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1998 Lace Strat Metallic Red MINT 1/72 - Great Player - $850 (Denver)
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When you heard the name, "Lace" in the guitar world back in the 80's/90's, you mostly thought about the well-known and highly-regarded noiseless Lace Sensor single coil pickups that were used on many Fender guitars such as the Clapton Signature Strat, Strat Plus, etc. Don Lace, Sr. started the company, called Actodyne General, Inc. (AGi) in 1979, and AGi started manufacturing in 1985. Although they have changed ownership, Lace/AGi is still in business making pickups, and they have manufactured guitars such as the "Cybercaster", "Helix" and "Huntington" lines. Here, we have a rarity-- one of the earlier prototype builds of guitars made in Korea when Don Lace Jr. was trying to get into the guitar manufacturing business. This guitar was part of a small, special run of only 74. I only know this, because when I researched the guitar, new, after acquiring it in 2001, I contacted Lace and received a reply from Don Lace, Jr. He informed me that this was part of an initial run of 74 made at the Sumer factory in Korea to his specifications, intended to retail then at $1099. Lace decided to focus on the Helix guitars, rather than to "productionalize" this model, so the total was limited to the 74 prototypes. I have that 2001 email from Don Lace and will include it in the case.
AGi stands for Actodyne General International, who made Lace guitars at one time (the guitar says “AGi” on the truss rod cover). This one is a Metallic Red-- a gorgeous deep, almost candy apple red with metallic flakes. It is pretty much in unplayed MINT condition. Of the limited run, only a few of those in this color. It has U.S. AGi Lace Sensor pickups (I think they are likely Holy Grails), and they sound great. I actually like the contours of this guitar more than a Fender Strat-- it is quite a bit slimmer. The neck is a direct-access (no plate) 4-bolt-on. There is a white pearloid pickguard and truss-rod cover, a rosewood fingerboard with jumbo frets, and other good-quality parts: Gotoh MG-7 locking tuners; Wilkinson tremolo/bridge; a 5-way switch; 2 TONE controls and 1 VOL, with Fender-type knobs and input jack. It has a nice hard-shell case (Fender) with black lining. The tremolo works well, and the tremolo bar is included, as well as the manual for the locking tuners and an extra spring for the tremolo. It has D'Addario 10's on it.
I just cleaned and oiled the fretboard and frets, adjusted the pickup heights, and had a pro set-up done, so it is playing fantastic. I was told by a player that the pickup output was "weak", but that is nonsense-- these pickups all read between 10k and 11k ohms, which is definitely in the "hot" range" for single coil pickups.
This is a unique and nice find for the price, well-made and already 26 years old, quite rare, with a nice story. Only one or two others I've seen for sale ever, and they were black.