“My grandfather started a company that built pianos and guitars in 1948,” says Tsai, “but I was never really interested in it.”

It took a series of events to reconnect Tsai with his guitar-building roots. Tsai’s wife is a piano teacher, and one of her students mentioned that Caleb Quaye— who played guitar for Elton John, Pete Townshend, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, and others—was now a noted Christian musician and evangelist, and was ministering at a local church. Tsai, who acknowledges that he was “confused,” and partied quite heavily a few years back, didn’t want to go at first, but he finally decided to attend the service. What happened there changed Tsai’s life.

“Caleb truly inspired this company,” he relates, “because I felt such love through him and through God. And God told me that there had been a career waiting for me since I was born, and that career was the same as my family’s business. So I talked to my father, and I decided to start Brazen Guitars.”

Tsai had to do a bit of homework first, however, and he threw himself into studying the history of the electric guitar from George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacker’s “Frying Pan” to the emergence of PRS Guitars.

“I wanted to make guitars with a traditional look,” explains Tsai, “but I also wanted to incorporate the lines of a German carve into the mix. I thought that combining those two design ideas would produce a modern guitar with a comfortable look and feel.”

DYNASTY P90 DELUXE
The P90 Deluxe is another one of those fabulous under-$1,000 guitar bargains that’s built with obvious care. The frets are polished with nicely rounded ends, the pickups don’t rattle at all, the Volume and Tone knobs revolve with a firm smoothness, and the finish is near-flawless, with just a small bit of lacquer between the neck and the neck pickup. The combination of a vintage wide fretboard and a slim neck profile makes for a joyous playing experience that invites you to do pretty much anything you want to do. The only drag is that the high-E string is positioned very close to the edge of the neck, making it easy to bend the string right off the fretboard. I endured more than a few giggles from band mates when the crescendo of a solo ended with an anticlimatic “screeee ping.”

Sonically, the P90 Deluxe can go from hollow, snappy treble (bridge pickup) to a nice pop with chunky bass overtones (both pickups) to a buttery, jazz-like tone that still kicks enough for rockin’ out. Whether working with clean sounds, crunch tones, or insane overdrive, the P90 Deluxe’s notes always ring loud and proud with wonderful articulation.

The Dynasty P90 Deluxe definitely put a smile on my face every time I slung it across my shoulder. While I have my favorites for live and studio work—and, truth be told, I’ve convinced myself that those “old faithfuls” deliver a bit more intangible vibe and attitude than what I heard in the Brazen—it never bummed me out to put those guitars down and play parts with the P90 Deluxe.

FANTASY CALEB QUAYE SIGNATURE
Based on his upcoming One Night in San Dimas release, it seems Quaye likes to mix up fat vocal-esque overdrive, funky skanks, and edgy midrange growls, and with his signature model’s two single-coils, a humbucker with a coil-split switch, a 5-position pickup selector, and a Tone knob with a reasonably wide range, the guitarist can pretty much generate a rainbow of tonal colors. Looking to the guitar’s extremes, the intense treble from the bridge single-coil is mean enough to break glass, and the neck’s humbucker has enough thump to topple a linebacker. Of course, the shades in between the neck and bridge positions are what make the Quaye a great partner for sonic explorers who always futz with their guitar controls to produce subtle timbral changes throughout a performance. Want steely? It’s here. Going for warm and boomy? Got it. Need barking mids to cut through a horn section? No problem.

The Quaye’s workmanship betrays a few minor finishing flaws, but, overall, it’s a wellbuilt machine. The warm hue of the Brazilian Patagonian rosewood fretboard is beautifully enhanced by the translucent green finish that shows off the striking flame-maple top. But a few specks of green do creep onto the tan binding—which is not something we’re used to seeing on guitars that street for $2,500—and there’s a tiny bit of excess lacquer at the neck heel. The frets are immaculate— all buffed out with smooth ends— and the pearloid Quaye signature block at the 12th fret is nicely rendered. While the neck is fast and easy to play, here again, I found it easy to bend the high-E string downward and off the fretboard.

The biggest challenge for the Quaye Signature is that it resides in the same price range as some other excellent guitars. However, it’s definitely worth noting that Caleb Quaye—who has been called upon to deliver evocative and transcendent lines for so many rock legends—envisioned a responsive machine that would accurately translate his performance gestures and dynamics. The Quaye Signature is indeed a measure of the man’s talent and heart.

FANTASY CUSTOM-T
The Custom-T looks like a dual-humbucker version of the Quaye, and it shares the funto- play vibe of the P90 Deluxe. Like its two family members, the Custom-T boasts fabulous frets and excellent hardware, and it’s the most flawlessly constructed model of the trio, with absolutely zero finish anomalies. (Although the family trait of that too-closeto- the-fretboard-edge high-E string is also present here.) There’s a bit of a hunting lodge feel to the color of the natural rosewood top and fretboard, which is further accentuated by the odd, but vibey forestgreen tint to the back of the body and neck. The Custom-T brings on all the girthy spunk of a dual-humbucker machine—which is a big “duh”—but when run clean through the Gretsch Executive, and compared to a Les Paul Standard, the Custom-T produced slightly rounder bass tones with a bit of a softer snap, and a gentle midrange focus that missed just a little of the zing of the Paul. It’s kind of a “more polite” Les Paulstyle guitar, but it can certainly rock hard when revved up. The Custom-T is another smooth player from Brazen that feels good, looks good, and gives good tone.

CALEB QUAYE ON HIS SIGNATURE MODE
“I was thinking in terms of versatility, and I wanted the three iconic guitar sounds of the Telecaster, Les Paul, and Stratocaster in one instrument,” says Quayeabout his wish list for the Brazen Caleb Quaye Signature. “People have commented on the pickup combination, because I have a humbucker in the bridge position instead of by the bridge, but the neck position is where you get that Les Paul ‘jazz’ sound that I love. I went with Duncan Cool Rails for the single-coils because they give just enough overdrive and power to get good Strat and Tele tones. For example, if I coil-split the humbucker and combine it with the middle Cool Rail, I get a Hendrix ‘Little Wing’ type of sound. If I combine the middle and bridge Cool Rails, I get a beautiful Tele sound. In addition, the blend of the mahogany body and rosewood neck and fretboard helps the guitar to produce a very tight and centered midrange emphasis. I’m also thrilled that this guitar sounds wonderful whether it’s played through a Fender amp or a Marshall. It travels between the two camps brilliantly.”—MM