The Raw Guitar Co.
Portfolio & Proposed Retail Catalogue
Simon Raw: 07734 139 320: simon@rawguitars.net
www.rawguitars.net
© 2011 The Raw Guitar Co. All rights reserved
The Raw Guitar Co.
We are a new company devoted to designing a
range of guitars that incorporate state-of-the art
electronic components, avant-garde in style, yet
reflective of the guitars you love. Working closely
with professional guitarists, we strive to create,
design and develop a range of guitars that
appeal to musicians and who require that little bit
more from their instruments. The Raw Guitar Co.
are proud of what we have designed and we
hope you like them too.
“The guitars look fantastic. I can’t wait to hear what they sound like.”
Matt Anderson, Canadian Blues\Rock Guitarist and Recording Artist
The Raw Guitar Co.
We have always loved the old guitars from the 1950s that were sold in the United States through Sears &
Roebuck catalogues and similar outlets. Manufacturers like Harmony, Kay, National, Univox and Valco to
name but a few designed some pretty cool and iconic looking guitars back then. Great Blues guitarists
like Elmore James, Jimmy Reed and Hubert Sumlin played catalogue guitars. Today, Jack White and Ian
Siegal play them. In homage to those wonderful instruments and the music created on them, we have
designed a range of guitars that have their roots deep in Chicago and this is why we call them . . .
. . . Something Old, New, Borrowed & Blue
Something Old, New, Borrowed & Blue
“The Skinny” (Designed For Ian Siegal)
Mahogany semi-hollow body with Maple top.
Mahogany neck with Rosewood fretboard.
Two Lollar custom “DeArmond” single coil pickups with polished
nickel blades or with aesthetically pleasing P-90 style covers.
These pickups create a modern interpretation of tones pioneered
by Jimmy Reed and Howlin’ Wolf.
Something Old, New, Borrowed & Blue
“The Skinny” (Designed For Ian Siegal)
Ian has a passion for collecting and playing vintage Harmony
and Kay guitars. When he discovered that we were working
on our “Something . . .” series he asked if we could design
him a guitar that was in-keeping with his collection.
Inspiration for this guitar came from the Jimmy Reed Kay
Thin Twin and the Harmony Jupiter. The pickups have been
exclusively designed by legendary pickup builder, Jason
Lollar. We asked Jason to design us a modern interpretation
of the “DeArmond” sound thereby reflecting tones produced
by Jimmy Reed and Howlin’ Wolf.
Something Old, New, Borrowed & Blue
“The Thunderstorm”
Mahogany semi-hollow body with Maple top.
Mahogany neck with Rosewood fretboard.
Lollar ’50s Wind P-90 pickup at the neck reflecting the ’53 Les Paul Gold Top tone.
Lollar custom “DeArmond” single coil in the middle reflecting tones created by such
Blues luminaries as Jimmy Reed and Howlin’ Wolf.
Lollar Low Wind Imperial Humbucker at the bridge. This pickup is based on the lower
output PAF's often found in vintage 335's creating tones favoured by The King’s.
“You’re on to a good thing here.”
David Gogo, Canadian Blues\Rock Guitarist and Recording Artist
Something Old, New, Borrowed & Blue
“The Thunderstorm”
During our research into American catalogue guitars from the late
1950s and early ’60s we came across a guitar manufactured by Valco
called The Thunderstick. We immediately fell in love with the name and
the guitar so we decided to design a modern day tribute. Any guitar
that had the name The Thunderstick had to be acknowledged and
revived. We spent a lot of time looking at pickup options for our
modern interpretation. After a lot of head scratching and consultation
with Jason Lollar and professional guitarists, we came up with what we
feel is the ideal combination for reflecting the tone and sound of 1950s
urban Chicago Blues.
“You’re on to a good thing here.”
David Gogo, Canadian Blues\Rock Guitarist and Recording Artist
Something Old, New, Borrowed & Blue
“The Broom Duster”
Mahogany semi-hollow body with Maple top.
Mahogany neck with Rosewood fretboard.
Lollar custom “Elmore James” single coil pickup
reflecting Elmore’s dark, moody and heavy slide sound.
Something Old, New, Borrowed & Blue
“The Broom Duster”
Elmore James is considered by many musical historians to be one of
the most important artists in the history and development of the
Blues. With his blistering riffs, fiercely intense slide playing and
metallic voice, Elmore James embodied the essence of urban
Chicago Blues in the 1950’s and early ‘60s. He was known as The
King of the Slide Guitar and the electric guitar he played was a 1952
Silvertone labelled, Kay K-125 that featured a single DeArmond
pickup. This guitar was offered in Kay’s 1952 catalogue and was
Kay’s first solid bodied construction. Finding an identical Kay K-125
guitar today is almost impossible as they were only in production for
a year. Consequently, this guitar has all but been forgotten, until
now. This is our contemporary tribute to James’ electric guitar. The
pickup has been designed by Jason Lollar and reflects Elmore’s
dark, moody and heavy slide sound.
One interesting feature that we discovered while researching Elmore
and the guitars he played was that he had, at sometime in the mid
1950s, removed the top half of the pickguard from his Kay electric
and put it on his acoustic. Why he did that is anyone’s guess! We
have replicated Elmore’s removal because it seemed appropriate
and in-keeping with Elmore’s spirit.
Something Old, New, Borrowed & Blue
“The Krazy Kat”
Alder solid-body.
Maple neck with Rosewood fretboard.
Three Lollar custom “DeArmond” single coil pickups reflecting the tones
created by Pat Hare, Hubert Sumlin and all those other cool “Dudes” that
played the clubs in and around Chicago during the 1950s and ’60s.
