GOWEN T
The 2018 Gowen T we built for Lucy Gowen in Paulownia, weighing just 2.5Kg, was our first ever prototype guitar.
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We're still building T-type guitars to order, with a slightly revised spec and options for body wood.
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Our original T-type was a super light weight Paulownia body and Maple neck - but you'll be able to buy your t-type in any of our normal body styles and in a choice of different solid woods and finishes. T's all have a wraparound bridge for better playability and either single or double Irongear pickups.
Prices start at around £1100 (-10% Student Discount) for a Tulip Wood or Lime Wood body with no front or rear contours or added top, with a single Iron Gear Dirty Torque humbucker pick-up (or a single IronGear Steel Foundry single coil) with volume and tone controls. We can add front and rear contours, a second pickup or also offer House of Tone or Lollar pickups for your build.
We can source completely individual, figured top and body woods especially for your guitar - so you can guarantee no one else will have EXACTLY the same looking guitar as yours!
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Unique, figured tone wood tops add between £150 and £500 to the basic cost of the instrument, and single coils also add costs for cavity shielding.
See the Woods section on this page for more details of the body woods we use or click through to the Shop page to see the blanks we currently have available.
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EMAIL us to enquire about Gowen T guitars.
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T-type Specification
Single cutaway body (see IN STOCK below for details of other woods currently available), finished in Tung / True Oil to a silky matt finish.
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Gotoh Wraparound Bridge / Gotoh Modern Tele Bridge
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Gotoh Machine Heads
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Optional carved forearm and/or rear contour
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Schaller straplock buttons
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Enamled Selector Switch Washer (humbucker guitar)
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Electrics
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All CTS switches and pots
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Irongear Dirty Torque Humbucker in Bridge position with Irongear Blues Engine in Neck Position for Humbucker guitar, or for single coils, Irongear Steel Foundry or House of Tone Special Teas / Texas Teas**
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On-board pickup humbucker surround Shadow Tuner (Bridge pickup)*
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Separate volume and Tone controls for each pickup
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Options for coil tapping (Standard Body Style only)
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Neck
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Maple neck, Banana Kmise type headstock, Rosewood fretboard, dotted fret markers
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628mm Gibson or 648mm Fender scale length
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Medium-jumbo sized frets
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Chrome Gotoh 510 machine heads ***
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​Silver 1914 threepence inlaid in truss rod cover
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* On-board tuner not available for single-coil, tele style bridges.
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** Single coil tele style pickups or humbuckers are available at extra cost from House of Tone or Lollar Pickups. Go to the SHOP page for further details on available upgrades.
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BODY STYLES
Our T guitars are available in the following body styles:
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Skinny
Skinny bodies are usually between 35-45mm thick, so they're perfect if you like the feel of a more compact guitar. With optional front and rear body contours you can get an instrument with a very thin profile. Most thinner bodies do not have tops, and are made as solid single or double piece bodies. Because of their thin profile, Skinny bodies can't have coil-tapped pickups.
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Standard
Standard bodies vary from between 45 and 50mm at their widest point, depending on options chosen for carving and tops. Only Standard body styles can accommodate the electronics needed for coil tapping, and some other traditional tele-style electronics. Contact us for more details.
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NECKS
We build our T guitars with 22 frets and either a Fender style 648mm scale length or, for easier bends and a more comfortable feel for smaller hands, a Gibson type 628mm scale length. Choose between the following wood combinations, in the following order of weight:
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Mahogany neck and Rosewood fretboard (lightest neck)
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Mahogany neck and Ebony fretboard
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Maple neck and Rosewood fretboard
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Maple neck and Ebony fretboard (heaviest neck)
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PICKUPS
We use Irongear Pickups as standard in our guitar builds, though pickups from other makers like Lollar or House of Tone can be installed too.
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Click the following to get an idea of the range of tones available from different pickups within the Irongear range:
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Tone Chart : details all the Irongear pups, allowing you to compare tone and output
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WOODS
The woods we normally use in our guitars are:
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Tulip Wood
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Ash (English or American Swamp Ash)
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Mahogany (Sapele)
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London Plane
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Walnut
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** All the above body woods can be combined with unique, figured guitar tops - contact us for details of top and body combinations currently available.
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See the images below for sample shots of some of these woods. (NB These are samples for illustration only, the actual grain pattern and colouring of your instrument's body wood may differ from these samples).
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As well as these options we occasionally have unique, highly figured bodies or tops available in English Cherry, Pear, Apple and South American Granadillo.
We can order any of the varieties below for your guitar if we don't currently have them in the workshop.
Solid Tulip Body - Prices start at around £1100 for a single-humbucker T.
Solid Korina Body - Prices start at around £1425 for a single-humbucker T.
Solid London Plane Body - Prices start at around £1475 for a single-humbucker T.
Solid Ash Body - Prices start at around £1195 for a single-humbucker T.