When our first Saticoy prototype was made, Lance figured that if he could get Carl’s attention THEN he would know that we were making a great guitar. You see, Carl Verheyen is a recognized S-Style guru and tone wizard. Carl has and continues to be one of the most sought after guitarists in L.A. He can do it all and does some of it every day. He does movies, TV, giant arena tours with Supertramp and his own band, and is a very busy session guitarist. Most notably here though, is that he knows his guitars…. he also has bat hearing.
About one year after we introduced our Saticoy model, the phone rang. It was Carl, and he asked us if we were interested in making his signature guitar. He could have gone to ANY guitar company and the would have been just as giddy as I was. The answer was obvious.
As you might imagine, Carl has quite the collection of amazing guitars. Historic, jaw-dropping guitars. The bar was set about as high as it could go. When we set out on this endeavor, the medium requirement was to make the guitar that Carl would reach for. There was no way we would be satisfied with just another SINO (signature in name only). This guitar had to be his number one, and by being the best in his collection. Quite a tall order, Carl is a tough cookie.
So we started working with him, he brought in his favorites and we all set out to make it right. After countless sessions, adjustments, reworks and re-do’s, we came up with the Carl Verheyen Special you see today. The very same one that continues to be his favorite guitar to date.
The differences between our normal Saticoy and the CVS are as follows: We use super low-torque pots that are very fast to roll back and forth. The neck is shaped to be an exact replica of his personal ‘61 blue S-Style. The pickups are 60’s voiced, low-output, hand-wound as always and as sweet as can be. Lastly the bridge features an expert floating bridge setup. This allows for a perfect minor 3rd rise in the G string by pulling up on the trem bar, and we also set the spring claw at an angle.