18  Guitarist may 2017

W alking around this year’s NAMM show, this writer was dismayed to see an awful number of great

guitars all based on four or so classic designs. Everywhere we looked we saw ‘Strats’, ‘Teles’, ‘Les Pauls’, ‘ES-335s’ or ‘330s’ and many, many ‘new’ designs were more often than not based on old ones. Whatever happened to innovation when it comes to our instrument?

It’s a timely refresher, then, that Cumbria-based maker Graham Skimming got in touch and shipped us his Paradox model – originally offered as a limited-run ‘Old Nick’ model conceived for, and with, ex-Verve guitarist, Nick McCabe. “A shared interest turned out to be the ‘why’ of bass bodies not being commonly adopted for regular guitar designs,” says Nick. “John Squire’s Jazz Bass cropped up during talks, and we got on to Rickenbacker, offsets: what mileage was there for builders in taking traditional shapes the extra mile?”

Our standard Paradox Custom closely follows Nick’s original spec and is likewise

f irst play

Lucem Paradox custom £2,999

WHAT IS IT? UK-made custom build, originally created for Nick

McCabe, that aims for retro sounds with modern reliability

Words  Dave Burrluck  Photography  Joseph Branston

A new name on the Brit-making scene teams up with one of the most innovative players of his generation, Nick McCabe. What could they possibly cook up?

riders on the storm

first play

19 may 2017 Guitarist

Lucem Paradox Custom

1 2

first play Lucem Paradox Custom

20  Guitarist may 2017

1. The Bigsby is essential for the guitar’s retro vibe. Nick’s response sums it up: “A Bigsby that holds its tuning! How?” The roller-saddle Schaller bridge certainly helps, but this is one extremely sorted design

2. Aware of breaks on severely back-angled headstocks, Graham has made the Paradox’s head lightly back angled, hence the string tree on the top two strings that ensures a clean ring

hours. Any thoughts of copy deadlines drift away. Quite astonishing. So what exactly is the Paradox?

Based around a quarter-sawn, neck-through spine of sapele, the Paradox’s elegantly waisted design is deceptively simple, its ‘bling’ reserved for mother-of-pearl block inlays on the unbound rosewood ’board, which sports a flatter compound radius and do-it-all medium jumbo frets, plus a neck shape that is a beautifully rounded ‘C’ that fills out as you move up – just like it should. There’s a balance, both seated and strapped – one that almost belies its appearance.

based on the idea of, says Graham, “a retro, offset guitar, which instead of feeling cheap, unstable, unbalanced and poorly intonated – as many of them are – is built to the highest specs using the best parts, materials and construction techniques that are usually reserved for higher-end instruments. Particular attention has also been paid to feel and ergonomics.”

Pulling the Paradox from its smart semi-flight hard case, we really aren’t expecting something so, well, out there. The slightly Ricky bass-inspired body seems too small, the neck over-long. We tune up, plug in and… are totally absorbed for the next two

3 4

first play

21 may 2017 Guitarist

Lucem Paradox Custom

Part of Graham’s design, due to Nick’s prior taste of “famously playing Strats and Les Pauls”, was that he wanted to find “that middle ground and aim for the best of both worlds in a single instrument”, explains Graham. Visually, though, the twin-humbucker/four-control with three-position toggle pickup selector layout hints at the later benchmark. However, pull-push switches on the Strat-knobbed volume controls apply splits (voicing the neck-facing coil of each humucker), plus, in the position of the volume control on a Strat is an unusual flared knob, a master volume.

Feel & sounds Strapped on, the neck seems to sit into your body a little more than a Strat and our usual sight line down to the 12th fret is more like the 10th. Subtly different, but no problem. As with many Les Paul/Strat

hybrids, we end up in that wonderful sonic space between those two cornerstones: the Paradox is no different. Do the coil-splits sound like a Strat? No. Do they sound single coil-y? Yes. Same with the ’buckers.

Combine those voices with the neck-through design – which, yes, does contribute for a long sustain – and already the Paradox is moving into its own sonic space. We also hear quite an all-mahogany ‘Gibson’ sort of sound, almost like you’ve cocked back your wah pedal a touch; it’s a little more ‘direct’-sounding and a little less woody than our reference PRS McCarty.

Sound references aside, the proof is in the playing and listening, and on so many levels the Paradox is exceptional, moving from those single-coil voices to tougher, classic rock beef from the ’buckers, while that master volume, as any Strat player will attest, is just superb for those Beck-like

3. Custom wound by Aaron Armstrong, these dual-screw-coil humbuckers have a DC resistance of approximately 8kohms: the bridge unit uses an Alnico V magnet; the neck uses Alnico III. The ‘Storm Rider’ name comes from a meeting Nick and Graham had in Manchester that coincided with freak lightning storms! Portentous stuff

4. The large volute here aims to reinforce the narrowest point of the neck, not least because there’s a cavity for the truss rod adjustment nut

5

first play Lucem Paradox Custom

22  Guitarist may 2017

swells that are somehow more immediate than using just a volume pedal. Like a Gretsch or Guild semi, you can set your controls and ‘drive’ from that master control, too – a good thing here, because more conventional control changes are certainly hampered. But the Bigsby is superbly sorted. To our ears, this is less a Strat/Les Paul hybrid, more a guitar that references both camps but ends up with its own quite compelling voice.

VerdictIn many ways, this guitar reminds us of the long-lost era of guitar design when different was best. It’s hard to imagine any mainstream company creating something quite as out there as this – unless, of course, it was an obscure design from the 60s. Yet along with an extremely good build, it’s not only hugely individual, it’s a fine guitar with musical, organic sounds, plus the endorsement of one of the most visionary guitar players we’ve ever heard. In this Custom spec, it’s far from cheap, but the whole package is, for the right player, hard not to like. Dare to be different? Clearly, custom is the way.

Lucem Paradox CustomPRICE: £2,999 (inc case)ORIGIN: UKTYPE: Offset double-cutaway, neck-through solidbody electricNECK: 1-piece quarter-sawn sapeleBODY: American poplar body wingsSCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”)NUT/WIDTH: Bone/42.15mmFINGERBOARD: Indian rosewood, m-o-p block inlays, 305mm-406mm (approx) compound radiusFRETS: 24, medium jumboHARDWARE: Schaller CTS roller saddle bridge, Bigsby B5 vibrato, Schaller Da Vinci tuners STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 52.5mmELECTRICS: 2x Lucem ‘Storm Rider’ humbuckers, 3-way toggle pickup selector switch, 2x volume, 2x tone, master volumeWEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.76/8.3OPTIONS: The Paradox Standard (£2,460) features standard Kent Armstrong humbuckers, hard-tail Schaller Signum bridge and no master volume. The Paradox Deluxe (from £3,499) includes upgraded woods & finishesFINISHES: High Gloss Black, Olympic White, Seafoam Green, Sonic Blue

Lucem Custom Instruments07789 773068www.lucemguitars.co.uk

PROS Leftfield design and body shape; great build; evocative sounds; stable Bigsby performance

CONS It’s not cheap, but would a £3k super-guitar from high-end brands be as individual as this?

8

5. The dual volume and tone layout, with three-way toggle switch, is hardly unusual, although adding a master volume on a solidbody like this is. The coil-splits are a great addition and they voice the neck-facing single coils of each humbucker

It’s a fine guitar with musical, organic sounds, plus the endorsement of one of the most visionary guitar players that we’ve ever heard