Pete Back Custom "Paul" (c.1979-1983)

The well known guitar shop Music Ground, which is located on London's very own Tin Pan Alley - Denmark Street - has one of Pete's old guitar's in stock. And here it is:



Its an early Pete Back Custom V in remarkably good shape for its age, which I estimate as around '79 - '83.

The deep red - darker and more vivid than Fiesta Red - is a common feature on Pete's very early guitars. I have a Pete Back Brian May-style gold top double cutaway, which features the same blend of red on its body and neck, as well as the early signature transfers on the headstock. When I can I will upload some photos of this guitar in my collection, so you can compare the similarities. I know my Brian May style was one of the first guitar's Pete ever built - he told me so myself, which makes dating this axe a little easier.

The guitar looks to be in great condition - no obvious dinks to the body for example - and features a period locking kahler trem and diamond mother of pearl inlay on the fingerboard.


The truss-rod cover is unusually shaped and has the name "Paul" etched into it. This technique is also a feature of Pete's early works and involves using a hot needle to carefully remove the first black layer of the truss-rod cover laminate to expose the middle white layer. Requires a very steady hand, I would imagine! Now, my Bryan May guitar of that era had the word "Special" engraved here, so I'm interested in what the word "Paul" means to this guitar. I'm pretty confident that this guitar would have originally been made for someone called Paul, who requested his name on the headstock. Maybe someone could illuminate this for me further? Perhaps the original Paul is still out there somewhere!

Anyhows, it is a very rare example, undoubtedly the only such guitar out there, and is currently on sale for buy it now at £899.

If you're thinking of getting into Pete's guitars and would like a heavy metal / rock beast, I think you will find this guitar to be a very good investment.

You can check it out on ebay at the following link http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PETE-BACK-CUSTOM-PAUL-FLYING-V-RED-KAHLER-TREM-CASE_W0QQitemZ270524680508QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxq20100202?IMSfp=TL100202191002r35908