James Tyler Studio Elite

James Tyler is an icon in the guitar making world, but he is also unique in that he has balanced a serious interest in technology with a commitment to the time-honored tradition of handwork. He uses automated processes when they benefit the consistency of his instruments, and impeccable hand work, and his ears, to make things feel and sound just right. Mix that with a masterful understanding of wood, and you have one of the most consistent guitar makers in the world. In certain ways, I always know what a guitar from Tyler will be like. It will play fantastically, with perfect fretwork, a wonderful feeling neck, great articulation and a strong, resonant voice.

BUT I am always excited and surprised when each new Tyler comes to the shop because every guitar has its own individuality. Tyler’s consistency in process and his deft wood choices and handwork make each guitar a marvel. I think his refinement of approach lets each guitar breath in its own particular way, freeing the individual character of the woods and pickups.

Even though guitars have been around in one form or another for hundreds of years, electric guitars are not even a century old, and are still very much a mystery. How can a piece of wood, never mind a solid piece of wood, with strings tensioned across it and a coil of wire under the stings make such a profoundly beautiful sound? I have been playing James Tyler’s guitars for 20 years, and he is as close as anyone to capturing the mystery of the electric guitar.

The Studio Elite became a benchmark for West coast studio musicians in the 1980s, and has remained a key instrument in the Tyler range. With traditional S style DNA and Tyler’s distinctive refinements, the Studio Elite brings everything he has leaned over the years to the player who covets a bolt on neck design. Its in the little things that you truly discover the passions of James Tyler: the slightly rounded neck edges that make the guitar feel like an old, reliable friend the first time you play it; the way the body shape allows even more comfortable access to the upper frets than the traditional S; or the incredible responsiveness of the pickups. Everything comes together in a Tyler instrument, and each time I take one out of the case for the first time I think of the word superlative.

Recently Tyler changed his recipe for the tobacco burst finish, making the red a little deeper and, to my eyes, more alive.  We decided that a special piece of quilted maple he had at the shop would be a great way to inaugurate the updated tobacco sunburst finish for CR Guitars. Too, the pale white maple neck and fretboard creates a lovely visual balance with the depth of the quilted top. This is the first quilted tobacco fade with an all maple neck that has been in the shop, and I am thrilled with the results, which are absolutely stunning.

I never make any pickup requests when James makes me a guitar—but rather ask him to match the pickups to the instrument, and once again he has found the perfect sonic mates for this guitar. The acoustic tone of the instrument is clear and surprisingly resonant, and amplified the guitar has a very balanced tonal range that can push an amp from sweet articulate cleans to screaming, harmonically rich overdrive without any thinness or harshness.

Working with James over so many years, watching him unravel the mystery of electric guitars, has been a great pleasure of my life in music. I am pleased and excited to offer another superlative instrument from a modern master luthier.

If you'd like to find out more about this item, just call or e-mail me. It would be my pleasure to talk to you about it.

ABOUT TYLER GUITARS
James Tyler has had a guitar in his hand almost every day since he first picked one up the summer after seventh grade, in 1964. In college, Jim studied Architecture, Design, Music, Photography and for a couple years, Theology. He paid his way through these years of collage doing guitar repair work at local guitar stores, and as a factory trained auto mechanic for Alfa Romeo, Lancia, BMW and Fiat. Later into the 1970’s, he got connected with the guys at Norman’s Rare Guitars in the San Fernando Valley, and became their main repair and restoration guy. Jim’s abilities continued to expand and soon he had enough experience and reputation that he opened his first repair shop in Reseda, CA in 1980. Since then its been a whirlwind of successes, including being chosen to be displayed among the great California guitar companies such as Fender, Rickenbacker, Mosrite and Charvel in the Museum of California's exhibit The Ultimate Guitar Show and building for artists such as Michael Landau, David Williams, Steve Lukather, Michael Anthony, and Dan Huff. James' design shapes and various ground breaking guitar finishes and most recently his line of pickups have virtually transformed the guitar building industry.