Our SC No 1 isn't a stripped down or budget version of a higher priced guitar. It's not 'no-nonsense', or a 'workhorse' or even 'basic;' it's actually deliberately intended to be all the guitar some players need.
The SC No.1 has a flat top and back with no contouring and is supplied with a single Gowen humbucker as standard (choose either a 57–59 or 72–75 bridge pickup). Our humbuckers are designed by us and wound to our specifications by one of the UK’s leading boutique pickup makers.
Prices for a single wood SC No 1 start at £1250, with more expensive woods adding to the cost of the instrument.
Here's what makes our SC our SC.
wraparound bridge
We fit all our SCs with a Gotoh wraparound bridge for improved playability and easier bends, better sustain, and cleaner body aesthetics.
carved heel & bolt-on neck
We prefer the greater flexibility of a bolt-on neck for adjusting string action and set-ups and of course easier repairs, should you ever need to replace a neck.
We carve the heel beneath the neck pocket to a smooth ergonomic curve to make access to higher frets effortless.
optional thin-line bodies
The SC No 2 and No 3 can be ordered in thinner body depths of around 35mm (similar to the thickness of a Gibson SG) for reduced weight and a more compact feeling performance guitar.
Gowen pickups
We've partnered with one of the UK's leading boutique pickup producers to create our own spec line of pickups. We offer a custom wiring service option on the SC No 3 to create a pickup with your own unique tone.
Satin / eggshell neck finish
We offer either satin oil or nitro with a kind of eggshell finish, to ensure there's never any sense of finger drag on our necks and they feel as slick and fast to move up and down as possible.
Contrasting wood cavity covers
Since our first SC, we've made cavity covers in contrasting woods to the body wood part of our signature look. The control cavities themselves are a modern over-sized shape with plenty of room for additional wiring upgrades.
1914 silver threepence
All of our guitars have a silver 1914 threepence inlaid into the truss road cover. Find out why here.
Partial coil-splitting
For years guitarists have been 'splitting' the coils of a humbucker to deliver a more single-coil pickup sound, and we offer this as an extra on all standard thickness SC No 2 or SC No 3 guitars. However, standard coil splitting can sometimes result in a sound that seems too thin and low volume, so to avoid this we solder an extra resistor into the wiring of our SCs.
The extra resistors mean that the humbucker’s coils are only partially split but still produce a single coil-like tone, only without too much loss in presence or volume. We can even fit resistors in the resistance value of your choice, to deliver the level of coil split you prefer.
body contours
SC No 2 brings the option of forearm and tummy contours and the SC No 3 adds more curved and sculpted body carving.
Gotoh machine heads
Supremely stable and aesthetically stunning, we fit all our SCs with the outstanding Gotoh 501 machine heads.
We fit all our SCs with a Gotoh wraparound bridge for improved playability and easier bends, better sustain, and cleaner body aesthetics.
We prefer the greater flexibility of a bolt-on neck for adjusting string action and set-ups and of course easier repairs, should you ever need to replace a neck. We carve the heel beneath the neck pocket to a smooth ergonomic curve to make access to higher frets effortless.
All of our guitars have a silver 1914 threepence inlaid into the truss road cover.
We fit all our SCs with a Gotoh wraparound bridge for improved playability and easier bends, better sustain, and cleaner body aesthetics.
Bridge Pickup
Guitar: SC No. 1, Cherry
Pickup: Gowen 57-59 PAF+ (Bridge, 9.5k)
Strings: Rotosound Yellows (10)
Amp: Blackstar ID Core 100 (Clean Bright)
EQ: Neutral
Bridge Pickup
Guitar: SC No. 1, Cherry
Pickup: Gowen 57-59 PAF+ (Bridge, 9.5k)
Strings: Rotosound Yellows (10)
Amp: Blackstar ID Core 100 (Clean Bright)
EQ: Neutral
Bridge Pickup
Guitar: SC No. 1, Cherry
Pickup: Gowen 57-59 PAF+ (Bridge, 9.5k)
Strings: Rotosound Yellows (10)
Amp: Blackstar ID Core 100 (OD2)
EQ: Neutral
SC No 1
Base Price
£1,250.00
Body Construction
flat top and back
Pickups
x1 humbucker (bridge)
Pickup Options
-
Gowen 57-59 (9.5k)
-
Gowen 72-75 (14k)
Coil Splitting
+ £100
Multi-layer Body
-
Sculpted heel
standard
Figured/Decorative Top
-
Body Finish
-
satin acrylic lacquer (standard)
-
Nitrocellulose Lacquer (+ £250)
-
Osmo Satin Oil finish (+ £150)
Neck
-
bolt-on, 22 fret, 628mm scale, 12" radius,
-
medium-jumbo SS frets. Gotoh 510 tuners.
