KOLL
Tornado
as well as any nonlocking whammy I have
played. Further, the instrument’s 24.625"
scale, 12" fretboard radius, and medium-high, flawlessly finished frets made the
Tornado a dream to play—sliding into
notes and bending proved equally easy,
while its 7 pound 10 ounce weight was
easy on the shoulders.
Bark and Bite
The Tornado’s pickups stray from
the ordinary, as well. They’re made
by TV Jones, and they use Gretsch
Filter’Tron-style magnets to produce a
variation on the traditional P- 90 voice.
And when driving an Orange Tiny Terror
or the lead channel of an Egnater Rebel
30, they delivered all the bark—think
“Mississippi Queen” or Humble Pie—that
When you sound this good,
you won’t care who’s staring.
has made the P- 90 style
pickup a rock-and-roll legend.
But with the Tiny Terror set clean,
or through the Rebel’s clean channel, they
offered a bit more twang than your average
soapbar. These pickups make this particular
Tornado model especially versatile. The neck
pickup had enough bite for articulate solos
in everything from clean-ish blues to higher-gain hard rock. Pairing the two pickups in the
middle position produced plenty of jangle
for pop or, with a little whammy-bar rocking,
creditable Gretsch sounds. In clean mode,
I felt right at home chicken-pickin’ with the
bridge pickup, but as soon as I started pushing the gain, the classic P- 90 snarl reared its
aggressive head and fattened my leads.
The P- 90 pickups could be a little noisy—
like any high-output single-coil. The signal-to-noise ratio of these pickups ensures
that, in most live situations, you will not be
bothered by the hum while you are playing. However, when you stop playing you
will want to be quick on the volume knob
or pedal (or use a noise gate). Such are the
trade-offs for a sweet-sounding P- 90.
Manufactured by
Revolutionary harmonic bridge
& tailpiece system.
resomaxme.com
There are some custom builders who build
objects for collectors, and there are those
that build guitars for working players. Saul
Koll has several years of practical touring
and playing experience, and it shows in this
instrument. The Tornado is beautiful and
meticulously constructed and finished. But
it is, first and foremost, a player’s guitar
