HENMAN
ROCKA
BY ADAM PERLMUTTER
PREMIER GUITAR MAY 2011 155 REVIEW > HENMAN nut mount. A tension-free square truss rod is epoxied directly into the headstock and fits into a metal channel in the neck—a configu- ration that Henman says enhances the instru- ment’s resonance and sustain by absorbing string tension. Henman claims the design improves stability and requires less periodic adjustment than a traditional truss rod. Other inspired design moves on the Rocka include a 5-pin connector system for changing pickups quickly and easily without soldering. The instrument is also almost entirely devoid of plastic parts—even the fretboard position markers are made of aluminum. Henman even refinishes the Skyway vibrato units—like the one found on our review model—to match the rest of the hardware, and Chambered mahogany body Skyway vibrato Pitch- tuned pickup rings
Tension-free square truss adjuster Maple cap
Half a decade ago, Henman-Bevilacqua sserted itself as a formidable name in
boutique guitars. Far from typical knock-offs of classic electric models, Henman-Bevilacqua guitars were created by Graham
and Paris Henman, a husband-and-wife
team that brought a fresh aesthetic to
the guitar via their backgrounds in commercial design and fashion. Luthier Scotty
Bevilacqua helped realize these elegantly
minimalistic axes, which featured updated
functionality, including a dramatic rethinking of the traditional truss rod.
Now known simply as Henman, the
company has enlisted the legendary master
luthier Rick Turner to oversee the small
team that handmakes its instruments at
Turner’s facility in Santa Cruz, California.
(Turner’s Renaissance guitars are also built
here.) The Henman line includes two solidbody electrics, the Rocka and the Mod, as
well as a bass guitar, the Rolla. We checked
out a sweet gold-painted Rocka equipped
with twin Seymour Duncan humbuckers
and an optional Skyway bridge. And to be
sure, the modern virtues of this guitar are
more than skin deep.
Subtle to Stylish Innovations
At a glance, with its double-cutaway asymmetric body and offset waist, the Henman
Rocka owes something to the Leo Fender-school of styling. But the comparisons
really end there. The Henman is made from
a special combination of woods, including an eight-chambered one-piece African
mahogany body with a two-piece American
maple cap, a three-piece African sapele neck
and macassar ebony fretboard. And clearly,
the mahogany-body-and-maple-cap construction is more influenced by Gibson’s Les
Paul than anything out of Fullerton.
The Rocka features some subtly unconventional design details. The contoured
headstock—which looks a little like a nod to
Martin’s ill-fated, but super-cool ’70s solidbodies channeled through a future-tech aesthetic—is attached to the neck via a bell brass
premierguitar.com
