If you’re a fan of world-class electric guitars, then you’ll be more than familiar with Suhr. Helmed by ex-Pensa Suhr and Fender Custom Shop Master Builder John Suhr, Suhr creates handmade masterpieces from their premises in Lake Elsinore, California. In addition to incredible guitars, Suhr equally specialise in amplifiers and effects pedals. Everything is designed and made in-house, and the results are uniformly exceptional.
Within the Suhr guitar catalogue, there are lots of styles that encompass modern and classic styles. Today’s article is a deep dive into the Classic models. I’ll explain what they are, how they differ from Suhr’s other instruments, and I’ll show you some gorgeous examples in picture form whilst we do all that. Are you in?
Suhr Classic
Suhr’s Classic instruments are informed by John Suhr’s years as a Master Builder for Fender Custom Shop. These are bolt-on neck electrics made to a traditional set of designs, with all of John’s expertise, taste and experience built in.
There are three main styles available in the Suhr Classic lineup: Classic S, Classic T and the Classic JM.
Classic S: the timeless doublecut design, made to Suhr’s exacting standards. Suhr Classic S guitars are available in a number of variants, from traditional single coil setups, to HSS models with bridge humbuckers, and even Classic S models with locking Floyd Rose tremolos. The idea is to offer a top-end ‘Superstrat’-style guitar in Suhr’s inimitable way.
Classic T: Suhr’s update on the original electric guitar keeps the vintage looks but offers a compound radius fingerboard, ash or alder bodies and Suhr’s SSCII passive technology to remove hum from the signal.
Alt T: I’d include the Alt T model with Suhr Classics, too. These are thinline versions of the Classic T, with a single f-hole and a pair of humbuckers. Simultaneously hotter and warmer than a Classic T sound, these are very versatile guitars.
JM: A classic offset 'surf' design with large single coils and a long-arm tremolo, the Suhr JM brings together an idiosyncratic indie sensibility with the precision and performance expected from a Suhr.
Suhr Classic Antique
Further to those Suhr Classic guitars, there’s also the Suhr Classic Antique range. These models are of course very similar, but they vary in three ways.
Finish: these guitars have nitrocellulose finishes, as opposed to the thin-skin polyurethane finish of the non-Classic Suhr models. It’s horses for courses as to which is ‘better’, but nitro finishes are more vintage-correct, and will age in a more visible manner. Guitar fans tend to love a nitrocellulose finish because the natural relic process is the most convincing, and Suhr Classic Antique guitars have convincing dings and scratches to simulate a lifetime’s use.
Pickups: This isn’t always the case, but most of the time, Classic Antique guitars actually have a slightly more powerful set of pickups than regular Suhr Classic models. Classics normally have Suhr’s own handmade V60 pickups which are low powered for a sweet, classic twang. Classic Antique guitars mostly come with V63 pickups, which are more highly wound for a more overdriven tone.
Neck profile: all Suhr necks feel beautiful, but the Classic Antique necks have slightly more heft and chunkiness to them, compared with the Classics.
What is the Dealer Select Classic Series
We are sometimes able to offer a special range of instruments to you called the Suhr Dealer Select Classic Series. The story here is that we are invited to have a say in the specifications and finish of a small run of guitars, making them unique items to guitarguitar, which you can buy only from us.
We order Dealer Select instruments in both Classic and Modern guises from Suhr. Sometimes these Dealer Select guitars are fairly straightforward in terms of features and finishes - it may just be a different pickup configuration or a variation on a shade of sunburst - but we like to occasionally have some fun with the format, so keep an eye out for future releases! They are only ever available as limited edition instruments, so they are not going to be around forever!
Classic Suhr
John and his team are some of the best builders in the industry. Suhr guitars are refined and enhanced takes on the old classics, with a hundred little tweaks that improve performance and sound. If you love classic electric guitar designs but are also open minded about the idea that they can be improved upon, then I feel like Suhr Classic guitars should be on your checklist!
Click to View our Suhr Classic Guitars
