UPDATE! MARCH 4, 2010 – THEY ARE HERE!!
The Guitars are IN STOCK! They have arrived at Washburn in Chicago and Washburn has offered to ship directly to BSG Customers! This will eliminate any further delay in our customers getting their PS1900 Cracked Mirror guitars! Everyone has been patient as we have had to wait for the leather cases to arrive. There are only 25 with Chrome Hardware and 25 with Gold Hardware. Many are on reserve but we have a limited amount of of both hardware colors left. We can not sell ‘unique’ numbers within the run. That was available on the Pre-Order.
The Price for USA and Canada customers are $1975 USD. For our international customers the price is $2150 USD. When purchasing, please state which color hardware you would like.
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So, last year, I asked myself this question. How many KISS fans and Paul Stanley fans would love to acquire a PS2000 Cracked Mirror KISS Stage Guitar. The Problem is that ‘Street’ price on these guitars tend to be between 7 and 8 THOUSAND USD!
So, there is the problem.
Around the same time I was contemplating this potential idea, Rudy and Nick at Washburn were working hard to put together an instructional video on the making of Paul’s cracked mirror Washburn. They had the idea that the Indonesian factory had come so far that maybe, just maybe, they could create a really high quality cracked mirror guitar.
And – they did. They really did it.
So, Nick Ellingworth at Washburn put together the PS1800CM. A cracked mirror version of the standard import PS1800. A VERY high quality guitar at an amazing price point. There will be some of these guitars available to all Washburn dealers. And BSG may even had a few in stock as well. Who knows. However…
This is where I come into the picture. Just as I did with the PS8500 BSG Preacher guitar – we see the opportunity to take these fine import projects and take them up notch or two….or three.
Instead of taking the PS1800 cracked mirror guitar up a notch, I set out to make a different guitar.
As a lifelong Paul Stanley fan, I’ve always have had an interest in Paul’s guitars. I’ve owned many of the versions over the years and I have some personal feelings about trim and specs. When I reviewed the specs and cosmetics of Paul’s cracked mirror Warlock, Iceman and PS2000, ideas began to flow.
I stared at many pictures of these three guitars for about 3 weeks. I had them spread out on my design table at the Boogie Street office. Usually, I will bounce ideas off of Jim Stuart and/or Fred Kowalo. Well it just so happened that Jim was out on business and Fred was touring with Megadeth. I was ‘truly’ on this one – myself. And I have to admit, I was diggin’ it.
Ultimately, what I decided to present to Paul here was to try not to replicate the PS2000 Cracked Mirror. That guitar stands on it’s own. Mirror, white binding, chrome hardware, chrome covered humbuckers, Grovers with bean knobs.
For the PS1900 Cracked Mirror guitar(s) I decided to take some of the trim and cosmetics of the Warlock and Iceman and ‘marry’ them with the PS2000.
As I worked with Nick, almost daily, on the specs, I really got excited on this project. Just a couple of the differences I wanted to incorporate into this PS1900 guitar was 1st, black binding. The ‘white’ binding has been done – to death. Plus, often the white will ‘turn’ yellow or ‘age’ to cream. Black is black. Plus, I believe the black binding works better around body as it meshes up against the cracked glass mirror. We used Paul’s split block fingerboard inlay but unlike the PS1800, I used ebony instead of rosewood and unlike the PS2000, I started the inlay on the 1st fret. By doing this, I believe it gives the guitar a slightly more muscular look as the body, neck and headstock are bound in black.
I also wanted to do the PS1900 in two forms. A familar ‘chrome’ hardware version but more importantly, I wanted to do a gold hardware version. Something which has not been done. I also opted for black open coil Seymour Duncan JB/59 humbucker set with gold surrounds and chrome surrounds to match the hardware.
I’ve always felt that the lines on the PS2000 body shape lend themselves to Grover tuners with Keystone buttons as opposed to the standard ‘Bean’ buttons. There are sharp lines and ‘cuts’ in the PS2000 body shape and the Keystone tuner buttons are a better match. The ‘flow’ better.
Also, because the headstock is bound in black, the Keystone buttons also contribute to a more original, more muscular look to the headstock.
Finally, instead of using the standard high gloss black paint on the sides and back we put together a medium/dark mettalic gray color which has some gold set into the paint. It’s just awesome!!
The guitar features a mahogany body and mahogany neck – just like the PS2000. It’s a “REAL” guitar! It feels and plays like the PS2000.
So, pictured below is the gold hardware PS1900 cracked mirror. The chrome version is due at BSG in a few days.
These are not the final photos…just some quick ones I shot today at the ‘old’ BSG office with Freddy K. We are just about moved out and into our new space so this guitar will probably be the final guitar we shoot at our old facility. Kind of an end of an era.
Anyway – that is the detailed scoop. Hope ya dig it! And if ya don’t…well… I think we will all still be OK!!
Thanks for reading and Hey, KISS ARMY! Help me spread this around, will ya my friends? Shoot this link around to any other KISS Army member you might think would dig this!
Keep Rockin’!
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