Shoreline S

Seth Baccus Shoreline S £3,299

We last reviewed one of Cornwall-based guitar maker Seth Baccus’s creations in issue 449 with the sumptuous set-neck Nautilus Classic. This bolt-on Shoreline couldn’t be more different. In fact, Seth’s bolt-on design has been a long fixture with, originally, the T – inspired by a Telecaster but far from a copy – followed last year by the JM with its Mastery bridge and vibrato. Most recently, Seth has turned his attention to the new S model; the first he’s made is featured here.

If that Nautilus was a perfect example of perfect craft, our Shoreline model looks like it’s been thrown around a car park after the end of a long tour or three. Its outline, however, remains extremely stylish and the body is made from one-piece obeche, which is a pretty unusual choice. The lightweight wood hails from West Africa and, as Seth explains: “It’s such an interesting wood because you’re getting the weight of light ash – which is becoming harder and harder to find – but it has a slightly smoother attack,” he says. “It’s like the difference between a 50s ash Fender and a 60s alder. You lose a little bit of that superfast attack that you get with swamp ash: obeche is slightly rounder and warmer.”

It’s a relatively plain-looking wood, not that you can see much of it here under the authentically aged Shell Pink nitrocellulose. The clearly visible white undercoat has minor natural crazing and more than a ding or two. Seth’s paint work is done out of house, with this type of work by Paul Neild at Retro 169. “He’s really in that nitro world. That’s his sphere,” says Seth.

The light pink body is heavily contrasted by a superb piece of roasted figured maple used for the neck. “It’s what’s called a ‘chocolate’ roast,” explains Seth. “It’s darker as opposed to the paler honey colour roast that you also see, which is mainly what I use. I think the chocolate roast is just roasted at a slightly higher temperature to achieve the darker colour. But if a super-special piece comes up – whether it’s this chocolate roast or the paler colour

– I jump on it. I got two pieces from [veteran UK wood supplier] David Dyke: the piece you have there and the other one I used for a guitar I made for Alister Atkin – a Bigsby loaded Shoreline T.”

1. A typically classy headstock design with understated inlaid logo. The bone nut is superbly fettled as usual and the slothead tuners – aged like all the hardware – are by Gotoh

2. The beautiful line of the body means there’s no neck heel and the screws sit in recessed washers; upper-fret access is superb, too. The neck itself is very slinky and has a hand-rubbed oil and wax finish. “I love that finish. It’s just so slick,” says Seth

3. This modern-spaced Kluson vibrato with its steel block uses Highwood saddles that have inset height adjustment screws. “They’re really well engineered,” says Seth and, like this writer, he has a thing about protruding height adjustment screws on Fender saddles. “So uncomfortable, isn’t it?” he laughs

4. “Over the years I’ve heard lots of Tim Mills’ Bare Knuckle pickups,” says Seth. “I asked Tim what his favourite Strat pickup set was and we settled on his Pat Pend ’63 Veneer Board set. I think they work really well here plus I use the zinc-plated steel baseplate on the bridge pickup, which I think rounds it off a little bit” 5. Don’t expect any tricky wiring, although it is different from vintage with Tone 1 working on just the neck pickup and Tone 2 handling both middle and bridge. It’s a beautiful voice, slightly sweeter to our ears than our own ’63 Veneer Board-loaded, alder-bodied partscaster 6. Hardware ageing is another art that Seth undertakes himself. The chrome jack socket plate is especially accurate looking. “I scratch it up a bit and then I soak it in vinegar and salt then hydrogen peroxide,” he tells us. Don’t try that at home, folks! 4 6 5