DiPinto guitars of Philadelphia has designed a model that straddles the line between classic American design and import oddities.

The radical design elements of the DiPinto Galaxie 4 may require a certain sartorial confidence on stage, but much of the guitar's strength is functional. The Galaxie 4's matching tortoise pickguard and headstock ensemble, star inlays, and four (count 'em, four) pickups scream fun. But the angled headstock combines cool surf looks with the ability to maintain tension across the 42mm nut without the use of string trees. This is especially functional on the Galaxie 4, where it helps the tremolo stay in tune.

This lightweight poplar guitar also balances extremely well, with the neck hanging at a very comfortable angle when you're strapped in. The maple, 4-bolt neck is attached to the headstock with a luthiers' joint. The Galaxie 4's Jaguar style tremolo maintains the guitars tuning, bending one string doesn't throw the others out of tune, and the guitar sustains well. The Galaxie 4 has a 25-1/2" scale length and a club-like shape to the neck.

If three pickups are good, four must be better! At first it might seem that the DiPinto dudes decided to go a little nuts with the wiring set up, but, like its looks, the wiring of the Galaxie 4 is as functional as it is freaky. The 5-way switch offers bridge pickup alone, bridge and two adjacent pickups, middle two, all four (yahoo!), or neck pickup alone. Positions 3 and 4 are hum-canceling combinations of the single coils.

These DiPinto designed pickups have plenty of punch. The bridge pickup provides a nice twang but also has enough midrange to sound good distorted. Position 2 offers a fine funk tone, and the neck pickup by itself gives enough warmth for jazz combined with plenty of bite for blues. The middle two together make a unique sound that may someday be known as DiPinto Tone, like a single-coil neck/middle combo but with more mids.

The DiPinto's strength lies in their style; visually and sonically. Take one of these on stage and the audience will be talking about it for weeks. Onstage or in the studio, the DiPinto Galaxie 4 will give you a leg up on developing a sound of your own. At these prices they can be a welcome addition to your collection for that special sonic or stage occasion.

DiPinto Galaxie 4 Electric Guitar Features:

• Body: Mahogany
• Neck: Maple
• Fingerboard: Rosewood with star or dot inlay
• Construction: Bolt on neck
• Frets: 22
• Scale: 25-1/2"
• Pickup: Four DiPinto single coil
• Selector: 5-position switch or 4 rocker switches
• Controls: One volume, one tone
• Bridge: Floating intonatable bridge w/ removable cover
• Tuners: Enclosed gear, pearl button machines

Surf's up! Dive in and order today!