Ted Stevenson Guitars are hand made by Ted, and Ted alone, in his Montreal workshop. From wood-selection, to winding custom pickups for each instrument, to painstakingly applying custom finishes in any modern or vintage material... This is a true master craftsman operation, from strap button to string tree.

As his exclusive USA dealer, Killerburst Guitars enjoys an unparalleled level of communication at every step along the way with this world class luthier, and it is an honor to present these guitars to our clients.

A collaborative design between Killerburst Guitars and Ted Stevenson, the Cali Standard harkens back to the era when rock and roll guitar became simultaneously more polished and aggressive. A period of time when the top of the charts featured R&B/Pop Icons like Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie, who had enlisted the guitar talents of celebrated virtuoso guitarists
to play iconic rock solos on some of their biggest hits. Meanwhile the LA hard rock scene was giving us a new generation of young-gun shredders setting a new bar for radio friendly rock guitar riffs and incendiary solos. This was a time when being a working guitar player meant you had competence performing delicate, ambient clean parts to fit neatly within synth-heavy mixes, rocking out with power chord riffs, laying down funky rhythms and improvising solos ranging from tasty fusion to fire-breathing arpeggios and dive bombs. All of this was expected, and guitar players looking to answer the call were showing up more often than not with at least one HSS, Floyd-equipped Superstrat, knowing they could accomplish nearly anything required with that one guitar.

The basic design is as if it were plucked right out of Southern California in 1989, but upon close inspection the modern details become very apparent:

• The bodies are a slimmed-down, dinky S-type body, with soft curves under the forearm, belly and neck heel. Constructed with classic wood combinations, using hand-selected cuts and sorted for optimal weight (not too light, not too heavy). Bodies are choice cuts of alder (combined with a maple/rosewood neck) or basswood with a 3/16” plain maple cap (combined with a one-piece maple neck), rear-routed for a clean modern, no-pickguard look. Ted’s handwound HSS pickup set is direct-mounted with no plastic rings.

• Bridge choices are premium Gotoh hardware, with a choice of the 2-point 510 tremolo and a perfectly cut bone nut, or a Gotoh 1996T locking tremolo and locking nut. Black hardware is standard with basswood/maple models. Alder/rosewood guitars use chrome hardware. Gotoh locking tuners are standard.

• Bodies are finished in high-gloss polyester in a virtually limitless array of solid, transparent or burst finishes. Necks are finished in satin nitrocellulose lacquer. Guitars with rosewood fingerboards and chrome hardware have a body-matching headstock, while one-piece necks with black hardware have a natural satin headstock.

• Neck shapes stick to the late-‘80s inspiration. Slim and curvy for a fast, comfortable feel, but not overly shreddy-feeling or too flat.

• Modern neck features like a compound fretboard radius with heavy stainless steel frets and absolutely impeccable fret work are the hallmarks of the California Standard. The muscle car good looks will make you pick it up, but the neck feel will make you never want to put it down.

• The sculptured neck heel conceals another Ted Stevenson innovation: The Pro-Lock neck joint. This neck joint uses a pair of hard maple “biscuits” (elongated oval dowels) that form a friction fit joint of body and neck that eliminates lateral or rotational movement of the neck within the pocket. This keeps the neck perfectly aligned with the center line and prevents those pesky neck pocket finish cracks. Another invisible effect is an enhanced resonance, perceivable improvement in sustain and acoustic volume. The extra surface area in this neck joint provides for enhanced transfer of energy between the components, mitigating the losses that can dampen vibrations. The Pro-Lock joint is held together via a pair of machine bolts and threaded inserts, capturing the neck and body in a constant pressure union. All of this is done under a carefully contoured heel for enhanced upper fret access and a smooth handshake feel.

• Neck relief is regulated with a proprietary one-way truss rod, pre-loaded using a method that ensures bi-directional adjustment. Adjustments are done with Ted’s own stainless steel spoke wheel at the body end of the neck.

• Ted’s years of designing and building amplifiers (PWE Event Horizon) along with his guitars gives him another level of visibility into the signal path that very few others can claim. His pickups are the result of decades of investigation, experimenting, building and playing. The pickups voiced for this guitar include an AlNiCo 2 humbucker with a vintage-plus output, for a high dynamic range which is very responsive to the technique of the player. Sweet highs, smooth mids, and a warm bottom. Full but not bloated. Clear but not brittle. Punchy but not stiff. The more you put into this, the more you’ll get out of it. A pair of custom-designed, hand-built AlNiCo 5 stacked hum-cancelling "single coils" voiced for a chimey, throaty, and greasy ‘60s-style sound compliment the bridge position humbucker, and a simple master volume, master tone, and 5-way switch control system complete the package.

This is the consummate ’80-90s guitarists’ “gunslinger” platform, brought forward into the modern day. No compromises. No apologies. And at this price point, there is really no competition. Premium components and materials. Master-luthier handmade quality workmanship. Made in Canada and distributed by an American old-school guitar shop. Price at launch is $2699, case included. Initial quantities are very limited, but pre-orders for the next run are open.

Serial Number CS003 is 7 pounds 6 ounces. Complete specs are in the last photo.