Balaguer
Decked out like surf classics, these new models from a well-respected US boutique brand are more about speed than Speedos. And one of them is packing an extra inch…
Standard Series Espada & Select Series Espada T-BAR
No matter how lofty Leo’s ambitions for his Jazzmaster were, the design was destined to become a cult classic. Yes, it owned the 60s surf scene, played second guit-fiddle to Johnny Cash sideman Luther Perkins’ beloved Fender Esquire, and later found friends in the new wave, indie and avant garde cliques. But while the Telecaster and Stratocaster were masterpieces of functionality before form, the Jazzmaster was over-engineered at just about every turn.
In more recent years, that classic offset body shape has been embraced by the metal crowd. Stripped of its cumbersome vibrato and vintage-spec single coils, contemporary versions more likely feature hardtail bridges and anti-socially wound humbuckers. Which brings us neatly to
the Balaguer Standard Series Espada and Select Series Espada T-BAR guitars you see before you.
Based in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, Balaguer – pronounced ‘Bah-Lah-Ger’ – could be yet another boutique US brand with limited international reach. But via its Select (Korean) and new Standard (China) series we can cop a feel of its goodies at a much more affordable price.
So, the more affordable Standard Series model features a 46mm-thick alder body (three-piece from what we can see) with a small edge radius, not to mention a light forearm contour that’s more like a concave chamfer. Head round the back and you’ll encounter a tummy cut and palm-cutaway, the latter not unlike that seen on Fender’s recent Ultra model. The heel is nicely contoured, too, with the neck screws residing in recessed washers.
As we found when we dismantled the guitar, the 648mm (25.5-inch) bolt-on neck is very tight fitting – always a good sign – and although its Fano-esque head comes in a six-in-a-line format it’s back angled. That’s the sort of boutique feature you’ll see on Joe Knaggs’ guitars, for example.
Classed as a ‘Comfy C’ the neck profile is a little thinner back to front, especially in lower positions, than Fender’s ‘Modern C’ shape. That said, it fills out nicely as we make our way towards the upper frets. Some may find the shredder-friendly 406mm (16-inch) fingerboard radius a little more problematic.
The black hardware is rather more generic than the higher-priced models. You get a chunky six-saddle bridge with through-body stringing and a set of locking tuners. The ominous vibe is broken up with a bit of gleam from the scuffed nickel covers of the twin Feral humbuckers. The bridge pickup is secured to the body via a standard mounting ring. The neck ’bucker, like the master volume and push/pull tone controls, is mounted on the three-ply tortoiseshell scratchplate. A three-way pickup selector toggle switch is located, Les Paul style, on the guitar’s upper body.
As confidently presented as the Standard model appears, the Metallic Cool Green Select Series Espada T-BAR is really dressed to impress. Talk about pimped. It reminds us of Isaac Hayes’ Iceberg Slimstyle Cadillac, currently garaged at the Stax Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. If you don’t believe us, look it up online.
While you’re at it, tap Tony Pizzuti of US Metalcore beat group The Word Alive into Google; the mahogany-body T-BAR is that guy’s signature model. If you like the miffed yet melodic heavy stuff, you might already know this fella. That heaviness suggested
by the man’s recorded output is fuelled via a 673mm (26.5-inch) scale length, a ‘baritone’ format designed for dropped or lowered tunings. Other spec details include Truenobucker pickups, an ebony fingerboard, 24 medium jumbo frets, cut a tad higher than those on the Standard, and Custard Cream coloured block inlays. You also get a set of locking tuners, gold-plated to match the rest of the hardware.
The super-thin neck profile would give a flatworm body image issues. The D shape offers very little shoulder to cry on, and the back of the neck is flat as a pancake. Like the Standard model, the neck here is quarter-sawn, which, bearing in mind the slim depth, is probably essential. That said, there’s just enough flex for some Slash-style manual neck vibrato.
There’s a bit more detail to the build of the Select T-BAR. The slightly higher stainless steel fretwire is mirror shiny, and there’s more shape to that stylish forearm body contour. The bridge, too, in this instance sourced from Hipshot, features a brass top plate and stainless steel saddles.
Feel & Sounds
Some guitars are as typecast as Steven Seagal. Rickenbackers jangle, Gretsches twang, and six-strings like our twosome with their super-thin necks, big frets and a fingerboard radius in the mid-teens are for shredders and metalheads. Here, of course, there’s some mileage in the old ‘there’s no smoke without fire’ adage. Balaguer’s customer base predominantly features the hirsute of chin and fleet of finger.
Both guitars play perfectly from their padded gigbags. The Standard has a more conventional feel, the shallow C profile not a million miles away from some early 60s Strats. The 406mm (16-inch) radius makes for a brisk journey along the fingerboard, but the medium jumbo frets do allow for some digging in above the 12th fret. The shallowness of the neck makes it tempting to hang your left hand thumb over the fat strings, old-school. The Select T-BAR is different. The neck’s flat back feels best when pivoting your thumb, shredder-style.
Time to get amplified. The Standard’s Feral pups aren’t quite as fearsome as the name suggests. Set loose, the bridge pickup offers up a clean tone that’s bright and punchy. That said, it takes on a lot more character when you apply some overdrive. It’s no lightweight, but it’s not some overwound monster, either. It allows for some welcome note separation, even when you go full bhoona on the gain knob.
The front pickup is quite bright, thanks in no small part to the twangy Fender scale length and alder body. Dialling back the tone knob pulls in some warmth, while splitting the coils in all positions on the toggle switch massively widens this guitar’s appeal. The single-coil sounds take this modern-sounding guitar back to the seashore of 60s California. Bright and bell-like is the vibe here. Give it some welly, however, and you’re in dirty blues and Ramones punk territory.
The T-BAR shares the retro single-coil delivery of its lower-priced brother, but you’re dealing with way more bottom-end. That’s your baritone for you. Slipping off the velvet glove for full ’bucker mode, we’re convinced wrenching heavy riffs from the down-tuned strings will keep the heavy brigade happy. Switching to the neck pup adds a whopping dollop of girth, but we miss the razor-sharp delivery and focus of the bridge unit. The middle and neck
These guitars have a unique feel, quality presentation and a mix of classic and robustly modern tones
positions on the switch actually work best for retro-rock stuff. Add some reverb and tremolo and you’re taking a trip with Glen Campbell, John Fogerty and Tony Joe White. Strange but true…
Verdict
Whenever we encounter a new guitar brand, we immediately search for its USP. That’s the Unique Selling Point, natch. Brands like Fano – and Fender, too, of course – have been all over this modded Jazzmaster thing for years now. What makes these Balaguer guitars worth your time, effort and, ultimately, money is their unique feel, quality presentation and the mix of classic and robustly modern tones that are on offer.
The added range of the T-BAR might pigeonhole the thing as a sabre-toothed metal beast, but that bottom-string twang works just as well for swampy rock and Wichita Lineman-esque country. The Standard is more of an all-rounder. If you’re feeling the thin neck thing, there’s no limit to what you can play on this sensibly priced guitar. The message is, don’t cross the street to avoid these guys just because you think they’re skull-busting thugs. In reality, they’re way more versatile than you’d think. Just like the guitar that inspired them.