Keith Moreland - Peterson Signature Guitars

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Keith Moreland


Keith Moreland reviews the FT with Brent Peterson
September 10, 2012                                                                                                                                                                                                

Watch the review on YouTube

Brent: Today we're spending some time with Keith Moreland from L.A.'s Pet Shark. Keith is playing the new Peterson FT model.

Keith: Thanks for having me Brent.

     The craftsmanship that this guitar exudes is really incredible. I've been building, toying with assembling various guitars from many manufacturers for 25 years now and playing guitar for a little longer than that. I'm in the prog-rock band Pet Shark, so I need something that has a lot of variety and tone. One of the guitars that I have in my stable,  and I hope it's ok to say this: is a Paul Reed Smith custom 24 10 top; it's got gold hardware and all the bells and whistles, and well, last night Brent let me use PSG-FT model guitar during a Pet Shark rehearsal. One of the amazing things was just  playing it unplugged and how loud it actually rings out; even the lower strings ring out, which on an unplugged electric-guitar's low strings, when you hit them, you hardly hear anything. This thing is just really lively. When you're standing up, it's strapped on and you're holding it against your body it resonates incredibly. One of the things that Brent and his son Brandon did when they designed this guitar was chambered it; it's definitely got some mass to it but it's not as heavy as it looks. For you guys that are used to playing Les Paul's, single-cut Paul Reed Smith's, McCarty's, or even a mahogany bodied strat, you're not going to have all the weight. The other thing that translates nicely is that it forces the guitar to balance very well.

Keith Moreland of Pet Shark
© 2011 freshpageimages / Alan Sisto

 

     They've really done something clever with where they've placed the Schaller strap locks; they don't have it on the horn tip; but on the horn back where it hangs really nice. It's a very comfortable guitar to play. The shape of everything feels very organic, very round. Another thing for you Les Paul and Paul Reed Smith guys, you 're not going to have that edge that digs into your arm if you like to play for an hour or two or like to wood shed, and lock yourself in a room. It's not going to be rubbing on your forearm, then, a half an hour later driving you crazy. It's also got this propitiatory head-stock design that I think is just beautiful, it angles back at 13 degrees. I have some strats and Ibanez guitars with double locking setups, and I have to use a string T, which I absolutely hate. When I'm changing my strings getting it through, over the nut, just makes me crazy; I love that angled head stock. Plus, when you're looking at it, there's just something cool about an angled head stock.

Brent: We are also using Schaller's top-locking tuners, where you can just feed the string through, pull, and tighten the lock on the top. Then of course the R3 Schaller locking nut.


Keith: So you have the double locking setup plus locking tuners; that just makes changing your strings a breeze. All of the hardware is made in Germany, this is Schaller's LockMeister; it's all top of the line, hardened steel, so you're not going to get any cast zinc saddles or anything like that. It's just top of the line. They come standard with Seymour Duncan pickups and we've been discussing that there's various types of S.D. pickup options: rock, metal, classic rock, vintage or blues. If you wanted to buy one of these guitars, you could talk with Brent about the various combinations. This particular one has a Jeff Beck in the bridge and a Quarter Pound Flat in the neck.

Watch Keith play "Busa" (from Pet Shark's Le Debut album) on the FT

These are also 24 fret guitars. I have to use 24 frets for Pet Shark, it's endemic with the music that we have written. I have to cover that and naturally use the 24th fret.

Brent: It's also a 24 and 3/4 scale, same as your Les Paul.


Keith: The Les Paul scale makes it really easy to bend. For all you purists out there, who play adult guitars with 21 or 22 frets, for some reason when you flip on that neck pickup you lose that really warm flutey tone. They've worked really hard to get this pickup as close to the 24th fret as possible. I was commenting last night when I could hear this in the band, compared to when I normally play, that it's really warm and flutey and sounds like a 22 fret guitar.

All in all, the flame, the quality of the woods (Honduran mahogany, figured maple), organic feel, the CTS pots, quality of the hardware, rosewood fretboard... and the other thing that I can really appreciate is the fret work. It's all hand done. You can run your hand up and down this thing all day long, there's not a burr or sharp spot anywhere on it.

Check out Pet Shark's latest CD, Le Debut

Brent: We've also got a compound radius on the fret board. A 10" diameter at the nut, 14" at the bridge and 13" at the 24th fret.

Keith: So you can fret all your chords down at the nut, it's nice and comfortable just like playing a classical instrument, and when you get up to the neck pickup, you can shred, it feels comfortable, you can bend,  and you're not going to fret out. Using this guitar last night, it sold me. I didn't even want to hand it back to Brent. I was so impressed with it,...,usually when I attain a guitar, and I don't go through a lot of them, it takes a lot to make me switch. The guitars I've had, I've had for years. I'm not one who's prone to GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) but after a little over an hour of playing this thing at rehearsal, I didn't want to hand it back. I got attached to it that quickly and for me personally that's saying a lot. Just a beautiful instrument, the tone, where everything is placed, where the controls are, everything is right there; just very impressed; it's outstanding!



Brent: Thanks a lot Keith. The band sounded really good last night; very impressive. If you haven't heard Pet Shark, be sure to check out their website. Keith Moreland from LA's Pet Shark, thank you very much!

Keith: Thank's so much Brent!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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