NGD: Electrical Guitar Company Ken Andrews Prototype Series 5 Jazzmaster

[X-Ray Spex]

Picked this one up about two weeks ago, always wanted this model since I first found out about EGC and it's been the culmination of about 6+ years of horse trading.

This was actually owned by Ken Andrews himself and used on the Fantastic Planet reunion tour, you can see it here at 28:27.

It's a prototype and there's some differences between this one and the later production models.

The neck is polished instead of fully anodised, the fretboard is still anodised though.
The switch for the piezo system is in the middle of the 4 knob layout rather than the upper horn.

Aside from that the specs are the same as the final production model.

''Ken Andrews. His name is synonymous with thick textured walls of sound. Being able to design and build an instrument with him was an incredible experience. The instrument itself is based on the all aluminum Series Five, but Ken has placed his divergent signature over our classic.

The 25.1” scale guitar is features full black anodizing of neck and body with aluminum binding on the neck. Our thicker “Spencer” neck was tweaked, making it thinner while retaining the width of the original. The standard highest quality components are included along with the addition of a Ghost piezo system, which allows the mix of acoustic guitar sound with the flick of a switch. All of these features add up to a very special instrument that is deserving of bearing Ken’s name''

So far it rips something serious, I've owned an EGC Tyranny and a wood-bodied EGC Custom 500 before so I've a fair bit of experience with them. I really love the ''Spencer'' neck profile having owned the hyper-thin regular EGC style necks, it's still not as thick as my bolt on build but it's a really nice inbetween ''Fender C'' size.

Sound-wise it's brighter than the wood-bodied models but it having the regular EGC humbuckers rather than the wide-range style means it's still not harsh or shrill at all. Does the stereotypical chunky but bright humbucker thing that works really well for the style of music I play with Arco Arena. You can stack gain at it and still retain a tonne of clarity which is really functional. All my other guitars have the 12" radius so it's not a major adjustment swapping back and forth. Really enjoying the piezo system as well, wasn't sure how functional I'd find it but being able to add odd acoustic touches has led to some interesting songwriting.

Also it's black, I don't normally like black guitars at all but the way the metal is anodised makes it stand out in a really pleasing way.

Anyway here's pics.






With it's brother.

[Flurko]

Very well done !
I've followed EGC for a looong while also, probably too long since now my tastes have diverged a bit, so now than I could more realistically afford one it's not the absolute dream guitar it was for me ten years ago

It's funny how it uses the jazzmaster shape while blatantly ignoring the function, it's like the design knows that it has to be this way to look right but the heel on the bass side and the two knobs in body /two knobs in pickguard is the opposite of fender's design language in a very interesting way.

Enjoy!

[Chippertheripper]

That is sickkkkkkkkk.

I would LOVE to get a few whacks at an egc someday. I don’t know if I need to own one, but I would love to bang around on one for an hour or so.

[BoringPostcards]

Slick!
Congratulations on a good score.

[X-Ray Spex]

Slick!
Congratulations on a good score.

Thanks, I very rarely have funds ready to go and the seller was kind enough to take a deposit and hold it for me while I sold some bits and pieces. I feel incredibly lucky to own it.

That is sickkkkkkkkk.

I would LOVE to get a few whacks at an egc someday. I don’t know if I need to own one, but I would love to bang around on one for an hour or so.

I highly recommend you check one out in person, be warned though it's one of those things that's very hard to go back to ''normal'' wood instruments after I never own more than two guitars at one time as I'm pretty much exclusively a live player and both of them are aluminium-based

Very well done !
I've followed EGC for a looong while also, probably too long since now my tastes have diverged a bit, so now than I could more realistically afford one it's not the absolute dream guitar it was for me ten years ago

It's funny how it uses the jazzmaster shape while blatantly ignoring the function, it's like the design knows that it has to be this way to look right but the heel on the bass side and the two knobs in body /two knobs in pickguard is the opposite of fender's design language in a very interesting way.

Enjoy!

That can happen over time I find, if you asked me what my dream guitar would've been ten years ago I would've said a Travis Bean TB1000 so maybe not too far off myself. I've been fortunate enough to play a good few vintage Kramers and Travis Beans and I've found that I prefer the more modern stability and improvements of current Aluminium guitar companies like EGC, Baguley, TTTides etc.

The design language is actually really interesting, they haven't just gone ''What if we just did the same thing with our other models but just make it a Jazzmaster''. The cutaways on both sides feel like a double-cut guitar with access to the frets capability but doesn't spoil the clean lines of the Jazzmaster shape. It's also thinner with far more contouring than other models. There's even a really nice forearm contour where you would normally have it on a Jazzmaster, all their other models are slab shaped.

I'm pretty sure the four-knob layout is a nod to the layout configuration on OG Travis Beans as well.

[burpgun]

It's wild Ken Andrews has a signature guitar. I'm a late convert to Failure but really dig them. That said, I struggle to understand their reach. I've seen them twice in what were probably 1K or smaller venues on the East Coast. They had a big bus, huge light show, roadies, super top tier gear and I couldn't square the economics of those venues with the setup. Most other bands playing that level are a lot leaner 'cause they have to be. Do they draw better out west?