Crews KTR 1959 'The Truth,' made in Japan 2015, antique burst. If you've been following our shop for five minutes or more, you've probably heard us espouse the  many virtues of Crews Maniac Sound guitars: they're surely some of Japan's best instruments. The Key to the Rock series is a collaboration between master luthier Crews Yoshioko, the Terada Gakki factory and Musicland Key, a major guitar retailer in Japan. We've had a fair few KTR Les style models through the shop previously, and all of them have been terrific, but they've all been Crew's most basic LS-01 and LS-02 models. This, friends, is a different beast entirely. Crews do a handful of limited run models per year, and in 2015, they did a very small handful of this model, dubbed 1959 The Truth. As you might of guessed, it's based on the most iconic of all electric guitars, the 1959 Les Paul, and seems to be styled specifically off Jeff Beck's Yardbirds-era Burst. The wood selection is eye-watering: a one piece Central American mahogany back with a gorgeous wave through the grain, a thick hard maple plain top with a gorgeous subtle figuring, an African mahogany neck with a Honduras rosewood fretboard... really top notch stuff, the kind of timbers you only find in the absolute best of Gibson Custom Shop stuff. The body is unchambered and the neck is a generous '59 style profile, so it's got a solid, reassuring feel in the hands. The natural resonance and sustain is immediately apparent unplugged, it feels extremely alive in the hands. The neck is gorgeous too: thick and full but not comically large, thinly finished and slick to the touch, super tight grain... it's magic. Now these pickups: holy heck. They're made by Japan's most famous hand winders: K&T, the company founded by Jun Takano. Jun rose to fame hand winding the famous Dry Z pickups that went into the Greco's 1982-ish high end Gibson-style models, which are considered among the most accurate 50s style LPs ever produced. The pickup set is called IMD Limited, which re-creates the first-year 1957 PAF humbucker in excruciating detail to deliver the iconic bright top end and wildly complex midrange distinct to those very early examples. You can buy a set in Japan for ¥196800, which is very close to $2000aud... this is proper high end stuff and among the finest vintage style pickups available anywhere in the world. Plug this in, and to put it simply: this is the best Les Paul style guitar I've ever heard in my life, and I've come across a lot. The neck pickup is open and bright, with a beautifully balanced midrange, piano-like tight musical bass and a sweet, chirpy top end. The bridge pickup offers more focus and snarl, but still abounds in complexity and nuance, with crystal-clear string separation and a singing shimmer through the treble. It's been said that the best LPs sound close to a Telecaster, and this is definitely in that genre: clear, open and defined, but fat, thick and full. This has classy pots and gorgeous vintage tone caps too, and there's all sorts of great tones to be enjoyed by winding back the tone controls or rolling off the volume; you can really get the best of out these outstanding pickups. The finish is all nitro, with the subtle cherry burst references Mr Beck's original in the colour and fade, and it looks stellar. It's my honest opinion that this will outperform all but the very finest Gibson R9s, it's seriously good. But hey, don't take me too seriously, I'm just a guy with an opinion. Can you handle The Truth?

Model: Crews Maniac Sound Key to the Rock '1959 The Truth'
Made: Japan, 2015, Terada Gakki factory
Serial: 15 12 5D
Finish: Antique JB-Burst, gloss nitro
Body: selected Central American mahogany, one piece back, solid selected hard maple cap, no chambering
Neck: African mahogany, Honduras rosewood fretboard, 24.75" scale, 12" radius, 1959 style fat C profile
Weight: 4.840kg
Mods: none
Pickups: K&T IMD Limited 1957-PAF style humbucker x2 (more info here)
Accessories: original Crews  case, spec sheet and warranty docs

Cosmetic condition notes: minor finish wear. The headstock has minor dimples and scuffs on the end and some scuffs around the posts on the front. The neck is clean and smooth in the hands, minor dimples on the back only. The back has some dents in the elbow area and along the back edge, as well as some scuffs around the cavity, elbow area, switch cavity and middle of the body. The sides have minor dimples in the elbow area, a small chip 12cm approx up from the rear strap pin, minor dimples around the jack, a crack in the corner of the jack plate and some light scuffs on the bottom horn. The front has minor dimples around the knobs and along the back edge, minor rub wear in the elbow area and some 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 electronics tested and working properly. Wearing fresh 10/52 strings.
Fret Life: 8/10, minor wear only