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Model T
by Rick Turner


Model T with Rosetta Boomerang top and back showing
the Turner "Rick" pickup and Schaller TOM bridge


Model T


Black Formica Model T with Hipshot Trilogy multiple-tuning tailpiece

IT'S A BLUES AND BOTTLENECK PLAYER'S DREAM.
With inspirations from the Roaring 20's to the 50's, it adds up to a unique all-Amerian slab of smokehouse tone.

The Model T's twin point body is a nod to the 1928 Kay Kraft guitars and mandolins. The Formica laminate top is pure 50's burger counter. And the Turner designed-and-built double horseshoe pickup is a descendant of the electric guitar's earliest viable ancestor - the 1930's "frying pan" guitar developed and patented by George Beauchamp for Adolph Rickenbacher.

The "Rick" pickup is the heart of the Model T sound. They look and sound like the earliest magnetic pickups created for lap steel guitars. Modern materials and precision manufacturing have given the design new reliability while retaining the original crying tone.

Above: the "Rick" double-horseshoe pickup

Plug it in and give the volume knob a yank...you'll activate the bypass switch that sends your signal direct to the jack with no tone-modifying capacitance nor resistance from the controls. With this "turbo' switch on, the Model T lights up like a 283 Chevy on nitromethane.

Model T Standard Features

• Solid Honduras mahogany body
• Formica laminate top in Black, Arctic White, Ferrari Red, or Hawaiian Blue
• Turner single-coil, double-horseshoe "Rick" pickup with alnico magnets. Precision windings are wrapped vintage-style on a vulcanized fiber bobbin 
Pickup assembly is mounted in unique locking system for optimal adjustability
• Passive volume and tone controls, along with a standard "all controls bypass" switch activated by the push-pull volume knob for maximum output direct to jack
• Schaller nickel roller bridge
• Bolt-on maple neck with hand-rubbed oil finish
• 24-fret rosewood fingerboard
• Graphite / epoxy reinforcement bars
• New Zealand Paua shell dots and side fret markers
• Color-matched formica headstock trim
• Kluson-style tuners
• Dual-action truss rod
• 25 1/2" scale, nut width 1 11/16"
• Thomastik-Infeld "Power Brights" strings

Custom Options

• BODY - The most popular "Model T" option is to personalize the Formica top. Renaissance Guitars occasionally stocks a variety of colors and patterns, from mild to wierd. You can also supply your own laminate, from new stock to Aunt Margaret's kitchen table (condition permitting)! Natural wood tops are also available in walnut or maple. 
  
Tailpiece options include a retro Bigsby vibrato, or the Hipshot Trilogy multi-tuning tailpiece for instant switching between standard and open tunings.
 
• NECK - Neck upgrades include bird's-eye maple and optional 5-layer contrasting veneer laminate on back of peghead. 
Left-handed construction is available.

The Turner Slide and Rock Guitar. Includes excellent Deluxe Gig Bag
MOD T - Model T with Turner "Farrier's" pickup, Schaller TuneOMatic bridge, and Turner tailpiece - £1355
MOD T-VIBE - AS above, with Bigsby vibrato - £1545
MOD T-TRI - As above with Hipshot Trilogy multi-tuning tailpiece - £1625
Finishes: Available in all gloss Swamp Ash; may be special ordered in Electroline color offerings