different guitars and every guitar kind of has its own personality , so there are other things and other specs in guitars that I enjoy as well that are different to my previous guitar . So the last one , the main idea behind that guitar being made in Mexico was to keep the price point down so that young people could realistically afford to go out and buy one , and I think we were really successful at making a quality instrument at a really reasonable price .
With the new one from the get go it was going to be a USA made Strat , so we ’ re raising the bar . Nowadays with the virus and everything , the only way you can really shop is to virtual window shop , so I really wanted the guitar to be visually compelling . I wanted it to catch your eye and to pique your curiosity . So the goal was to create a visually compelling instrument that looks as premium as it actually is in its makeup . We did the block inlays , and that was a nod to the 1966 / 67 where they put a few Strats out there with block inlays and binding . There weren ’ t a lot of them and I was going to buy one ,
I think I still will , I love the look of that , I think it ’ s really cool . I think besides being a nice look its also functional . We do a lot of different lighting situations on stage , and there are actually some lighting combinations that cancel out visually the dots on the neck of the guitar . So if you use the dots as reference points , especially the ones on the side , in certain lighting conditions you can ’ t see those . So the bright white binding and the block inlays give you a very solid point of reference to where you ’ re playing on the neck of the guitar .
So we took the design a little further , we split the twelfth fret in a way just to make it look more symmetrical , but the binding and inlays are all functional as well . We did a matching color headstock kind of like a Jaguar or Mustang kind of vibe . One of my favorite things about it is that we put the signature on the headstock , which is where the original Signature Series guitars had them . When I was a kid and I went into a music store I saw Eric Clapton ’ s guitar , Stevie Ray Vaughn , Jeff Beck , Robert Cray , all of those guys , their signatures were there . Over the years they ’ ve kind of gotten away from that and tried some different things , but to me having that signature there is the mark of a real Signature Series guitar and I ’ m very proud of that .
[ WM ] The story behind your 1961 Strat , is so cool ! What about that particular guitar spoke to you , and what are the things you think that make a great Strat great ?
[ Kenny ] You hear these stories , you know , that there ’ s this mythical guitar that exists for you , like finding your soul mate and the person you ’ re going to live the rest of your life with . So there is this guitar out there that exists that when you pick it up you just know that it ’ s the one . I was on that hunt for a long time . As soon as I picked up my first vintage guitar and learning what that was all about I was on the hunt . I was actually surprised at how many old guitars that I picked up and didn ’ t like . It ’ s not to say they ’ re all bad , they ’ re just all different . There