Leo Scala Theodore Retroliner – Electric Purple, Electric Purple

Introducing the Leo Scala Master Artisan Theodore Retroliner – Electric Purple A Unique, Original Master Artisan Guitar With a Distinctive, Creative Spirit Gibson’s legendary former president Theodore ‘Ted’ McCarty, helped develop some of the most iconic electric guitars ever during the 1950s and early 1960s, including the Les Paul™, Flying V™, and Explorer™. He enjoyed sketching new instrument ideas during meetings, and the height of his creative output was in 1957 when he sought to modernize Gibson’s electric guitar designs significantly. On March 18, 1957, Ted detailed and signed his drawing for a new solid body instrument which was never produced until the Gibson Custom shop introduced a limited run of this model, named “Theodore” in honor of Ted, which was released on March 18, 2022 - exactly 65 years from the day that Ted originally sketched out the design. Since then, Gibson has also introduced a Theodore model as part of its USA-built core lineup. Having created a single Theodore Retroliner model as part of one of his previous Master Artisan releases in cooperation with Gibson Custom, Master Artisan Leo Scala has now created a new series of ten Master Artisan interpretations of the Gibson Theodore™. Like their Leo Scala-crafted predecessor, each one is distinctive, individual, and absolutely one-of-a-kind. Leo took the Theodore and added his own creative touches to the design and created gorgeous works of art that are designed to play and sound as good as they look. He started by imagining that the Theodore was actually released in 1957 or 1958, and like some other Gibson models, was subtly revised and changed over the years with different pickup configurations and custom colors and then subjected to the finish and playing wear that comes with the longtime use of a well-loved guitar; thus creating the non-existent past of a vintage design–a contemporary of the Flying V and Explorer–that was never made until very recently. Leo’s approach to their aesthetic was to combine classic looks with hot rod-inspired elements, along with the thoughtful details that are a hallmark of his work. The Theodore Retroliner – Electric Purple’s nitrocellulose lacquer finish was hand-applied and meticulously hand-aged by the Master Artisan, as was the aged hardware. He used classic and custom finish colors, relic treatments, and added his own unique artistic elements. Leo’s custom coloration process for the plastics actually infuses the color into the parts, so the colorations won’t rub off with use. McCarty’s original drawing inspired the pickguard shape. It incorporates elements of the ES-335 and Les Paul Special pickguards. It also brings a similarly angled accent to the Theodore Retroliner’s body that the angled scimitar headstock gives to the other end of the guitar. The hot rod ethos applies to more than just appearances. Not only does Leo bring elements of the hot rod aesthetic to these Theodore Retroliners, but he also brings a hot rod-style performance approach to each guitar. The pickups–the engines of the Theodore Retroliners–are Leo Scala custom hand-wound “Retrophonic” models, with a Patent Applied For-style humbucker™ in the bridge position and a Soapbar P-90 in the neck. Each pickup is one-of-a-kind and unique, with different magnet types and strengths and differing amounts of winds on the bobbins, and each pickup pair was specifically made to work together; the middle position of each guitar has a unique sound, and both pickups, including the Retrophonic Soapbar P-90, are height-adjustable so that Leo could adjust their positions for optimal performance and tone. Each Theodore Retroliner is a unique guitar that won’t sound quite like any other guitar–including another Theodore or Theodore Retroliner. Other performance enhancements include modifications to the ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic™ bridge and Bigsby® B7 vibrato tailpiece.…