John Hornby Skewes and Paul Tebbutt join forces yet again for a new acoustic guitar release, the Pilgrim Mayflower Deluxe VPG900N with solid cedar top and contoured fiberglass body.
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The satin finish cedar of this new acoustic-electric guitar may look traditional, but changing your viewing angle slightly will let you see the contoured fiberglass back and sides, making it far from a traditional acoustic.
Not much information is known about Pilgrim, aside from it being an acoustic guitar builder that produced guitars from the ’70s to mid ’80s. Today, the company is based in Leicestershire, England, continuing their small-scale production. Their guitars are currently distributed by John Hornby Skewes under the Pilgrim brand, and the new Mayflower Deluxe VOG900N is the latest addition to this line.
Because of their use of contoured non-wood material for the back, it is easy to make comparisons with Ovation guitars who popularized the use of composite materials for the back and sides of their guitars. Still it’s good to have options, especially since Fender has recently sold the Ovation brand to Drum Workshop, a percussion company!
The Pilgrim Mayflower Deluxe VPG900N is the latest addition to the Pilgrim line, and it features a solid cedar top wrapped in satin finish. The traditional looking top is paired with a contoured fiberglass back. The body follows a more traditional shape, has a conventional soundhole and a single cutaway for better access to the higher frets. Flamed maple binding and inlayed wood rosette adds some classic aesthetic points to the guitar’s modern design.
The neck is crafted from mahogany and black-flamed maple, with a scale length of 25.28″. It is topped by a rosewood fingerboard with 22 frets, and basic dot inlays serve as fret markers.
For plugging in, Pilgrim equipped the Mayflower Deluxe with Fishman Presys+ onboard preamp and Sonicore pickup, the same electronics used on many acoustic electric guitars from varying brands. Features of this pickup and preamp system include 7-segment LED tuner, Brilliance control for tone shaping, Notch for anti-feedback adjustments, volume control, 3-band EQ (Treble, Middle and Bass), Phase button and a low battery indicator. The flip-top housing allows easy access to the battery compartment.
Other features of the guitar include Burr walnut headstock face, bone nut, ebony bridge and enclosed gold die-cast tuners. Finally, the guitar comes packaged with a padded Pilgrim gig bag.
The Pilgrim Mayflower Deluxe offers an interesting combination of classic appeal with modern reliability, it is currently retailing for around $600. For more information, head over to JHS.
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