The custom-built creations of Saul Koll of Portland,
Oregon, have long inspired lust in the hearts of guitarists for their
superb build quality and diner-retro meets space-race-modern styling.
In joining the Premier Builders Guild, Koll guitars are now
more widely available, while retaining the U.S.-made kudos and
small-shop quality that PBG’s team of California-based luthiers
brings to the table. The Duo Glide is Koll’s flagship model, and
blends elements of classic familiarity with artful originality. In
its more frequent incarnations, with either TV Jones Classics
or Lollar PAF-style Imperial humbuckers, it blends elements of
Gretsch and Gibson in a boutique-grade package with Koll’s inimitable
stamp upon it. With the more unusual pickups used here,
and dressed in a surf-tastic finish option, this Duo Glide is something
rather different—and certainly a sweet hunk of eye candy
by any standards.
The Duo Glide sports a body of chambered mahogany with a
glued-on maple top. The set neck is also made from mahogany,
carved to a rounded C profile that measures .830" thick at first
fret and .960" at the 12th. The ebony ’board carries 22 mediumjumbo
frets, and upper-edge inlays of white pearl, Koll’s twist on
the position markers of several late-’50s and early-’60s Gretsch
guitars. The ebony facing on the asymmetrical headstock bears
a matching white-pearl logo inlay and is trimmed with narrow
off-white binding, also echoed in the bound body top, fretboard,
and f-hole. What really makes the package pop, though, is the
taffy-sweet surf green urethane finish splashed across the entire
body and neck, and the heart-shaped white pearloid pickguard
that dramatically offsets it. The inclusion of a Bigsby B-5 vibrato
is practically required by law.
The beating heart of this Duo Glide lies in its pair of Regal
humbuckers, acclaimed pickup maker Jason Lollar’s rendition of
the Fender Wide Range Humbucker of the early ’70s, as designed
by Seth Lover—better known as the father of Gibson’s legendary
“PAF” humbucker. These pickups are wound pretty hot, like the
originals, at around 10kΩ, but the use of magnetic polepieces—
rather than steel poles with a bar magnet beneath, like traditional Gibson and Gretsch humbuckers—aims to retain clarity amidst
the heat. It has to be noted that the pickups’ polepiece spacing
falls wider than the outside E strings, but check photos of ’70s
Fender Telecaster Thinline, Custom, or Deluxe models that carried
the Regal’s predecessors and you’ll see the same disparity of
widths, so it’s clearly a quirk of the original design. A single master
Volume and Tone control and a 3-way switch govern the package.
The few Koll Duo Glides that I have laid hands on in the past
have achieved that illusive trick of blending the indefinable magic
of a great vintage guitar with the playability of a skillfully crafted
modern instrument. This PBG-built Duo Glide goes a long way
toward nailing the same Holy Grail mojo. Fit and finish are immaculate,
the neck feels great in the hand, and the guitar rings loud
and clear, even when played unplugged.
Fired up through a Matchless HC-30, a Bogner Goldfinger (both
through a 2x12 cab with Scumback speakers), and a Fender EC Twinolux,
the Duo Glide translates its candy-colored façade to a surprisingly
sizzling tone beast that heaps on bite and bluster when needed, but also offers sultry sonic depths and
nuances for more contemplative moments.
The Lollar Regals really do pack a sting, but
it’s a more vintage-edged snarl with plenty of
clarity and cleaner tones when you turn down
the guitar’s Volume control. The Duo Glide
excels at anything from the meaner side of
surf to alt-country with attitude to gutsy-blues
and garage rock on those edge-of-breakup
amp settings. Cranking some high gain with
the Bogner or an OD pedal, it proved an easy
match for just about any breed of straight-on
rock, too. The polepiece spacing issue doesn’t
seem to affect string output or balance in the
least, and the Bigsby works smoothly without
any major return-to-pitch issues. All in
all, the Duo Glide is a blast to play, is surprisingly
versatile, and damn if it doesn’t make
you look good in the process!
Specifications
CONTACT Premier Builders Guild, (714) 514-0647; premierbuildersguild.com
Duo Glide
PRICE $3,695 street (with hardshell case); $3,595 with TV Jones Classic pickups
NUT WIDTH 1 11/16" GraphTech Tusq
NECK Mahogany, glued in, C profile (.830" thick at 1st fret, .960" at 12th)
FRETBOARD Ebony, 24 3/4" scale
FRETS 22 medium jumbo
TUNERS TonePros Kluson-style vintage tuners
BODY Chambered mahogany with maple top
BRIDGE Tune-o-matic with Bigsby B-5 vibrato
PICKUPS Two Lollar Regal humbucking pickups
CONTROLS Single Volume and Tone, 3-way selector
FACTORY STRINGS D’Addario, .010-.046 set
WEIGHT 8 lbs
BUILT USA
KUDOS Impeccable styling. Excellent build quality. Original tones that are extremely versatile
CONCERNS Pole spacings on these pickups don’t accurately match string spacing, but this doesn’t
noticeably impact string output or balance.