Visiting Fidelity Guitars: Matt Oram Mods My Stellarosa!

Check out Fidelity Guitars here: https://www.fidelity-guitars.co.uk

You might have seen me waffling on recently about how much I love my Fidelity Stellarosa...it's an impeccably made instrument, and the neck in particular is one of my favourite I've ever played. The relicing is tasteful; the fretwork beautiful; and it's overall a very quirky and vibey guitar.

However, the guitar was spec'ed out by somebody else - and there's been a couple of things about it that I've been struggling with a little bit. Firstly, the Gold Foil pickup in the middle - whilst sounding gorgeous - feels pretty in-the-way with my clumsy playing style. I tend to just wallop the strings, and I've kept whacking the pick on the side of the pickup and launching it through the air like a ski jump.

But also, the previous owner routed the guitar out and added a Jaguar-style pickup right next to the bridge...and whilst you can dial it in to sound lovely, it's SO bright and thin compared to the gold foil that the two just really don't balance well. Either one sounds muddy, or t'other sounds shrill - there's no good middle ground.

So eventually, I decided I wanted to change the guitar up...and there was only one person I really wanted to do the modifications: Matt Oram at Fidelity. Fortunately, he was up for the job, and also allowed me to head over to Cambridge (well, Ely...) and document the work. So that's exactly what I did on Thursday of last week....and the end results will become evident!

What do you think? A big improvement? Or not for you? Comment below!

Amp is a Vajra JTM45 clone running into a Zilla Studio Pro 2x12 cabinet loaded with Celestion AlNiCo Gold & G12M Heritage Greenback speakers. Recorded with Aston Spirit Condenser, '70s Sennheiser MD441 and sE RNR1 ribbon mics, with a Schoeps CMC6 room mic. Spring reverb is a Dr Z Z-Verb unit.

0:00 Intro
1:27 Why Are We Making Changes?
7:22 Off To Cambridge!
8:03 Matt Makes The Pickguard
11:43 Disassembly
16:14 Matt's Fretwork
19:23 CNC Routing The Body
20:53 Shielding
21:41 Ageing The Pickup Surrounds
23:23 Custom Hardware
27:49 Wiring & Fitting Electronics
29:19 What Polish Do You Use?!?
29:41 Reassembly & Setup
30:20 Making Some Noise Back Home
32:05 Outro

www.facebook.com/joeperkinsmusic
[email protected]

Vector images by freepik.comCheck out Fidelity Guitars here: https://www.fidelity-guitars.co.uk

You might have seen me waffling on recently about how much I love my Fidelity Stellarosa...it's an impeccably made instrument, and the neck in particular is one of my favourite I've ever played. The relicing is tasteful; the fretwork beautiful; and it's overall a very quirky and vibey guitar.

However, the guitar was spec'ed out by somebody else - and there's been a couple of things about it that I've been struggling with a little bit. Firstly, the Gold Foil pickup in the middle - whilst sounding gorgeous - feels pretty in-the-way with my clumsy playing style. I tend to just wallop the strings, and I've kept whacking the pick on the side of the pickup and launching it through the air like a ski jump.

But also, the previous owner routed the guitar out and added a Jaguar-style pickup right next to the bridge...and whilst you can dial it in to sound lovely, it's SO bright and thin compared to the gold foil that the two just really don't balance well. Either one sounds muddy, or t'other sounds shrill - there's no good middle ground.

So eventually, I decided I wanted to change the guitar up...and there was only one person I really wanted to do the modifications: Matt O at Fidelity. Fortunately, he was up for the job, and also allowed me to head over to Cambridge (well, Ely...) and document the work. So that's exactly what I did on Thursday of last week....and the end results will become evident!

What do you think? A big improvement? Or not for you? Comment below!

Amp is a Vajra JTM45 clone running into a Zilla Studio Pro 2x12 cabinet loaded with Celestion AlNiCo Gold & G12M Heritage Greenback speakers. Recorded with Aston Spirit Condenser, '70s Sennheiser MD441 and sE RNR1 ribbon mics, with a Schoeps CMC6 room mic. Spring reverb is a Dr Z Z-Verb unit.

0:00 Intro
1:27 Why Are We Making Changes?
7:22 Off To Cambridge!
8:03 Matt Makes The Pickguard
11:43 Disassembly
16:21 Matt's Fretwork
19:31 CNC Routing The Body
21:01 Shielding
21:49 Ageing The Pickup Surrounds
23:35 Custom Hardware
28:00 Wiring & Fitting Electronics
29:31 What Polish Do You Use?!
29:52 Reassembly & Setup
30:32 Making Some Noise Back Home
32:17 Outro

www.facebook.com/joeperkinsmusic
[email protected]

Vector images by freepik.com