Bacchus BLS-98 LP Standard style, black, made in Japan circa 1997. Bacchus guitars launched in 1994 and enjoy a a cult following owing to their exceptional build quality and vintage styling. They're built to an incredible standard completely by hand by a small team in Japan, and early examples like this are tricky to find and blessed with rare mojo. This one is a take on the LP Standard, dressed to kill in classy gloss black trimmed in cream. The worn plastics and binding, scuffs from play and smoky chrome parts make for a cool played-in take on the classic tuxedo aesthetic. The neck is a slim sixties style shape, round and comfy in the hands, arrow-straight and blessed with perfect fretwork and some lush rosewood on for the board. The body is chambered, so it weighs in at a comfy 3.8kg, but don't think that makes for a vague or muddy tone... this sounds huge. Bacchus make their own pickups, so this has a pair of their BH-59 PAF style humbuckers, which dole out a creamy, rich, and snappy tone with sweet clear highs and a complex midrange. Roll the volume back and it cleans up to an eloquent and balanced clean, or dig in hard and the fullness of the lows and mids really comes out to shake some braincells. These are a pain to get in this neighbourhood, but it's really worth the trouble of tracking one down. Juicy!

Model: Bacchus BLS-98 Live Road
Made: Japan, 1997 approx (no serial on these early ones)
Finish: black, gloss poly
Body: mahogany, maple cap, lightly chambered
Weight: 3.790kg
Neck: mahogany, rosewood board, 24.75" scale, 12" radius
Mods: strap buttons replaced, guard removed and missing
Pickups: BH-59 humbucker x2
Case: basic gig bag

Cosmetic condition notes: minor finish wear. The headstock has some chips in the finish on the end as well as some scuffs on the sides, back and front around the tuners, nothing nasty. The neck is clean and smooth in the hands, minor dimples on the back only. The back has widespread dimples, scuffs and surface scratches around the whole body, but no major marks. The sides have some scuffs on the top horn, some dents and scuffs on the elbow area and some dents and scuffs along the bottom side from the jack area to the cutaway. The front some surface scratches near the knobs, some dimples in the elbow area and widespread light scuffs. Note the guard is missing. Overall: very good condition (8/10)

Playing condition notes: Neck is straight, action is low, intonation is good, truss rod works. All electrics tested and working properly. Frets have some normal wear, but they're pretty even with no major buzz issues, 7/10 for fret life left. No headstock breaks. Wearing fresh 10/52 Moonshiners strings.