The Six String Side: 2019 Sully Guitars Conspiracy Series Raven

When I started this blog over ten years ago, I stated that it was a "Bicycle and guitar oriented elixir....". Well, the "guitar" part sort of got pushed out by the bicycle stuff, but I've always been playing. In an Easter post, a few years ago, I mentioned playing my '90 Strat, and someone suggested I detail the fleet, so here ya go. Hopefully ya'll enjoy the change in pace. I'll post something periodically whenever something warrants it. Here's #10

Last year, you sharper eyed readers with good memories might remember when I posted my last "The Six String Series" post. It was when I was gifted a Fender Telecaster.  That was my last, "new-to-me" guitar, but I hadn't purchased a guitar for myself in well over a decade. (Restraint? maybe.....more like I spent all my dollars on bicycle stuff!) So, I figured it was high time that changed. But first, a little back story......

Social media is a weird space for sure, but perhaps none weirder than a page on Facebook where I was watching a man in Texas build custom guitars. He would post Facebook live videos while he was working, and since I used to be a jeweler, and I understand shaping, filing, sanding, polishing, and fine detail work, I was kind of fascinated by what this guy was doing. Anyway, it didn't hurt that the guitars he was building were his own, unique designs, and that they were well thought out, tastefully appointed, and sometimes made with sparkly paint jobs or beautiful woods. Both things I love as well. So, while I loved what the guy was doing, there was probably no way I was going to pop for a $3-$4 thousand dollar, custom, Sully Guitar.

And Jon Sullivan knew that, so he did something about this situation. That and he was one guy doing things by hand in a garage, fer cryin' out loud! A guy can only do so much. The announcement was made then, I believe in early 2018, (I could be wrong there), but anyway, an announcement was made that Sully's designs were going to be produced in limited runs by World Music of Korea for a fraction of what a Sully custom goes for. This piqued my interest. I watched as the deal unfolded each weekend on Sully's Facebook live chats and observed how the first run went. Then along about the time I was going to be gifted the Tele, I jumped on for Run 2 and ordered an Ice Blue Raven and got on the "payment plan".

My Sully Conspiracy Series Raven in Ice Blue with a Native Sons strap. 

So, that's the short and dirty version of that backstory. Sully called these mass produced specimens the "Conspiracy Series", since he "conspired" with fans of his page to bring out the models people would actually order. For instance, I told Sully I would like to see Ice Blue as a color option for Run 2, and so when he offered it, I jumped onboard with a small down payment and installments were made over the next nine months. So, it wasn't too tough to sell a few unused tidbits of bike stuff to fund this thing. Now it should be noted that this happened before the Tele, and before the Ti Muk 2. I had no idea either of those two things were going to happen. I was already invested into getting the Raven by the time I got either one of those two things.

Hipshot hardware is used throughout the Raven, including these locking tuners.

Obviously, the Raven is sort of reminiscent of a Gibson Firebird, although it isn't really close to that in reality. But the basic shape is something I've resonated with since I was a kid. I saw a 1976 Bicentennial Firebird as a kid when my parents took me to a mall in Waterloo and we walked through a music store. The thing fascinated me, and then I saw the same/similar model on the cover of "Kiss Alive!", (its the guitar Paul Stanley has on the cover), so it was certifiable "rock & roll" stuff. What's more, the Bicentennial Firebird languished in the music store until I went back again in 1979! It had been marked down, but I ddin't buy it. I always regretted not buying it, but perhaps in hindsight, it was a good thing.

See, Firebirds are notorious "neck divers", meaning that the neck wants to rotate down on you when you play it standing up. That and its mini-humbuckers are somewhat of an acquired taste. The banjo style tuners used on those weren't the most awesome things either. These problems and more are all addressed in the Raven. Plus, Sully basically jumped off from where Jackson Guitars had made their mark with a "firebired-like" design, used notably by former Ratt guitarist, Robbin Crosby, which isn't like Gibson's either, and tweaked it out even further/better. (My opinion) So, while the "rock and roll" looks are there, so is the functionality, and play-ability is really great.

Direct mount pick-ups, simple controls, and coil tapping here.

Sully basically sent scans and numbers from his customs to Korea, they stuck that stuff in their manufacturing machines, and the folks there crafted the things. Then WMI sent them back to Sully. Jon does final set up and what not, so you basically get a great deal on a guitar that hardly anyone else has. It doesn't hurt that it plays like butter and sounds great too. Even my daughter likes it above my other guitars, saying it sounds "clearer and more defined" than the others. Nice!

Having had an explorer type guitar for years, (see here) I already knew this Raven would be comfortable sitting or standing. The body is ash and the neck is three piece maple with an ebony fret board and a nice volute. The neck shape was a gamble, but I really get on with it, and the fret ends and satin finish are the best I've had in my hands so far. Really fast and comfortable. And just like Sully promised, no neck-dive when standing and playing. The pick-ups have a coil tap option which is accessed by pulling up on the tone control. The pick-ups are wound to Jon's spec and sound really great. Lots of tonal options. The frets are stainless steel and aren't really wide, but are slinky feeling and no doubt make the guitar a bit brighter and clearer, as my daughter picked up on. Another cool feature is the Luminlay side dot markers which glow in the dark. I wish my Jazz V Bass had those things!

Finally, one of the nicer features of this purchase was the great gig bag it came with. One of the best ones I've ever seen. It has lots of padding, carrying options, and a built in closet hangar! Although this guitar will not be hanging around much, if at all, since I have really enjoyed playing it so far.

Thanks for reading, as always.