Moon ST-Classic, trans red, made in Japan 2017. Moon are a small custom builder based in Tokyo. They rose to prominence in the 1980s when Larry Graham, who more or less invented the slap bass technique, started playing their excellent JJ series basses. They build to order, so if you've got the $3-5k and don't mind waiting the 12-18 months, you can score one of these in your preferred colour and hardware combo. This is an outrageously good guitar. The neck is carved to a comfy slim vintage C shape from a gorgeous piece of rock maple and a generous slab of ebony, it feels fantastic. The body is made from some lovely wavy grained ash, with two pieces joined at the centre; it's not light but for a solid piece of swamp ash it's very reasonable at 3.8kg. The natural resonance and amazingly tight build quality mean this feels very alive and responsive in the hands, twenty seconds of unplugged play will reveal as much to anyone. There's some fancy pickups on deck: a pair of hefty big-pole single coils by luminary Tom Anderson, plus one ever-reliable Duncan JB humbucker in the bridge position. It sounds superb: clear and sweet, but with a huge girthy fatness and body. Lead lines are smooth and full with an eloquent voice, chords are rich and earthy with a walloping attack. The gold hardware, ebony board and black pickups add a cool little visual twist on the classic red-Strat aesthetic too, it's a striking thing to behold. Fly me to the Moon etc etc.

Model: Moon ST-Classic
Made: Tokyo Japan, neck pocket code '23417' presumably dates it to 2017 (serial 17393)
Finish: transparent red, gloss nitro, single ply guard
Body: ash, two piece centre join
Neck: maple, ebony board, 25.5” scale, 12” radius, slim C profile
Weight: 3.800kg
Mods: none
Pickups: Tom Anderson ST1, ST2 single coils, Seymour Duncan TB4 JB humbucker
Case: basic hard case

Cosmetic condition notes: minor finish wear. The headstock has some dimples and marks on the end and bottom edge. The neck is clean and smooth in the hands, minor dimples on the back only. The back has widespread light scuffs around the whole body but no major marks. One corner of the cavity cover is broken. The sides have minor dimples in the elbow area, near the jack and on the bottom horn. The front has some dimples on the back edge near the rear strap pin and in the elbow area, some scuffs around the bridge and some standard play wear on the guard and horns. Overall: very good condition (8/10).

Playing condition notes: Action is low, neck is straight, intonation is good, truss rod works. All electrics tested and working properly. The frets have some normal wear but they're fairly even with no major buzz issues, 7/10 for fret life left. Wearing fresh 10/46 strings.