Good News Everyone! Premier Guitar Loves Lollars

Premier Guitar unveiled their 2012 Premier Gear Awards (check it out here), and we couldn’t be prouder that the only individual pickup chosen for this prestigious honor is our El Rayo humbucker! This recognition is especially sweet because the pickup isn’t based on any vintage designs, we set out to create something unique that players would love. Mission accomplished! And not only are we proud of our El Rayo being mentioned, we were blown away by the sheer number of builders and guitars mentioned that use our pickups for their wonderful instruments. We love working with all these amazing luthiers to bring their tone visions to life. Here’s a rundown of the instruments honored and what Lollar pickups they use:

Bilt Guitars ZatfigRegals

M-Tone SlipstreamP90′s

Jason Z. Schroeder Chopper TL “T-Pine”Special T’s

Fano PX4Thunderbirds

Kazumi Watanabe, Collings, and Lollar!

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Kazumi Watanabe - photo by Leslie Kee

We always love to hear about great guitar players, especially when they are using our pickups! Our Japanese distributor, Zenbu Japan, recently informed us that the legendary Kazumi Watanabe has been spinning many of his burning jazz and fusion lines on a Collings SoCo, complete with Lollar Imperials!

Mr. Watanabe has been one of Japan’s most important and influential guitarists (and composers) since the mid-seventies. He has played and recorded with many of the worlds greatest musicians, and received the prestigious Fumio Nanri Award in 1991. He has also been a visiting professor of music at Senzoku Gakuen College since 1996.

Please enjoy his playing!