This month's product review comes to us from Lace Music Products sporting their new California Twister Guitar. This solid body "strat" type guitar features the new and revolutionary Lace Helix neck (more about that later). Don Lace, notorious for his Lace Sensor pickup design is certainly no newcomer to the tone table, we here at Musicians Hotline are very excited about the new California Twister Guitar and I am personally very anxious to check out the goods. The usual applies here, the Musicians Hotline Tone Chamber (a rehearsal hall for band practice), a cold six pack, two hours to play and an enthusiastic attitude is what is required, so lets get to it...

First Look:
Pretty cool first impression. The California Twister is a great looking guitar. Standard strat type body style with a classy accessory package really make this guitar stand out. This model features a three tone tobacco vintage burst high gloss finish with a tortoise shell pickguard. Chrome hardware, one black master volume and master tone knob, standard five way pickup selector switch and a three way chrome coil tap switch. This Lace Helix neck is hard rock maple, also available in rosewood, utilizes three on a side chrome Gotoh tuning machines. This particular model has a hum-single-single pickup configuration, which I really like. A classy touch in the rear body cavity plate is also in matching tortoise shell to the pickguard. A small thing yes, but a very nice touch. This guitar boasts a traditional look complimented well by the sleek modern looking design of the Helix neck.

First Chord:
First of all, as with any guitar review, I spend the first 15-20 minutes checking out the instrument acoustically. Strumming a solid body acoustically will provide a great insight to its construction, tone, playability and resonance. I must say that the California Twister passes the acoustic interrogation with high marks. The guitar is well balanced and solid. Chords ring true and confident, action is amazingly low and fast, intonation is on, and it just feels very comfortable, right out of the case! The neck feels great but will deserve a separate section to fully compliment the innovative design.

The Neck:
Innovation with anything is achieved primarily through trial and error and tedious detailed oriented research. And that's exactly what the engineers at Lace have done with the Helix neck. The genius here is that this Helix has a 10.8 degree twist to the neck. Pretty much unnoticeable when you are actually playing the guitar. However, with sighting down the neck you can definitely distinguish what the twist is all about. This allows for the twist in its vertical plane to provide a contour away from you on the lower frets and a contour toward you in the upper registers. The old standard theory of a perfectly straight neck certainly is debatable with this new design. In theory, the neck provides a shape that favors the natural angle of the hand, so that less strain is put on the hand and reduces player fatigue. All I can tell you is that the theory must be true. Due to not only the twist in the neck, the Helix headstock has a 4 degree back angle to aid in its playability and solid string tension at the nut. Notes bend with ease, 10's feel more like 9's, the medium jumbo nicely dressed frets certainly add to the great feel of the Helix neck. It really does feel great. Our next step is to...

Plug That Bad Boy In:
My amp selection to test, is some of the same, like my old companion a 80's JCM 800 model 2203 half stack. And I'm also including my favorite new toy with my Line 6 Pod ran direct into a solid state power amp and out to Marshall 4x12 cabs. I must admit that I expect nothing but the sweetest of tones, for the California Twister is already loaded with Lace Sensors. As I mentioned earlier with a hum-single-single configuration, my expectations are correct. Utilizing the Line 6 Pod I immediately locate one of my favorite models, a Soldano SLO 100. In the humbucker position, the Twister screams with authority and balls. Nice gritty tone with just enough rasp without being harsh. The low end is tight and punchy, and just enough midrange to ensure that leads will cut through the mix.

Next we deal up a Roland Jazz Chorus model. In the middle single coil position the tone is sweet and spanky. Obviously the Helix hard rock maple neck no doubt adds to the spanky feel and tone. Chimes out distinctively and is capable of producing the finest in strat like tones. Next we dialed up a Fender Blackface model. In the neck position, a Stevie Ray tone is very reminiscent. Back to the Marshall JCM 800. In the humbucker position once again, the Twister screams with notorious Marshall tone. A very nice feature is a three way coil tap switch in the humbucking position, this obviously expands even further on the tonal variations that can be achieved by this guitar. This along with a standard five way selector switch, the tonal options are just about endless.

Final Mojo:
With innovation always comes a bit of skepticism. My first thought when I heard about the Helix Twist, I must admit I was skeptical, but also very curious. Believe me, it only took a few chords for my misconceptions to fall by the way side. This neck really does feel comfortable. Quite frankly.... a brilliant idea, and a brilliant design. The Helix neck combined with a rock solid two piece basswood body sports a solid, well balanced tone machine. With the endless tonal options of a hum-single-single, not to mention they are the new Lace Sensor "Gold" design pickups, the California Twister is capable of producing any tone ranging from clean to mean. Traditional design, solid craftsmanship and a nice three tone vintage burst top, make the California Twister a great choice for working players. At a list price of $1099, the California Twister certainly won't break your piggy bank and represents a more than competitively priced instrument. All in all.... A great value!