Reprise – Introduction written by Josh Maxey
The idea of a great guitar getting made for the first time is a bit like an album. You have the raw material, your melodies, the forms, and where the solos will be. It all starts with a spark and once an aspect of the music takes shape, suddenly it has a life of its own and a beginning from which to proceed. If you?re lucky you might have another musician to work through the ideas with as they develop. In the bouncing back and forth, the album takes shape as a combination of the best of each musician.
Working with Freddy on the new Reprise model has been a special experience for me. It?s been as inspiring and creative as any album I?ve worked on. It started a year or so before production began with a question of if it were possible to take my DockStar which I love, and have it hand crafted and constructed like an arch top jazz guitar.
From everything I?ve seen, Freddy is always working behind the scenes on two main goals. One is that Phred customers have the best service experience possible. As a guitar teacher, I always want my students to have a great experience with the lessons. I know the study of music and a lesson time might be one of the highlights of a person?s day. I see that same adherence to caring about each individual with Phred Instruments. Phred guitars go out into the world and inspire people to take their next steps in music and no doubt bring joy to their owners and listeners. The other thing I?ve seen with Phred is a commitment to developing ideas and making the best instrument with the greatest value possible. Phred Instruments knows that we muciains need quality and inspiring instruments that are affordable.
The Reprise Koa offers something new. It’s hand crafted by a small team of guitar makers. It has an arch top design with hand carved koa top and back, solid sides and striking maple binding. It is the realization of an idea. A hand crafted boutique guitar with a nod to tradition that is affordable for musicians.
Guitars are an extension of our musicianship. When we connect with an instrument it becomes a part of our sound. It vibrates with us and suggests the next notes or chords we play, along with responding to our imagination. The idea of a guitar being created to fulfill a dream is pretty exciting to me! There isn?t a guitar this size, shape and style with this quality of construction available from the big guitar companies.
Our idea was to create an instrument for all the musicians like myself that are looking for the best quality guitar with a nod to tradition while remaining its own individual instrument.
As the Reprise has taken shape, it?s form, themes and materials have added up to something more than their parts, just like a great album. I think having this guitar, with its concept and execution, is going to inspire many players to continue to realize their own musical dreams, write their next album, learn their next favorite song and take the next step in the unending path of music.
Josh Maxey
JoshMaxey.com
https://joshuamaxey.bandcamp.com
#Reprise2020
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Body
The fully hollow archtop body features a maple side, a solid koa back, and a solid koa top, with a dual humbucker setup, discrete split coil switches and a 3-way pickup toggle for 8 different tone combinations! There is one master volume and one master tone knob for dialing in your tone. The guitar strings pass over a floating bridge that is not anchored to the guitar body. Similar to a violin, banjo or mandolin bridge, the bridge simply rests on top of the body and is held in place by string tension. The ebony tailpiece is attached to the end of the guitar, holding the strings in place. There is one 1/4″ standard guitar output jack on the side of the guitar body. Reprise ships inside a custom Hard Shell Case.
Neck
The maple core neck is set-in to the body with glue. The back of the neck contour is a C-shape that feels somewhere in between a strat and an LP neck, not too thin, and not too chunky either. The 2-octave ebony fingerboard has 24 medium jumbo frets which are leveled and milled here at our shop in Agoura Hills, California for a nice smooth feel along the edge of the fretboard and all around. The fretboard features a 15 inch radius which is perfect for soloing and playing chords up and down the fretboard. Topping off the fretboard are custom “powerful pill” pearloid inlays designed by PHRED instruments. At the top of the neck, you’ll find a bone nut for good sustain, with a tilt-back 6-inline headstock featuring our signature Phred Instruments logo. Under the fretboard is the adjustable double-expanding truss rod, keeping the neck stable in any climate.
The PHRED instruments Reprise gets its inspiration from Trey Anastasio’s Languedoc guitar.
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13-point Setup
Our 13-point setup and inspection ensures that every PHRED Instruments guitar we ship is professionally setup and ready to play when it’s delivered to you. Setup will include string-height adjustment, intonation, electronics inspection, and the frets are leveled, crowned, and polished, as outlined below.
Fretwork and Fingerboard
1. Debur Fret Edges
This process involves filing the edges of each fret such that the edge of the fretboard feels smooth as you play up and down the neck.
2. Level Frets
Leveling all the frets ensures that you can play at low string action and with clear and articulated notes on each fret.
3. Crown Frets
After leveling the frets, they are crowned. Crowning frets is a process by which the frets are rounded slightly at the top. This makes the frets feel nice and smooth all around, ensures smooth bends, and also makes it easy to slide up and down the fretboard.
4. Polish Frets
After crowning the frets, polishing makes them shine brightly. Polishing them also makes them even more smooth to the touch.
5. Condition the fingerboard
The fretboard wood is cleaned and conditioned using fretboard oil.
Setup
6. Adjust Truss Rod
The truss rod should be adjusted such that the neck is slightly concave.
7. Adjust Nut
The nut height is adjusted to the fingerboard, and the string slots are filed to a perfect height and width for the strings we install
8. Adjust the Bridge Height
As a part of setting the string action, the bridge height is adjusted to our standard measurement of 1.75mm above the 12th fret on the low E string, and 1.5mm above the 12th fret on the high E string. We leave a little bit of room if you want to adjust the bridge a bit lower than that.
9. Adjust the Bridge Saddles
Intonation is set by adjusting the bridge saddles. We tune up and stretch a fresh set of strings, and then adjust the bridge saddle position until the harmonic at the 12th fret compared to the note at the 12th fret.
Pickups
10. Adjust pickup height
The height of the pickup is adjusted such that the perceived volume is consistent between each of the pickups installed on the guitar.
Electronics
11. Inspect and test electronics
Whether you upgrade to our USA wiring option or go with the stock wiring and electronics, we are going to make sure all the electronics work properly prior to shipping. For guitars that have an OBEL jack, we wire it Tip=Send, Ring=Return.
Strings
12. Install D’Addario 10-46 gauge strings
We install D’Addario EXL 10-46 gauge strings on all guitars. If you prefer a different brand or string gauge, contact us and we can accommodate other brands and string gauges, and adjust the setup accordingly to the strings that you prefer to use.
Guitar Body & Hardware
13. Clean and polish the guitar body and hardware
Just before we package up a guitar for shipping, we clean and polish your guitar using StewMac Guitar Polish to make it shine.
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