HigH ProfiLe

Just noticed a letter in the Q&A section of the current issue [419], headed ‘Fendson Gibsocaster’ from Tom Shriane and his elusive search for a T-style guitar with the right neck/fretboard profile.

Roll the clock back five years and I’m looking to buy a six-string 50th birthday present in the form of a Blade Dayton Standard, which had just received a great review in Guitarist and sounded great on the video. Having found the one and only reseller in the UK (I was living in Andorra at the time where the local dealer was not Blade-aware) and arranged to view one at my convenience, I was idly flicking through the current Guitarist, seeing if there was anything I hadn’t read yet and, in the classified ads, the very first ad was offering a Blade Dayton Standard at £450 (£750 new) with three months’ usage and no gigging. I got on the phone immediately, expecting it to have gone, but no, it was still available and that owner was none other than Tom Shriane. I asked why he was selling and he explained that he loved the sound but the neck profile was all wrong for him. It was perfect for me and still is, many gigs later, including a few as my open G go-to guitar. So I just pinged Tom for the first time in five years and, yes, the search still goes on! He’s hoping to take up on your advice… Steve Broadhead, via email The world is indeed a small place – and the guitar world even smaller. It’s good to hear stories like this and we hope that Tom is able to find a perfect fit soon!