I Like Odd Guitars
Now at first glance this doesn’t look that odd, Les Paul copy right? Wait, is that a Strat-Style five-way switch? Hold on, that cutaway looks a little strange, kinda swoopy. Looky there, it doesn’t have a neck heel, what the hell?!?
This is probably the most normal of my odd guitars - on the surface. But when you look deeper it is probably the oddest of them all. This is a Yamaha Weddington Classic that I bought from Nick Athens. This guitar is better than any Les Paul I’ve ever had, by orders of magnitude.
I bought this guitar thinking I would have to do my usual round of modifications, y’know replacing the tuners, nut, saddles, pickups, etc. etc. But after plugging it for the first time I loved everything about it. Now that I’ve had it for a few years, I can’t think of a single thing that I’d change.
There’s a secret beneath that traditional looking clownburst top. This guitar is wired from the factory in the oddest way. The five-way switch isn’t your normal pickup selector, it is a wiring scheme selector. Rear is Series, in-between is Bridge Parallel, middle is neck and bridge split, in-between is neck in Parallel, and front is Neck in Series (read that again a few times). When the selector is in the in-between positions you use the volume knobs to blend in the paralleled second coil to get single coil tones and other amazing blended tones. It is the most original yet useful wiring scheme I’ve ever encountered.
The only negative thing I can think of is that it is pretty heavy, but not as heavy as some Les Pauls I’ve had or tried. These used to be a sleeper guitar that you could pick up for a song. Not anymore, the secret is out and you can’t find ‘em in player condition for under $800-900. For a minty Custom you are going to pay as much a brand new Les Paul Standard. But whatever the condition, Weddington’s are better, believe it.
Odd guitars are cool.
