SOPHISTICATED SWITCHING

Precise control and a wealth of tone at your fingertips

IBANEZ AZS2200F PRESTIGE FROM £1,999

Ibanez’s Tele-inspired AZS2200F features a Seymour Duncan Alnico Pro bridge pickup and a Magic Touch-mini humbucker, hooked up to the Dyna-MIX5 switching system. As well as a regular three-way selector switch, a separate toggle switch gives two different altered modes, together with a bypass, for a range of series and parallel options. www.ibanez.com

GIBSON KIRK DOUGLAS SIGNATURE SG £2,199

‘Captain’ Kirk Douglas’s signature SG makes full use of its triple humbuckers, with three separate volume controls, each with a coil-tap and a master tone control, plus a master volume control mounted on the scratchplate. The middle pickup is independent from the selector switch and can be blended in with either neck and bridge humbucker, or both. www.gibson.com

MUSIC MAN VALENTINE TREM £2,749

The James Valentine signature features a unique single-coil bridge pickup and a neck humbucker, linked to an active preamp with push-push volume and tone pots for gain boost and various pickup-splitting options. There’s a kaleidoscope of tone behind that deceptively simple-looking control layout – in a guitar built to Music Man’s typically high standards. www.music-man.com

FENDER AMERICAN ULTRA TELECASTER £2,099

Fender’s American Ultra Tele brings the revered 50s plank right up to date. Ultra Noiseless Vintage pickups provide all the classic tones with no hum and are linked to an S-1 volume pot switch offering a choice of parallel or series wiring. Meanwhile, a treble-bleed circuit progressively maintains the highs as the volume is rolled down. www.fender.com

GIBSON LES PAUL CLASSIC £2,299

The Modern version of Gibson’s Les Paul Classic brings an expanded tonal range with push-pull pots under all four control knobs. It offers a phase switch, independent coiltapping and a ‘bypass’ switch on the bridge tone control that connects the bridge pickup directly to the output socket, cutting out everything else for unadulterated Les Paul tone. www.gibson.com

PRS MODERN EAGLE V £5,350

Produced in limited numbers for the cancelled PRS Experience 2020 show, the Modern Eagle V’s HSH configuration unleashes a vast array of tone from a five-way blade selector combined with mini coil-tap toggles, a pushpull tone control that activates both humbuckers, and a third toggle that changes the volume pot’s value from 500k to 250k. www.prsguitars.com