex Ward
Eternal Guitars "Gianna" T-Type demo by Alex Ward
zhlédnutí 64Před 2 lety
Eternal Guitars "Gianna" T-Type demo by Alex Ward
Eternal "Number One" Tribute demo with Alex Ward and Lewis Harding
zhlédnutí 199Před 2 lety
Eternal "Number One" Tribute demo with Alex Ward and Lewis Harding
Eternal Guitars "Gianna" T-Type audio demo by Lewis Harding
zhlédnutí 107Před 2 lety
Eternal Guitars "Gianna" T-Type audio demo by Lewis Harding
Eternal Guitars "Kimberly" T-Type demo by Alex Ward
zhlédnutí 161Před 2 lety
Eternal Guitars "Kimberly" T-Type demo by Alex Ward
Eternal “PAF Replica T-Type #6” demo by Alex Ward
zhlédnutí 40Před 2 lety
Eternal “PAF Replica T-Type #6” demo by Alex Ward
Eternal Guitars "Felicity" S-Type demo by Alex Ward
zhlédnutí 135Před 2 lety
Eternal Guitars "Felicity" S-Type demo by Alex Ward
"Felicity" the Royal Purple over Sunburst, hardtail, big reverse headstock S-Type audio samples.
zhlédnutí 335Před 2 lety
"Felicity" the Royal Purple over Sunburst, hardtail, big reverse headstock S-Type audio samples.
Eternal "Kimberly" T-Type with twin mini-humbuckers.
zhlédnutí 312Před 2 lety
Eternal "Kimberly" T-Type with twin mini-humbuckers.
Delicious! and from the man himself wow
Jamie's in my Top 10!!! Nice guitar :D DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK ME TO FIND OUT WHAT CHORDS HE'S PLAYING ALL THROUGHOUT "STAND OR FALL" A long time!!! No guitar tutorial on CZcams includes these chords!! They're the main thing of the whole song! I eventually found a video of The Fixx performing it live in recent years where I could actually see what Jamie was playing!!! It took searching!!! Now I have a video showing me what they are that I can go back to if I forget! Thanks!
100% of these red special build videos are talk, ergo explanation free. Crazy.
This Video pretty much sold me Nancy, I bought it used. Dave's relic work is up there with the 'very' best in my opinion. That slab of Ash, I could nearly lick it - lol
What paint do you use to get the translucent finish? It looks amazing.
Got greedy and priced yourselves out of the market.
Great !!! Cool ! I want this guitar )))
Love that colour
Years ago I'm sure I saw an advert for yamaha status quo guitars but I can not find anything about them now must of dreamed it oslt.
Just discorvered your site and videos , will follow closely because I buy quite a few pickup sets every year from a winder in Europe. Thanks! New sub here from Quebec
I just love watching this. Thank you for such wonderful content. Wish my Dad was alive, to see this.
Jamie West Oram and Dave Gregory from XTC are my two fave guitarists.
This was a treat for the ears! Love listening to these Fixx licks.
I love his guitar on Saved by Zero! And thank you very much for this interview. I think JWO is an awesome guitarist
I love The Fixx. When I think of the 80's they are in my top 5 that were in constant rotation during the era. Fond memories.
Are those potted or unpotted PAFs? I need to tick boxes for my purchase ✌🏻
Love my set, absolutely authentic tone. Not a single complaint, can't stop playing my strat since I put them in . Best thing I ever did for my 73 strat, didn't have the original pickups and these just took it to a whole new level. Amazing job Eternal, very proud to own a set of these .
Thank you for such kind words - so gad that you love them : )
Listening to the new album right now. Good stuff!
About the best guitar sound I've ever heard
Just saw him this Monday. Fantastic
👍👍🍺
👍👍🍺 sounds good
Just got to hear him jam on this thing 2 nights in FL. He was almost about to shatter all the mirrors in the Culture Room with his lead breaks😎 Awesome axe, man. Great choice!
where to buy?
