Though he’s been building custom instruments
since 1993, these two models, the Ranchero
and the El Camino, represent Mike Potvin’s first
standard offerings, if you take standard in the
sense of stock designs with a few options rather
than completely custom built, that is (although
there are still quite a few options available). If
you take standard in the sense of routine,
typical or conventional, then not so much. Our first
up-close encounter with these guitars at the
Montreal Guitar Show last July put us in mind of
what might happen if you stuck an Esquire and
a Junior in a dark place and let nature take its
course. We were pleased to discover, though,
that Potvin’s experiment in hybridization had
gone well beyond the coolness of the idea, so
we knew we’d be able to review more than a
pair of eye-pleasing gimmicks. As luck would
have it, the two guitars we received were the
very same ones we’d had a chance to look over
and play in Montreal—although Mike had made
a few small changes in the meantime.
What is so impressive about the guitars (again
beyond the cool-factor of this particular crisscross) is how unique they are. Both instruments
are as unlike the guitars that inspired them as
they are unlike each other. And, although it’s
hard enough to imagine a more diametrically
opposed set of energies than those of the
rarified, exclusive cult of the modern boutique
guitar and the blue-collar, workhorse vibe of
the Fender Esquire and Gibson Les Paul Junior,
Potvin has somehow managed to harness those
engergies and make them work together. That
he’s able to do that and offer a very healthy
array of options, and still sell them at a price
that won’t make a working musician blush …
well, it sure impressed us.
El Camino
Starting well within the Junior-style domain
with a double-cutaway slab body of white
limba (or korina)—made dramatic with dark
grain filler—the El Camino reveals a number of
upscale touches, from the pao ferro fretboard
to the matching headstock overlay with black
pinstripe, the five-ply pickguard and truss rod
cover, black mother-of-pearl inlay logo and
Gotoh 510 tuners. Though it clearly possesses
the qualities of a well-thought-out, handbuilt
guitar, it nevertheless retains a sense of down-to-earth directness. The three-piece maple
neck, instead of mahogany or korina, was
unexpected, and there was a bit more mass in
the shoulders than on most Gibsons, but the
headstock angle, neck shape and scale length
all combine to give it a familiar feel.
The pickup is one of Jason Lollar’s Special T
series, and this bridge is a modern T-style, but a
3- or 6- saddle vintage bridge is available—for
those who are more interested in mojo than
intonation, as Potvin suggests. And, while the
straight-ahead mojo of a korina guitar and a
P- 90 is pretty much inarguable, combining that
body, neck and wood with a Tele/Esquire bridge
and pickup seemed like uncharted territory. I’m
happy to report a pleasant journey with some
real surprise discoveries. Because of the Esquire
switching, the El Camino turns out to be a seriously versatile instrument: forward engages
the first capacitor (fixed-bass, no tone control);
middle is the wide-open pickup, no tone control; and back engages the second cap with
standard tone control. There is less snap and
twang than the pickup would have in its more
ordinary context, but there’s still plenty of sizzle.
Somehow, through the alchemy of this particular
combination of elements, Potvin has produced a
no-bullshit, balls-out rock guitar. With the 3-way
selector in the forward position, it’s pure classic
rock beast with all the thick, sweet mid-focused
punch you could ask for—think AC/DC and KISS.
Although you can get it very crisp if you lay off
the gain, you’d be forgiven for thinking there
was no way it had a Tele pickup if you had your
eyes closed. Throw the selector all the way back
and roll the Tone control off just a bit for all bite
160 PREMIER GUITAR DECEMBER 2009