-
mahogany & rosewood (standard)
-
maple & ebony (+ £120)
Electrics
1950s LP wiring as standard
- capacitors
orange drop capacitors
-
0.022uf (standard)
-
0.033uf (opt, brighter tone)
- potentiometers
-
CTS pots (increased friction)
-
Bourns Pots (reduced friction)
Hardcase
(+ £75)
SC No 2
Base Price
£1,499.00
Body Construction
front / back / front & back contours
Pickups
x2 humbuckers
Pickup Options
-
Gowen 57-59 (9.5k B, 8.5k N)
-
Gowen 72-75 (14k B, 9.5k N)
Coil Splitting
+ £100, push-pull CTS pots
Multi-layer Body
priced per spec
Figured/Decorative Top
priced per top
Body Finish
-
Osmo Satin Oil finish (standard)
-
Nitrocellulose Lacquer (+ £250)
-
Satin Acrylic Lacquer (- £150)
-
Tung Oil (matt-eggshell) finish (+ £220)
Neck
-
bolt-on, 22 fret, 628mm scale, 12" radius,
-
medium-jumbo SS frets. Gotoh 510 tuners.
-
mahogany & rosewood (standard)
-
maple & ebony (+ £120)
Electrics
1950s LP wiring as standard
- capacitors
orange drop capacitors
-
0.022uf (standard)
-
0.033uf (opt, brighter tone)
- potentiometers
-
CTS pots (increased friction)
-
Bourns Pots (reduced friction)
Hardcase
(+ £75)
SC No 3
Base Price
£1,799.00
Body Construction
enchanted body carving and sculpting
Pickups
x2 humbuckers
Pickup Options
-
Gowen 57-59 (9.5k B, 8.5k N)
-
Gowen 72-75 (14k B, 9.5k N)
Coil Splitting
standard, via push-pull CTS pots
Multi-layer Body
-
Figured/Decorative Top
-
Premium Body Woods
£extra priced per body
Body Finish
-
Nitrocellulose Lacquer (standard)
-
Osmo Satin Oil finish (-£150)
-
Satin Acrylic Lacquer (- £150)
-
Tung Oil (matt-eggshell) finish (- £75)
Neck
-
bolt-on, 22 fret, 628mm scale, 12" radius,
-
medium-jumbo SS frets. Gotoh 510 tuners.
-
mahogany & rosewood (standard)
-
maple & ebony (+ £120)
Electrics
1950s LP wiring as standard
- capacitors
orange drop capacitors
-
0.022uf (standard)
-
0.033uf (opt, brighter tone)
- potentiometers
-
CTS pots (increased friction)
Hardcase
(+ £75)
* NB We use 500k audio-taper pots with traditional 1950s wiring as a standard wiring configuration for our humbuckers. This helps keep the tone clear as you roll the volume back and gives smoother, more musical control. However, if you prefer 1960s or modern wiring for the wiring loom, just let us know!
The Bourns pots we fit generally have less friction in their action than the CTS pots - if you prefer a freer moving throw, for example for live playing, choose Bourns; if you want a slower moving action, choose CTS.
Gowen SC No. 1, 2018 shape, London Plane
Model History
We first built our SC design in 2018, using offcuts of London Plane trees that had been felled during the clearing of St James Gardens London, in preparation for the expansion of London Euston Station. St James Gardens had originally been planned and planted in the late 1780s, and our supplier has a large stock of 200 year old London Plane timber.
Our original SC in 2018 had a 35mm, thin, 2-piece body which tapered towards the neck pocket, and a set neck. It was fitted with. single Irongear Dirty Torque pickup. We had been experimenting with alternatives to the standard separate bridge and tailpiece configuration and opted for the Gotoh 510UB Wraparound bridge, to improve playability and clean up the aesthetics of the guitar top. So far we've been very pleased with the results and plan to include these bridges on future builds.
In 2020 we updated the body shape of our SC design, to include a more pronounced curve on the lower horn and decrease the waist of the guitar body. We also added a deeper round-over to the body edges. For increased flexibility and to aid future instrument set-ups, the SC switched to a bolt-on neck and Gotoh machine heads. Standard pickups for dual-hum bucker guitars were either a pair of Irongear Tesla Sharks or a set of Irongear Dirty Torque (bridge) and Irongear Blues Engine (neck).
In 2023 we completed our first SC No 2, which featured both front and rear body contours on a thinline body.
In 2024 we introduced the SC No 3, which is typically built around a thicker body (40mm+) and includes more pronounced and complex body carving.
In 2026 we began fitting our Gowen 57-59 PAF+ humbuckers to our SC guitars as standard pickups, with an option for customers to request custom windings and partial coil splitting.