Maybach Masterbuilt Tele — Nick Page

Maybach have built a remarkable reputation over the past few years, and one name is largely responsible for it: Nick Page.

Page was already among the most respected builders in the German-speaking world, and the fact that he now heads the Maybach Custom Shop has given the brand a credibility you can't buy. A masterbuilt from his hands is something entirely different from a production instrument. Here one person builds a guitar from start to finish, chooses the timber himself and does the ageing personally.

The T-style is the hardest test there is for a guitar builder. There's nothing to hide behind: two pieces of wood, a neck, two pickups, done. If the timber isn't right, you hear it. If the fretwork isn't right, you feel it straight away. Which is exactly why a genuinely good T-style says more about quality than any elaborately decorated instrument.

The core tone is dry, direct and percussive, with the attack spike you associate with a T-style. At the bridge you get the wiry twang, at the neck a surprisingly warm and round tone with plenty of substance, and in the middle the combination plenty of players settle into permanently.

The ageing is typically Nick Page: carefully judged, credibly placed and never overdone. The guitar looks like a tool, not a costume — which is the right approach with a T-style.

And then there's what you only notice when you play it: the fretwork, the neck profile and the setup sit so well that after two minutes you don't want to put it down. Do take a look at that sensationally flamed neck.

A first-class Nick Page masterbuilt, from Ede's Private Stock.