“Cool guitar. It’s nice to see someone creating instruments that move away from the norm and offer some individuality.”
Dave Arcari, British Blues\Rock Guitarist and Recording Artist
Something Old, New, Borrowed & Blue
“The Krazy Kat”
Last year, and quite by chance, we stumbled across a website
that advertised old vintage guitars for sale and we were
immediately drawn to an unusual 1965 Kay Vanguard. We were
impressed by the simplicity of it’s design and how the blue and
white colour scheme complimented the guitar perfectly. We took
inspiration from this guitar and created an evolutionary,
contemporary design that pays respect to the original, yet has
an identity all of it’s own. We have called this design “The Krazy
Kat” in recognition of Krazy Kat Music, the company in San
Antonio, Texas, whose website we stumbled across and whose
“inspiration” helped create the guitar you see here.
“Cool guitar. It’s nice to see someone creating instruments that move away from the norm and offer some individuality.”
Dave Arcari, British Blues\Rock Guitarist and Recording Artist
Something Old, New, Borrowed & Blue
“The Sunset Strip”
Mahogany semi-hollow body with Maple top.
Mahogany neck with Maple fretboard.
Three TV Jones T-Armond pickups.
Something Old, New, Borrowed & Blue
“The Sunset Strip”
One guitar that was popular back in the day was the Kay Value
Leader. This guitar could be purchased with one, two or three
DeArmond single coil pickups and was a great guitar for playing
bottleneck slide. One of it’s design features was the metal pickguard
that almost ran the full length of the body. One Blues luminary who
played a Value Leader was J.B. Hutto and in recognition to his
sublime musicianship we have created a modern day tribute. We
have replicated the original pickguard with an airbrushed sunburst
reflection and chosen three T-Armond pickups to reproduce a modern
interpretation of Mr Hutto’s inspiring playing.
Something Old, New, Borrowed & Blue
“The Flathead”
Mahogany semi-hollow body with Maple top.
Mahogany neck with Rosewood fretboard.
Lollar Supro Steel Guitar “Coodercaster” pickup.
Lollar “Dearmond” single coil pickup with black P-90 cover.
Something Old, New, Borrowed & Blue
“The Flathead”
One guitar that was very cool back in the 1950s was the Valco made Supro
Ozark. This instrument came with either a single neck pickup or a steel
guitar bridge pickup that later became immortalised by Ry Cooder. The
Ozark was also the first guitar ever owned and played by Jimi Hendrix.
Howlin’ Wolf had an Ozark in his collection as does Joe Perry today.
Our modern interpretation has a Lollar “DeArmond” single coil pickup at the
neck and a Lollar Supro Steel Guitar pickup at the bridge. If you admire the
silky bottleneck tones of Mr Cooder or the pioneering tones of Mr DeArmond
then this guitar is for you.
Something Old, New, Borrowed & Blue
“The Nighthawk”
Alder solid-body.
Maple neck with Rosewood fretboard.
Two TV Jones Classic pickups.
Something Old, New, Borrowed & Blue
“The Nighthawk”
Our catalogue couldn’t be complete until we paid our
respects to the Harmony Guitar Company. The
company was owned by Sears, Roebuck & Company
and in the early ‘50s they introduced two iconic solidbodied guitars, namely, the H-42 and H-44 Stratotone.
These two guitars were very popular back in the day
because they were relatively cheap to buy and they
sounded great. One popular Blues musician who
played a Harmony H-42 Stratotone was Robert
Nighthawk. Born in Helena, Arkansas, Nighthawk was
a sublime slide guitarist who recorded for Chess
Records and throughout the early ‘60’s could be found
playing on Chicago’s Maxwell Street.
In respect to Nighthawk and all the other musicians
who played on Maxwell Street we have created an
evolutionary, contemporary design that pays respect
to the original H-42 and H-44 models. We have
chosen two TV Jones Classic pickups to reproduce a
modern interpretation of Nighthawk’s playing.
Something A Little More Familiar
“The Palette Knife”
Ovangkol semi-hollow body with maple top and artwork finish.
Maple neck and Rosewood fretboard.
Lollar Low Wind Imperial Humbucker pickups.
Fishman Tune-O-Matic Powerbridge with built in acoustic piezo pickup.
Fishman Powerchip mixing preamp.
For Those Who Want To Mix It Up A Little . . .
“Love it. Great design for a contemporary guitar.”
Ian Siegal, British Blues\Rock Guitarist and Recording Artist
Something A Little More Familiar
“The Palette Knife”
Apart from our “Something . . .” series of guitars that have
been created using different shades of “blue”, we have also
produced something that is a little more colourful. This is our
take on one of the most popular electric guitars ever played.
We love the shape because it is so versatile, leading to
countless design possibilities. One such possibility was to
install an acoustic pickup, thereby, creating a hybrid. We have
spent considerable time experimenting with different hybrid
construction techniques in order to maximise the acoustic
tone. Thanks also to Fishman technological advancement, we
have been able to create a guitar that can offer the electric
guitarist a palette of incredible acoustic and electric sounds.
We would like to think that the artwork is reflective of those
sounds and tones too.
“Love it. Great design for a contemporary guitar.”
Ian Siegal, British Blues\Rock Guitarist and Recording Artist
Something A Little More Familiar
“The Paint Brush”
Ovangkol semi-hollow body with Maple top.
Artwork finish.
Maple neck and Rosewood fretboard.
Lollar P-90 soap bar style pickups.
Something A Little More Familiar
“The Paint Brush”
For those who want to be a little more colourful . . .