Introducing: The Rusting Nail One

Well, typically real life has a habit of taking over, which meant that whilst I just about had managed to get the Rusting Nail One together, I only had a few minutes to grab a couple of fotos and test drive the wee thing before I had to be elsewhere.

As a result of such things, not a lot will be happening for a few days now, not even the collection of a lovely old battered Gordon Smith I should have been receiving or a day in the guitarish flesh pots of Bristol. Sometime soon though, with a bit of luck.

But how did the Wizard Novatron sound after all the build-up?

Well, daft as it sounds, I'm not sure I really had enough time to find out. But from the top, it is a low output humbucker, so I wasn't expecting screaming highs and that in itself takes a moment or three to get used to. In fact the tone is hard to describe, being almost more single-coil sounding, if that makes sense, but it really is quite beautiful. I understand what Andy at Wizard means when he describes it as resonator-like, as it definitely has an acoustic tone to it, and equally there is something going on beneath, which again is an almost Leslie-esque.

All of which is most odd, but verily seductive. With a bit of reverb it just sounds gorgeous and I just found myself smiling. It sounds nothing like one, well maybe a tad, but it was like the first time I tried a chorus effect, I'm no kind of player by any stretch - just sounds beautiful.

So clean it is beautiful, but when you add a bit of gain or fuzz it just sounds - gah. Simple as that, no fancy effects just a different sound, and when you think about it there are precious few of those around.

The Rusting Nail One then, with the Novatron and the P90 at the neck (which is as cool as ever) has a completely different set of sounds to what you'd expect. Blues it has it all, indie - god forbid - it may make you stand out from the crowd, and classic rock, it can handle it too. Where it stretches things is to explore it for a while yet to come... 


From the top then -

Mahogany Body
Maple/Rosewood Neck
Kluson Type Tuners
ToM Tailpiece ABR bridge
Alchemit 90 P90 Neck Pickup
Wizard Novatron Bridge Pickup
2 x Volume, 2 x Tone


In summary, well pleased.