It arrived physically beautiful and played like a dream, but for some reason I didn't play it out all that much... the True Tones in it didn't make it for me... and with other guitars and being busy gigging, I didn't bother to change them out. Instead, in a multi-instrument trade deal, it went to my friend Scott Martin who, naturally, fell for it instantly. He soon swapped out the TTs for GeorgeL's and the horn came to life. Of course I had trader's remorse right on schedule, but it was now his guitar. I did ask for first refusal should he ever part with it and he agreed.
So years pass and Scott contacts me three weeks ago to ask if I still wanted to get the Fessy back, because he too plays his Infinity all the time and wants to thin the steel herd. Making a long story short, another multi-instrument trade took place. I did some minor re-rodding, knee lever swapping, and action tweaking and once again the horn is playing smoothly and sweetly.
I think it's the best of the four Fessenden guitars I've owned, and one of the most elegant and traditional cabinets Mark Giles created. It now has an E-66 in the E9 neck and a 10-1 in the C6 position. I'm planning on soon trying a pair of Telonics 409s as well, but for now the GeorgeLs more than suffice.
Notice that the skull and horns on the longhorn logo inlay are three separate pieces of pearl. Love that!