Only available to order. Drop me a line either through the website or dave@eternal-guitars.com
Wow, great pickup. Is it possible to get this option for your GST now?
That's the one signature guitar I'd truly want. JWO is an underrated master of tone and textural playing, and incredibly versatile.
Congratulations on your new Record , see you in Newton
I’m noticing the smaller Tele-ish pickup size - I’m building a strat with a chrome Tele neck pickup, and its smaller size is an issue so I’m brainstorming a solution to get the pickup & screws to line up. Jamie’s right about Tele pickups, and I’m surprised come to think of it why he never used a Telecaster in The Fixx. You can definitely hear the Marshall sound in “Follow that Cab” on Beautiful Friction, which seems inspired by Ric Ocasek’s productions with Weezer. I can totally relate to Jamie’s choices on guitar - I’m checking out this video because I’m building my pedalboard and I have a strat with a Bill Lawrence rail in the middle & after hooking up my new AB-Y splitter my clean sound brought out my inner West-Oram :)
Sounds great. Love your unique sound JWO pls keep giving us music. Congrats on the record I’m enjoying it
JWO - lovely man, lovely hands. I like the way his demo of the tones doesn't involve lots of flash widdly wee, but rather some lovely punchy, concise and precise riffing. Hi Jamie!
PS - Album coming today from Amazon.
Sounds fantastic.
Quad springs? Wow
Very versatile axe....Great tones all around
A really good guitarist... The Fixx hits are timeless classics.
Very nice, just ordered the timeless 59's and if they sound as good as I hope they do my friend is going to get a set too.
Great guitar player people. Check him out.
Sounds awesome 😘
Sam is a legend . Lovely human being and a fantastic player.
The guitar looks and sounds great too (obvs)
Hey love the pickups they sound awesome. What bridge pick up would be best for a Esquire type tele. I made one and I’m looking for a great sounding bridge pick up to get that Esquire sound.
beautiful!
Wow!
Dave Walsh is God - eternal...Lewis beyond hear that guy play I give up the instrument the man taught me I played chip - insurance claim? Devote you life to Lewis and Mark keen become followers life life of Brian better than smoking fags. Give up get 2 addicted to lozenges CBD vitality 2400 lemon. The Cat channel.fresh Hair¿☆s.
Hi Mike, great playing as always. Was speaking to David Walsh yesterday and he is making me a fully loaded 8 hole plate with 59's, pots etc the lot same as yours. Its for my Stevie Ray Vaughan Signature March 1992, needs life, this will do the job nicely. While im typing that playing i forgot it was you playing lol beautiful.
We all know Dave Hills' guitar has the ES donor neck (and he left the Gibson headstock logo on it) but I'm amazed Gibson never ran with this design. Such a great looking guitar.
A guitar I’ve dreamed of since I was 13 - 49 years ago now! I’ve pretty much decided on having a crack at building one - I have an ES neck template on the way, but that body… 🤔 My guess is that it’s a thick, symmetrical SG-ish shape - bottom half the same as the top, or the other way around. Would I be far off there? 🤔 I’ve been eyeballing the correct front Jaguar pickup - Seymour Duncan seem to do one about the right spec - and can get hold of a close enough Humbucker. But fabulous job sir! I’ve I get half as close as that, I’ll be more than happy! 👍🏽
Thanks Paul : ) Yeah, the body is a tricky one, as there's very little available reference apart from pics. I did use an SG as a starting point then opened up the horns a little to give better top fret access. The more important thing is to get the neck angle right for whatever bridge you plan to use, so don't glue in your neck until you have that spot on... Good luck!
Woow what a find :)))) Than you all
This guitar sound awesome
taste all over the place . Sounds great Jamie !!! such beautiful sounds there .
Great stuff as usual love the face mate when you get into it, cheers.
Please hit me up...I want one but in strat style